I totally agree. I am a nature photographer, and I have not changed gear in 5 years. Of course there are things new gear can do and I cannot = so what? On the other hand, it always makes me laugh how photographer who spend their time talking about gear, get insulted when someone asks them what gear they use.

Exactly what I tough! I'm pro and still using my Canon Reflex 5Dmk2 and I LOOOVE it! I don't want the numeric visors (horrible for my eyes) nor 45 nor 24 mps ('cause i love my 30mp) and don't need all those focus gadjets because ... MY CUSTOMERS ARE HAPPY WITH MY WORK TODAY AND I'M HAPPY WITH MY CAMERA AND LENSES! So TY to make me feel less alone!

I concur. Today I’m actually longing for more simple gear that sets me free to concentrate on photography. I don’t need the gimmick overkill and miles long setup menus.

I have a year suscription for Lightroom&Photoshop. I'm really used to Lightroom, not only for editing my raw files, mainly for having my collection in order. With all the increasing prices from Adobe I'm looking for a substitute. Sadly I don't have time to practice with any of the candidates...

One member of a local photo meetup introduced himself as "I'm Steve, and I shoot a 5Dmk3!" (Of course, his pictures were crap!). I totally stopped going after one particularly absurd day when two camps got into a _heated_ exchange over which photoshop filter was better. By creating so many niches of bodies, the camera and equipment manufacturers have done a superb job of creating FOMO and GAS anxiety among even casual shooters. It's a train wreck!

Absolutely spot on Peter and as for forums I don't go on any these days.

Absolutely right! I still remember when I was younger I used to be so frustrated because some of my favorite photographers (landscape and nature, which always been my favorite genre) would not talk about the gear they used. I had to investigate which cameras, lenses, tripods they used... only to find out gear wasn't what made their photography great. After many years I learned to stop worrying about gear and just go out and shoot. I accept my gear has flaws, but they are definitely not the main reason why some of my photos don't work. Thanks for the video, a much needed insight.

In a world where you can be anything, be kind. I like gear, always have, but I care more about photography. So many grumpy people in photography…. Makes me sad so I endeavor to talk about the good stuff. Great video, thanks for sharing!

Peter, this video is an excellent example of why I follow you! Despite being a recent convert to OM System MFT after many years as a Nikon shooter, I've come to sincerely appreciate your advice and insights on photography itself regardless of system. Yes, I also appreciate your reviews of MFT lenses, but I am finding I learn most from posts like this one!

I agree with you. When I was a young photographer, I thought I needed the latest piece of gear to become better. I was obviously wrong and I realized that eventually. No amount of tech wizardry will teach you how to compose your shot, how to be in the right place at the right time, how to make someone comfortable in front of the camera, etc. Also, no one needs a ridiculously high megapixel count unless they're making prints the size of a wall, and no one needs to film in 6k or 8k when the average consumer still has a 1080p television or screen. The only people who care about gear are either beginners, amateurs, tech youtubers or bad professionals who think 500 megapixels is making their poor photos good (I know a few of them...). Today, any entry level pro camera or lens is good enough. We're spoiled.

Yeah. Agree, whenever someone asks me about cams, I try to explain it the way you do. Still whatever is $$$$, new and shiney must be the best. Right? 🙃

You are so right!

I got into the trap of buying new gear all the time some years ago but eventually settled on what I have. Maybe I found my level. When I look at photos I took 10 or 15 or more years ago with 'lesser' cameras, I never think about the IQ, just about the subject or the feeling or the memory it gives me. Sometimes it surprises me what the camera was because some of those old photos look too good to be from an old camera. I do find technology interesting, and still watch reviews, but if I'm ever tempted I just think about how learning a new camera all over again would be such a pain. I see reviewers going through all the unfamiliar menus and my heart sinks. The temptation passes. I know my camera like the back of my hand and get great results from it. My only fear now is that I will break it!

What matters most is the results you get from your photographic work and not some middle aged men collecting as an excuse not to get out into the rough and tumble of the world. There is the same mindset in the music communities a whole lot of bluster very little tangible results.

only problem with Nick collection and Film Pack, it is 2 Week now i can t use it becouse it loses the subscuption , the support is contacted and they ask me if i use on other PC or changed Pc. It is a good software but it is not possible to work with this activation lost every couple of weeks and then wait weeks to solve the problem, I hope i get a final solution or my money back.

Peter. This is probably one of the best videos about photography out there and you nail many of my own observations/experiences. I was also a victim under GAS and constantly comparing cameras and lenses searching for the perfect combination. Its too much to share my own journey but from the late 1990 until today I have both scaled up and during the latest years down-sized my gear. Never been more happy and more productive than today within my own photography just owning one decent camera and just a couple of lenses.

