lately allot of amateurs tell me... but you have...

[sandro9mm]

lately allot of amateurs tell me, but you have professional camera I bet it takes incredible photos - only if I had that I would also take amazing photos...

whats ur answer to this? do u usually try to educate em that pro camera requires more skills more talent and more hard work? they think if u pay 2K for a camera it should do all the work instead of u, but its the other way around!

wtf, this is 2 people in one day already - they are pissing me off, by saying that they are degrading my skills, degrading my vision and style (if I have one of course)...

anyways, enough with nagging, I go sleep now.

[Red Dot]

just ignore them. do whats best for your photography.
if you really need to reply, politely say "Yes, I do take incredible photos" and then get back to shooting
;)

[Roy Mathers]

Michaelangelo must have had amazing chisels!

[superstes]

I read this reply on here a while back, but can't remember which thread, and I think I have changed it a little, but it would be fun to say

but you have professional camera I bet it takes incredible photos - only if I had that I would also take amazing photos...

Tell them 'Theres only one crucial element of my camera that makes it take better pictures than yours' then stay silent, when they ask what it is, say 'it's the one square meter directly behind it :lol:

Steve

[Mark1]

Tell them..

" I got it at the same store where Shakespeare got his pen!!"

[Claire]

Tell them..

" I got it at the same store where Shakespeare got his pen!!"

That's not a bad one!

[Jryan]

Tell them..

" I got it at the same store where Shakespeare got his pen!!"

:lol: Very good!

[thekid24]

Tell them..

" I got it at the same store where Shakespeare got his pen!!"
But we all know that if Ol' Shakes had a ballpoint.....no telling the possibilities:p

Ive had the same thing said to me, and what I do is turn it into a client.

Ill tell them yeah it does, and offer to take their pictures. BOOM...moneys for me!

If they want to think the camera takes great photos, who am I to stop them as theyre saying that while handing me cash?

Gotta use that square meter for more than just composing a shot.

[Claire]

I hear it all the time and I just ignore it and smile without feeling very offended. At times I let them borrow the camera to give them the chance for testshots. Some find that the camera indeed does give them better images (of course it will to some extent), but they'll also see the difference between my and their shots due to composition etc.

[New Hobby]

I would say talent trump equipment. Here is a photographer who uses a p&s. http://www.flickr.com/photos/darwinbell/

[OdiN1701]

Picaso must have had awesome paintbrushes!!!

WAIT WHAT AM I SAYING???

[Mark1]

Just thinking about this..... Most everybody that says this is a P&S person.... a snapshoter if you will. People that know the difference, don't say it.

[superdiver]

I tell them, "if I can do it you can."

Then they ask what should I get, I say "if you want to play the game be ready to drop some coin."

Then I go on to recommend the best equipment I can think of (none of which I own...LOL).



When I see them a couple of months later they are toting around some little POS P&S and telling me what a great deal they got on it compared to what I recommended. I congratulate them and laugh on the inside....



When I see them a little later on TRYING to get a decent shot of something I hand them a card of mine so they can see some of the shots I got and ask them to check out my site and let me know what they think.



When I see them at another event they ask me to take shot of their kid for them and they dont carry around the OS P&S.... LMAO...

It takes a while, but I have found that people learn the best on their own and that the best laughs come after the longest waits.




The best results are when they actually go out and buy the SPENDY gear and you see it once and then never again... yeah, sure, anyone can do it, but it takes work, people dont want to work anymore...


Only ONCE in my life has someone taken my advice and bought the good stuff and stuck with it. Now when I see him shooting something we hang out and are great friends....LMAO...

[PhotosGuy]

I had that I would also take amazing photos... "Too bad yours doesn't. You can have a nice 8X12" print of this shot of your kid for only $20." ;)

[MikeMcL]

I always talk up the camera they have and let them know that it really doesnt matter the camera, there is alot more to it than that.

Some of the best pics i took were with my old junky cameras back in the day.

I also throw in "i could take great pictures with YOUR camera" it is a great camera... This makes them realize that it isnt really the gear at all, but the vision of the person behind it.

On the other hand, i do my photography for myself, and i dont give a flying poo what people think, good or bad.

[nicksan]

I would just ignore them.

Feeling offended by comments like that actually tells me more about you than them.

You can either choose to "educate" them (hint...they aren't interested) or accept that there are differing views in this world (and guess what, your view isn't necessarily the correct one) and move on.

Was what they said silly? Sure.

