The Round Blog

Gears: they are just tools

I have never been able to write some really in-depth review of the tools I use. I know my gear and I like to know how to get the best from them, but I am not able to write miles of technical specifications about them or review the differences between two similar tools. Tools, yes they are just tools for me. One year ago I was lucky to be able to afford the Canon 5D Mark II (thanks to my lovely wife) and I did not regret the bought, but still I am one of those who thinks that it is the great photographer who take great pictures, not a great camera.
"You are not going to impress photographers with your gear, you are going to impress them with your photos!"
In these days I am lucky enough to be able to test the Canon top of the range professional camera, the 1Ds Mk iii. It is simply fantastic, I love the nice frame rate while shooting outside and the grip makes the portrait shots really easy to shoot, not to talk about the focusing system of course... ...yes, all these things are notable, even if I am glad not to have to compile a technical difference specs between the two cameras, but still they are tools, both of them.

Few months ago, when I posted on twitter the quote about what makes a great photographer, someone commented that it is simple to say so with a 5D Mk II in my hands. For how true that comment might have been I had a simple 40D before, and an old olympus before, and some of the shots that I love more in my portfolio have NOT been taken with my latest camera, and some were taken with a £1.5 1970 all manual film camera.
Being a photographer is something that must come from the inside, despite the piece of equipment you have in your hands. One of the lenses that I still love more is the "Nifty Fifty" or, as someone once told me "THAT piece of c**p!". The super cheap 50mm f/1.8 is superb, and you can probably get one for less that £100.
So I decided to publish this photo, one of the IMPERFECT images I took, taken with one of the best DSRL on the market. Yes, it is moved, and then? I like it, I like the moment, what you can see and what is hidden, but can be imagined. I like the tones, the closed eye and everything that split this image from the perfect photos out there.