The power of marketing 
Who can actually avoid the influence of marketing nowadays? At least I do not. Every time, when I watch TV or look at an ad of a magazine, I suddenly crave that really yummy looking 1 minute-soup in the ad. As a "good consumer" I brush my teeth with the latest developed toothpaste, convinced that my teeth will live longer than I do. And tears well up in my eyes when I see this TV-ad of a car that is much more powerful and has thousand features more than my modest means of transport.
Nevertheless I think I am a normal human being. And I am getting relaxed again, when I realize that almost everybody is doing the same. If that would not be the case the cool marketing guys would be unemployed and many photo magazines would be a lot thinner.
Marketing in the photo-industry is not at all different to cars/computers etc.. If I look at all the nice ads in the journals or so called sophisticated tests-reviews of photo magazines, I am suddenly "convinced" to have used the wrong camera/lens for ages. Worse, I would do everything even take a loan on my farm to be soon the proud owner of the new "wonder".
The big disappointment after using it: I realize that this "wonder" does not really take better pictures than I do. I came across of a very good summary of all the never ending lens-testing questions in the internet.
"Most lenses are better than most photographers"
The same counts in my opinion for camera bodies.
Nowadays it is easy to believe. "You push the button and we do the rest“. An old Kodak marketing phrase for their new beginner model years ago - is with digital cameras even more attractive to the potential buyer.
Some people seem to believe, that as long as the autofocus is 50 milliseconds faster, the matrix-metering has more sensors or the shutter is more silent, they could take better pictures.
Everybody knows that there have been so many famous pictures taken with cameras and lenses, which would not win the newest test of magazines and which even have not slightly the features of a modern camera. So why everybody is bothering so much about this. Why not instead using your time in improving your technique of taking pictures? Or why not just take pictures instead of hunting for the newest models?
Please do not misunderstand me. I think improvements are good. And I appreciate every effort of camera and lens-makers to make good products even better. But as a consumer I should think also whether I need this or that feature/improvement really for my own kind of photography. Everybody has different needs. What is important for my neighbour for his kind of shooting style must not be important for me.
Of course I also look for tests, read MTF-charts (for more information about MTF look in the specific folder) and compare camera models. But this should be just an indication for the beginning of a buying decision. You can read a lot good postings in the internet, which is also very good at the beginning to be aware of eventual difficulties of a specific camera model/lens. But be careful, not every posting should be taken to seriously. Everybody has a different benchmark for testing.
At the end of the day you have to make up your own mind by using it yourself. Or would you buy a car without test driving it, just because someone wrote in a test that he likes it?
Always keep in mind:
"The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking." - Brooks Anderson
Best wishes
Dirk
Who can actually avoid the influence of marketing nowadays? At least I do not. Every time, when I watch TV or look at an ad of a magazine, I suddenly crave that really yummy looking 1 minute-soup in the ad. As a "good consumer" I brush my teeth with the latest developed toothpaste, convinced that my teeth will live longer than I do. And tears well up in my eyes when I see this TV-ad of a car that is much more powerful and has thousand features more than my modest means of transport.
Nevertheless I think I am a normal human being. And I am getting relaxed again, when I realize that almost everybody is doing the same. If that would not be the case the cool marketing guys would be unemployed and many photo magazines would be a lot thinner.
Marketing in the photo-industry is not at all different to cars/computers etc.. If I look at all the nice ads in the journals or so called sophisticated tests-reviews of photo magazines, I am suddenly "convinced" to have used the wrong camera/lens for ages. Worse, I would do everything even take a loan on my farm to be soon the proud owner of the new "wonder".
The big disappointment after using it: I realize that this "wonder" does not really take better pictures than I do. I came across of a very good summary of all the never ending lens-testing questions in the internet.
"Most lenses are better than most photographers"
The same counts in my opinion for camera bodies.
Nowadays it is easy to believe. "You push the button and we do the rest“. An old Kodak marketing phrase for their new beginner model years ago - is with digital cameras even more attractive to the potential buyer.
Some people seem to believe, that as long as the autofocus is 50 milliseconds faster, the matrix-metering has more sensors or the shutter is more silent, they could take better pictures.
Everybody knows that there have been so many famous pictures taken with cameras and lenses, which would not win the newest test of magazines and which even have not slightly the features of a modern camera. So why everybody is bothering so much about this. Why not instead using your time in improving your technique of taking pictures? Or why not just take pictures instead of hunting for the newest models?
Please do not misunderstand me. I think improvements are good. And I appreciate every effort of camera and lens-makers to make good products even better. But as a consumer I should think also whether I need this or that feature/improvement really for my own kind of photography. Everybody has different needs. What is important for my neighbour for his kind of shooting style must not be important for me.
Of course I also look for tests, read MTF-charts (for more information about MTF look in the specific folder) and compare camera models. But this should be just an indication for the beginning of a buying decision. You can read a lot good postings in the internet, which is also very good at the beginning to be aware of eventual difficulties of a specific camera model/lens. But be careful, not every posting should be taken to seriously. Everybody has a different benchmark for testing.
At the end of the day you have to make up your own mind by using it yourself. Or would you buy a car without test driving it, just because someone wrote in a test that he likes it?
Always keep in mind:
"The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking." - Brooks Anderson
Best wishes
Dirk
