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The status photographer
Probably well before the "Digital Age" of photography some people have "bought" their so called status in various aspects from the marketplace. Photography is no different. Now you're asking yourself ,"What is he getting at?" Look at it this way. A $1000.00 fishing rod wont make you catch bigger fish, A ferrari dosn't make you a better driver and a High end top brand camera will not make you a better photographer if you don't know how to use these products.
Let me start off with something that happened to me just over a year ago. I was outside enjoying the summer with my camera in hand when my neighbor came over and started a chat. He noticed my Dslr and with cocked head and superior attitude said," oh you have a Rebel, Mine's a 5D mark II." I felt a little inferior camera complex starting. I just said ,"yeah". And went on my way. Now like most of us ,we all have that itch to check out and wanting the top end stuff. But that was all I could afford at the time. Now I have seen pictures on the internet that my neighbor has taken and have come to the conclusion that a high end camera to him is just a status symbol. His pictures really aren't that striking. I get a laugh now from various photography sites I vist when I see a "Product list" detailing every peice of equipment they own in their signiature line as if they feel the need to "Impress" the rest of us. All I see is that they have more money and are a potential target for theives on the internet.
Today I read two articles in one of the online photography mags. One point the first author wrote about was he was at a seminar when one father and son duo approached him and asked what type of camera did he use for the pics he was displaying . The photographer replied Leica. The father turned to his son and said" I will buy you one when you get better ". Obviously the father was ignorant to the fact that the camera was not high end. The author continues his story by telling us that he has beeen to galleries in which all the photography was done with point and shoot cameras. The gallery was full and the pictures were selling. The author even bought one himself. In the the same article the writer mentions that the magazine he works for had an issue where all the photographers assignments had to be shot with an entry level DSLR. I thought that that was an awsome idea.
In the same issue another writer was aked how to become a pro. His answer in short was that one has to have high end gear to make it in the industry. Did the editor not catch this??? I could only shake my head.
I have read that some photography students have gotten a scholarship with just using their iphone.
A store I frequent for some gear gives me the service of someone buying high end gear when in fact I'm there asking questions and buying a lens hood or a filter for a newly aquired peice of gear that i bought on the internet for a fraction of the cost. And they don't balk at my gear. I asked one salesperson if he had sold any $30,000.00 Hasselblad cameras i see on display. He said he has never seen any sales on that item. But also went on to mention that while attending a college photography course , one of his classmates had one ( his parents had bought it for him). He didn't have it a few days before he dropped it in class and destroyed it. You might think that a purchase such as this one would have insured it for such a reason. But the sad fact is he didn't and now has a really expensive paperweight. Staus symbol? I think so! LOL!!!
Once in every while i see a post in which one asks "what camera do you have?", or ,"which camera should I buy?" Every newbie has done this. i think i did as well. For me it all comes down to what i could afford and grow with. I'm not knocking the few of you that have the high end models of whatever brand you have that know how to use it. It's the people out there that buy the most expensive things in life as to show off. Don't get me wrong I too want better equipment and i will as time goes by. But for right now I work with what i've got and learn with what the limitations of both me and my equipment are. Being a member on this sight has made me a better photographer , not my budget.
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I can't believe that i dished out that much money way back then, for what amounts to a simple P/S by todays standards. 
I eventually ended up with an Olympus E-510 and E-3 which I stuck with for quite a while thinking I had the two cameras I was going to stick with for a long time. As I got more involved I realized the cameras though good had shortcomings that I regarded as Limitations. I looked for a camera system at that point which would remove those limitations and also fit with the vision I had as to where I wanted to take my photography. I ended up choosing the Nikon D-700 and D 90. At that time I was done with bodies or so I thought. The D90 started to bother me though because I didn't like the lightweight plastic feel and the menu was completely different from the D700 so I replaced it with the D300s, there and then I knew I was done with bodies. These are the two cameras I'll use until they burn out or I burn out
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