# "Hey, this photos looks good, because you camera is so great!"



## Luigi_xp (Jan 1, 2014)

How to reply people who say this without punching them on the face?
Seriously, this thing annoy me a lot. it's like saying your work were all made by the camera. LOL.
Thanks. (A serious response is good, but don't treat this too serious.)


----------



## lambertpix (Jan 1, 2014)

It happens all the time.  Hand 'em the camera and let then try.  If they take a great photo, I guess they were right.  ;-)


----------



## 480sparky (Jan 1, 2014)

Luigi_xp said:


> How to reply people who say this without punching them on the face?.......



_You should try my cooking.... I have a great stove!_


----------



## tirediron (Jan 1, 2014)

Camera?  Day-am!  I thought I done bought me a tennis racket.


----------



## manaheim (Jan 1, 2014)

These threads tend to spiral into negativity.  I hope this one doesn't.

By and large, my advice is to smile and say "yup!"

It doesn't really matter what people think, and trust me if you try to explain you're just going to come across poorly and make the person feel bad for insulting you.


----------



## ronlane (Jan 1, 2014)

lambertpix said:


> It happens all the time.  Hand 'em the camera and let then try.  If they take a great photo, I guess they were right.  ;-)



I like this ^ one. Or "You have a nice ----, it must be because you have on a great shirt/pants."


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 1, 2014)

Luigi_xp said:


> How to reply people who say this without punching them on the face?
> Seriously, this thing annoy me a lot. it's like saying your work were all made by the camera. LOL.
> Thanks. (A serious response is good, but don't treat this too serious.)



First allow me to refer you to the immortal wisdom passed to me by my grandfather, who once told me, "Son, you never hit a man when he's down.  Kick him.  It's a lot less work".

You are always going to run into nitwits who think you only get good photo's because of your equipment.  My thought process on folks like this?  Thank them for the "kind words" and move on - trying to explain photography to them is much like trying to teach poetry to fish.  It's just a waste of time and effort.


----------



## weepete (Jan 1, 2014)

A good friend of mine said something similar recently

"yeah, but it's really hard to take a bad photo with that camera"

I replied "no, it's really easy to take a bad photo with this gear, what you see is awesome skills making you look that good."

But that was a very good friend of mine, normally I just shug and say "yeah"


----------



## Steve5D (Jan 1, 2014)

Luigi_xp said:


> How to reply people who say this without punching them on the face?
> Seriously, this thing annoy me a lot. it's like saying your work were all made by the camera. LOL.
> Thanks. (A serious response is good, but don't treat this too serious.)



Honestly, I think it's pretty silly to get upset about it. In the grand scheme of things, such comments mean nothing...


----------



## amolitor (Jan 1, 2014)

They're just testing you to see if you're an insecure weenie or not.


----------



## manaheim (Jan 1, 2014)

amolitor said:


> They're just testing you to see if you're an insecure weenie or not.


----------



## EIngerson (Jan 1, 2014)

480sparky said:


> Luigi_xp said:
> 
> 
> > How to reply people who say this without punching them on the face?.......
> ...




Awesome!  LOL, I'm definitely going to use this one.


----------



## TheCameraLady (Jan 1, 2014)

After shooting some friends one of them told me that he said "I take great pictures! I'll take a few of you now. It can't be that hard." I was ecstatic because my icon picture is the only picture I have of myself not taken on an iphone front camera. This is the best I got: 



DSC_0114 by SixNorthZines, on Flickr

Lovely composition, right?


----------



## limr (Jan 1, 2014)

Honestly, I can't remember ever getting that line. I've gotten compliments about my photos, but no one's ever commented on gear that way. But maybe because they already know me and have seen me carrying oddball cameras around and they don't even know what to think. Or maybe they just don't care about whatever camera I use.

I always imagined it would be funny, though, to answer the "you must have a great camera" comment with, "Nah, it's a piece of crap. That's the best I could get out of it."


----------



## minicoop1985 (Jan 1, 2014)

I get that line a lot. Because it's probably true  (I'm kidding) I just use good stuff so I only have operator error to blame. And there seems to be a lot of it... :meh:


----------



## peter27 (Jan 1, 2014)

*You must have a very good camera
*
Yes indeed, it's great, but very lazy: if I'm not there to set all the dials and knobs, it does absolutely nothing!


