Camera Gear Compliments

Skewb

Skewb

Member
Standing in lift line people gawk at me with my camera setup, (t3i, glidecam, mic and tokina, typical ns setup) asking me common phrases such as:

-is that a fisheye?

-nice camera

-what's that furry thing?

-how much did that cost?

I feel as if I am from outer space by the looks and gaper comments I get. Is it just my home resort, (snowbasin) or does this happen at all resorts? What are your experiences with this?

 
Ive got tge same exact setup and ive gotten "is that waterproof" "you should get a gopro" and "who do you work for? "
 
I was skiing down the mountain today with a S800 and got several comments such as.

Do you work for Amazon?

When will my package be here?

How much does that cost?

Is that a drone?

ext...
 
What's even more fun is shooting on cheap, unimpressive equipment that make people scoff at you and pay no attention. Then when the video drops they try and remember if they saw some dude with a big expensive rig there.

I think I saw some article in Freeskier back during the first JOI comp. Chris O'Connell was shooting it from the audience with a point and shoot, and some hack hobbyist with a full SLR kit was giving him shit for being a newb (based on his camera choice). If he only knew...
 
telling people that it is a dead kitten and then watching their facial expression is my favorite thing to do
 
Two main things I always get:

"Whoa that's a serious camera setup"/"damn that's a really nice camera man"

"Does that take photos or video's"
 
it annoys me because it marginalizes the skill behind good video. its like telling a writer "oh you must have some really good pencils"
 
My biggest problem with photo and video cultures is that it's so populated with douchy camera nerds. When people care too much about camera models/specs, I take that as a sign that their work sucks.
 
I was in the lift line with my 7d/glidecam setup, some dude says, "Wow thats a little more then just a go-pro, its like....its like a GO LEGEND!!"
 
My canon s110 is my main camera now. I don't even care about having fancy crap anymore. It takes pictures, and the image quality is fine. RAW makes colors arbitrary. I've never had an experience like that yet though. Although I lol when people with way to much gear show up somewhere. Pretty sure you didn't need 4 lenses to walk around the city.

But any time I shoot with my tlr, people like the camera. It's a cool looking camera though. Everybody compliments it, asks about how old it is, if it's film, if it takes good pictures. People are amazed by waistlevels too. They are really cool though.
 
I feel like there is 2 extremes to the camera scene today, its kind of annoying.

You have people who are way into the gear being good and there specs being high and sick. Witch can be very annoying. But on the other hand you have some people on the other end stoked on how little they have. Like oh man i shoot one lens on this crappy camera. I shoot sd check me out I'm real artsy.

When did gear become a statement about your work. Isn't camera gear just tools? Why don't people simply use the gear they use to tell the story they want to tell? I feel like people think there gear defines there work, weather or not they have good or bad gear. It shouldn't be like this.

If you excel with an vx 100 and love shooting with it you should shoot with it. But don't say hey HD is so played man its not original i am going to just shoot SD because I'm different ya I'm deferent show up to the scene with my cam SD.

On the other hand people should not be like sherpas shot there whole film on an epic 4k!!!!! I need and epic with 4k and cinema lenses.

Also another thing i think about is being stoked on technology and being a nerd. I read in the thread that people that are film nerds are douchy and talk about there specs. I for one am a huge camera nerd and love talking about specs and technical accepts. I can geek out mad hard to cameras that i will never afford nor ever shoot with. I just love cameras, and am stoked on technology and how it works. Does this mean my work is bad and i focus way to much on equipment? Maybe i don't know haha.

Any way just some random thoughts on this vomited in text on this thread. Just my opinions not very well expressed haha.
 
As far as prejudice goes I'd say it isn't too unreasonable.

A person who thinks that the camera matters as much as their gear fetish indicates tends to be the person whose practices reflect that belief: bad lighting, stabilization, editing, and conceptual design, all inadequately compensated for with their peripheral camera specs used as a crutch.

How much does a it cost to build a diffuser or wake up before sunrise? But no, they insist on buying into some full frame club and a shiny red ring because they've convinced themselves that owning those things is anything other than superfluous.

Granted, exceptions exist. I thought this was a given?
 
Very interesting perspective. I say shoot with whatever you want and the camera is just a tool to show your story
 
I don't want to be misunderstood here.

There's nothing wrong with taking an interest in technology and engaging in engineering discourse. There is something wrong when someone thinks that, at the end of the day, having some marginally better camera feature is going to have any substantial impact on the quality of their art. This is the same person who acts as a cog in the machine of pointless consumerism: your value is heavily dependent on your ability to buy things. It's horse shit. That whole attitude is poison to art.

I don't need anyone to explain to me the advantages of nice gear, especially for working photographers/videographers (I've been doing this for a while). I know the technological merits of all that stuff, and I still say it doesn't matter. If there's anything I've learned in the 9 years I've been doing video it's this: the luxury of nice equipment lies in its ability to be transparent in your hands. At best it allows you to work to your full potential, but does not further that potential itself. Anyone who believes otherwise is delusional.
 
people ask what the furry thing is, my response everytime.. "well I'm not sure, I just know I skinned it myself" best reactions every time
 
I love when people compliment my setup. My mountain has a few guys that film so we all talk and it's dope when people like your setup.
 
I had a xgrip 6D and a 14mm at whiteface last week, and usually I get the classic looks and the talks and what not. But this one guy on the quad was like, so what do you do with that. I say, film, he says so like what you strap it to your chest some how? you know they sell some great high def cameras at best buy, they fit in your pocket these days or go pro, check them out. I didn't know what to say back besides ya.
 
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