ISO50

Yessir, my 7D was one of the best investments of my life to date!

They used the worst possible camera and still got good shots. That is saying something. You could get a $250 D50 and a kit lens and make fine prints up to 12×18 (I know that because I’ve done it.) Honestly, it is about the light. It’s always about the light. That’s what photography is, light, then composing with it.

You can get a great photo with any camera. You can take amazing photos with a fucking $5 disposable camera. Don’t believe me?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laura-gommans/3984044776/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidteter/2610488213/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chalkbass/1653831406/

Oh yeah, and here’s another iPhone photo without any professional lighting:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sionfullana/3883742054/

The only thing you need a better camera for? If you’re printing large, fine art prints. The only reason I ever upgraded from my D50 is for the resolution. I was one of the few people that needed the resolution, because I’m printing and selling 16×24’s and 20×30’s and I refuse anything below 180dpi (and that’s really stretching it. in an ideal world, I want to print at 300dpi all the time).

Regarding more quality at the same resolution? You’ll get more quality out of buying a better lens than by buying a better camera.

I use a 30d still and so far it’s been rock solid but I feel very limited by the cropped sensor. I can usually tell when people are using full-frame versus cropped-frame. It’s just a whole new world with a full frame. I can’t wait to get my 5dmkII. Hopefully this year.

Also, people are not mentioning the importance of a quality lens. Yeah, that’s cool some people take pretty pictures on accident but when you gotta deliver consistent, quality images to a client that are sharp and clear… you want good equipment.

Oh and also helps to be good at Photoshop.

Pictures are cool though. I just don’t like the second one. Her eyes are way too dark – not sure why they didn’t adjust the lights for that.

I guess this proves what most professional photographers know, and most young and aspiring photographers aching for new equipment / technogeeks doesn’t know; It’s not the camera that takes good pictures. It’s the photographer.

OMG.

Very well done. This is something I see for the first time, but the idea is universal. He is right, a good photographer does not need good equipment or a camera to do a good job. It also applies to artists who think they cannot create something beautiful with a pen. I totally agree with him.

Great post.Will come back here more often.

Wow, who is the model in this shoot??

She’s stunningly beautiful…

Sorry guys, but these images do not prove that a good photographer can create good images with any equipment. I’m not saying that’s not true, I’m just saying that those pictures certainly don’t prove it.

You take any random guy off the street and put him in front of that girl, in that light, with an iphone and he’ll get shots at least that good. Sorry, but it’s true.

Equipment matters, period. Light also matters, arguably more. The photogarpher matters too, surely most of all. But it all matters. And gimmics like the one above only prove that you can take that particular picture with an iphone… any experienced photographer could rattle off a dozen scenereos where the iphone couldn’t get the shot.

Olivia Price.

Kevin A. (comment 16), well said and I do agree 100%.
Every details of the set-up matters.

I always say that it’s not about the camera and I believe it’s true. As long it’s about 6Mp it’s fine for smaller prints too.

With that being said the main aspect of getting quality pictures is lenses and lighting equipment. I reckon this doesn’t show that you can use ANY equipment. I mean he’s using lighting equipment for $10 000.

Take a camera like 400D which is pretty OK and fit it with 18-55 and you won’t be that satisfied with you pictures but take the same camera and fit it with a 85mm F1.2 L and you’ll start to see some magic.

@Brad:

You’re right, I assumed that the lights were already set up for our random stranger. I also assumed that the model would know where to stand and how to pose, and how to make that slightly confused deer in the headlights look… this one obviously would.

I think it’s awesome. Yes, we can all go on talking about the high end gear vs the (crappy) cheap gear, but at the end of the day i rate this shows we live in a world where great captures are becoming a whooole lot more easier to come by. Some might complain that it means everyone can take a good pic (same goes for alot of music applications) and we are watering everything down, but then I think of that story where the one side of the art class was asked to produce quantity over quality and the other side vica versa, int he end the quantity section produced the most beautiful vases learning through trial and error.

I personally see this almost as (and bare with me if i become too esoteric here) that if everyday people have the tools to make better looking photos, or art for that matter, by accident/fluke then there’s a greater chance of them getting in contact with this crazy world that we (designers, musicians, photographers, artists etc) live in and appreciate so.

It’s like Sesame Street from the 70’s where Phillip glass does a segment on counting to ten vs today’s child education programs.

Just goes to show… iPhones are an incredible device. And Blackberrys suck. That’s it, that’s all.

Sincerely,
Amber Roy
Calgary Web Designer

I think high end photo cameras will be gone within the next ten years. Of course, professional lighting did it for Lee’s fashion shoot, but he’s made a real point here: you really don’t need a high priced camera. I think I’ll put my D3 (just ten months old!) up for sale on eBay and only do iPhone 4 (with even far better quality than the 3G Lee used) shoots. And don’t forget: You don’t need to buy expensive lights. Just rent a studio for a day. Cheers.