I bought a new lens this week. It’s the first time I’ve bought any new camera equipment since early 2018 when I switched from Canon to Sony.
I bought a 90mm Sony G Master Macro lens. I’ve been thinking for a while that I didn’t have a backup for my 85mm (Zeiss Batis if you’re wondering) so I kinda bought it as a backup for if something happens to my 85 but also because I didn’t have anything capable of close-ups. And, you know, retail therapy… I mean, tax bill approaching.
But now… now I’m close to buying ANOTHER new lens. And it got me thinking about that old ‘new equipment won’t make you a better photographer’ line that’s peddled by the industry. So I thought that would be something worth discussing on this week’s newsletter!
My first camera back in 2007 was a Canon 400D. After that I had all Canon: 40D, 50D, 5D, 5D Mark II and 5D Mark III until I switched to Sony A7iii in early 2018.
By the way, some people assume I’m a Sony ambassador… I’m absolutely not. There was a time I wanted to be, but then we accidentally used a swear word on stage during a NineDots talk for Sony at The Photography Show and apparently that was that – blacklisted. Either that or I was too old and uncool. Probably both. Either way, no, Sony didn’t want me.
ANYWAY.
At that time when I switched over to Sony in 2018 the ONLY reason was that I knew I was completely bored by my cameras. I felt no pull from them. No inspiration. Canon had released the 5D Mark IV and to me it was just the same camera all over again, and I knew that wasn’t what I wanted or needed. Sony, for me at least, was the only realistic choice at that time.
Plus I’m Zeiss obsessed.
I thought switching to a whole new system would ignite some fresh passion for the act of shooting again. So I shot a wedding on Canon, and shot my next wedding on a full set of Sony and Zeiss. I never touched the Canons again.
Up to this point I’d always gone along with the line that new gear couldn’t improve you as a photographer. Within minutes of shooting with my new cameras I realised I was wrong. I was so excited for every shot. I was loving the way the EVF and tilt screen were inspiring me in new ways. A great feeling.
I loved that I was snapped out of years of muscle memory and was shooting consciously again.
Did my overall work improve? Absolutely not! In my opinion it got worse for a bit! I missed (and still miss) those luscious Canon skin tones. I missed (and still miss) how amazingly those sensors and lenses coped with backlight and flare. I missed (and still miss) how Canon 5Diii files didn’t really need editing. There’s lots I don’t miss about lugging round that kettlebell of a camera, but the things I do miss, I really miss.
And being able to actually see what I was about to shoot in the EVF meant I wasn’t accidentally finding cool stuff by under or over exposing my test shots.
Over time as my work settled in and around the strengths of the new cameras and the new system, I feel like I at least got back to where I was on the Canons, in terms of quality.
But that excitement of using that new gear, man alive I’ll never forget it.
I really felt like a photographer again, and that first wedding with new equipment kicked off a whole new love affair with photography. And it was only towards the end of last year that I started to feel a little bit of that same boredom with my cameras again.
Because of my vivid memory of the Sonys powering up my inspiration and creativity, I’ll never again underestimate the effect having some new camera gear to experiment with.
So what I’m saying is yes, buy that new thing (if you can afford to). It will almost certainly inspire you in some way, or get you creatively excited, or snap you out of subconscious auto-pilot and get you shooting a bit more consciously again.
Or maybe you’ll realise you didn’t need it or don’t like it. Either way, you’ll learn something, and that’s progress in itself!
Thanks for reading,
Adam
PS – The biggest disappointment for me with new stuff was when I first used Sony I found out you can get adapters for almost any lens so they’ll work on E mount. I had a vintage-ish Contax 45mm f2 zeiss lens which I managed to get an autofocus adapter for. It was devastatingly rubbish and I sold it soon after. I was sad about that.
PPS – My favourite EVER camera is the Sony RX1R. I loved the amazing colours and tones and the gorgeous 35mm f2 zeiss lens. Sadly Sony dumped that sensor and doesn’t make that lens for E mount. Sort it out Sony.