----------



## flightless_beaker (Jan 2, 2014)

I used to run into these kinds of people back in the day when I sold cameras. Happened all the time people will look at the 5DMkII or the Nikon I forget the high end model number (I'm bad with numbers), and say "I'm looking at this one because I want to take good photos and my current camera is not doing it". One of two things would happen. I would think to myself "I think its you, not the camera" or they would give me weird looks when I tell them a midrange model will suit their needs just as good. "But this camera is over 2000 dollars, the pictures have to be better." Now had I worked on commission, I could have made a lot of money


----------



## bc_steve (Jan 2, 2014)

meh, let them buy one and try!


----------



## runnah (Jan 2, 2014)

Yeah it's 110% the operator.

Its like cars. When you take a car to the ragged edge is when you start to notice the performance advantages in more expensive cars. Driving 65 on a highway in a Ford Fiesta feels the same as in a Porsche Now take each up to 100mph and throw in some curves and then you can see where the prices difference comes into play.


----------



## Derrel (Jan 2, 2014)

When you hear a comment like that, take it for what it was intended to be, which is either a compliment, or as a way to flatter you, or as a sincere expression of blissful ignorance of how photography is actually done. Statements like ,"Wow, I bet that camera takes nice pictures!" on high-end gear OUGHT TO BE accurate...provided that you, the carrier, the owner, the shooter, actually measure up to the gear's capabilities...


----------



## Rick58 (Jan 2, 2014)

I always wanted to dabble in open heart surgery so I bought the sharpest knife I could find.


----------



## imagemaker46 (Jan 2, 2014)

I usually just say, "it works for me"  Lots of people feel this way, many of them own cameras and assume that better gear is better pictures. I don't really care one way or the other, sometimes they ask me questions about the gear, usually when I have the 300 or 400mm with me. I answer the questions, sometimes let them look though and see what I see. It's really not a big deal.


----------



## jake337 (Jan 2, 2014)

Then I tell them it's a 5+ year old used consumer D90 with a lens that is 3 times as old as the body. 
 Next I ask them if they want to buy it.  But I warn them I have dropped it and it will not autofocus for ****.


----------



## vintagesnaps (Jan 2, 2014)

I've gotten asked all kinds of questions and had all kinds of comments made. Usually they're just curious or making conversation; a woman shooting hockey is something of a novelty I suppose, although I've been out and about taking pictures of whatever and people look at me, up, can't figure out what I'm taking a picture of... I'm usually cordial and then move on and go about my business.

And now that I think about it, I don't usually get comments on my camera because I'm usually using something that looks like it's been dragged around hockey rinks and everywhere else so it doesn't look all that impressive. I've usually gotten questions more about what I'm doing...


----------



## Derrel (Jan 2, 2014)

It's true that the big glass (200/2, 300/2.8, or 400mm + big black camera on monopod) draws a lot of comments from bystanders....but what REALLY draws people to approach and comment is this...







Carrying around a twin-lens reflex!!! Oh-My-Gosh...I went to the Oregon coast, with my D2x and 70-300 VR lens, one of my normal "windy day at the beach" rigs, and there were a ton of people there. All day long I was approached by people who ignored the big black camera and long tele-zoom I had in my hands, and asked about the TLR I had slung over my shouldr, loaded with Ektachrome slide film. I even took a photo of this woman holding the camera! She wanted to  hold the doggone thing and see how it worked. People were like, "Wow! What kind of camera *is* that?" And, "whoa--an antique film camera!"


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 2, 2014)

runnah said:


> Yeah it's 110% the operator.
> 
> Its like cars. When you take a car to the ragged edge is when you start to notice the performance advantages in more expensive cars. Driving 65 on a highway in a Ford Fiesta feels the same as in a Porsche Now take each up to 100mph and throw in some curves and then you can see where the prices difference comes into play.



Oh sure, because nothing will get cute chicks waving and blowing kisses at you quite like tooling along the interstate in your Ford fiesta.. rotfl.


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 2, 2014)

Derrel said:


> It's true that the big glass (200/2, 300/2.8, or 400mm + big black camera on monopod) draws a lot of comments from bystanders....but what REALLY draws people to approach and comment is this...
> 
> 
> 
> Carrying around a twin-lens reflex!!! Oh-My-Gosh...I went to the Oregon coast, with my D2x and 70-300 VR lens, one of my normal "windy day at the beach" rigs, and there were a ton of people there. All day long I was approached by people who ignored the big black camera and long tele-zoom I had in my hands, and asked about the TLR I had slung over my shouldr, loaded with Ektachrome slide film. I even took a photo of this woman holding the camera! She wanted to hold the doggone thing and see how it worked. People were like, "Wow! What kind of camera *is* that?" And, "whoa--an antique film camera!"



