About

A lot of ink is spilled debating the merits of one camera brand or another. Even more on new releases. I understand. The news feed beast must be fed a continuous diet of content to get those clicks. Most are for profit enterprises, not killing time/distraction/therapy <ahem> endeavors. I truly appreciate KEH mostly leaving me to my own devices for my two year run writing content for them before they partnered with Youtube darlings. No harm, no foul. I had fun while it lasted and I get it. Have seen some blogs taking pot shots at the business practices of others. Not what I want to read. Keep it to gear please. My sentimental or illogical deviations from the mainstream aside selecting a primary mirrorless camera system comes down to two bullets for me:

  • Cameras: The capabilities bar of the current market has been raised such that I could do just fine with any brand. Intense discussions of the ergonomic, technological, or artistic superiority of one brand or another will be met by me with distance, real or virtual. So the least expensive camera that meets my desired specs wins. And my needs have been met by quite a few cameras already on the market so I have marked myself safe from new camera release notifications.
  • Lenses: With the bullet above attention pivots to lenses or more specifically what mount has the most robust selection of affordable glass. While one can quibble once again about the superiority of one lens or another there is no difference that would cause me to purchase most any similarly spec’d lens on the market over another regardless of manufacturer. So… the least expensive lens that meets my desired specs wins.

That is why I would never second guess another photographer’s choice of brands, sensor, size, etc. To each their own. Have at it.

I also perfectly understand those who do not discuss gear at all and focus on the images produced. That is what it is all ultimately about. The images.

I acknowledge this… while still writing about gear a lot because:

  • My film gear obsession migrated into the digital realm.
  • Since new releases are no threat to me I have pivoted to less fiscally risky “vintage digital” options.
  • I do personally find it hard to separate gear from the images produced if I am honest.
  • Again. This is first and foremost a killing time/distraction/therapy endeavor.
  • I write “So…” new gear release posts as a self intervention.

So logic plays little if any part in this blog. You have just stumbled into my personal long winded ongoing therapy session. There are also older Random Neural Firing posts mostly created to get things off of my chest and written down. But it seems I have mostly gotten that out of my system so it is on to cameras and photography mostly now.

Welcome.

I tend to look for the positives in gear posted and if something is truly awful you will just not be likely to see it mentioned here. An occasional corny joke thrown in here and there. So anything not written about tends to fall into one of a few categories:

  • Not that good.
  • May be great but I cannot afford to get my mitts on it.
  • Cannot find anyone to let me borrow one.
  • Do not know it exists.
  • Have yet to get to it.

This is a safe place where I attempt to avoid unpleasantness. Welcome.

Happy capturing.

-ELW

ericlwoods@gmail.com