Saying 2018 was 7 years ago killed me.

Great advice, thank you.

Being 2025, I still use a lot my Nikon D700 (from 2008) and it has already 320.000 shots, having more than 215% of its rated life. I have two Nikon D800, which I use for commercial photos, but my personal work is done with the D700.

Well said, Peter .👍👍

Some really good advice 😊

Well said

Great points all Peter, I hope you recover quickly. Gear videos are entertaining but many are still so misleading, I saw what was a nice discussion about digital cameras over cell phones and then the creator told his audience not to waste their time on any sensor smaller than ASPC. Then I thought of all the great pictures I have, you have, and so many of the great M4/3 channels out there, and thought, what a jerk the guy was. I almost got caught up in it, instead I just ended the video, and moved on. It's so easy to get tribal about everything these days. If I was transported to present day USA from 2001, I wouldn't recognize our country, the internet has ruined civil society in some ways.

One more time You made my day.. 🥰🥰🥰

I’ve been harping on this for years on my channel and now it’s becoming very apparent the skill level just as in there however people have $10-$20,000 worth of gear in their bag absolutely waste of money. Your spot on learn the basics and then buy the Ferrariwhat they like to do is buy the Ferrari first and then learn how to drive. Great job.

But you have switched to Fuji. Olympus/mft was not enough?

Thank you for saying that it is talent, not equipment. I am more than annoyed with creators talking about what they don't know about. Why? Most often it is because of free gear. I bought just recently a Fujifilm X-s20. because my older camera is starting to fail, it is 20 years old. For lights I use work lights from Harbor Freight. I make sure they are at 5,000 to 5,600 K in color temperature and so I get a 10,000 lumen light that is dual power for $40. I use translucent plastic cutting boards for light deffusers. My main camera bag is a Porter-Cable tool bag I got about 30 years ago. It works great. What I am doing now is learning my new camera. I agree, once you reach a certain minimal quality in gear, it doesn't matter. At the very least fancier gear may make it a bit easier, more often it makes it harder to do your work. I'm not afraid of buying expensive gear, if it SERVES my purpose. If you do have to buy new gear, make sure it won't argue with you and forces additional expenses to undo where the new equipment is deficient. As an example, a camera without a fully articulating screen is worthless to me. I'm not going to spend an additional $1,000 to undo what is to me, a bad design. We need more videos like this one. Good show! Be safe!

Thank you for making this video. It's true. I have indulged in it too in some forms over time, and it's become more and more obvious how useless it is. I heard someone say "Why do I care about what someone I don't know over the internet is saying? Doesn't make sense to me, I don't understand it." I have been collecting as of a few months back now links to places that talk about photography. I killed my dpreview account a couple of years ago as a step to de-tox. Still need to change a couple of habits but working on that.

Well said. Yes it is toxic. I stopped watching YT channels because of the gear focus. I kept those few channels that focus on photographic art. Gear talk is boring, often toxic and ultimately pointless. Art of the other hand…

Unfortunately, it's much easier to get viewers on gear talk 🙃

Practice, practice, practice! Yeah, new gear is nice, but nothing builds skills like practical experience, shooting photos at every opportunity, thinking outside the box to try to achieve the shots & trying something new. If you dont have the skills, the tools are useless. At the end of the day, if you & the client are happy with the results, who cares what others think. Unfortunately its a human condition to put someone down when they are better than they are. It's called jealousy. PS, it's not the size of the wizards wand, its how he uses it.🫡

Thanks for doing the Sofia video. It actually shows how difficult street photography can be. There are narrow streets lined with cars, trash bins, and walls filled with graffitis (not artistic murals). They all attract unnecessary attentions in any composition and the city architecture and historical significance are lost in the translation.

Peter, this video confirms to me why I value you so much. Without sugarcoating your words, you are the best KZbinr for me.

I asked Peter what to bring on a trip and he recommended my micro four thirds. It was good advice.

Dear Peter! I currently have the 17mm 1.8 lens which I use for the OM-5. I cannot decide which prime lens to buy. Would the 25mm still be enough or do I need one of these? I cannot decide. I'm thinking about zoom lenses so I don't have to carry so many of them all with me but there is no really bright wide angle zoom lens except the 40-150 1.8. here I'm thinking of the affordable category for me as a family photographer. I was looking for an opportunity to try out lenses but I couldn't find one for a fee. Thanks for the video it was very useful for me!

I have only my 5dmkii and ef35f1.4 and 85f1.8 and I have been humiiated often by other photographers why I had so old scruffy gear and I should have a proper camera with high level of dynamics and not this old fungis filled lenses.

