Those who can easily afford "superior" equipment many times need to feel that
it "must count".... or else what's the point of being wealthy enough to toss
$600 away on a 3-legged camera support, etc., if you don't feel you're in a
better position photographically than someone with more down-to-earth,
reasonably priced equipment.
The OM-1 kit that you mention Acer used in a college course is perfect for
whatever might have been introduced in the course (not overly minimal, or
"cheap"). Sometimes tossing exorbitant money at all the "superior" doo dads,
just gets you things that stand in the way of making & learning good
photography. This can easily & as productively last throughout your
photographic career.
The comment in another post of RIT students being surprised at working
commercial studios not being stocked with only the most "superior" equipment
reflects my experience as well, especially in my assisting days in NYC. (I was
accepted to RIT, but chose School of Visual Arts instead because it was located
in the heart of the industry, and had a better handle on it - especially
artistically. - Whenever working with RIT guys, the snottiness level was over
the top, with very little artistic intuition. All equip. equip. equip.)
Plus, some hard use experience & logic explained why some equipment was used
over the fabled "superior" stuff. Case in point is Gitzo carbon fiber where
reliability was not as expected under hard usage considering the humorous cost
of the things compared to other brands. Cost of parts, bad customer service,
etc. also made other brands the better choice. For hobbyists with lots of extra
money, or light professionals, Gitzo is fine, and to some its impressive to say
you own it.
Nikon cameras such as the F, 1,2,etc. also broke down many times. (One
photographer I worked with finally threw his F2 into the building's outside
wall - he was done with it). But, logically, their support base was really much
better than anything else, so these cameras were pretty much required. Couldn't
really reccommend Olympus, because even in its OM heyday, support just was not
that great. (Though I always used & preferred it. Fortunately never had a
reliability issue with those)
Larry
Tris Schuler wrote:
>
>
> Other things being equal, superior equipment must count. But first the
> photographer needs to get that far through other means.
>
> Tris
>
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