You should consider that many pro photographers use equipment to earn a
living, and that the cost of a body or lens can be very little to a
significant news agency or magazine. The priority of a major new story
might far outway the $4-600 for a body.
I worked as a freelance photojournalist for a couple of years after college
in the early 80's (folllowing 4 yrs on the college staff), and I saw what
many photographers did to their equipment. They were typically carrying 2-3
bodies (usually Nikon, Canon, or Leica) with prime lenses and there was a
lot of banging together of cameras. They got stuffed into Domke F2's or
other canvas bags at a moments notice along with the other lenses that were
in there. And if one of the bodies happened to hit the ground, oh well!
PJ's carried their cameras 24 hrs/day to get whatever pictures were
necessary. I put 100-150 rolls/month through my cameras (OM's), and I knew
many who did 2-3x that much. The cameras were tools. In fact, if I had any
camera or lens that let me down; it immediately went to the shop, and was
replaced by a spare body for the interim. I got pretty buddy-buddy with the
Atlanta Olympus repair service during that time, and they'd loan me a spare
body or lens if mine was in their shop. Olympus had a loaner program for
professionals during that time that was pretty competitive with Nikon or
Canon.
Now, I was pretty careful with my equipment, but I still ruined one OM-1
body by dropping it onto a brick walk. It cracked the mirror box and was
declared beyond-economic-repair. But many PJ's were unnecessarily rough on
their stuff, especially if it belonged to the newspaper. I think that many
guys thought that they looked more impressive if they used beat-up
equipment. Kind of like macho war wounds, I guess.
Skip
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From: Dr Peter Gilbert <peterg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Which raises the question - what the heck do pro photogs do to their
cameras that get them into such a terrible state? Roll them down
stairs? Twenty minutes a day in a cement mixer with some rocks?
You've just gotta wonder......
peter
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