Next to the accelerator sits the brake
No, of course we are not going to talk about energy prices in Focus. But we all know GAS: Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Of course that Nikon is fantastic, and thanks to your GAS you have collected an impressive number of lenses over the years. But perhaps that new Canon with two extra megapixels is better still. Suddenly your life revolves around that new Canon, and you cannot really sleep properly until you have added it to your arsenal. GAS is a modern illness. A very expensive illness.
I have gathered a fine collection myself over the past year. In all honesty, besides my Sony A7 IV and A7R IV and a dozen prime and zoom lenses, I need nothing more. I genuinely know how to manage in any situation and any light. But every time a new Sony camera or lens comes out, the itch starts again. During a walk with the dog the other day, though, the realisation came. The realisation that if you are always looking for something new, you never really get to know what you already have.
So I would like to introduce a new abbreviation: BRAKE. Balance, Rest And Knowing Every Extra. If you keep going deeper into what you already have, you become a better photographer of your own accord. And that restlessness about new kit passes by itself.
Photography is not about your camera, of course. It is about how well you know your camera. Once you really know the thing, you no longer have to be busy with it. Because if you have to photograph an event in bad light, you open your aperture as a matter of course, without looking. You know how slow your shutter speed may be before you lose sharpness handheld. You can change your batteries with your gloves on. You know in which situations raw is really a superfluous luxury. Once you know without thinking which camera settings are best at a given moment, you can focus on the looking. And if you can focus on the looking, you become a better photographer of your own accord.
Does that mean you may never buy a new camera or lens again? No, of course not. Nonsense. But thanks to your BRAKE you may invest sooner in a 50mm F1.2 as an upgrade to your 50mm F1.8, and not in an A7R V as an upgrade to your A7R IV. Thanks to your BRAKE you buy with more purpose. You invest in what you need. Because in the end a better camera does not make you a better photographer, but I probably do not need to tell you that.
Next time you want to hit the GAS, try the BRAKE first. Agreed?
This article first appeared in Focus Magazine (the best photography magazine in the Netherlands), for which I wrote a column in every issue in 2023 and 2024.
