Videos

Ever since the advent of photography there’s been an ongoing debate about how much one’s camera gear contributes to the captured image. Some say the latest technology plays a huge role in making great photos, while others insist that the photographer’s vision and artistry is largely responsible for spectacular results.

Of course there’s room for a whole range of opinion between these two extreme views as you’ll see in the fascinating discussion among five top pros in the video below. And you may even be a bit surprised at what they say.

Thomas Heaton, Allan Brock, and Ben Horne are all accomplished landscape photographers, with Brock and Horne capturing their images with large-format cameras. Christine Bartolucci and Dan Bullman are both vintage camera aficionados who prefer to shoot film.

The question about the importance of camera gear is a persistent one because it’s a bit more complicated than it seems at first glance, and there really is no one correct answer. For example, are we talking about how the camera impacts the “quality” of an image, or how it influences the “look” of a photographer’s work.

Watch the video and see which photographer has views closest to yours. And be sure to check out our recent story with one photographer who still shoots with a vintage Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera.