Myth, Folklore and Subjectivity of Gear Fora

If anything, there is no shortage of info related to Canon EOS gear on the web: the sites like DPR, Fred Miranda, POTN, to name a few, are veritable beehives of contributors sharing their own as well as popular know-how, from factual to fictional, from frivolous to speculative....questio​ns, answers and in-betweens. Some useful in a direct way, some misleading, much of it of mild utility.
The subjective nature of image IQ assessment is compounded further in some cases by uniqueness of gear specimens, e.g., those dreaded substandard 24-70 lens copies.
Thus, one should take much of that info with a grain of salt, do a sort of plausibility/reliabili​ty test of the data before embarking on a major purchase guided by the collected reviews and tips.

One can also often find what I like to call systemic or common mode fallacies which really amount to a perpetuating sort of a myth or misguided folklore. Now, the way subjectivity enters is that while I would consider those to be "fallacies", someone else would take them for "factual descriptors"....that's the very nature of these issues.

So, in here I'd like to list a few equipment characterizations relatively well entrenched on the fora, which I consider to be myths of some sort. However, you might not. Moreover, your myth list could be different from mine.
So let us hear it !
Lastly, please try to maintain a degree of lightness and humour in your views , I do not want this to start a war of words, nor "my copy is sharper than yours and so am I" discussion type.

Petkal's Favourite Gear Forum Folklore and Myths:
(1) AF is too slow on lenses: 85L, 100 f/2.8, 180L.
(2) 180L is not very sharp for general telephoto use.
(3) Non-L lenses build and finish is inadequate.
(4) All L lenses are made of metal.
(5) The sharpest Canon lenses are 200 f/1.8 and 300 f/2.8 IS.
(6) L lenses are made to take rain and dust without any caveats.
(7) Prosumer cameras are fragile.
(8 ) The longer FL of a birding telephoto, the better.
(9) The 400 f/5.6 is the best in-flight birding lens.
(10) The 100-400 is soft at 400mm.
(11) The 100-400 pumps dust into the camera.
(12) The EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM is overpriced because it's not L.
(13) The L lenses are designed to meet a defined "L IQ standard".

LOL.. this could be interesting. I think the nifty bashing is my favorite.. bad build, bad focus etc.... when nobody is saying it's perfect just that it's a heck of a buy for the money put in...

sari

Hehe.. They're all true!!

Mine are:
* 100% crops are useful in assessing quality/sharpness of lenses
* If you can't take a picture with xx-xxmm IS L lens that's as good as listed in the Archives thread, then it must be sent back to Canon for recalibration
* Filters for len protection are a good thing
* Filters for lens protection is a bad thing

Pete wrote in post #2288772
Hehe.. They're all true!!

Mine are:
* 100% crops are useful in assessing quality/sharpness of lenses
* If you can't take a picture with xx-xxmm IS L lens that's as good as listed in the Archives thread, then it must be sent back to Canon for recalibration
* Filters for len protection are a good thing
* Filters for lens protection is a bad thing

Thanx for tuning in, dood.

Sari, I agree with you...the wee one may not be the biggest nor the best built Canon lens, but once you stop her down to f/2.8 and beyond, that baby can tango with the best of them.

Just a couple more.
You

• must fully discharge your battery before re-charging.
  
• You need to have tiny little hands to work a XT.
  
• The bigger the body, the more serious of a photog you are.
  
• The viewfinder in the XT is so small that you can’t see anything.
  
• All pictures taken with a DSLR MUST be post processed as the camera is incapable of delivering a good shot unprocessed.
  
• If you touch the mirror, the camera will self destruct.
  
• Taking a picture of the sun will harm your sensor.
  
• The more the m-pixel, the better the shot. Yes, you can notice a 2 m-pixel difference in a 4x6.
  

Two of my favorites:

The Crop Factor is temporary and will be eliminated in a few years.
Full-frame is a thing of the past - nobody wants it since the crop cameras are equal.

PS - I have both, just in case.....

The camera should do all the work for you..

gjl711 wrote in post #2288832
Just a couple more.

You

• must fully discharge your battery before re-charging.
  
• You need to have tiny little hands to work a XT.
  
• The bigger the body, the more serious of a photog you are.
  
• The viewfinder in the XT is so small that you can’t see anything.
  
• All pictures taken with a DSLR MUST be post processed as the camera is incapable of delivering a good shot unprocessed.
  
• If you touch the mirror, the camera will self destruct.
  
• Taking a picture of the sun will harm your sensor.
  
• The more the m-pixel, the better the shot. Yes, you can notice a 2 m-pixel difference in a 4x6.

Those that I've highlited might have been on my list too, if I remembered them.

An expansion of yours: "The bigger, the heavier, the longer, the more expensive......THE BETTER !"

Tom W wrote in post #2288855
Two of my favorites:

The Crop Factor is temporary and will be eliminated in a few years.
Full-frame is a thing of the past - nobody wants it since the crop cameras are equal.

PS - I have both, just in case.....

He he, at list the sword swings both ways.

saravrose wrote in post #2288865
The camera should do all the work for you..

Sorry Sary, the only one I know who believes that on POTN is Condyke.

PetKal wrote in post #2288909
Sorry Sary, the only one I know who believes that on POTN is Condyke.

haha.. it's been said to me over and over... the 'your camera takes nice pictures' or 'you spent all that money and then you have to do the work... the camera should do it for you'.... hmmm... I don't believe that Dave shoots in the green box.. ... nope. I think we leave such things for Noink Extraordinaire Mr. Important Rockwell.... ..

sari

saravrose wrote in post #2288972
haha.. it's been said to me over and over... the 'your camera takes nice pictures' or 'you spent all that money and then you have to do the work... the camera should do it for you'.... hmmm... I don't believe that Dave shoots in the green box.. ... nope. I think we leave such things for Noink Extraordinaire Mr. Important Rockwell.... ..

sari

Good that you have reminded us of another insiduous myth:

>Only kooks, cretins, neonates, general ignoramuses, post ECT mental patients, granny bashers, failed actors, terrorists, lawyers, druggies and politicians use their cameras in an auto mode, including the "green square".<
What also follows is that in order to shoot like a pro, you must operate your camera in the M mode only.

The more money you spend on your kit the better photographer you become.

Everyone who looks at POTN really is dying to see pictures of your kids

I just bought this (whatever) what do you think?

AV and TV are for amateurs, real photogs only use manual

There was no post processing in the days of film

PetKal wrote in post #2289039
Good that you have reminded us of another insiduous myth:

>Only kooks, cretins, neonates, general ignoramuses, post ECT mental patients, granny bashers, failed actors, terrorists, lawyers, druggies and politicians use their cameras in an auto mode, including the "green square".<
What also follows is that in order to shoot like a pro, you must operate your camera in the M mode only.

well that in itself is an urban myth.. M mode is not the only way to work in... there are other acceptable methods of using your camera.... but, alas... using the 'fast running guy mode' is not the best option out there (atleast for me).... and now we may run into our own special brand of photog. snobbery that is generally heated as somebody somewhere always wants to defend their Uncle Lou so we shall leave that one alone and say that as long as the camera takes pictures than you are getting atleast part of it right.... ...

neil_r wrote in post #2289049
There was no post processing in the days of film

oh yes.. the Ansel did it correctly without any 'altering of his images' so y'all are just cheats... myth... and the ever popular all this money for a camera and it's just more work then my p&s...

sari