This makes NO SENSE! –Blind Image Quality Tests Are Useless

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My name is Matti Sulanto, I'm a photographer based in Helsinki Finland.

[alantyson]

Some of the best advice I’ve heard. My favourite photograph was shot on a 3 mp compact camera. I’ve spent thousands of pounds on gear since then yet it is still my favourite.

[BladesOfMunch]

Absolutely agree with you. The price tag and the sensor aren't a cheat for all the theory and practical experience. Good photos come from knowing how to USE your tools.

[gaoldias]

This is perfect, Matti. As a micro four thirds shooter, I've found myself in debates with other photographers about sensor size and resolution and I've tried to explain what you have just said. Sometimes I just get a blank look and sometimes I get a person who "sees the light". It still surprises me to this day how many photographers get hung up on the technical details of various camera systems. Having a 60mp camera doesn't mean anything if you have no idea how to take an interesting image with good composition or you don't understand how to properly expose the photo. Solid fundamentals win out every time over megapixels.

[jawats]

I love this channel. Also, when you say "They don't care what lens or camera is used..." and then show a Pentax...as a Pentax shooter, that made me smile.

[ndt]

Your musical instrument is an excellent analogy. I’ve been a photographer since the early 70’s and have used pretty much every brand of camera, from point-and-shoot film cameras to professional medium format. In my experience, some cameras just feel better in hand, have more intuitive menus (to me), those are the cameras that inspire me, entice me to go out and shoot, this is what makes them “better”. It’s not their 15 vs 14 stops of dynamic range, their 24MP vs 36MP vs 60MP or 100MP sensors. Just as a Fender feels to some guitarists, it’s the a camera “feesl” to me, the way it allows me to best capture the light as I see it that make me want to use it. We are all “wired” differently, we are all drawn to different things, to some Sony is king while others worship on the Leica altar. What matters most is that we go out and capture the light as we see it with the tool best suited to our needs.
Thank you for your insightful videos, keep up the great work!

[enricomarconi]

As a profesional musician (and a semi-pro photographer) I endorse your musical example as it works perfectly. A quick example is Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert recording. On that day they took away the right piano and left him with the so so one (with poor quality high notes and so so bass notes). The result? A masterpiece which is to date the Nr 1 selling album by a solo jazz artist. And this is due to the man, not the piano as the man has A LOT TO SAY with his music - make no mistakes. The same is to be said about photography. Just let's think of the great masters of the past (one of them still being among us and I'm referring to a living legend i.e. Mr Gianni Berengo Gardin much loved and prized by C. Bresson among many others). Gianni still shoots film, and in his work I wouldn't say that he has been producing the 'sharpest' images... but OMG does he know how to tell a story!! Just look at Vaporetto among many others incredible shots! The problem is that today we talk about gear, gear and more gear, and not photography. Sharpness is becoming an OCD condition geared to substitute for the lack of content. It's all about the container, not the content these days. Such is the world we live in, sadly. And which channels perform the best here on YT? The gear ones... where you don't breath a frame of photography if our lives depended on it! So, kudos to you Mr Sulanto for bringing some real sense and contents in this ocean of emptiness...

[AlexNielsen-uyhh]

Excellent point Matti, you really hit the nail on the head with this blog. The camera is just a tool in the hands of the artist. Thanks for addressing such a sensitive topic in a clear and direct way.

[Onetensee]

The music analogy was excellent and a very valuable point made. Thanks for posting this video..Best wishes

[tezzerii]

Thanks for this ! I'm sure now - I'm going back to my old camera. The phone is handy, small, and has more mp - but it's getting increasingly annoying - can't see the screen in sunlight, fiddly changing settings, catch the edge of the screen with your finger and the camera app disappears - missed loads of shots that way. My little old finepix is coming out of the cupboard !!

[samjones]

I agree. I love your music analogy! Photography, even though a very technical medium, is still art at the end of the day. Whatever camera inspires you to shoot and/or gets you the shot you want is the camera you should use. For some that’s the fastest newest Sony mirrorless camera, others a medium format Fujifilm. As long as you are enjoying the process I think that’s all that matters. I wish there were more photography YouTubers that talked about photography rather than gear

[kaptnwelpe]

GREAT analogy. Because being an artist always means mastering the craft AND being ONE with the tool - otherwise intiution is blocked in many ways. Thats why "Your first 10, 000 photographs are your worst." is true BUT also why GEAR MATTERS for those who are on different level with different gear. BTW: its tragic that some people think of photography as the recording of measurements of electrical currents induced by photons.

[JamesBrownHeh]

Excellent point. In my opinion, you're absolutely right. I love the technology of photography myself, which is why I pay attention to those things, but as I look across the various cameras I've owned, I've had successful, thought-provoking, and high quality images from each, and total garbage from each. As you say, if the artist is happy with the tool, the viewer is more likely to be happy with the image.

While I love making photographs, I also love the technology and gear. There are many more folks who really love the gear, and not necessarily making photographs, and that's just fine, too. Because of that, though, the gear videos get more clicks, and more ad revenue as a result. It's both a blessing and a curse of our hobby/profession that the gear can be as interesting and satisfying as the activity itself.

[heinundpiet]

You've hit the nail on the head. All the Gear talk on YT, the Gear reviews.... and then the reviewers show the photos they took.... and then... 90% of those photos are absolutely pointless, not even worth a 2 second look, just very very random shots, without anything interesting. I recently bought a Leica digilux 2, a camera that was released in 2004. Who cares about the tiny 5MP sensor, compared to today's camera specs. It's more than enough to take good photos and so beautiful and so pleasant to use 🙂

[david_allen]

Very refreshing and sane approach to photography. All the gear talk drives me bonkers because as you say, we are creating art, and the audience that we create for doesn't care and shouldn't care about the gear we used to create the art. Hopefully, they just admire/enjoy/are inspired by or feel some emotional impact from the images we present to them. Thank you for your grounding commentary.

[bluestudiohk]

Hi Matti,
Thank you and I can see some of your photos were taken in Hong Kong, welcome and hope to see you next time you visit Hong Kong!

[judmcc]

Blind tests are how we scientifically tell if there is a noticable difference between two things.

[angelorenna]

I am in complete agreement. There are no poor cameras, there are only uninteresting photographs! To have excellent prints (300 or even 240dpi) it only takes 12 or 16mp. And I’m talking about 30x45cm prints

[gerardferry]

good enough is often the measure I have come to identify as being the everyday reality in everything as I get older and yes content is king

[zweitervorhang]

It has been said a thousand times but you did bring this point across very well, showing your moody pictures.well done.

[TheGlowingforest]

I get your point, but when I compare the Canon 16-35 2.8 II to the RF 15-35 2.8 the difference is night and day. My old lens had very soft corners (I am not even saying extreme corners). Most of my friends could not see the difference until I pointed this out to them. This comparison was done on a 24" display, now that I have 55" such flaws are much more visible. What if I print my photo on a billboard? Sometimes the difference between lenses can be quite small, so you might prefer the flawed lens because it is lighter.

Your other point - your audience has to be happy. Ok, but I take pictures mainly for myself. When I was growing up in the field a lot of people were saying - your photos look great. I have improved my skills a lot since then and I have a lot more to improve. By your logic I should have remained where I was since my audience was happy initially.

Pick a camera that you are happy with. Sometimes it is good to have multiple. Canon R7 might be great for sports, but a Hasselblad is better in the studio, while a MFT might be great for hiking.