I am not ever buying another camera got an XT 5 spent my very hard money on it ..I am buying more time to walk in nature and the streets and make better photography.

If there would be only one kind of photography like street or landscape maybe I could aggree. Wildlife, espicially birds airborne is another story. Gear doesnt matter until it matters. High shutter speeds combined with low light in the early morning hours and the story will change. Gear doesnt matter until it matters😊. An open aperture of 2.8 or 4.0 on a large telephoto lens, will make a difference. And the sharpness when wide open, too.

Peter, thank u for your honest, open heart video, I wish everyone starting this path will be that lucky to see this video

Feedback on your channel and recent video: I had been subscribed to your channel for a long time and learned a lot from you. Eventually, I no longer saw value in the recurring technical comparisons of lenses and cameras. This led me to unsubscribe, as you fell into the same trap that you've now recognized yourself. Eight years ago, I sold all my expensive Canon equipment. Currently, I only use my OM1 for bird and macro photography, and for everything else the Pen F, which I searched for a long time. Since focusing on improving my craft, my photos are slowly getting better - even with older cameras that I deliberately sought out. I'm glad you're sharing your insights so honestly with us. Best regards, Johann

marketing / sales people are toxic. I sold all my camera gear, now im left with only my canon IIs + serenar 50mm f1.9. I feel good.

I do belive that everyone should get past the new gear obsession part of their career or hobby. I spent a lot of money to do various type of photography and now I don't take pictures. But eventually I'll get back on track and I'll enjoy again the great selection of mine.

I suggest that the main factor is - perhaps predictably - to take a balanced view on Gear and not dismiss it or keep buying the latest piece of gear .I find its useful to have access to reviews and then try to take a more balanced perspective as to the benefits they offer and the priorities in my life . I now am very happy with an Olympus OM5 and 3 lenses and a good quality used Sony RX 100 V to offer a range of options .

The ks for another great video Peter. Late reply to your question: I like the shot with the garbage bags a lot. I think it is because it is so dramatic, remembering me to the movie "once upon a time in America".

I agree about gear talk being toxic and almost irrelevant when it should be the images we are talking about mostly. I was then quite amused to see 100+ comments where people talk about their gear!

With respect, Peter, what you speak of is obvious to those who possess common sense; I picked up a camera fifty years ago - & yes, it was an Olympus OM10 - super basic; I then went to the library & picked out several books on photographic technique, purchased an owner specific manual for the OM10, & spent three months reading, even before clicking the shutter; the problem (as I see it) today is that those new to the hobby/profession want all the bells & whistles, but without the hard work in comprehending light physics - & indeed, the camera (you own), learning all of its pros & cons. Modern photographic iterations are all-singing-all dancing, yet it doesn't matter what equipment you possess - for without those fundamentals you mention, your results are going to be reflected by the effort (or lack thereof) you put into the craft. People are in such a rush - & that ideology is compounded by the camera manufactuers. For the last forty-five years, I've been a diehard Nikon user - analogue & DSLR's - I'm not ready to take on Mirrorless as yet. I buy & use them, not because they're the best; rather, because they're built like tanks, & I like heavy-bodied cameras (I have huge hands). In this twenty-first century, we have to contend with a photographic market that is consumer driven, as well as this mantra to 'edit' one's photographs to death. If you've ever developed & printed your own work then you'll appreciate what I am saying. I only crop my digital images - & never alter the images I take, primarily because I stay faithful to the pictures I've taken at that point in time; if I start adulterating those photographs, I am no longer in control of the composition I originally took; there will be many who disagree with this method, but it remains as a truism from the days that were, exclusively, analogue. In regard to actual "gear" reviews, I know precisely what I want in a camera &/or lenses, the rest is passed over, because it's symptomatic of elitist snobbery. Who in the hell has three plus grand to blow on a Mirroless camera body ? It's insanity. Be content with what you have, until you are mentally mature enough to move onto the next stage of the discipline. Thank you for your presentation, Aindriu.

One comment I haven't seen, "What ever camera you choose to use, get to know it inside out and backwards, I've had mine since the 1970's, I've had the so long I can tell when one is about to catch a cold. Changing your gear often never gives that chance

Gear is definitely something, being a tool only, that you need to get, only as you need it - a.k.a. When you want to photograph something that you cannot, and you know you cannot, because of some precise limit of your gear, then you also know what part of this gear to extend or replace….

I have pictures hanging on my walls that I've taken with an iPhone 13, a digitised photo taken in 1984 with a Yashica FX-D and animal photos taken with an OM-D E-M5. All look great and mean something special to me.