Should you care? Probably not...

[Roy Mathers]

Well said, nicksan, especially the bit about 'they aren't interested. Not everyone shares our interest in photography - or have the desire to own the latest all-singing, all-dancing SLR. They are quite happy with their P&S. And why shouldn't they be? You'll probably find, on talking to them, that they know far more about a particular subject than you do - but I bet they don't laugh at you because of it. To do so is pure arrogance and snobbery.

[chauncey]

I've always told my children, "don't be concerned what others think of you, be concerned what you think of yourself, don't have a fragile ego".
Are you suffering from insecurity? If not, don't worry about the double digit IQ folks.

[cdifoto]

But we all know that if Ol' Shakes had a ballpoint.....no telling the possibilities:p
Screw pens. He'd have one helluva blog. You'd have to read every entry 12 times just to decipher it but even so...

[Roy Mathers]

I've always told my children, "don't be concerned what others think of you, be concerned what you think of yourself, don't have a fragile ego".
Are you suffering from insecurity? If not, don't worry about the double digit IQ folks.

Are you saying that only people with a high IQ have DSLRs?:D

[michaelgreen78]

I have had this said to me quite a few times. Annoying for sure if it's random people saying it but also people have seen my photos and then said that I must have a good camera - I thank them as they are trying to pay a complement, even if it is in a misguided way!

Another good comeback, that someone has in their sig is "That was a lovely dinner, you must have an amazing set of pans!"

[thekid24]

Screw pens. He'd have one helluva blog. You'd have to read every entry 12 times just to decipher it but even so...
Screw blogs...he could just make videos about folding reflectors:p...in a dramatic way of course...you know Shake's:rolleyes:

[Croasdail]

I would tell him, yeah, you could be right. Size of sensor matters, quality of glass matters, speed of focus matters, speed of shutter matters, dof matters, accuracy of view finder matters, ability to control exposure matters. None of these alone will make an ordinary photographer great, but not having these could hold someone back who is. All those artist you mentioned did use the finest tools available to them. The ability to shape the paint did impact paint flow to canvas. The ability of the chisel to hold an edge did make a difference. A great race car driver can make an awful car go faster than the average person could - but they still wouldn't win a race. You need the convergence of talent and tools to win.

Who knows how much talent these others have... until they have the right tools you may never know. One thing for sure though, even the best equipment will not make an ordinary photographer anything more than a super ordinary photographer with lots of stuff.

[chauncey]

I would have thought that DSLR folks had high IQ's, but based on these responses, they also crave a lot of strokes.

It's not enough to know we're good, our egos demand that everyone else know we're good.

I, on the other hand, have a triple advantage, double digit IQ and suck at photography and have an ego measured in negative numbers.

[elader]

lately allot of amateurs tell me, but you have professional camera I bet it takes incredible photos - only if I had that I would also take amazing photos...

whats ur answer to this? do u usually try to educate em that pro camera requires more skills more talent and more hard work? they think if u pay 2K for a camera it should do all the work instead of u, but its the other way around!

wtf, this is 2 people in one day already - they are pissing me off, by saying that they are degrading my skills, degrading my vision and style (if I have one of course)...

anyways, enough with nagging, I go sleep now.

Tell them a 30D is an outdated amateur cam. :lol: No seriously, tell them that since you bought a good saucepan, you have become an excellent chef.

[tonylong]

Being uneducated about photography doesn't make people jerks, it just means that they are ignorant of a field that has technical as well as creative factors that most people are not aware of. Photographers can be jerks as well -- witness the derision that sometimes is heaped on people with P&S cameras. Hey, I shot with a P&S camera a couple of days ago!

And, honestly, those of us with SLR gear got that gear so that we could take better pics in a wider variety of conditions, right?

So, when someone compliments my gear, I smile and don't give it serious thought, unless it's to give an intelligent non-snobbish answer (or in reflection regarding certain threads on the forum).

A lady commented a few days ago "That's some serious equipment!" Now I could have said (or imagined saying) "No, I'm a serious photographer, you silly thing!"

But instead I smiled and honestly said "Yeah, it is serious gear!"

A guy commented a couple days ago the old "That lens can probably catch the hairs on a fly's butt!". Of course at MFD it actually can do pretty good close-ups, but I just said "It doesn't get real close, but it does help me to get some good pictures."

Actually, the only remarks that I get that show a bit of disrespect toward me and my gear are family and very close friends that get impatient with my passion for photography, but they still love me:)!