Lol.. funniest thing I've noticed about wandering around with the 70-200 mm F/2.8 attached when I'm on a zoo walk, now I have a lot of people stop and ask me to use their camera for them to take a family picture of them at the zoo.  I'm guessing they figure if I'm hauling around gear like that I must either know what I'm doing or I'm a lot less likely to steal there's, maybe in part because I'm weighed down by so much gear that I can't really make a break for it.. lol


----------



## bhop (Jan 2, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> Lol.. funniest thing I've noticed about wandering around with the 70-200 mm F/2.8 attached when I'm on a zoo walk, now I have a lot of people stop and ask me to use their camera for them to take a family picture of them at the zoo.  I'm guessing they figure if I'm hauling around gear like that I must either know what I'm doing or I'm a lot less likely to steal there's, maybe in part because I'm weighed down by so much gear that I can't really make a break for it.. lol



Same thing happens to me.


----------



## Derrel (Jan 2, 2014)

bhop said:


> robbins.photo said:
> 
> 
> > Lol.. funniest thing I've noticed about wandering around with the 70-200 mm F/2.8 attached when I'm on a zoo walk, now I have a lot of people stop and ask me to use their camera for them to take a family picture of them at the zoo.  I'm guessing they figure if I'm hauling around gear like that I must either know what I'm doing or I'm a lot less likely to steal there's, maybe in part because I'm weighed down by so much gear that I can't really make a break for it.. lol
> ...



Yes...when I went to Hawaii, in the touristy areas, I had loads of ladies come up to me and ask if I could snap pics of them and their BF's and hubbies...and I had to tell them, "Set the camera up for me--I don't know how to operate these tiny cameras!" And yeah, I DO think that us carrying photo gear makes us seem less-likely to just turn and sprint away with a camera somebody has just handed over to us of their own free will!

I mean, there's like sooo many different camera options, I usually told them, "Please turn the flash on, we're gonna need fill-flash," and so on.


----------



## manicmike (Jan 2, 2014)

I usually go with "It helps to know what you're doing".


----------



## TheLost (Jan 2, 2014)

Maybe y'all can be 'Ansel Adams' with a $50 point-and-shoot..  but i seem to be the first to admit that having nice gear helps!

You can be the best driver in the world but your not going to win a Grand Prix race with a Toyota Prius.


----------



## Luigi_xp (Jan 2, 2014)

TheLost said:


> Maybe y'all can be 'Ansel Adams' with a $50 point-and-shoot..  but i seem to be the first to admit that having nice gear helps!
> 
> You can be the best driver in the world but your not going to win a Grand Prix race with a Toyota Prius.


No doubt that good gear have good image quality, but most photographers use smartphones daily, and many photos were excelent because of the knowledge.
It's like: you can hear great music with not-so-great headphones, but the total hearing experience will be better with good headphones. They don't make the music better, but they help you enjoy and have a pleasing experience. Photography and Cameras are the same thing.


----------



## flightless_beaker (Jan 2, 2014)

TheLost said:


> Maybe y'all can be 'Ansel Adams' with a $50 point-and-shoot..  but i seem to be the first to admit that having nice gear helps!
> 
> You can be the best driver in the world but your not going to win a Grand Prix race with a Toyota Prius.



You have a point. I use a 7 year old Olympus consumer grade SLR at work. Its horrible trying to photograph antsy children. Used my 7D at work a few times when our cameras were on the fritz, oh man the 19 point auto focus made things so much easier.

I do enjoy the compliments on my gear. I'm not the kind of guy that wears flashy clothing or fishes for compliments, but I admit that sometimes when I go out shooting, I'll put on my battery grip, grab my telephoto lens and my walkaround lens, and if the occasion calls for it, my 580EXII all hooked up. People usually will compliment my gear. Sometimes say "that must take great photos" or "that looks like really good gear", to which I reply "it better for the amount of money I have around my neck right now"


----------



## rexbobcat (Jan 2, 2014)

TheLost said:


> Maybe y'all can be 'Ansel Adams' with a $50 point-and-shoot..  but i seem to be the first to admit that having nice gear helps!
> 
> You can be the best driver in the world but your not going to win a Grand Prix race with a Toyota Prius.



