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[OM] Violins, lenses and cameras

Subject: [OM] Violins, lenses and cameras
From: Peter Klein <pklein@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 16 May 2014 15:27:21 -0700
A number of my friends are symphony musicians. Today, one of them posted on Facebook that she had found a great online deal on a set of high-end violin strings, and wondered if they were OK. This led to a discussion of the fine points of shelf life, variants of the brand, and whether a platinum-coated E-string is better than a plain tin one.

And I wished that the "your camera (or lens) doesn't matter" crowd were listening in. Yes, musicians argue over instruments, strings, reeds and mouthpieces, just as artists *do* argue over paintbrushes, and photographers argue about cameras and lenses. Does anyone seriously believe that a cheap school-orchestra fiddle should sound as good as a Stradivarius or Guarneri violin? Yes, the best players might be able to make the bad fiddle sound reasonably good, but no way would it sound as good as the Strad.

So why do some of us constantly down people who prefer Lens A over Lens B, or Camera 1 over Camera 2? The lens "resonates" the light, emphasizing some aspects while diminishing others, just as the instrument resonates the sound. The camera's ergonomics and design are optimum for one type of picture over another. And a camera that you have to fight to get the shot is just as hampering as the violin with a bad "wolf" tone in an exposed passage.

Yes, of course musicians can get cultlike about this brand over that, just as photographers do about cameras and lenses. Yes, a good photographer my be able to take a decent picture with any camera or lens, just as the musician may be able to turn in a decent performance with any instrument. But if my friend is going to play a big solo, she wants the best violin and strings she can afford. If you handed her a cheap school fiddle and told her that "instruments don't matter, it's the musician that makes the music," she would probably think you were an ignoramus (to be charitable). And she'd be right.

The hard truth is: Tools do matter. Maybe not so much with Web-sized JPGs, and maybe not to rank beginners. But once you're doing things "for real," they do matter. A lot.

--Peter


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