Equipment envy - Inferiority Complex

[The Littlest Hobo]

Yesterday i was in Keswick with my daughter and fancied taking a few snaps at Ashness Bridge/Surprise view. These sites are probably some of the most photographed places around so why i thought i would be able to do it in peace i dont know.

Why then did i feel so out of my league? There were blokes there with multiple bags/rucksacks full of gear. I saw loads of filters, L series lenses, blokes trying various different cameras etc. These guys took ages setting up their shots and tbh i was quite good for me to watch.

My little lass couldnt understand why daddy wanted to sit and chill out until they had finished (A very long time btw) because I didnt want to take his Canon 1000d out and put it on my tripod and start clicking away trying to learn what does and doesnt work. Most of which didnt.

I must say, i have been into mountain biking for years and its a very 'equipment' orientated sport so i know the feeling of being proud of your equipment. But i also know the feeling of some guy turning up on a rackety bike and pounding the lesser riders into the dirt.

Is there an element of superiority complex or should i just get over myself and get stuck in?

[ian clark]

ask yourself this is it the size that counts or how you use it?

[The Littlest Hobo]

Well thats correct but i also dont know how to use it so there will be a lot of things i will do wrong with my small(er) camera.

I just wondered in general if others felt like this or is it just me

[AndrewKulin]

A - We all start off as beginners
B - Equipment doesn't matter (yet) - if you were to swap your equipment for a day with some famous (and skilled) photographer, at the end of the day who would be more likely to have taken the better photographs? What I am trying to say is don't get all hung up about the equipment you are using.
C - You might have learned even more going up to the crowd and setting up and taking some shots as well. Maybe one of those other photographers would have offered you up some advice as well.

[Drew Smith]

Originally Posted by The Littlest Hobo

Well thats correct but i also dont know how to use it so there will be a lot of things i will do wrong with my small(er) camera.

I just wondered in general if others felt like this or is it just me

You only have a 1000D? Please stop posting until you get something worthy of taking proper pictures.

As you say, it isn't just photography - it's in almost all hobbies/walks-of-life that attracts a certain amount of snobbery from a certain type of people. But lets not be judgemental.

I love carp fishing in summer and am a member of my local syndicate, I wander down there some evenings at 8pm with just a rod and a shoulder bag and float fish for two hours in the margins (reeds at edges of the lake) about 3 feet out. I usually have great fun and catch a few decent fish.

At the same time there will be fishermen there with 3 rods set up with bite indicators, a bivvy, a trolley laden with equipment and the kitchen sink, fishing half a mile out using exotic baits that have been maturing longer than vintage wines!

Do I catch more than them? Usually. Do I feel inferior because of my humble fishing tackle? Not really because I am secure in my ability to catch fish, plus I like my method of fishing as it feels much closer to nature - I fish with barbless hooks and can usually slip the hook out of the fish's mouth without the fish even coming out of the water.

My first camera was the 1000D and I recall somebody commenting (on another forum) that I'd 'done well' in purchasing a 'capable' camera!? I thought 'Why the hell is he calling it a 'capable' camera?'

Therefore having owned a 1000D I'd describe it more like a fantastic camera; that has more megapixels and pretty much a comparable spec (okay, okay) than the 'professional' cameras being used to shoot the Olympics around a decade ago! In 2002 the EOS-1DS digital SLR camera featured an 11.1 Megapixels CMOS sensor. And pixel count isn't everything - in fact it's not relevant unless you start printing your pics off at much larger than normal sizes.

So were those Pro cameras back at the dawn of digital crap? No. Is the 1000D a camera that you need to be ashamed of? No.

I moved on from my original Canon because after a while I was able to understand its shortcomings and had enough experience to understand in what direction I wanted to take my photography. So I bought equipment that reflected this in faster fps and ISO rating. Then bought 'better' lenses to get the best from the camera.

If you had taken out your 1000D amidst your 'superiors' then I'm sure that any adverse reaction from them would have said much more about them than about you. By not taking out your 'capable' camera, you deprived yourself of a photographic opportunity at that time and the chance for your photographic 'colleagues' to prove that they would have been supportive of you and your passion in offering any advice you may have wanted.

Personally I've kinda found other pros/toggers to be very friendly and supportive.

I think you should make your photography about YOU and not about anybody else. Besides when you upgrade to any new camera, there's always a newer model waiting around the corner, so in some respects you will always end up owning 'inferior' equipment. But try telling the Carp at my local lake that! :P

Take a look at this:

http://fstoppers.com/iphone/

[Cathus]

I'm interested in why people assume the folks with all the best gear are snobs or might feel superior, did they do anything to make you feel that way?

[silversnapper1]

Far from being snobs, I bet that had you got into conversation with them and got your camera out you may have learned something.

[The Littlest Hobo]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Just for the record i tried to make this more about my inferiority complex than it was about any asumption of their snobbery etc.

Totally agree that it was a missed oppertunity. Even more so that i saw one guy dishing out his card to another guy so probably passing on advice at the time. I just didnt feel very comfortable in that situation at that time to go bothering guys who were obviously concentrating. I hadnt been in that situation before and i had my 3yr old daughter with me and she was her usual hyperactive self making noise and bouncing about.

I will make more of an effort in future. Maybe its just me then :-)

[rbarry]

Hi Hobo,

The issue seems to be that you were intimidated by the air of experience from those equipped with "advanced" technology compared to the equipment you hid in your bag, which you felt would belie your own inexperience.

I didn't interpret your original post in any way other than that of the original title you gave this thread. As you are a relatively new member of the DSLR owners club, I can understand your reticence to display any ineptitude in front of your "peers". It's unlikely, but not impossible, that you may have had more knowledge than one or two of those you thought were seasoned enthusiasts or semi pros; looks can sometimes be deceptive. I'm sure we've all met the odd few that have "all the gear and no idea", but have only been able to reach this understanding with the benefit of hindsight.

People are the same the world over and there will always be some that can "talk" a good shot better than they can consistently produce one.

But generally, the vast majority enjoy what they do and have built up a good skill set and fundamental knowledge of their craft, and get a kick out of sharing that with others. If they are packing high spec equipment it's to aid them in helping to create a technically "better" image than they could achieve with lesser equipment. But that can't replace a good eye and good basic understanding of the fundamentals of photography; high tech equipment alone can never do that. The vast majority would not have started with that type of equipment and most will remember what it was like before they had.

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by The Littlest Hobo

Well thats correct but i also dont know how to use it so there will be a lot of things i will do wrong with my small(er) camera.

I just wondered in general if others felt like this or is it just me

I've been in the reverse situation to you, and seen people with smaller cameras walk past me because I've got a D3. It's made me feel I've done something wrong!

Where I go in Sandwell Valley I've met many people with different cameras from compacts to full professional video cameras, and most will be happy to come and have a chat. It doesn't mean I'm an expert in photography just because I've got a D3, rather the reverse as I'm still learning. Today, I went out with my 400mm F2.8, but as it's so heavy I used my old Nikon 70-300mm F4-5.6 with the D3 to take any pictures that might appear before getting to the place to set up my 400mm F2.8. I've seen fantastic pictures taken on basic cameras and seen some rubbish taken on expensive gear. Go up and have a chat, as most will be happy to talk and could even tell you where to go to get great shots of animals and such.