The value of experience

I recently came across a post entitled: “Sommelier or Snob” on the “Luminous Landscape” blog. In it the author (Mr. Michael Reichmann) said:

I had dinner with a friend recently; the wine list included bottles ranging from $40 to $400. My friend asked if I had ever had such expensive wines as those on the last page of the list. I replied that I had, and though I love fine wines, especially full-bodied reds, my palette simply was not educated enough to differentiate the more exotic vintages.

I commented that at the retail store I rarely bought anything above $20, because I found more than enough wines in the $15-$20 range to satisfy my everyday tastes.

This then lead to a conversation about cameras and lenses – which is the point of this tale. My friend, who is a quite casual photographer, asked me if the multi-thousand dollar cameras and lenses that I own are worth that expense, or are they, like expensive wines, a matter of – in his word – snobbery?

After some thought, and a sip or two of a very nice California Cabernet that was on the table, I replied that – yes– I usually could tell the difference between images from high-end cameras and lenses vs. those of a less pedigreed lineage. The implication, of course, is that “high-end” is synonymous, much of the time, with “expensive“.

He goes on to say:

Similarly, a sommelier, or someone for whom wine is a passion and also likely a profession, can tell the difference between types, vintages, and other variables, including price point, while I can’t. In each instance one of us is a pro and the other is an amateur, with all that those words entail in terms of training, experience and taste.

And concludes with:

So to argue whether a wine or a lens is worth a certain price requires that one understand the background of the person making the argument. If they have the credentials, and make an observation or judgment on something within their field of expertise, then maybe one should listen-up. If they’re a neophyte with an opinion, and not much else, then maybe just nod, smile, and have another sip of wine.

It seems to me that there are three types of people: 1) Those who don’t know much about a particular topic, but who within the limits of their budgets and their knowledge do that best that they can; 2) Those who are really invested in a particular topic, have considerable knowledge and experience and who arguably know the finer points: 3) Those who don’t know much but pretend that that do: poseurs. I fall (I hope) into the first category.

Can I tell the difference between high end gear and low end gear? Up to a point yes. I can certainly tell the difference between photographs I took with low end, small sensor compact cameras (e.g. the Panasonic Lumix ZS3 and ZS7 that I used to have) and the somewhat higher end (but still not really high end Sony RX100 and Nex5N) cameras that I now use. Could I tell the difference between a high end Nikon camera and a REALLY high end Nikon camera? I doubt it.

And does it really matter? Isn’t it really about the resulting image? I’m in two minds about this one. If you make your money taking pictures then I imagine that you will want cameras with great image quality; which are convenient to use; which are protected against the elements; which will run forever etc. and that to get this you will need a considerable financial investment. I can also imagine that you will probably need the best lenses e.g. for sports photography you will undoubtedly need long fast, long focal length lenses and these don’t come cheap.

However, most of us are not professional photographers and can’t afford this kind of investment so we do what we can. This doesn’t mean that we can’t make decent pictures. I used to carry my Pansonic Lumix ZS cameras with me everywhere and so took a lot of pictures with them – some of which I really like even as I acknowledge the less than stellar image quality (particularly under certain conditions). I even have some pictures taken with an ancient Iphone 3GS that I quite like. Would I want to take pictures of a hunting Cheetah with it? Not a chance (but then we don’t get a lot of hunting cheetahs in NY state) but within it’s limits and my intended purpose (e.g. web sharing and small prints) it can be fine.

Finally I’m always suspicious of people who seem to be saying “I have the skills, the knowledge and the experience and you don’t so keep your opinions to yourself”. In my former professional life (not at all related to photography) I met quite a lot of people who made this type of claim and in many cases this did not lead to their opinions being worth listening to. Sometimes twenty years of experience is really one year of experience 20 times. I’m not at all implying that this is the case with Mr. Reichmann who seems to be incredibly knowledgeable and experienced and whose articles I always read with great pleasure. I merely suggest that not all of those who claim experience and knowledge have it.

On the other hand some of us don’t have great experience or knowledge, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that we have nothing to say and should keep silent.