Today I want to talk about the emotional side that some photographers feel towards their vendor's photography equipment. As you probably know, the Internet is full of This versus. That or "Which one is better?" forums posts and blog posts. In some way, many photographers really like to talk about their photographing equipment and compare it to others. There is a saying: "The grass is always greener on the other side". When buying a new digital camera and lenses, for example, we want to make sure that we have done the right decision buying that equipment. Most of us tend to dig in the internet, trying to find digital camera comparison reviews, that shows the pros & cons of our wanted equipment vs. a competitive one.
How many of you have read tens of reviews and entered "Canon versus Nikon" in Google search engine? - I guess tat many of you did. I know that you have also heard comments like "don't wait, just buy a camera and start shooting..". Even though that we know that the camera is only a tool, and we can the final image is mostly linked to the photographer creativity and experience, we still want to know that the tool we have bought, is the best we could afford. I personally infected with the same issue. I love reading articles and reviews about digital cameras, participate in digital photography and forums to ask photographers about their opinion. In many circumstances, this is the best way to get more knowledge and it helps you make a smarter buying decision.
"Which one is Better?" (sounds familiar?)
Many people see the camera as a gadget, more than a photography tool. They want to compare every feature of the camera, pixel peeping in order to find every flaw that the camera/lens has over another competitive model. Sometimes it is just over exaggerated, and that means that we are spending too much time on making a decision. What is "too much time"? - It means that instead of buying a digital camera right now, we will ways months until we make our decision. This is of course a worst case scenario.
Some popular "This vs. That" topics:
- Mac vs PC (Computers)
- Canon vs Nikon (Photography)
- nVidia vs ATI (Video Graphic Cards)
- PHP vs ASP.net (Programming)
- DSL vs Broadband (Internet Connectivity)
- iPhone vs Android (Mobile Phones)
- Sterling vs Euro (Forex)
- DVI vs VGA (Monitor Screens)
- Netflix vs Blockbuster (Movies' Rental)
- Plasma vs LCD (HDTV Screens)
- AT&T vs Verizon (Mobile Carrier)
- SEO vs PPC (Interner Advertising)
- MySQL vs SQL Server (Databases)
- Internet Explorer vs Firefox (Internet Browsers)
- Avatar 2D vs Avatar 3D (Movie Filming Technology)
- Dashes vs Underscores (Search Engine Optimization)
- Intel vs AMD (CPU/Hardware)
- PS3 vs XBOX 360 (Gaming Consoles)
- Blog vs Website (Web Design)
- Renting vs Buying (Finance/Real Estate)
- Flash vs Silverlight (Online Vector Animation)
- Butter vs Margarine (Food/Health)
- Facebook vs Twitter (Online Marketing)
- Linux/Mac OS X vs. Microsoft Windows (Computer OS)
- iPad vs. Kindle (Electronic Ebook Readers)
How I knew that I am infected with the "This vs. That" Phenomenon? - Quiet simple, I have frequently entered "Canon vs. Nikon" term in search engine, hoping to find an unequivocal decision. Of course I have come across thousands of answers didn't satisfy me. That led to more querying in forum pots and more frustration. After months of searching, reading, comparing & asking, I knew that I need to do something to stop it. When we do make a decision, we are working hard to protect our decision from "hostile" and other opinions, which are contrary to our decisions. That means that if we only hear someone saying "Nikon is better than Canon!" (and we bought a Canon digital camera), we will go nuts. It means that we will probably reply to that "enemy" with long two page post, filled with explanations and arguments, why it is not true.
Many of those childish answers like: "Nikon rules!", "I won't touch Canon with tweezers...", all come from one place, trying to protect our investment. It happens in every product category, not just cameras. I feel bad when I bought an expensive gadget, and someone tells me that it is garbage or the prices went down a few days ago. The first thing that people will do, is to attack you at the very first moment. This is automatic psychological behavior, and you should expect that, especially if the person is doing it online. They will try to bash and smash you if you just say a bad thing about their new camera.
If you think that only amateurs and gadget lovers are infected with the "This vs. That" debate Phenomenon, you are wrong. I have personally had the chance to ask some questions that compare the optical quality of Nikon lenses vs. Canon lenses. You just don't know how many brainwashing I came across. Usually those posts will last for years, when everybody tries to protect its own investment. All the answers are of course subjective. You can hear this kind of answers from both professional and amateur photographers too. Of course the "This versus That" Phenomenon is more common among amateurs and not pro photographers.
Furthermore, there is a sociological explanation for that (I think). People want and feel the need to belong to a group of people with the same common interests. It happens with Mac geeks (PC vs. Mac), with DSLR cameras (Canon vs. Nikon), in political opinions, etc. We feel more comfortable with people that made the same choices as we did. That's because they give us positive reinforcement rather than negative.
If you are really in a bad condition, you will probably make a purchase, regret, return the product, make another purchase and do that all over again. So the question is how to at least minimize the effect of the "Vs. debate Phenomenon"?. Well, you can start by examining the psychological symptoms, and trying to solve the problem from the root. That means that you need to understand, why you give so importance to something that is less important. However, if it all just related to making a better buying decision, just spend less time on "Canon vs. Nikon" posts, and more time on professional-grade posts. Online tutorials and knowledge discussions will help you get better pictures and make you a better photographer over time.
Remember, technology is changing in a rapid speed in the photography world. More innovations keep coming, and you can really get a headache from the speed of technology developments and announcements. In photography, there are better things to take care of instead of worrying whether you have bought "THE Best" camera. You can buy books about lighting, take a photography course and travel across beautiful places to take gorgeous photographs. For many of us, having 1 more FPS in continuous shooting mode, won't be any useful in real use. You need to organize your needs, even write it on paper. You should make sure that you keep your purchase within your budget restrictions and allowance. Don't fall to the "Vs. trap", and try to think about things that are more important in life.
Life is to short to spend the time on this vs. that, kind of discussions. You are smart to make your own decisions, and even live with your mistakes (if it happens). Buy a camera that fits you needs. Buy lenses that fit your shooting habits. Also try to spend more time in learning about photography techniques, so you can take better pictures and become more creative. Nerveless, not everything in the world is black or white, so you can allow yourself to enjoy "vs." discussions from now and then.
*** By the way, if you know other popular "Versus" topics, please share them here.
Related articles (will you comment or not?):
Sigma SD15 vs. Nikon and Canon
JPG Nikon Colors vs. Canon's
Canon vs. Nikon (Beware, highly addictive "Vs." topic)
Mac vs. PC
Note: I don't think comparing products is a bad thing, so don't take me wrong. I just wanted to address that specific online Phenomenon of people spending tons of time searching for the answer that will satisfy them, but never find it (I am talking about myself of course, LOL).
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