People Make Photographs, Not Cameras

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

I’ve said this before and it’s worth repeating for any new readers of the blog: I am not employed, under contract, or sponsored by any camera company. The ads you see at right are from companies that Mark and I know and trust and go to pay the cost of producing this blog and don’t affect what we write about.

All of the cameras and lenses used for the photographs you see on this blog are equipment I own and bought for with my own money. Occasionally images were made while testing equipment for product reviews for Shutterbug magazine or this or my Saving the World, One Pixel @ a Time blog but that is the only exception. You may be surprised to learn that after reviewing any equipment for a magazine, book or blog I return it to the manufacturer.

Shot with my old (introduced in 2009) Panasonic Lumix GX1 and G Vario 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 lens with an exposure of 1/125 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 1600.

Since I pay for all of my own gear you’ll probably notice that some of the cameras that I use seem old (in Internet years, it’s like dog years) and occasionally I’ve received an e-mail asking “why are you using that old thing?” The short answer is they work great and it’s what I can afford.” If you’re curious about what gear you mind find in my gear closet—here’s a photo of the actual closet—you can see a list of the equipment that currently own on the Gear page.

I’m not an equipment snob for one reason: I can’t afford to be. These day’s I prefer to work with my mirrorless cameras and only shoot SLRs when testing Canon-specific products. Maybe that will change; maybe not.

Note: Each month in Shutterbug magazine I write a column called Geared Up. Please pick up a copy at your local supermarket, book store and wherever magazines are sold. Better yet, why not subscribe.