\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,oneside]{amsart}
\usepackage{geometry}                % See geometry.pdf to learn the layout options. There are lots.
\geometry{letterpaper}                   % ... or a4paper or a5paper or ... 
%\geometry{landscape}                % Activate for for rotated page geometry
%\usepackage[parfill]{parskip}    % Activate to begin paragraphs with an empty line rather than an indent
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{epstopdf}
\DeclareGraphicsRule{.tif}{png}{.png}{`convert #1 `dirname #1`/`basename #1 .tif`.png}

\setlength{\parindent}{30pt}

\setlength{\textwidth}{150mm}
\setlength{\textheight}{230mm}
\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.25}


\title{What is a `good camera'?}
\author{Gavin Duley}
\date{September 2005}                                           % Activate to display a given date or no date

\begin{document}
\maketitle


\noindent The first thing to note is that what really matters are the photos - 
not what cameras, lenses or techniques you used to take the photo.
It's an old saying, but true, that `\textit{cameras don't take photos,
photographers take photos}'.

One thing about this is that having the latest, greatest camera will
not mean that you get great shots, that bit is up to \textbf{\textit{you}}. A good
photographer can make far better photos with a box brownie than a mediocre 
photographer (\textit{like yours truly... ;-)}) could ever make with the latest
digital SLR, such as the \$LATEST\_FANCY\_CAMERA\footnote{This is given in the form of a pseudo-Un*x shell environmental
variable. If you don't know what this is, you probably don't need to ;-). 
Basically, you can just assign any appropriate value to it. At the time of writing,
``Canon EOS 5D'' would be a good suggestion ;-) }.

Sadly, that makes things much harder. It's easy to say what is or isn't a good
camera, and one can easily asses things such as autofocus speed, viewfinder size
and brightness, pixel count, etc. Hence these tend to be what obsess people the most.
It isn't as easy to say what is or isn't a good photo - that's a question
of taste to a large extent. It's something which isn't as easy to quantify,
and there are certainly no easy steps or rules to follow to becoming a good
photographer. Unlike with a new camera, you can't just walk into a shop and
buy one\footnote{Of course, if you're broke like me, you can't even
manage walking into a camera store and buying a new camera... ;-)}.

Nonetheless, it's my feeling that, all else being equal, it helps to have
a `good' camera. The aforementioned good photographer could probably take
better photos on his/her preferred camera than on that box brownie I mentioned.

First, though, I must define what I mean by a `good camera' I've thought
about this a bit, as I've seen so many rather pointless arguments about why
\$CAMERA\_X is a far better camera than \$CAMERA\_Y, and how anyone who disagrees
is patently stupid (\textit{well, I am that one, certainly}). After a while, I began to 
think, \textit{actually, neither is}. In reality, the answer is `it depends...'. What
are you going to use the camera for? What do you feel comfortable using?

In my view, at least, a `good camera' is one which
\begin{itemize}
	\item works in a way with which the photographer feels comfortable
	\item does not unnecessarily restrict the photographer in doing what he/she wants to
	\item produces an image of good enough quality for the intended final application
\end{itemize}
So what is a good camera, say, for one landscape photographer wouldn't necessarily be
a good camera for a sports photographer, or a portrait photographer. Or even for 
another landscape photographer!

I currently do most of my work with two 35mm film cameras: a Nikon F80, and a
Yashica T5 compact. They suit the work I do mostly pretty well, and I find I tend to
use them for different styles of photography. The Yashica seems to lend itself
towards more casual, unplanned `off-the-cuff' photography than the Nikon. At the
moment, I'd quite like to switch over to the Canon EOS 5D, which looks like it 
would also quite suit my style of photography\footnote{All my lenses at the moment are Nikon mount. This isn't a problem,
though, as in the dream world where I can afford an EOS 5D, I can also
afford some nice new Canon lenses, such as the 24-105mm f/4L IS USM...} (if not my budget)\footnote{Donations, please, to... ;-)}.

But of course, for another photographer a box brownie might
actually be a better camera for them and the work they do than a 5D. The point is,
you should fina a camera which you like working with, and works well for the sort
of photography you do, then learn to use it well so you can forget about it.
And hey, there's no point in arguing over which camera is the best
because that's also quite a personal and subjective thing. Spend the time instead
maybe practicing your photography, trying to become the best photographer you
can be.

\bigskip

\noindent Copyright (c) Gavin Duley September 2005

\bigskip

\noindent Note: some names used are trademarks of their respective
companies \& are used for identification purposes only.

\end{document}