[转] Why I don't need an expensive camera.(By Haje Jan Kamps)

－－The biggest bottle-neck in your photography is you.

 

On My Flickr Feed, I some times get questions about my use of camera. “Why”, it is asked, “do you shoot with a 450D/550D”?

 

I understand the question completely. When I was photographing professionally, I wouldn’t have dreamed of using the then-bottom-level camera (the 300D, at the time, I think) even as my back-up camera. The 10D (and later the 20D and 30D) was my the back-up and second-lens camera to my 1D. So how did I end up photographing with the bottom-of-the-range model from Canon only a few short years later?

 

Let me in on a secret: Even the cheapest d-SLR cameras on the market today are absolutely phenomenal pieces of equipment, and chances are that you don’t need to spend much money to take phenomenal photos.

 

What am I missing?

 

"Waves breaking Slowly" - a smoke photo. Taken with a Canon 450D

 

As some of you might have noticed, I occasionally dabble in concert photography, and this is where my 550D occasionally lets me down. And then, only in one very specific aspect of my photographic work: I want to take photos faster. I want to be able to take more photos in a shorter period of time. Some times, you realise you’re witnessing something awesome, and you just want to keep the shutter pressed until the awesome has gone away – and then keeping your fingers crossed that one of the six billion photos you’ve taken in the meantime is the shot you were hoping (and praying, if you’re a praying man. Which I’m not. I think I might have gotten better photos with a god on my side, but this is just not That Kind of Blog™) for.

 

Interestingly, that is the only situation where I’ve ever felt my 550D isn’t up to the job. With the appropriate lighting, my portraiture work comes out lovely. I’ve taken my camera to a load of different countries, and I’ve taken some rather splendid street photos in all of ‘em (if I may say so myself).

 

The other situation where you might find yourself stuck (although I haven’t had the experience myself, as I make a point of staying as far away from sports as I can) is, er, sports photography.

 

So, if the 550D is good enough… Is it all just a scam?

You'll often find that lighting is a much bigger factor in photography than the camera you're using. (shot with a Canon EOS 450D.)

 

Wait a minute, cowboy, I never said that. All I’m saying is that at my level (and, I wager to say, at the level of many other photographers), the 550D (and any equivalent low-level SLR cameras) are plenty good.

 

The problem with photography is that it’s simply too tempting to splash a lot of money for everything, and then end up bankrupting yourself on the wrong things. Sure, I would love to have some of the features offered by more expensive cameras, but I can work around them. For concert photos, I’ve learned to anticipate the movements of the artists, and then try to act on those. I have no doubt that I’ve missed some cracking shots along the way, but equally, I think the limitations of my photographic kit has made me a better photographer. Put differently: Put a 1Ds mk III in my hands now, and I think I’ll be able to take better photos with it than I could have before I learned the limitations of another camera.

 

The most important thing to remember, though, is that as far as a camera body goes, it doesn’t actually have all that much to do with the picture-taking process itself. Yeah, I know. Controversial. But I said it, and I meant it.

Portrait - taken with a 450D.

 

Think about it: You are taking a photo of an antelope jumping across a savannah. The sunlight comes from high above, hits the antelope, flies through your lens, into your camera… and the only part of the camera which actually gets involved is the imaging sensor.

 

I’m not going to lie: I use expensive photographic equipment. I’ve recently splashed a few thousand dollars on lighting equipment. I have some extraordinarily delicious lenses – including my ludicrously fantastic Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM prime lens, a rather sexy 70-200mm f/2.8, etc etc etc. But this illustrates an important point: I’m spending the most money on the bits of kit that will actually impact my photos.

 

Truth be told, there isn’t that much difference between a 7-year-old Canon digital SLR camera like the 300D and a brand spanking new 550D. Sure, the latter has higher resolution and better toys, but most people simply don’t need the extra resolution. What you need is a shutter that works, a mirror that will move out of the way in time, and a sensor without too many dead pixels. From there on out, it’s all about the quality of your glass (i.e. your lenses), the quality of your light (i.e. sunlight / flash / natural light / diffusers / softboxes / light filters / etc) and… You.

