More than ten years ago, when we resided on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, we had two older couples from church over for dinner. Their names were Rob, Sandra, Richard, and Anne. They were in their sixties and seventies, and we had a most delightful and relaxing evening together. After we ate a roast dinner in the formal dining room, we retired to our cosy lounge area, which was set up with our cream leather couch, a Scandinavian-style coffee table from IKEA, and our two Parker-like armchairs. One of the men was thinking about upgrading his camera, and, over cups of tea and coffee and an assortment of chocolates, we conversed at length about photography, memory keeping, and my trusty Fujifilm X100S.
A couple of days later, I received a warm and affable email from him. Apparently, our conversation over coffee had made him realise how little he knew about the camera he already had. And, so, though he was greatly tempted by the idea of a Fujifilm camera, he’d decided that he would learn his way around his current camera instead.
His conclusion was wise, logical, and one that I was totally on board with. Because—and here I speak in broad, general terms—it’s never about what camera you have, but how well you use it. And how well you use your camera comes down to how well you actually know your camera.
I truly believe, and have always believed, that, no matter what camera we own, we are all capable of creating beautiful imagery. Imagery that is powerful. Imagery that speaks to us, as individuals.
Naturally, it’s easy to tell ourselves otherwise. After all, how many times do we cast our eyes over someone else’s photography (or videography these days) and think to ourselves, ‘If only I had their camera, I’d be able to take photos—or videos—like that?’
But, the reality is: the camera you have now is the one that you can use today.
And, so: get to know your camera.
Learn how to switch it from automatic mode to manual mode and back again. Learn how to adjust shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. Learn how to switch it between manual focusing and auto focusing. Learn how to control exposure compensation. Learn how to tweak the white balance. Learn how to turn the ND filter on and off. Learn how to get those grid lines to appear on the screen. Learn how to change the image capture size from 3:2 to 1:1 and back again. Learn how to do back-button focusing.
But, more importantly, get to know your camera’s personality. What are its strengths? And what are its weaknesses? What sort of imagery is it particularly adept at making?
For example, with the camera on my iPhone 11, I know that it has a fixed aperture, which means that it’s not possible to control depth of field. The image sensor is obviously not as great as a mirrorless or an SLR, and smartphone cameras do not generally perform well in low light. However, smartphone cameras are simple to operate and you almost always have them with you. This means that they are perfect for capturing candid shots—those unexpected moments which would otherwise not get documented. And, while a smartphone camera might not be able to capture crisp, bright portraits in low light (though, arguably, the latest smartphones on the block these days are becoming increasingly adept in this regards), they are perfect for photographing shade and shadows. In fact, photographing twilight used to be my favourite thing to do with my iPhone camera. Even though some of the shots would be grainy, I felt that this added to the character of the images, making them all the more evocative. Similarly, though close-up portraits might not be the forte of your standard smartphone camera, the wide angle makes smartphones perfect for photographing distant landscape shots, which in turn makes them a great tool for capturing negative space in your imagery. And also, who doesn’t love a good selfie? (A few of my sons might raise their hands at this point, but I cherish every single selfie I’ve taken with them.)
As for my Canon EOS 40D (which, I will confess, is now sitting in its box, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder), I had it almost permanently attached to my 50 mm prime lens. This made it an amazing tool for close-up portraits, as the 50 mm focal length creates minimal distortion of facial features when you photograph someone from a short distance. Some of my favourite portraits of the boys when they were little were taken with the 40D, and, whenever I look at those images, I still marvel at their stunning, crisp quality. I know, however, that this magic only happened when certain lighting conditions were met. The 40D sensor was not fantastic in low light conditions, and, with the ISO only going up to 1600, nice portraits after 6.00 pm (in natural light) were almost impossible. So, whilst the Canon EOS 40D was not a camera I would carry everywhere with me, and I mostly avoided using it after dark, I would pull it out every month or so to document my growing boys, and I also used it to capture close-up shots at family events like birthdays and Christmas lunches.
The Fujifilm X100F is, of course, my weapon of choice these days for creating imagery—all day, every day. In fact, through constant usage and practice, my hands can adjust the various functions through muscle memory alone. I know where all the dials are, and I know what they do. But, more importantly, I know what my Fujifilm can do, and what it can’t do. It can’t take macro shots all that well, and it doesn’t auto focus as quickly as other ‘fancier’ cameras. Having said that, the focus is quick enough for my purposes, and the X100F has been a major improvement on the X100S. Also, I am a huge fan of the Fujifilm image sensor. Image quality is always stunning, and the fact that the ISO of the X100F goes up to 25600 (the X100S went up to 6400) means that, even in extremely low light, I can create impressive imagery. It also has a ‘Peak Highlights’ feature that makes manual focusing a treat, which, for me, has been the answer to most of my auto-focusing woes. Whilst the 23 mm lens (equivalent to a 35 mm on a full-frame camera) may not the best lens for extremely close-up portraits, it’s perfect for all the still life and landscape imagery that I’m drawn to creating. And, needless to say, the 23 mm lens also makes it an excellent camera for street photography and event photography, enabling me to capture an entire scene and thereby tell more of a story in every single frame. These days, I also take countless portraits on my X100F, and I’ve taught all my sons to do the same.
So, friends, if you have a heart for improving your imagery, why not take the first step and get to know the camera that you have today?
Don’t set all your hopes on that other camera.
Get to know your camera, and the rest will follow.