That's true to an extent. But at a point, the law of diminishing returns kicks in. Upgrading from a $50 P&S to a $700 DSLR gives a BIG leap in quality, but jumping from that to a $2000 DSLR probably won't give a large enough boost in quality to warrant the cost for most people. Unfortunately, there are those people who believe that the jump in quality from the P&S to the low-end DSLR equals the increase in quality from that to a high-end DSLR. Thus, they buy the more expensive camera believing that it will make them THAT much better.

Nobody is trying to say that the camera does not matter at all - just that some people believe that taking good pictures is more about how awesome the camera looks with its big lens and lots of button and less about ability.


----------



## EIngerson (Jan 2, 2014)

TheLost said:


> Maybe y'all can be 'Ansel Adams' with a $50 point-and-shoot..  but i seem to be the first to admit that having nice gear helps!
> 
> You can be the best driver in the world but your not going to win a Grand Prix race with a Toyota Prius.




I can&#8230;I took this with a box from a 1982 pair of Converse All Stars.




Flowers by Ingerson Photo, on Flickr


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 2, 2014)

EIngerson said:


> TheLost said:
> 
> 
> > Maybe y'all can be 'Ansel Adams' with a $50 point-and-shoot..  but i seem to be the first to admit that having nice gear helps!
> ...



Ok,well it's pretty.. but it smells like feet.. lol


----------



## limr (Jan 2, 2014)

Hey man, I could totally turn a pair of Chuckies into a pinhole camera.


----------



## 480sparky (Jan 2, 2014)

Pfffft.  I shoot with a gum wrapper and paper clip.  MacGyver would be proud.


----------



## limr (Jan 2, 2014)

480sparky said:


> Pfffft.  I shoot with a gum wrapper and paper clip.  MacGyver would be proud.



Not even duct tape! Dude. Mad skillz.


----------



## 480sparky (Jan 2, 2014)

limr said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> > Pfffft.  I shoot with a gum wrapper and paper clip.  MacGyver would be proud.
> ...



Mac never used duct tape. I ain't either.


----------



## limr (Jan 2, 2014)

:hail:


----------



## amolitor (Jan 2, 2014)

Sparky use heat shrink everything. Duct tape sucks.


----------



## thunderkyss (Jan 2, 2014)

I think, "Whew..... I didn't waste my money."


----------



## minicoop1985 (Jan 2, 2014)

I take just about all my shots with a camera shaped potato. Still.


----------



## mmaria (Jan 3, 2014)

Luigi_xp said:


> "Hey, this photos looks good, because you camera is so great!"
> How to reply people who say this without punching them on the face?


 
I just tell them: "Yeah, it is really great. That's why I use it." There is no point explaining them, they don't want to hear an explanation. Speaking from experience.


----------



## Derrel (Jan 3, 2014)

I am working with the iPhone tonight! I just snapped this 20+ year old Nikon promotional gift I got back in the day...a 1,000-sheet stack of Post-It notes. I've kept this thing around for over two decades! Damned thing lasted longer than my marriage!


----------



## Steve5D (Jan 3, 2014)

The last time a person said something like that to me, I put down my camera and I beat him. I beat the tar out of him; beat him 'til he stopped bleeding. I damn near beat him to death with his own shoes. Then I went to his house, kicked his dog and burned his house to the ground.

Some may submit that I overreacted. Perhaps, but I bet he never says anything like that again...


----------



## peter27 (Jan 3, 2014)

Steve5D said:


> The last time a person said something like that to me, I put down my camera and I beat him. I beat the tar out of him; beat him 'til he stopped bleeding. I damn near beat him to death with his own shoes. Then I went to his house, kicked his dog and burned his house to the ground.
> 
> Some may submit that I overreacted. Perhaps, but I bet he never says anything like that again...



You need to get some therapy....


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 3, 2014)

Steve5D said:


> The last time a person said something like that to me, I put down my camera and I beat him. I beat the tar out of him; beat him 'til he stopped bleeding. I damn near beat him to death with his own shoes. Then I went to his house, kicked his dog and burned his house to the ground.
> 
> Some may submit that I overreacted. Perhaps, but I bet he never says anything like that again...



