ruthenium wrote:
I red the posts from @old-gregg@, @chez@, and @gdanmitchell@ and I like all what they said, despite some apparent contradictions and disagreements in these posts.
The reason for this is that I don't believe that "photography is mostly about photos, the actual end result to be precise" as suggested by @j4nu.
For professional photographers, for sure. For enthusiasts photographers, certainly not.
I believe that most FMers are not professional photographers. I expect that they do photography for personal pleasure(!), which is found in different aspects of photographic activities. For example, wildlife enthusiasts may enjoy hiking with a camera, or traveling to interesting places, etc. For those who are more technically minded, it gives pleasure exploring the technology, learning how photography works "under the hood". Photography can be a way to disconnect from troubles and concerns - an antidepressant of a sort. Feel free to add your personal reason for holding a camera or working on your pictures today.
Thus, the joy of photography can be in everything about photography, including buying and trying new gear. The apparent disagreements between FMers merely reflect the differences in what kind of pleasure they find in photography in their dissimilar personal ways. Then, some might be tempted to teach others about what photography is about, and what is wrong with the others. When it comes to pleasure, there's an unspoken agreement that we don't advise others on what they should and shouldn't do in their bedrooms. Similarly, it makes sense to be understanding about the different ways photography brings pleasure to the enthusiast photographer.
Sorry if my post came off as condescending or know-it-all-kinda, it's just very hard for me to wrap my head around the concept of photography *not* being in pursuit of great photos. I completely agree that the gear matters and it can make the "journey" more or less pleasing, but, in my case at least, in the end I look at the photos that pop up on my screen. I've never preferred a worse photo over a great one just because I had more fun taking the former .
Still, this is obviously my take on it, and I respect others who have a different view. Even if I don't understand it. It's like sometimes in those crossposted threads from Leica forums, people dismiss lenses just based on the font used to write the focal length on it. I'll never understand that, because the end justified the means in my case (so I can live with unwieldy or unaesthetic lens/body used to take a photo I like).
Jan 18, 2026 at 02:20 PM
Previous versions of j4nu's message #16969758 « After 13 years of all Sony, I'm trying Nikon »
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