Your camera isn’t important
Getting good photos really doesn’t have much to do with what kind of camera you have. Nikon and Canon spend billions of dollars every year trying to convince us that we need to buy expensive stuff to be better at taking pictures.
This is a myth.
What matters is you. What matters is your skill level and how well you can communicate something visually by making a picture that people see something in. This matters. The latest Nikon D10 mk viii doesn’t mean squat.
We all get the gear bug, its normal. But just don’t ever think that a different camera will make you create anything different that what you already do.
If you want to get better, go shoot on an older camera that’s more difficult to use. You’ll learn how you’ll have to do more with less. THAT might make you a better photographer if you just HAVE to change your equipment.
A wonderful example of this is the work of outsider artist Miroslav Tichy.
Personally I do believe that the camera does play it’s role in the photographic process, sure you don’t need the latest and greatest to create a portrait but there are cases where you need a certain piece of gear in order to get the shot.
If the camera didn’t matter at all then that would mean that you’d be able to get similar if not the same shots with a large format camera than a smaller 35mm DSLR, say you’re shooting sports, could you accomplish the same task using a 4×5 camera than a 35mm DSLR camera? It would not only prove to be more difficult but it wouldn’t be the right choice of gear for the task.
Just like a painter must choose the right brush for the job, a photographer must choose the right gear for the job and the name brand shouldn’t be taken into consideration.
I guess the whole “the camera isn’t important” is based around the fact that the majority of photographers are using similar gear and that using a 4 year old DSLR vs a just released DSLR makes little, if at all, difference when taking or making photos thus not taking into consideration the vast amount of different cameras and formats which aren’t suitable for every job whereas your run of the mill DSLR might adapt to many many jobs.
Have you ever seen a Ferrari pulling a plough, or a tractor win a grand prix ?
The real reason that new digital kit is offered it seems every year is that it DOES get better ! We seem to forget that digital technology is new, and by no means fully developed. Compare M8 to M9 ( less than a decade appart)
I would sugest that the quickest way to become a better photographer is to NOT shoot for at least a month, and to use this time to ask your self your motives for taking pictures, and what you honestly wish to achieve and what is the minimum kit required to achieve your vision.
Ted, would H.C.B choose a meterless, manual focus film camera if he were a young man today ?