Hi Conrad ... I'd like to address some of the points and comments you made. My comments are interspersed with yours. However, it's a long message, so it'll appear in two parts. Conrad said: > As a crotchety old timer (well, maybe not) I get annoyed > by people who say that until they simply were unable to take > decent photos until they bought themselves model X or model Y. > There are people to-day who are using equipment of all sorts > and who do a damn fine job as professionals using whatever > their choice might be. There are on occasion special needs > which can sometimes only be catered for by certain > configurations I admit ... And I rejoined: I agree 100%. But let's put that into perspective. There are probably people who, for whatever reason were unable to take decent photos until they bought certain gear. One reason is that their style of photography or subject matter mat be better served with a particular type of equipment. I have no argument with this. Others may have a need for certain features because of physical limitations or special needs, as you noted. Some people can't see well enough to focus accurately with certain cameras, and autofocus may be a very handy feature. OTOH, some people feel they must have the newest and the "best" gear available, and fall for marketing hype. And, let's face it, some people are just lazy, and the idea of practicing with a camera body and its compliment of lenses until they can use them without having to think about what their doing, until the camera becomes an extension of their mind, their eyes, and their fingers, until it's almost a part of them, is something for which they do not have neither the patience nor the personality. Conrad continued: > ... but to make sometimes blanket statements is misleading > and I think does an injustice to equipment in general. There > must be many list members who never post but who avidly read > and take in every word spoken by those who do, who are possibly > themselves unable to obtain never mind use much equipment which > better off list members take for granted and who are mislead or > even disheartened by unqualified claims which are reminiscent > of the old-style ads one used to see in magazines to the effect > that you had to buy whatever the product was before you could > enjoy life in some way. Concurring, I write: This, too, is one of my pet peeves. All too often comments about equipment or film are made on this list (and, to be fair, other lists as well) which have no substance behind them. Someone may ask about a piece of equipment, for example, and get a response that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. But without knowing how the advocate uses the item, what s/he's comparing it to, what his or her experience is, and the type of results s/he is looking for or is getting, these comments do nothing but get people excited and desirous of getting some new-fangled item. They become, in the parlance of this list, "enabled". Of course, many such comments also lead to more revealing discussions as well, and that's the good part of the excitation process. More to follow ... -- Shel Belinkoff mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
