entropic remnants
Hall of Famer
- Name
- John Griggs
I mention this after an amusing interaction with an acquaintance who is not a photographer the other day who asked, "What are you shooting now, John?" To which I replied, "Panasonic G Series stuff".
Their brow furrowed and they said, "Panasonic is not a real camera company are they?" I laughed and told them, "It takes pictures like a real camera so I guess they are!"
So here's my question to all of you: How brand conscious are you?
Before you answer let me tell you what was holding me back from G series cameras somewhat even after my daughter had a G1 that I secretly admired when I was shooting Nikon at the time. I wasn't so much brand-conscious as just some kind of photographic snob, or maybe just ignorant and not thinking straight about what makes a "real camera".
For instance, looking back, I would chiefly buy Nikon, or Olympus because THEY are real camera companies. I tried Sony NEX but those early interfaces confirmed my prejudice: these guys have no idea what they're doing. The Olympus cameras I bought were clearly designed for photographers, no question. Quirky maybe. But definitely photographers cameras. And so I ignored the Panasonics and Sony's and so forth. I used to shoot Ricoh film cameras and took some scorn back in the day for that... "What, Ricoh? Get a real camera instead of that plastic crap." But I loved my Ricoh KR-10. Pentax I always took seriously but I never ended up buying one as my main camera.
I just have to wonder how this plays out in the market today? The fact seems to be though, judging from recent offerings, that the "new guys" actually have some creativity and good ideas about how cameras should be. Olympus is the exception as they are not a new guy, but have an amazing, forward looking photo division -- if only the marketing folks would get out of the way. They too often go for "a bit better" when they could be waiting a little longer and making "the new generation". My 0.02 anyway.
But what about you? Do you have some unconscious prejudices about camera companies? Do they influence your buying decisions? On the flip side: are you a rebel who refuses to buy "conventional"?
Chime in!
Their brow furrowed and they said, "Panasonic is not a real camera company are they?" I laughed and told them, "It takes pictures like a real camera so I guess they are!"
So here's my question to all of you: How brand conscious are you?
Before you answer let me tell you what was holding me back from G series cameras somewhat even after my daughter had a G1 that I secretly admired when I was shooting Nikon at the time. I wasn't so much brand-conscious as just some kind of photographic snob, or maybe just ignorant and not thinking straight about what makes a "real camera".
For instance, looking back, I would chiefly buy Nikon, or Olympus because THEY are real camera companies. I tried Sony NEX but those early interfaces confirmed my prejudice: these guys have no idea what they're doing. The Olympus cameras I bought were clearly designed for photographers, no question. Quirky maybe. But definitely photographers cameras. And so I ignored the Panasonics and Sony's and so forth. I used to shoot Ricoh film cameras and took some scorn back in the day for that... "What, Ricoh? Get a real camera instead of that plastic crap." But I loved my Ricoh KR-10. Pentax I always took seriously but I never ended up buying one as my main camera.
I just have to wonder how this plays out in the market today? The fact seems to be though, judging from recent offerings, that the "new guys" actually have some creativity and good ideas about how cameras should be. Olympus is the exception as they are not a new guy, but have an amazing, forward looking photo division -- if only the marketing folks would get out of the way. They too often go for "a bit better" when they could be waiting a little longer and making "the new generation". My 0.02 anyway.
But what about you? Do you have some unconscious prejudices about camera companies? Do they influence your buying decisions? On the flip side: are you a rebel who refuses to buy "conventional"?
Chime in!