 

With all the electronics, magnificent optics, and delicious equipment at your beck and call, the sad, scary, horrible truth is that the weakest link in everything I’ve just described is you. A competent photographer can take good photos with a single-use camera.

 

My advanced motorcycling club has a motto: “Upgrade your skills to match your machine”. In other words: Your motorcycle is probably better than you are, and you need to work smart (and hard) to not kill yourself. Granted, I’d be willing to accept that more people kill themselves with a set of handlebars between their hands than with a SLR, but the point stands: If you haven’t got the skills, there’s no point in blaming your tools.

 

What are the benefits of pricier cameras?

 

I quite like the fact that the Canon 450D looks unobtrusive: It makes street photography just that tiny bit easier.

 

As you go up the Canon and Nikon ranges, you get some very good benefits. If you’re working as a (semi-)professional photographer, the first thing you’ll notice is build quality. The budget cameras aren’t badly put together, but they’re made of plastic. Drop one, and there’s a pretty good chance it’s all just game over. The more pricey cameras are built of aluminium or magnesium, and can take significantly more abuse.

 

The higher-priced, higher-specced cameras also tend to have better screens, higher-resolution sensors, higher shooting and processing speed, and more gadgets to help you get the photos you desire. I’m not saying this is a bad thing: there’s a ‘right’ tool for every job. Very often, a more advanced tool can be used to do jobs that a cheaper tool could have completed, but not vice-versa.

 

I also note that ISO speed has come up in the comments a few times, and that had me wondering. I asked a good friend of mine who reviews camera equipment for a living. He explains that ‘budget’ SLR cameras are as good as their larger parents. It is possible to get better performance, of course, but that involves going full-frame, and then you’re suddenly well and truly out of budget-camera-territory, price-wise.

 

On the ISO front, you sometimes get an improvement with the latest high-end model but it very quickly filters down (see for example how fast the 550D got great high-ISO capabilities so soon after 7D).

 

Hey, aren’t you meant to be some hot-shot writer?

Again with the street photography! Don't I ever give up? Nope, of course not.

Uhm… Yeah, I’d like to think of myself as one, anyway (and I’ve got the resume to back it up, if you’re particularly curious…), but the truth of the matter is that most of my writing is aimed at photographers who rank from ‘geez, which hole do I look into to see what I’m taking a photo of’ beginners, to ‘Hey, I do wonder what the comparative benefits of shooting in RAW is, compared to taking only JPEGs’ intermediate photographers. Truth is, more expensive cameras are objectively ‘better’.

 

… But the bottleneck is still the photographers. Take it from me: you’ll be much happier with a ‘cheap’ dSLR, a decent lens, and an oath to work hard on taking better photos, than by owning the hippest, coolest, and newest equipment on the market.

 

Concert photography is the only time where I'm feeling the 450D can occasionally let me down. But then again, I seem to have learned to work around its weaknesses, and still walk away with some pretty nifty photos...

There’s nothing quite as embarrassing as a clueless newbie behind the wheel of a sportscar. My 550D is the all-rounder that lets me do everything I need to do with a camera.

 

And best of all? A 550D isn’t throw-away money, but if something horrible were to happen to my camera and I lost or destroyed it somehow, I could swear for 45 minutes straight, before walking into the nearest shop to buy myself another one. A Canon 1Ds mk III is small-family-hatchback territory; not the kind of money I can afford to lose.

 

The bottle-neck of good photography is often the photographer. This photo, I could have taken with a disposable camera (well, maybe. Certainly with a compact).

Finally, the 550D is more like the camera that my readers are likely to use. Truth of the matter is that people who own a much more expensive camera are more likely a) to no longer need my articles, b) to think they no longer need my articles, or c) to be so far ahead of the game that I haven’t got anything to offer them anymore.

