Photo gear variations without fear!

It has been a kind of obsession of the last decades over the photographic planet: the photographic gear mania! Partly because as a human we are curios how the things have been done, by who and with which technique and with which tool. And photography cannot really exist without using a tool that we can define from the antique "sténopé" to the latest modern sophisticated digital camera incarnation.

So, we cannot escape the relentless discussion about photographic gear. Furthermore, gear is also a good cultural representation of our society, the photographic tool had become a symbol by itself like clothing, jewelry, etc. Even if we are strictly staying on the photographic technical level, there is a lot to argue about gear selected to do photography.

I love to try different camera systems and different camera models. It is not only a kind of technical curiosity but also it motivates me to "do" photography! Because the results is not the only mean to get involved in photography, it is also the activity by itself, the act of photographing. In that regard, it is not really surprising that I have over the years try a good amount of different photo equipment. That has been and still is part of my lifespan.

My great personal conclusion after all this diverse gear itineration is the fact that I prefer compact camera systems over bigger photo devices. I have the same taste about automobiles. I find them (compact photo equipment) easy to bring with you, discrete especially in doing public photography such in town or travelling, funny to manipulate with less physical fatigue, highly ingenious for their particular analog or digital interfaces and esthetically more appealing in my sense.

It is true to say that photo equipment gear is becoming more sophisticated over the years but every gear time period have its own charm and I haven't hesitate sometimes to get a gear retro version to rediscover its particularities and to be able to enjoy its own way of doing pictures. Some can argue that I am losing time and opportunities (not speaking money!) by being forced to learn every time how to use a new camera model but frankly each of those ones have a different inspiring way of interpreting a pictorial situation. And the photographic technical basic has stayed almost the same despite many proclaimed hardware and software innovations.

My wife uses to tell me; "Oh! You will try a new camera!" with a bit of irony after all those years and she is absolutely right because I cannot prevent myself to do so. At the end I am an indefensible curious as many of (human) us!