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Changing Camera Systems at our Peril

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I just answered a question on Quora that I thought would be fun to repost here.

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This was the question:
Has Anyone switched from a Full Frame DSLR Camera to an Micro 4/3 Camera Exclusively? And if so What have been your results? - The 2 cameras I am comparing is the Canon 5dMk3 and the Lumix Gh4 - I am a Fine Art Photographer and I shoot Events as well. (No Sports or Wildlife though)

This was my answer:

Yes, and I regret it, a bit - see below. But your milage may vary depending on needs...

I swapped my Canon 5D mk2 and L lenses for an OMD EM5 and a selection of lenses when it came out. Long story short, I lost money changing systems and have since lost even more rebuilding my Canon system! But the thing is I really wanted and needed a change, a fresh start and changing systems did that. I literally went through a ton of different camera systems in the 3 years since that change and have actually enjoyed the whole journey. I've even had times when I only had film cameras and made money with them. The (whole) road looked something like this:

Canon 350D, Canon 20D Canon 30D, Canon 5Dmk2, Olympus OMD EM5, Nikon D300, Sony NEX 5, Pentax K5, Mamiya RB67, Nikon D90, Canon 50D, Canon 5D Classic, Canon FTb, Sony NEX 6, Leica M4-2, Nikon F100, Nikon D80, Mamiya RZ67, Nikon V1, Canon 5D Classic.

Needless to say, my local camera store LOVES me.

But you know the thing that I realised somewhere along the way? The camera didn't matter. Now I know this gets thrown around a lot but it is quite something to realise it. I looked back at my work and realised that my images had a look, a style and that no matter what system I was using, digital, film whatever, I was producing work that clients were paying for and I was happy to deliver.

The many changes did help me realise what elements are important to my work - control over depth-of-field, haptics, ergonomics, emotion in the tools - and this has given me a better understanding of the work I do.

So go ahead, but be warned: it may be the start of a fun, expensive and rewarding journey, where you try to end up back where you started. A little poorer, but also a little wiser.

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