October 23, 2008
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What annoys me / Why I could make money
This is not meant as an attack on any of the pros out there. I respect all of their work, and don’t think I’ll ever be as good as them.
However at the top-most end of the business, among the pros who are good enough that the likes of Canon / Nikon / Lexar / Apple etc. etc. are working directly with them, …I strongly dislike the fact that it seems like they’re all wearing blinders… (google it)
Time after time after time, after time, I read about top-end professionals getting their hands on the latest gear directly from Canon and / or Nikon. The problem is, most of these professionals have probably been shooting with that brand of camera / memory card / software for so many years that they are out of touch with what the other companies have been doing. So many times you will read about how much better a new camera is, ONLY compared to it’s previous generation’s incarnation.
If you’re curious, what sparked this epiphany for me was a certain professional’s comment on how fantastic and amazing the 5D mk2′s new LCD screen is, with no mention of the fact that it’s actually just now catching up up to Nikon / Sony’s high-res LCD that has been implemented for over a year in the D300, D700 and D3.
This is why I can only hope that people will take it upon themselves to subscribe to more widely learned blog opinions such as CameraTalk, or more thorough review sites such as DPReview.com… Maybe some day I could make money at giving my opinion. But could that make me one of THEM? I dunno, but for now I’ll just keep giving my opinion in this miniscule little corner of the interwebz…
Now luckily CameraTalk is not very widely read, because this next comment would start something firey: I think tunnel-vision marketing is a little more prevalent in the Canon world than anywhere else, because Canon has such a large concentration of “bandwagon buyers” who only bought into the system because everybody else did… Sure that’s just my opinion, but it’s still got an element of truth to it…
How’s THAT for opinionated?
=Matt=
Comments (10)
whaaaatt? the 5dmk2 isnt the greatest thing since sliced bread?
You tell’em Matt!
It’s the usual problem with the reliability of the info… And to make it simple, it’s hard to consider the opinion of someone when this person is closely related to the manufacturer and can test the hardware for free. No matter how honest you can be, it’s biased. Maybe some can be honest, but even if they are, as long as they can’t compare with the other brands, it’s still not a perfect review.
But by saying that Matt, it means also that most of the readers would “buy” those reviews without any question? I think most of the camera users are clever enough to think the same as you do. They don’t buy everything they read, hopefully. Am I a bit too optimistic? Maybe. But I still believe in common sense. If I have the choice between a review focused on a brand (and obviously “organized” by this brand), and one covering several brands, with benchmarks and samples, I will go for the second one. So I guess it’s still definitely possible to get the recognition you deserve for your reviews. How to get money for that is another question, right?
You can already keep writing here, recognition comes slowly usually, especially at the beginning.
Werd.
Those damn Nikons have too many buttons!
i shoot sony. the anti-shake allowed me to photograph @ 1/2 sec, hand held! i could fire at 1/10sec, no flash, iso1600. helpful when flash not allowed. sadly i use the a100 sony. the a700 is much better. the a900 is a beast.
/shrug
not disagreeing
i just *also* know Sheeple on the Nikon (and for that matter, Apple) bandwagon who are equally…well…advertising-fodder.
but…to the extent that I haven’t spent any money on camera gear
(other than cleaning / camera strap) in a year…well…i’m not really
in the market to care about the differences.
@Eutychus22 - Wurd. They’re ALL crooked! Camera straps and tripods, though quite possibly the most un-exciting purchases you can possibly make in the photographic world, are two of the most important pieces of the puzzle to me…
=Matt=
r u talking about the bebbs?
@randplaty - I don’t even remember which pro it was now, but I think it might have been. There was just an apparent lack of knowledge about the other systems, what advantages they offer, or how something ground breaking or revolutionary in the Canon scene might actually be a year late in the rest of the industry…
Anyone who reads CameraTalk knows that I’m CONSTANTLY saying “well, Nikon finally caught up to Canon”, or vice versa… Or I’ll un-ashamedly point out the gaping flaws in ANY camera’s system, even my “favorite” Nikon system.
But maybe that’s only because I’m not mainstream enough for my opinion to matter, for it not to have a negative effect on my image, and obviously I’m not a Nikon rep, that’s for sure…
Although, I’d LOVE to be! Just don’t think I’d ever be due to my honesty about the system…
=Matt=