How could anyone think that was an overreaction?  It's not like you killed his whole family or anything.  I mean come on, sounds perfectly reasonable to me.  But hey, the important thing is you did get pictures right?  Lol


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 3, 2014)

peter27 said:


> Steve5D said:
> 
> 
> > The last time a person said something like that to me, I put down my camera and I beat him. I beat the tar out of him; beat him 'til he stopped bleeding. I damn near beat him to death with his own shoes. Then I went to his house, kicked his dog and burned his house to the ground.
> ...



Umm.. actually he did that after he got therapy.  Trust me, he was a lot worse before.. so shhh... lol


----------



## Garvey (Jan 3, 2014)

Ok... So I guess I need 2 things to make great pictures.  I have the camera, but where can I buy this talent stuff???  I didn't see it on any of the webstores.


----------



## deveaushawn (Jan 3, 2014)

runnah said:


> Yeah it's 110% the operator.
> 
> Its like cars. When you take a car to the ragged edge is when you start to notice the performance advantages in more expensive cars. Driving 65 on a highway in a Ford Fiesta feels the same as in a Porsche Now take each up to 100mph and throw in some curves and then you can see where the prices difference comes into play.



Great analogy! For a brief moment I thought you might really be Jeremy Clarkson, but then I realized you said Porsche.


----------



## Solarflare (Jan 4, 2014)

Garvey said:


> Ok... So I guess I need 2 things to make great pictures.  I have the camera, but where can I buy this talent stuff???  I didn't see it on any of the webstores.


 Basically you just need to make people go "WHOW" when they see your pictures.


----------



## AlanKlein (Jan 4, 2014)

Well, I suppose your friend could have said, "How can you get such crap from a camera like that?"


----------



## Kolia (Jan 4, 2014)

Luigi_xp said:


> How to reply people who say this without punching them on the face?
> Seriously, this thing annoy me a lot. it's like saying your work were all made by the camera. LOL.
> Thanks. (A serious response is good, but don't treat this too serious.)


A quote from the What the Duck comic strip about that (can't link properly from iPad). Love it and use it more than I should...

-Your Camera takes great pictures !
-Thanks. Your mouth makes good compliments...


----------



## Josh66 (Jan 4, 2014)

I don't get these kind of comments anymore.

Not sure if that is good or bad...  I like to think that it's because the people I'm around know better than to say something like that.


When I did get them (frequently), I usually just replied with "yup" or something like that.


----------



## Steve5D (Jan 4, 2014)

peter27 said:


> Steve5D said:
> 
> 
> > The last time a person said something like that to me, I put down my camera and I beat him. I beat the tar out of him; beat him 'til he stopped bleeding. I damn near beat him to death with his own shoes. Then I went to his house, kicked his dog and burned his house to the ground.
> ...



Well, I would've.

Unfortunately, I almost beat my therapist to death, too...


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 4, 2014)

Steve5D said:


> peter27 said:
> 
> 
> > Steve5D said:
> ...



It's ok Steve, I'm sure they really deserved it.  I mean they put you in touch with your inner child, and your inner child said, "Wow, this guy really deserves a smack down".. so it all makes perfect sense really.. lol


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 4, 2014)

Josh66 said:


> I don't get these kind of comments anymore.
> 
> Not sure if that is good or bad...  I like to think that it's because the people I'm around know better than to say something like that.
> 
> ...



Had a real good one at the zoo today, a guy stopped me and asked me to take a family photo or two for them at the Desert Dome, then he hands me this little point and shoot.  I asked him if I could just borrow his memory card for a few minutes instead, slapped it into the d5100, took a few dozen shots for them and then gave them the memory card back after letting him preview it on my screen.  As often as this is starting to happen to me I think I might just buy a bunch of old 2-4 gb SD cards in bulk and start selling them at the zoo - lol


----------



## Josh66 (Jan 4, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> Josh66 said:
> 
> 
> > I don't get these kind of comments anymore.
> ...


Well played.  That's actually a pretty good idea - borrowing the card instead of the camera.


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 4, 2014)

Josh66 said:


> robbins.photo said:
> 
> 
> > Josh66 said:
> ...



I turned that little point and shoot over a couple of times and thought, Ok, that's the shutter button, I think - as to the rest.. ahh, the hell with it.. lol.  Then I asked the guy, just popped out the memory card, took some shots for him and then put it back in his camera and handed the whole kit and kaboodle back over.   I think that will be the route I go from here on out, well unless someone wants to hand me like a 5d Mark III, or a D4 or something.. lol


----------



## Josh66 (Jan 4, 2014)

Just remember to switch it over to JPG or RAW+JPG if you normally shoot RAW.