[JeffreyG]

Are you saying that only people with a high IQ have DSLRs?:D

Well, triple digit only requires one to be average....

[bildeb0rg]

You'll probably find that it's actually an attempt to open a dialogue, and they are just struggling to articulate it.
Engage with them and you'll be pleasantly surprised by either their enthuiasm or knowledge, not necessarily about photography, but for their hobby or proffesion.
"Nice car mate" probably wears a bit thin to Lewis Hamilton too.

[Roy Mathers]

I would have thought that DSLR folks had high IQ's, but based on these responses, they also crave a lot of strokes.

It's not enough to know we're good, our egos demand that everyone else know we're good.
.

Not necessarily! Just owners of expensive equipment.

[Stocky]

I remember a saying from back when I was in to mountain biking that "The best way to make your bike look fast is to win a race with it." There will always be people impressed with the big new toys, but I think the best measure is always what you can do with it.

When people comment on my camera I usually take a few seconds to figure out if they are really interested, or if they just saw something flashy that caught their attention (gear whore). I have no problem spending some time talking to someone who is interested in photography, but I have less patience for someone who just thinks the camera looks cool and is interested for that reason.

[gymell]

I usually just say "it's the photographer, not the camera" and leave it at that.

[Roy Mathers]

but I have less patience for someone who just thinks the camera looks cool and is interested for that reason.


I suspect that applies to a lot of contributors to this forum:D

[Wilt]

You can good-naturedly reply next time, "Good cameras enable good photographers to make good photos. None of us think 'If only I had a scalpel, I could do surgery', right?!"

[recrisp]

Most (street cruiser) motorcycles are "Harleys"...
Most cameras are "Nikons"...
Most 'tennis shoes' are "Nike"...

It's just the person (usually) is unaware of anything but the most popular brand name that comes to most people's minds.
I ride a Japanese made bike and I hear, "Nice Harley!", all of the time, they don't even take the time to read the logo's name on the tank, but I don't take offense to it.
(I do get tired of hearing it though sometimes... heheh)

Being "unaware" is ignorance, but "ignorance" of a fact is not stupid, they may mean well, but like what has been said, they don't know your world like you do.
People are just... people...

Randy

[sandro9mm]

well, reading through the replies, I must clarify - I'm not an egoistic, self centered *******... and I don't consider myself a better photographer then anybody else.

some nice answers there :) I'll keep em in mind.

[Wilt]

well, reading through the replies, I must clarify - I'm not an egoistic, self centered *******... and I don't consider myself a better photographer then anybody else.

some nice answers there :) I'll keep em in mind.


Start with my prior reply, and add ..."and I am trying to become a good photographer"

[BillMarks]

lately allot of amateurs tell me, but you have professional camera I bet it takes incredible photos - only if I had that I would also take amazing photos...

whats ur answer to this? do u usually try to educate em that pro camera requires more skills more talent and more hard work? they think if u pay 2K for a camera it should do all the work instead of u, but its the other way around!

wtf, this is 2 people in one day already - they are pissing me off, by saying that they are degrading my skills, degrading my vision and style (if I have one of course)...

anyways, enough with nagging, I go sleep now.

I don't understand the angst people have over comments like this. At the level of photography most people are engaged in, a better camera DOES translate to better photos. Think of going from a phone-camera to even a 5MP Sony Cybershot. Huge difference in quality. So they just figure it works the same going from a p-n-s to a DSLR. And, actually, there is a measurable image quality difference there, too. I mean, people discuss the IQ differences of a 5D vs a 40D here.

So I recommend you just say what I do--"Yeah, this IS a great camera!" But you should probably say it in Italian! :)

[Right Cranium Imaging]

Don't get discouraged, its only a matter of time before you see that same person with a $2,000 camera coming up to you and asking, "how the hell do you use this damn thing?"

OR just hand it to them in M mode and say, Suuuure, have a crack at it. (if you trust them not to drop it)

[Radtech1]

I have heard that comment mentioned several times on this board. But here is the rub. 5D, 3 lenses, two tripods, various filters, workstation - all in all, at least 10 grand. For that money, I would be FURIOUS if it took crappy pictures. I don't know anyone here who would be otherwise. So when someone says, "That's a great camera", I just say, "Yes, it is."

[DocFrankenstein]

Why do their assumptions about your camera irritate you?

[Roy Mathers]

What does any of this matter? There's too much gear snobbery around anyway.