攝影進階熱門話題 你真的需要新相機嗎？——相機品牌廠商們不想讓我們知道的……【Rick Bebbington】【攝影進階熱門話題】

The major camera companies do not want you to know this. The vast majority of filmmakers and photographers should not buy the latest cameras. I'm going to explain exactly why this is and what I think you should do instead in order to get better at taking photographs and making videos. I'll also explain a bit later on how I'd invest my money if I was buying a camera now. One of the most commonly asked questions on social media and on YouTube in the photography and filmmaking sphere is what camera was this shot on? The answer in pretty much all instances is that it does not matter. It's becoming easier and easier as a filmmaker and photographer to fall into the trap of thinking that you need the latest and greatest cameras and that this will allow you to make your best work. I'm sorry to disappoint you but it won't. I'm going to tell you what will a bit later on. This video has come about because last week Sony announced their new camera the A93 and the main headlines of this camera were a global shutter and the ability to shoot 120 photographs per second which is absolutely mind-blowing that that's achievable and this comes off the back of last year's announcement of the A7R5 which featured AI autofocus and a 61 megapixel sensor. The things that camera companies are putting into their new cameras these days as far as technology goes is absolutely incredible. But it is not necessary for 99% of filmmakers and photographers. And I mention both because there are a lot of hybrid shooters these days people that use a compact mirrorless kit to shoot both photography and video and I am one of these people. I run a Sony system based on two mirrorless cameras that I use to shoot photography and videos mainly in an outdoor setting. These new cameras are almost making photography and filmmaking a little bit too easy. Well maybe not too easy just a bit less of a challenge and that's a bit of a problem in my opinion. I used to be obsessed with owning the best camera equipment. I needed the best full-frame cameras. I needed f2.8 lenses on the zooms and f1.4 or 1.2 on the primes. I used to use the best lighting gear when I worked in a studio. The best filters, the best tripods, the best laptop, the best drone. And when I think about it not a lot of it really mattered. Having all this stuff was my way of fighting the imposter syndrome I felt within. It was my way of showing I'm the real deal and I know what I'm doing because I've got all this great stuff. And it worked but it also didn't work. All that matters is the final image the final output from your camera and I'm not convinced that all that gear allowed me to improve on this final output. I say that new cameras are making things a little bit too easy and I think that if things become easier and less of a challenge it just gets a little bit boring and just not as fun. We humans need challenges in our lives in order to grow and to flourish and to get better creatively. The challenge to me is part of the fun. Better gear can allow us to be more creative but I think there's a bit of a line that's now been crossed. I feel like we're in an age now where camera companies are just adding things to new cameras for the sake of it. We're in an area of diminishing returns with new camera updates. I mean who needs to shoot 120 frames in a second in photography? Who actually needs global shutter? I certainly don't and I don't think many of the people who watch this channel do either. There may be some select individuals who shoot wildlife or sports or in studio settings who these features will be important for but if you consider all of the images that have been taken without this technology before this point I don't see how those images could be bettered on. It might make things a little bit easier like I say and that removes the challenge. Is that actually necessary? Why is it suddenly worth spending all that extra money now when you're not actually able to do anything that different to what you were able to do before? Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm, Canon, Panasonic all need to make money and their best bet for making money is by producing new cameras. They want you to believe that you need the shiniest newest tech-packed gear in order to be a better photographer or filmmaker. They want you to think that you cannot fulfill your creative potential without having the newest and the best gear but that is just not true. Earlier I said that if the craft becomes easy then photography and filmmaking becomes less fun. These activities should be hard. It's why people spend their entire lives in some cases trying to be the best photographer or filmmaker that they can be and it's all about investment into the creative process not investment into the gear that you use for that creative process. I honestly believe that some of the newest kit certainly the newest kit I've been able to get my hands on takes some of the fun out of it. I did buy a Sony a7R V earlier this year and that was mainly for work purposes and I can honestly say that it's probably the least inspiring and the least fun camera that I've ever owned and that makes me start to think that maybe this is one of the reasons there's been such a renaissance in people actually shooting on film over recent years. It's to re-inject some of that challenge and some of that fun back into photography. The camera companies are doing everything they can to make you think that the what is important and it is to a degree but it's just nowhere near as important as the how or as the why. I made a video last year saying that camera gear matters and I'm