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 4, 2014)

Josh66 said:


> Just remember to switch it over to JPG or RAW+JPG if you normally shoot RAW.



I did JPG only for captain point and shoot, I asked him if his camera would do RAW and his response was, "what's RAW" so he got JPG.. lol.  - I normally shoot RAW only myself unless i'm shooting sports or fast action, then I will sometimes switch to JPG only if I need longer bursts. For people with better camera's I'll probably ask if they want RAW and give them both if they want both.


----------



## Josh66 (Jan 4, 2014)

If they're using a P&S, even if camera is of the same make and capable of RAW, there's probably a good chance that they won't know what to do with the RAW anyway.  JPG would be the safest.  JPG+RAW if you're feeling generous.

edit
Very few P&S cameras are even capable of RAW.  Last time I was P&S shopping, RAW was a criteria that had to be met, and it was pretty slim pickings.


----------



## AlanKlein (Jan 4, 2014)

It's possible you didn't do him any favors.  DSLR have a 3:2 aspect ratio.  The guy's P&S is probably 4:3.  So the guy has to crop your shots to make it fit the rest of his vacations for the slide show he intends to do.   And cropping might not work depending on how you framed your shots.  He'll also have a bunch of shots whose color and contrast  won't match his.    Maybe the best approach is to give him the best shot you can take using his equipment.


----------



## Josh66 (Jan 4, 2014)

AlanKlein said:


> It's possible you didn't do him any favors.  DSLR have a 3:2 aspect ratio.  The guy's P&S is probably 4:3.  So the guy has to crop your shots to make it fit the rest of his vacations for the slide show he intends to do.   And cropping might not work depending on how you framed your shots.  He'll also have a bunch of shots whose color and contrast  won't match his.    Maybe the best approach is to give him the best shot you can take using his equipment.


LOL.

So it won't be craptastic enough.  I think the guy will learn to deal with it.

Nothing wrong with using the camera that is handed to you, but I'm not really seeing the down side to giving the guy a better pic than he would have gotten otherwise.


----------



## amolitor (Jan 4, 2014)

I have to wonder what the hell your camera did to the guy's SD card. It's likely that it either erased it, or put the pictures somewhere his P&S can't see it.


----------



## Josh66 (Jan 4, 2014)

amolitor said:


> I have to wonder what the hell your camera did to the guy's SD card. It's likely that it either erased it, or put the pictures somewhere his P&S can't see it.


Is this serious?

It's not like he reformatted the card or anything.

It really seems like everyone has to find the worst possible thing that could happen...  You make it sound like it would be better if he just dropped the guy's camera in a pond or something.


----------



## amolitor (Jan 4, 2014)

It's not terribly likely that his camera decided 'I have no idea what this crap is, I will delete it' but it's possible. It's quite likely, on the other hand, that the guy's camera will have no idea what to make of whatever new folders his camera stuck in there to shove jpegs in to, and it's also quite likely that the guy relies on his camera finding the pictures in order to do anything with them.

Not everyone grovels around in SD card filesystems looking for stuff.


----------



## AdamGundy (Jan 4, 2014)

Someone told me that same thing about how it must be because of my camera but I have a film camera and I let them (attempt to)use it and then I showed them how I develop my film... They apologized right away.


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 4, 2014)

amolitor said:


> I have to wonder what the hell your camera did to the guy's SD card. It's likely that it either erased it, or put the pictures somewhere his P&S can't see it.



As I explained to him his P&S probably wouldn't be able to access the files however when he got home he could put it in a card reader and they would be in a new subdirectory on the card and all he would have to do is copy the files from there - also if he plugged the camera into the USB cable even though his camera couldn't see the subdirectory his computer would be able to see it.  One of the reasons I previewed the images for him on the Nikon, so he could see the results before heading home.  I also explained to him that once he copied the images he would want to delete the subdirectory off the SD card or reformat the card using the camera so that they wouldn't be taking up space on the card indefinitely.


----------



## Kolia (Jan 4, 2014)

Josh66 said:


> amolitor said:
> 
> 
> > I have to wonder what the hell your camera did to the guy's SD card. It's likely that it either erased it, or put the pictures somewhere his P&S can't see it.
> ...



He has a point. If the guy simply plugs the P&S camera in his computer to get the pictures  will the ones taken with the DSLR be transferred ?