 

Oh, and by the way… I sort of like the fact that the 550D is made of plastic. It’s much lighter to travel with, looks cheaper (and so is less likely to get stolen from me) and is less invasive when I’m working with my street photography projects…

 

Which doesn’t mean that I don’t occasionally think about upgrading... The 60D and 600D are both rather tasty cameras - and the ability to sync with Speedlites without an external ST-E2 is tempting... But I don't really hunger for the top-end Canons

 

从网上找的翻译

 

为什么我不需要昂贵的相机？－－摄影的瓶颈其实是你

在我的Flickr主页上，经常会收到这样的问题：你为什么会选择用450D和550D拍摄呢？

我能够了解这个问题的弦外之音，因为在我刚刚开始成为专业摄影师那会儿，我也不会选择一台入门级机器（当年的入门机器应该是300D）作为我的备用机，1D的备用机怎么着也得选择10D、20D，到后来是30D。你可能会想，为什么如今我又沦落到用初级单反的份子上了呢？

让我来告诉你一个秘密，现如今即使是市场上最便宜的数码单反相机都是很优质的设备，想获得非凡的作品根本不需要你投入大量的钱。

 

我错过什么了？
有些人可能注意到了，我偶尔会涉足演唱会的表演现场拍摄，这个时候我的550D会偶尔让我失望。但是凭良心来说，需要如此快速地捕捉影像的时候并不多，除非某些特定的摄影题材。当然我们不排除有的时候，你意识到你正在目睹的这一刻非常棒，想把这一刻的美好永恒定格。于是你狂摁快门，祈祷能够捕捉到你最想要的画面。我只想说，在这种情况下，除非有神在帮忙，否则拍到好片子的可能性很小。

这就是我的550D不能胜任拍摄工作的唯一情形。在适当的照明下，我用550D拍摄的人像作品非常可爱。我也曾带着它在全世界各地到处拍摄，其中有不少优秀的街拍作品（如果我可以这么说自己的话）。

当然，还有一些情形下你会觉得550D不是那么好用，那就是体育摄影，当然我本人没有从事过这方面题材的拍摄，因为我总是远离体育运动。

 

如果550D够用的话…其他的摄影设备都是诡计?
等等，朋友，我可没说过这样的话。我的意思是在我的摄影水平（我敢说，也是大部分其他摄影师的水平），550D以及其他的初级单反就够用了。

摄影的最大问题在于它很容易诱惑人往器材上面砸一大笔的钱，甚至让一个人破产（译者：国内的说法就是“摄影穷三代，单反毁一生”）。当然，我们都希望能够拍摄到顶级相机能拍摄的题材，但我们并不需要去拥有它，而是用自己的方法去解决这些问题。拍摄演唱会的照片时，我会记住这些艺术家的动作，然后用自己的办法让之重现演绎。毫无疑问，我肯定失去了不少精彩的作品，但是同样的我觉得这些摄影设备的局限性让我成为了更好的摄影师。我始终认为先使用初级单反练过手的摄影师能够更加深刻地了解到器材的局限性和摄影技巧的重要性，这个时候，如果再给他一台1D，他肯定拍摄地更加得心应手。

我们要记住最重要的一点——是人在拍照，而非相机。我知道这是一个争议性的话题，但是我就是这么认为的。

想象这样一个画面：你正在一望无际的大草原上拍摄羚羊，阳光从上空打在羚羊身上，透过你的镜头，到达你的相机里……事实上，光线进去的仅仅是你的成像传感器。

我不想撒谎：我确实使用昂贵的摄影器材。最近我刚刚砸了几千美元在照明设备上。我有一些非常诱人的镜头，包括佳能50mm f/1.4 USM prime 镜头,非常性感的70-200mm f/2.8的镜头等等。我说这些是为了要证明很重要的一点，我的钱大部分都花在确实能影响照片品质的设备上。

