A number of my friends are symphony musicians. Today, one of them
posted on Facebook that she had found a great online deal on a set of
high-end violin strings, and wondered if they were OK. This led to a
discussion of the fine points of shelf life, variants of the brand, and
whether a platinum-coated E-string is better than a plain tin one.
And I wished that the "your camera (or lens) doesn't matter" crowd were
listening in. Yes, musicians argue over instruments, strings, reeds and
mouthpieces, just as artists *do* argue over paintbrushes, and
photographers argue about cameras and lenses. Does anyone seriously
believe that a cheap school-orchestra fiddle should sound as good as a
Stradivarius or Guarneri violin? Yes, the best players might be able to
make the bad fiddle sound reasonably good, but no way would it sound as
good as the Strad.
So why do some of us constantly down people who prefer Lens A over Lens
B, or Camera 1 over Camera 2? The lens "resonates" the light,
emphasizing some aspects while diminishing others, just as the
instrument resonates the sound. The camera's ergonomics and design are
optimum for one type of picture over another. And a camera that you
have to fight to get the shot is just as hampering as the violin with a
bad "wolf" tone in an exposed passage.
Yes, of course musicians can get cultlike about this brand over that,
just as photographers do about cameras and lenses. Yes, a good
photographer my be able to take a decent picture with any camera or
lens, just as the musician may be able to turn in a decent performance
with any instrument. But if my friend is going to play a big solo, she
wants the best violin and strings she can afford. If you handed her a
cheap school fiddle and told her that "instruments don't matter, it's
the musician that makes the music," she would probably think you were an
ignoramus (to be charitable). And she'd be right.
The hard truth is: Tools do matter. Maybe not so much with Web-sized
JPGs, and maybe not to rank beginners. But once you're doing things
"for real," they do matter. A lot.
--Peter
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