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 4, 2014)

Kolia said:


> Josh66 said:
> 
> 
> > amolitor said:
> ...



Most software will simply look for images on the card regardless of what subdirectory they are in, unless it's some sort of proprietary software and even the vast majority of them are not locked into a single subdirectory for a variety of reasons.  However the gentleman in question was familiar with how to copy files from the SD card to his main system using explorer, in fact that was his preferred method so there is absolutely no issue whatsoever.


----------



## Josh66 (Jan 4, 2014)

Kolia said:


> Josh66 said:
> 
> 
> > amolitor said:
> ...


That depends on the software he uses, I guess.

When I upload pictures, the software I use automatically detects all pictures and asks if I want to upload them.


Are we really at the point where we have to assume that the average guy on the street with a digital camera doesn't know how to plug it into his computer and double click on folders?


----------



## Kolia (Jan 4, 2014)

Josh66 said:


> Are we really at the point where we have to assume that the average guy on the street with a digital camera doesn't know how to plug it into his computer and double click on folders?



Yes we are !  

We should also assume they only view their pictures on the LCD and they keep buying more SD cards as they fill them !

Lol

The wife will be upset tho. When they guys sees what a "real camera" can do he's going to want one !


----------



## Josh66 (Jan 4, 2014)

Kolia said:


> We should also assume they only view their pictures on the LCD and they keep buying more SD cards as they fill them !


I guess you have a point - I know people that do this.

Still, finding pictures on a digital device is not THAT complicated.  I would maybe give the guy me email address in case there are any problems...


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 4, 2014)

Kolia said:


> Josh66 said:
> 
> 
> > Are we really at the point where we have to assume that the average guy on the street with a digital camera doesn't know how to plug it into his computer and double click on folders?
> ...




Lol.. well they were a local couple so I may end up running into them again at some point.  Will be interesting if he shows up with a DSLR slung around his neck next time.. rotfl


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 4, 2014)

Josh66 said:


> Kolia said:
> 
> 
> > We should also assume they only view their pictures on the LCD and they keep buying more SD cards as they fill them !
> ...



His wife got it from me - just in case.


----------



## Josh66 (Jan 4, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> Josh66 said:
> 
> 
> > Kolia said:
> ...


Are you sure that's why his _wife_ got it?


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 4, 2014)

Josh66 said:


> robbins.photo said:
> 
> 
> > Josh66 said:
> ...



Rotfl - Yup, I'd say that's a pretty safe bet.  She was probably only a couple of years older than my oldest daughter.  Besides, I'm not able to date for at least the next 3 years at a minimum, so even if she was blind and crazy and really wanted to dump her husband to run off with a guy old enough to be her father, I wouldn't be interested.  Not like I don't have enough problems as it is.. lol


----------



## Luke345678 (Jan 5, 2014)

"There are picture takers and then there are photographers."


----------



## Steve5D (Jan 5, 2014)

peter27 said:


> Steve5D said:
> 
> 
> > The last time a person said something like that to me, I put down my camera and I beat him. I beat the tar out of him; beat him 'til he stopped bleeding. I damn near beat him to death with his own shoes. Then I went to his house, kicked his dog and burned his house to the ground.
> ...



By the way, did you _not _see the initial post in which the OP basically says that the only response he can foresee to such a comment is to punch someone in the face?


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 5, 2014)

Steve5D said:


> peter27 said:
> 
> 
> > Steve5D said:
> ...



Either way Steve it was hilarious.  But maybe therapy isn't the way to go here.. maybe if you just switched to decaf.. and tried some yoga.. lol


----------



## Steve5D (Jan 5, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> Steve5D said:
> 
> 
> > peter27 said:
> ...



I was _gonna_' to switch to decaf, but I beat the barista at my  local Starbucks into a bloody pulp, so they make me go to 7-Eleven now,  and their decaf sucks.

Well, really, _all _decaf sucks...


----------



## cynicaster (Jan 7, 2014)

> Are we really at the point where we have to assume that the average guy on the street with a digital camera doesn't know how to plug it into his computer and double click on folders?



Most definitely!  Its pretty sad.  Ive lost count of the number of people Ive encountered who have 3-4 year-old pictures on the SD cards in their cameras because they dont know how to transfer them to a computer.  Its funny when they start deleting pictures of their young kids from summer 2009 to make room for blurry pictures of NASCAR races in 2013. 

Back on topic, for something as ostensibly accessible as digital photography in 2014, the level of common understanding of the craft has not nearly grown in proportion with the prevalence of day to day picture-taking. 

