Funny comment from photographer

[gardener]

I was on my way into the Mesquite girl's baseball complex last evening to watch my granddaughter's baseball game and saw a photographer walking back to his auto. I noticed he was carrying a camera with a HUGE white lens so I offhandedly asked if he'd taken some good pictures. Turned out he was from the Dallas Morning News and was apparently taking pics of the high school softball tournement going on.
He noted that the 300 2.8 he was toting around wasn't quite long enough but with his converter, it was too long so he got what he could and prayed that the rest would be ok without too much post work.. We talked a little bit about cameras and lenses and the percentage of good to bad shots and he finally noted that while he had many thousands of dollars worth of photo equipment in his line of work, he was tired of toting it everywhere he went so had bought the smallest little point and shoot he could find to take on his own vacations.
The comment was odd to me only in that on most photo boards, we're all looking for bigger and better and this talented man had actually moved the opposite way for his own personal photo non-career activities.

[gpgyo]

Just goes to show that there is a place for every piece of equipment. You can drive in a finishing nail with a sledgehammer, but was there another tool that could have gotten the job done with a lot less effort?

[snidow]

Sometimes I would like a point and shoot, family gathers and birthday parties where I just want to take snap shots. My vacations are normally "working" ones where I try to capture wildlife so the big stuff goes with me then. I can understand his statement completely.

[bbailey]

I'm beginning to feel the same way even with my equipment. Some times I wish I had something like a Pentax Optio so that I could take some snaps without worring how I'm going to haul my gear around and which bag to use.

I kinda regret "loaning" A80 to a family member since I don't think I will ever see it again. :)

[Vernon Theis]

not at all surprising.

Like the cobbler who's kids have no shoes!

I have a friend who's husband is an AP photog who has to take her own pictures of her kids.

A patient of mine's husband is a pro masseur and wouldn't rub her aching pregnant back!

If work is all about toting a camera then leisure perhaps should be otherwise.

[sraulers]

I kept my Canon S45 for those occasions when I don't want to or can't haul the DSLR along on a trip. It does the job just fine for most of our needs, but it isn't as much fun!

[LoungeLizard]

I just parted with my Olympus C5050 (really loved that little baby) but I do use my wife's Digital Elph at times. You know, there are times when I don't want to carry my camera, lens, and flash.

You see, once you get used to a way of shooting, you don't want to shoot any other way. If I'm going to use my camera, I need to 24-70 lens on it and the 580ex flash. Without that - it's not the same so I might as well use the P&S.

[jeffkohn]

Well, I don't mind lugging around the good stuff, that's what I bought it for. Maybe I would feel differently if it was my job and photography was part of my "rat race", but hey that's why photography is a hobby for me and not a job.

I personally can't imagine going on vacation with just a point-n-shoot. Heck, I use vacations as excuses to buy more gear.

[David_3]

I travel for a living, and for years I never carried a camera, because it was just "too hard" to carry a complete SLR. It is sad to think of all of the photo opportunities that I missed. I now carry a Canon Powershot A75 whenever I head out to work. The P&S cameras are great. They are light, easy to carry, and take pretty darn good pictures. Plus, I don't even begin to worry about it getting damaged, or losing it. I wish I had been smart enough to carry one in my younger days.

[Rick Waldroup]

When I go on vacation, which is a rare event, I either let my wife handle the photo chores, or I only carry one or two P&S cameras- a Leica Z1 film camera or a Nikon Coolpix 5000 digital camera. That's it. When we get a chance to get away, the last thing I am thinking about is photos. Mostly, I want to sleep, drink, and eat. The last thing I want to think about is photography.

Now, having said all that, we took a little 4 day trip to Galveston a couple of years ago and I told my wife that I was leaving all the cameras behind. She took her little Nikon digital P&S. However, when she started unpacking, she found one of my rangefinder cameras and about 10 rolls of B&W film. What can I say? I threw it in at the last second....

[FrayAdjacent]

There definitely is a value to having a small point and shoot camera... I had one of the first or second generation Canon Digital Elph cameras (S200, I think), and got some great pictures with it (purely snapshots). Saw a guy hanging out with the group I was with downtown that had a P&S that he could put in an Altoids tin... and it looked like it got great pictures! I'd love to be able to carry something like that around with me all the time.

I don't have an SLR yet, as my appreciation for photography is budding and growing, but my DX7590 takes some very admirable shots, and since I won't be able to afford an SLR for some time, I'll milk it for all it's worth! I picked up a lense adapter, a couple lenses and filters recently for my trip to DC, but I bet I probably won't use them for more than half the shots I take.. the camera does pretty dang well on it's own.

I can see buying extra goodies for vacations... often times we'll travel to places we either don't get to very much, or beautiful places we'll likely never get to again, and it is always a good thing to have some great pictures of our experiences.

[jeffkohn]

I can see buying extra goodies for vacations... often times we'll travel to places we either don't get to very much, or beautiful places we'll likely never get to again, and it is always a good thing to have some great pictures of our experiences.

That's exactly how I feel. To be honest I was never much into the idea of travel before taking an interest in photography, but now I'd say it's a driving force for me. That's not to say I travel just for photography, but it's definitely a big part of it, and that's why I've bought the best gear I can and take along as much of it as I can when we go on vacation.

Again, I can see how it might be different for working photogs who take pictures day in and day out. But for me, the one vacation we take (hopefully two in a good year) is the photographic highlight of the year.

[shutterflypro]

I am a full time pro and I still take my camera with me everywhere I go. You never know when a true photographic moment will pop and I would absolutely die is I was not equiped to capture the moment correctly.

[swanny338]

I almost always bring my camera with me everywhere I go. But sometimes I will just bring my point and shoot, but only if I absolutely can't bring my slr...

[AlexMorse]

I can understand. If I'm out for relaxation/fun and If I don't have a relatively close car to drop stuff off at, I either bring a small kit (say 20D + 50mm f1.4 only) or don't bring it.

Then again, it's very situational. Going to the zoo is fun, and I wouldn't be caught dead without my domke F-7 loaded up :)