GAS — Gear Acquisition Syndrome — is the photographer's affliction. The belief, usually wrong, that better equipment will produce better photographs. I have it. Most photographers who've been shooting for more than a few years do.
What's in the bag
My current professional setup is the Sony A9 — fast, reliable, dual card slots, excellent autofocus. It earns its keep at events and sports. For personal work and slower commercial projects, the Hasselblad X1D II 50C. 50 megapixels of medium format, and a camera that forces you to slow down and think.
The GAS list
Honesty requires me to admit what I'm currently eyeing:
- Sony A9 III — the global shutter is genuinely interesting for my work
- Leica Q2 — I've owned a Q and a Q2 before and sold both. I will probably buy another
- Leica M10 Monochrom — black and white only, which sounds like a constraint but is really a liberation
- Sony RX1R III — if it ever comes out
The honest truth
The Hasselblad produces better photographs than the Sony, not because of its sensor, but because of how it makes me shoot. Slower, more deliberate. The Sony is faster and more capable in almost every measurable way. But measurable isn't everything.
The best camera for personal work is usually the one that makes you think before you press the shutter.
