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.
markobrutus 
Well said! 🙂
Great job. I am one of those people that do not know much about cameras and this was very informative.
Happy to see touch upon street photography there, as it is certainly one of the genres (documentary work being another one) where size should be kept to a minimum. To many other fields though, the adage “bigger = better” does apply. I remember that back when I shot with a DSLR and a 70-200mm f/2.8, I’d be asked whether I was professional. A battery grip increased the number of times I got asked that question. Then when I changed to using primes for most of my work, people’s perceptions changed. Now with my Leica I only get asked whether I’m a professional photographer when people find out what the camera costs, but otherwise they just think I’m a hobbyist. Which I am, so I don’t mind them thinking that.
It’s a sad fact that many people unfamiliar with the equipment used in the art of photography think that size is a proxy for skill. As photographers we know that a picture’s quality is determined for 90% by the photographer, 7% by the lens, and 3% by the camera (made up the numbers, but you catch my drift), but anyone with little experience in the art thinks the numbers are reversed (90% camera, 9% lens (or more), 1% photographer). I always shudder when people comment on a good picture by saying: “He must have a really nice camera.”
The plethora of mirrorless cameras on the market at the moment may make a small contribution to correcting this misconception. They make good image quality more accessible to the average picture snapper, which may make them realize that it’s not about size at all. The same realisation might occur when they find out a nice picture has been shot with such a small camera. Yet I don’t believe that “bigger = better” will disappear for a long long to come.