fully aware that I'm going to get called out as a hypocrite now for creating this video only one year later and I do still stand by much of what I said in that video. Cameras have over the last few years got to a point where in-body image stabilization is standard where dynamic range isn't really improving and where most of them also have weather sealing and they're three of the main things that I look at when I'm picking a camera that I need to use for work or want to use for my hobby. If these are the things that you need from a camera then you don't have to look at the newest cameras in order to get a perfectly capable camera that includes them. So if new gear isn't the answer then what is? Well, it's decidedly simple. It's getting out, taking pictures, putting in the time. Sorry if you were expecting more but this is the answer. It's the only answer. The harsh truth is that if you can't take a good photograph on a 15 year old Canon 500D then you're not gonna be able to take a decent photograph on a Sony A7R5. If you are in the market for a new camera at the moment think long and hard about your needs. Marketing plays heavily on our fears what we might be missing out on. What if in six months I need a full frame camera or what if in the future I need a 61 megapixel sensor? Nobody needs a 61 megapixel sensor by the way. I mentioned diminishing returns earlier buying a new camera is a lot like buying a car. As soon as you bought that camera its value is considerably less than what you pay for it. My advice would be to buy what you need for now and do everything you can to get better at using it. Pretty much any decent camera released in the last five years or so would be more than sufficient for the majority of people that will see this video and probably for me as well. Earlier today I asked on social if any photographers could send me some images or videos that have been taken on older gear and I've had an amazing response to it and all of these images I'm showing you now were taken on older kit and it just shows exactly what is possible. These cameras that were used to take these images were really good at the time of use and they're still really good cameras now and it just goes to show what can be captured on older kit. These guys have put the time into studying photography. They've endlessly practiced and they've learned from the mistakes. If anything I think I have more appreciation for these images knowing now that they were shot on older gear. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that sent stuff in. I got a lot more than I expected and I'm afraid I just haven't got time to show them all but I just wanted to quickly say thanks to Felix who sent this in and this was shot on a D750 and actually won World Landscape Photographer two years ago and Gareth who sent this in. This was shot on a Z6 and Gareth won at the British Photography Awards just earlier this week. So congratulations to both of them for those winning images which are incredible and shot on I suppose what we're saying is older kit but it's not older kit really is it? I mean that's just kind of is less than sort of 10 years old. If you really want to look at older kit Alex sent these in and these were shot on a Leica from 1948 and I've also had these from Mark Littlejohn who took these images on 30, 40 year old lenses. It just goes to show that if you buy and use the right kit and put the time into learning you can capture some really good stuff and it doesn't really matter how old the kit is. If you're willing to shop around then you can get some absolute bargains now. This a7IV for example recently sold on eBay for just over £1,000 which is nearly £2,000 less than the list price and if you're worried about buying used off eBay you can use a site like Wexused or MPB and buy used gear with just a little bit more confidence and then these savings you make doing this will allow you to invest in the things that will really help you improve as a photographer or filmmaker. Going on workshops for example or buying new lenses or even going on trips dedicating weekends or weeks to just immersing yourself in photography in that particular location that will be so much more valuable to you than the latest and greatest new camera body. If my work wasn't centred around photography and filmmaking then I'd probably now invest in either a Fujifilm X-T3 or maybe an X-T4 just because that is the model where they added the embody image stabilisation and you can see here how much these can be picked up for now used and you will save so much money than if you were to drop £4,000 on an a7R5 for example and as I said in last week's video some of my favourite images were taken on a Fujifilm X-T2 which is now what I don't know of like a six or seven year old camera. A different camera wouldn't have improved these images learning and practising to be a better photographer that's what would have improved them and I know that this is just an APS-C camera but most people do not need a full frame camera. I worked on a video a couple of weeks ago with Nigel Danson where he compared APS-C to full frame and then to medium format. Unless you're going really big with your prints and the majority of us aren't then a full frame just isn't worth the extra cost. You need to be really honest about your own photography and your own filmmaking and take it from there. Don't just assume because you spend more money on camera gear that that will make your photography and your filmmaking better. It's so easy to get caught up in new camera hype. Believe me I have been there more than once. You can very easily convince yourself that you need more but honestly you don't.