真相就是，一台7年前的300D并没有和一台全新的550D有很大的差别，除了后者有更高的分辨率是更好的玩具以外，但其实绝大部分人并不需要这额外的分辨率。你需要的仅仅是一个可以摁动的快门、一面迅速工作的反光镜以及一个没有太多死点的光学传感器。剩下的就完全取决于你的镜片（例如你的镜头）和用光（例如阳光、闪光灯、自然光、柔光镜、柔光箱、滤光器等等）…以及摄影师本身。

即使一个摄影师拥有所有最令人羡慕的设备，但没有高超的摄影技巧，那他本身就会成为最弱的一环，就别提拍摄优秀的作品了。相反，如果是一位称职的摄影师，那么即使他手中拿的是一次性相机，他也完成就一幅出色的作品。

我的摩托车俱乐部有一句座右铭：“升级你的技能，以符合您的机器。”换句话就是：你的摩托车说不定比你更厉害，你先需要更加聪明以及辛苦的练习，否则有一天会死在车下。总之，我相信死在摩托车上的人总比死在单反相机下的人要多得多，但我仍然要强调:如果你的技术跟不上，请不要抱怨你的工具。

 

更贵的相机有什么好处？
目前常用的数码单反相机主要集中在尼康和佳能两个品牌。如果你是一位业余或专业摄影师，那么请拿起手中的相机，首先你会注意到是相机的材质，初级单反并不是东拼西凑的劣质品，但机身一般由塑料制成。当你不小心将它们摔落到地上时，将面临着很大的威胁。而更贵的相机的机身一般由铝镁合金制成，这让它们更加耐用。

更高价格和更高级别的相机往往拥有更好的屏幕、更高分辨率的传感器、更高的拍摄和处理速度以及更多配件以便你拍摄更好的照片。不同技术阶段的影友确实需要不同的摄影设备。当你的摄影水平上升到一个层次以后，完成某些项目也确实需要更好的机器。

近几年来，我还注意到摄影器材国际标准化的步子也迈得越来越大，我曾经和一些从事器材评测的朋友一起探讨过这个问题。他说，事实上微单的质量和它们大个的“前辈”一样好，除了非全画幅这一点，而且从性价比上来考虑，以后肯定会有越来越多的人会选择微单。

 

嘿 你写这篇文章是想火吧？
呃…我认为我本来就很火，谢谢。

说真的，我写这篇文章的目的是为了那些盲目的摄影爱好者，那些“天哪，我拍摄时应该看哪个孔”的入门者、那些“嘿，我觉得拍摄RAW格式的照片就是比JPG的要好”的初学者。

好相机确实更“好”，但问题的核心仍然在摄影师身上。请记住：带着一台“便宜”的数码单反、一个像样的镜头以及一颗发誓努力的决心去拍摄照片会让你更加开心，这些远比拥有市场上最嬉皮、最酷和最新的设备要更加重要。

没有什么会比一个新手司机不知所措地坐在名贵跑车的驾驶座更尴尬的了。而我的550D是全才，它可以做一切相机能够做的事。

更好的是，购买一台550D并不是在一掷千金，如果不幸遗失或者损坏了它，
我会在咒骂45分钟以后径直走进最近的相机商店重新购买一台。但如果丢失的是1D，哦，天啊，后果太不堪设想了。

最后，550D更像是我的读者会使用的相机，事实上那些愿意购买更昂贵相机的人们

不再需要看我的文章
认为他们不再需要看我的文章
他们的水平已经遥遥领先我，我也没有什么东西可以提供给他们了
再顺便说一句，我的550D是塑料材质的，我并不觉得这有什么不好。它很轻，旅行的时候带上它非常轻巧；它看上去很便宜，这样就没有小偷在打我的主意了；它看起来不引人注目，让我扫街时就更为隐蔽和方便。

“为什么不”并不意味着我不会偶尔想想升级……60D和600D都是非常不错的相机，但是我从来都不会做的就是——盲目地崇拜那些高端相机。