Sometimes, loyalty is a gift that keeps on giving. Now, before a large segment of the audience is skimming straight from the title of this essay to the commentary to tell me I’m a fanboy or that it’s stupid to suggest the idea that sticking with a branding is sometimes a good idea, let me start with a few concessions.
We live in a modern world filled with technology that is more amazing than anyone can keep an eye on. And just because you’ve used a trademark for a long time doesn’t mean you should continue to use it in the future. Brand development. But, more importantly, artists evolve. So the tools that worked for you ten years ago may no longer be the best choice for your current preferences. First of all, I am constantly re-evaluating my equipment needs as my work continues to evolve in new and exciting directions, some planned, others not. So I’m not here to tell you not to change the brand if that’s the right thing for your needs.
But having been placed in the fortunate position of being able to use almost any brand on the market during my long career, I can 100% honestly say that changing brands isn’t always the case. would like. In fact, more often than not, you’ll find that staying with what you have saves you time, money, and a lot of headaches.
But what about the feature set?
As I mentioned earlier, there are good reasons to spruce up your device collection and switch to a different brand to address changes in your actual needs. However, to be honest, most of the time we find ourselves peeking through the fence into our neighbor’s yard, it’s not because our current system is completely devoid of the tools we need to do this. do your job. Another brand might implement a particular feature better. Or perhaps a brand that is known for one thing is better than another. The hours of video produced, for example, demonstrate a slight increase in autofocus speed across brands. But truth be told, outside of YouTube videos and social media posts, in the real world these differences, while they may exist, are generally insignificant. Yes, things like that matter in the lab. However, at the hands of a photographer or filmmaker who knows their craft, has taken the time to get to know their equipment, and is working on creativity rather than lab experimentation, Those differences never seem to matter as much as brands like us to think they do.
Even if we accept that certain brands are better than certain things, using that as an excuse to jump ship ignores another solid fact of the company. turmeric. It’s all cyclical. The strength of a brand today is its weakness a year from now. The big brands are all stuck in an endless game of shortcuts. Each sat on the throne in one way or another for a limited amount of time before abdicating a few months later when another franchise offered their own counter-argument. So for the most part, if you invest heavily in any of the top brands, all you really have to do to upgrade your feature set is wait long enough for the brand of your choice to release the device. Latest. Sure, that probably means you won’t have the best feature set available today. And for the next six months, you’ll be subject to brand competitors praising the virtues of their systems at your expense. But, believe me, it will cost a lot more to keep changing your entire system just to keep up with the Joneses. Especially when, with a little patience, you might end up getting an equivalent feature upgrade in your chosen brand.
Save a bunch of cash
You might ask, “Why wait six months?”. You’ve got money to spend. Why not spend it? And, hey, if you have that much disposable income, by all means spend it. But for most of us, rebranding is expensive. Not only do you have to think about the price of the new camera itself, but you also have to think about all the lenses, accessories, and third-party items that may or may not be suitable for the new system.
I will take myself as an example. After being exclusive to Nikon during the DSLR era, switching to mirrorless cameras is a real adventure. Because I will eventually have to consider investing in a new set of lenses regardless of the mirrorless camera brand I choose, I’ve looked through quite a few brands to make sure I’m making the right decision. exact determination. This led me to not only sample but also buy different camera bodies from different brands besides Nikon. All brands have their own strengths compared to other brands. But each camera body also requires the purchase of at least one or two basic lenses for my workflow.
With each different purchase, the results are almost always identical. I will love the new brand in about three months. Then I slowly started to find things that didn’t fit my workflow very well. Then I would start to see if there are other brands that deal with those issues better. Eventually, I fell out of love with the new brand and often found myself right back to my Nikon. It’s fun to explore all those other brands. But gee willikers it’s expensive. Especially since all that money was basically spent discovering that I had the best system for me for a long time.
After the Z9 came along and eased all my hesitations about which brand I wanted to stick with in the future, I went all out. I bought two Z9 bodies and the prime lenses I needed, and sold off all my older Nikon DSLR gear as well as rival bodies and lenses, and decided to stick with the single system. this most. And while that sounds like a big investment, doing so allows me to sell off everything that isn’t directly related to the system, so the net investment isn’t nearly as much as one might think. . Better yet, because I’m dedicated to one system, any of my investments, such as lenses or accessories, can be used system-wide rather than on just one camera in the system. system.
Will there be a time in the life of this product when another brand will launch a camera that surpasses the Z9’s specs in one way or another? I definitely will. However, is that progress so transformative that I wouldn’t be able to do my job without changing the system? I was very skeptical. I’m sure I’ll hear about a new camera here or there and a particular feature that will catch my eye. But there’s absolutely nothing about my current system that doesn’t solve my problem demandso I can be confident that buying something from another brand, while it might be fun, won’t be necessary.
Familiar brand
Do you play any musical instrument? I do not. No matter how hard I tried as a child, my attempt to successfully learn an instrument only made my parents more frustrated and my neighbors prayed desperately to stop it. But the problem with learning an instrument is that, while it might be just a “Wapple” at first and you just have to try to remember which key is which, after a while it becomes second nature. and you can play. The camera is the same. You go through the initial rollout to figure out where the menu items are and how to make the camera do what you want. However, once you have attached the camera keys to your subconscious memory, at some point you can just play.
While there’s no reason for you to be afraid to try something new to stop you from growing as an artist, sometimes, having a tool at hand can essentially let you forget it. offers even greater benefits to your creativity than all the megapixels in the world. Sticking with a single brand is like living in a city where you’re a native speaker. Everything over time just makes sense. You can switch from body to body in the brand. But most brands do a good job of keeping their basic layouts familiar, so switching from a Mark I to a Mark II isn’t usually a significant change.
This is one of the benefits of the intangible kind. But learning about a system, really understanding it to the point of being able to play the game blindfolded, allows you to take the technology aside and learn what really matters; creation.
By now, many of you have probably read what I just wrote and still come to the conclusion that you simply cannot take full pictures without always having an announcement about the latest camera. And, by all means, it’s your prerogative. But for those pursuing excellence in the arts, more than just an influencer’s badge of merit, know that you don’t have to constantly change systems to get the best results. Sometimes it’s best to appreciate what you have, open your mind to be creative and just play.
