Casey Liss on Cameras and Elitism
Casey Liss, rightfully, chimes in on my camera remarks too.
The reason that no one complained about “badly exposed 35mm prints†is because that was the best (or at the least, most approachable) option at the time, short of spending serious money on a camera body and lenses. Today, one can spend comparatively little money and get a camera setup that is, in my estimation, vastly superior to the iPhone camera.
As someone who just bought a semi-fancy camera for this very reason, I can tell you that I could not possibly be more happy that I did. While I absolutely can take acceptable shots using my iPhone, I much prefer the results from the Olympus. The shots are unequivocally better. I say that as someone who does not have a strong artistic eye.
While $600 is pretty dear for a camera by my estimation, I’m not going to throw Casey under the bus for his reasoning. (And I only linked him about the ice because his piece on it is well written, not to attack. He’s too nice of a guy for that.)
My fault for not explaining that my problem with camera talk is talk about the camera rather than the photos you take with it. It’s a problem that isn’t limited to cameras, but it was the jumping-off point my brain towards a larger issue, and I’m glad the responses have picked up on that.
Thanks, Casey.