In plain English, what Im saying is cameras are freaking _everywhere_ and used by _everyone_ but only a very small percentage of those people actually know schit from shinola about how cameras work or how to use one.  So, it follows naturally that if you are seen walking around with a big, fancy DSLR camera, youre going to get the wow, your camera takes nice pictures comment at least semi-regularly.  Even if the pictures you have taken are nothing special, these people will have already had their perception adequately skewed by marketing fluff, spec sheets, and water cooler chats at work about whose camera has the most megapixels. 

As has been stated multiple times in this thread, its best to choose your battles, and realize that nothing you could possibly say in a quick conversation with a layperson is going to make the proverbial light bulb of comprehension suddenly go on in their head.


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 7, 2014)

Steve5D said:


> robbins.photo said:
> 
> 
> > Steve5D said:
> ...



Decaf - pretty much the coffee equivalent to kissing your sister.. lol


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 7, 2014)

cynicaster said:


> Back on topic, for something as ostensibly accessible as digital photography in 2014, the level of common understanding of the craft has not nearly grown in proportion with the prevalence of day to day picture-taking.



Err.. what?  Is there an English Translation of this available?



> In plain English,



Oh thank goodness.  Thought I was going to have to finally pull that copy of websters out from underneath the leg of the coffee table...lol



> what I&#8217;m saying is cameras are freaking _everywhere_ and used by _everyone_ but only a very small percentage of those people actually know schit from shinola about how cameras work or how to use one. So, it follows naturally that if you are seen walking around with a &#8220;big, fancy&#8221; DSLR camera, you&#8217;re going to get the &#8220;wow, your camera takes nice pictures&#8221; comment at least semi-regularly. Even if the pictures you have taken are nothing special, these people will have already had their perception adequately skewed by marketing fluff, spec sheets, and water cooler chats at work about whose camera has the most megapixels.
> 
> As has been stated multiple times in this thread, it&#8217;s best to choose your battles, and realize that nothing you could possibly say in a quick conversation with a layperson is going to make the proverbial light bulb of comprehension suddenly go on in their head.



See how much nicer things are in English?  Lol.  Me I never worry about how folks chose to phrase a compliment, I just try to take it in the manner it was intended instead of worrying about how ham handed the approach or wording might have been.


----------



## runnah (Jan 7, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> Decaf - pretty much the coffee equivalent to kissing your sister.. lol



I've never kissed your sister or had decaf, but I bet both are hot.


----------



## Steve5D (Jan 7, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> Steve5D said:
> 
> 
> > robbins.photo said:
> ...



David Letterman on decaf: "Mmmmmmmm... Nothin' better than a nice cup of hot, brown water..."


----------



## JacaRanda (Jan 7, 2014)

flightless_beaker said:


> I used to run into these kinds of people back in the day when I sold cameras. Happened all the time people will look at the 5DMkII or the Nikon I forget the high end model number (I'm bad with numbers), and say "I'm looking at this one because I want to take good photos and my current camera is not doing it". One of two things would happen. I would think to myself "I think its you, not the camera" or they would give me weird looks when I tell them a midrange model will suit their needs just as good. "But this camera is over 2000 dollars, the pictures have to be better." Now had I worked on commission, I could have made a lot of money



Why not just say the Nikon is superior and be done with it?


----------



## robbins.photo (Jan 7, 2014)

JacaRanda said:


> flightless_beaker said:
> 
> 
> > I used to run into these kinds of people back in the day when I sold cameras. Happened all the time people will look at the 5DMkII or the Nikon I forget the high end model number (I'm bad with numbers), and say "I'm looking at this one because I want to take good photos and my current camera is not doing it". One of two things would happen. I would think to myself "I think its you, not the camera" or they would give me weird looks when I tell them a midrange model will suit their needs just as good. "But this camera is over 2000 dollars, the pictures have to be better." Now had I worked on commission, I could have made a lot of money
> ...



Two obvious reasons.. first, Steve shoots Canon.

Second.. he's been known to be a bit .. um.. sensitive..

I mean, I'm sure not going to blurt out something like that in front of Steve.  Certainly not if I'm wearing shoes.. rotfl


----------



## Steve5D (Jan 7, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> JacaRanda said:
> 
> 
> > flightless_beaker said:
> ...



Frankly, the actual owner of the shoes is a secondary concern...


----------

