When talking about photography and more specifically equipment, does size matter?
When I first started getting into photography I thought “the bigger the better.” I still sometimes think this… Here are a couple reasons why!
Let’s first look at a scenario that starts with 3 photographer and a potential customer.
Let’s look at the photographers first…
Photographer “A” may only have a Nikon D40 with a 50mm f/1.8 and Photographer “B” has a Nikon D40 equipped with a battery grip and the same 50mm f/1.8 While Photographer “C” has a Nikon D40 equipped with battery grip but this time with a larger lens like the 55-200mm f/3.5-5.6.
Now let’s look at the customer.
When an average person who knows nothing about photography sees these 3 photographers, they will think to themselves, “Photographer ‘C’ looks like he knows what he is doing with all that stuff!” This leaves Photographers “A” and “B” out of a potential job. Photographers “A” and “B” now go look for a new costumer and chases are, photographer “B” will get the next job from the next model. Photographer “A” is out of a job now.
This little scenario is something I thought up when I started wanting to advertise myself. I felt as though I am being “out classed” by the people with bigger equipment. Now, does this mean I am not as good as a photographer as someone with a bigger camera? No! I feel as though I am not a great photographer but that does not mean the guy next to me with that big camera knows what he is doing.
Confidence that comes with a large set-up.
Having a small camera has its perks for some things sure, but do they really outweigh the perks of having a big camera? Street photographers enjoy small cameras so that they can be discreet when they are taking a photograph of someone walking by or something similar to this… But, what about non-street photographers? What about the photographers that takes photos of models to put food on the table? Or the wedding photographer? The level of confidence you get when you walk into a photo-shoot or wedding with a large camera and large equipment is much greater than if you were to walk in with something tiny. This is the case even if the camera that is smaller is better than the one that is bigger.
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