My Take on Photography — Why Joy Matters More Than Gear

09 mart. My Take on Photography — Why Joy Matters More Than Gear

For the past couple of weeks I kept watching a website, looking at two lenses for my Fuji system — lenses I really desire, but that I would probably have almost no real use for.
You might think I’m crazy, but hear me out first.
I’ve talked before about gear, photography and even downgrading, but this is the first time I want to tell the whole story properly.
And I want to tell it for a few simple reasons:
• I’ve been in the same situation myself every time I bought gear
• I think there are a few important lessons that everyone should consider before buying photography equipment
• if you follow my journey, you already know I shot with four cameras so far — two Sonys and two Fujis — so maybe this experience might help someone looking at one of these brands

A Note on Time and Context

Before going further, it’s worth saying that this article was originally written during an earlier phase of my photography journey, when the cameras mentioned here — like the Sony A5000, Sony A6300, Fujifilm X-E2 and Fujifilm X-T1 — were my real options and daily tools.
Technology has changed since then.
But the core ideas in this article have not.
This isn’t about whether one old model was better than another old model. It’s about something much more important: how gear affects your joy, your consistency and your growth as a photographer.
So even if you are reading this today while comparing newer cameras, the lessons still apply.

How I Got Into Photography

I started getting into photography about 14–15 months after my trip to New York.
Before that, I had never owned a camera with interchangeable lenses. I took photos on trips, of course, but they were all made with phones or simple point-and-shoot cameras.
Just before leaving for New York, I bought my first “real” camera:
Sony A5000 with the kit lens.
That was my first camera ever.
I know there are millions of photographers online with decades of experience, but I ask you to consider what I’m writing here because I’m writing from real experience and I’m not sponsored by anyone.
After using several small point-and-shoots, two Sony mirrorless cameras and later two Fuji mirrorless cameras, I can honestly say this: most reviews on the internet are full of nonsense.
And the huge number of fanboys only makes life harder for someone who just wants an honest camera for personal use.

Why Online Camera Reviews Often Fail

When I was trying to move away from my Sony kit, I spent weeks watching YouTube videos and reading hundreds of articles.
Under all those mountains of repetitive opinions, insults and brand loyalty, I found very little information that was actually useful.
Everyone kept talking about the same things:
• megapixels
• autofocus
• stabilization
• video specs
But almost nobody talked about what I now consider the most important things:
• how often will you use the camera?
• do you enjoy holding it?
• do you like the controls?
• does it fit your real life?
• will it make you want to go out and shoot more often?
And most importantly: will it make photography more enjoyable, or more frustrating?
I also hope this article can save someone from GAS — Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

My Gear Journey

My first setup was:
• Sony A5000
• kit lens
Then came the upgrades:
• Sigma 16mm f/1.4
• Sony A6300
• Sony 35mm f/1.8
• Sigma 19mm f/2.8
And I keep saying “new” because I paid a lot of money for that kit.
Even though I later sold it without losing too much, I still regret spending so much on it.
After that, things changed completely.
I bought a second-hand Fujifilm X-E2 and traded my Sony 35mm for the Fuji 18-55mm f/2.8-4.
Then I bought:
• Fuji 50-230mm
• Fuji X-T1
• Samyang 12mm f/2
Most of it second-hand.
So in the end, I sold a newer and more expensive Sony kit, bought a larger second-hand Fuji kit, and still ended up with money back.
That taught me something important: expensive is not always better.

My First Big Mistake

Before leaving for New York, I knew I didn’t want to take all my photos on my iPhone.
For me, returning to New York is expensive enough to ruin the rest of a travel year, so I wanted a small camera that could help me capture memories I would look at years later and smile.
And right there, at the very beginning, I made my first mistake.
I was too cheap.
There are times when being cheap pays off.
That wasn’t one of them.
If I had bought the Sony A6000 instead of the A5000, maybe I would still be shooting Sony today.
But I was cheap.
So I bought the camera, took the trip, and mostly used AUTO mode.
I got some decent pictures, but I also ruined many others that could have been much better.

How the Passion Started Growing

When I got home from New York, I had the chance to buy a cheap ticket to Thailand.
So Thailand became the next destination.
Before leaving, I started:
• watching photography videos
• buying books
• taking courses
• learning basic composition and exposure
The results were still far from great, but I could already see improvement.
That was enough to get me hooked.
Then came more reading, more experimenting, more test shots.
Then came Andalusia.
And there I took some photos I genuinely enjoyed.
Maybe not world-class.
But I was proud of them.
And that’s where GAS really kicked in.
First came the Sigma 16mm.
Then the Sony A6300.
Then more lenses.
Then came England — and there I got some images that I’m still proud of today.
Not because they are masterpieces, but because they showed me I had improved.
I was seeing scenes differently.
Composing better.
Understanding light more clearly.
And that mattered to me.

Why I Left Sony

After my trip to England, despite loving the pictures I had taken, I started to think more clearly.
That trip meant carrying a huge backpack every day:
• camera
• lenses
• tripod
• battery grip
• spare batteries
• remote
And those days often meant 15 to 25 kilometers of walking.
That became a problem.
The second problem was that I felt uncomfortable carrying such an expensive backpack with me all the time.
Maybe for other people my kit wouldn’t seem expensive, but for me it was a lot of money.
And the third problem was that I still didn’t feel I had the focal lengths I needed.
I was missing a zoom lens that I liked.
I wasn’t happy with Sony’s zoom options, and the alternatives I considered made the kit even bigger.
At that point I realized I had broken my very first rule when buying a mirrorless camera:
I wanted a small, portable system.
But my Sony A6300 with the Sigma 16mm and the grip was already over one kilogram.
That’s no longer small.

The Truth About the Sony A6300

Before moving on, I need to be fair.
The Sony A6300 is a great camera.
A beast.
I loved how it performed and paired with the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 it was fantastic.
If you are thinking about buying into the Sony APS-C system, I strongly recommend that lens.
It is excellent.
So why did I switch?
Because I respected the camera, but had no fun using it.
I hated:
• the Sony menus
• the layout
• the lack of a zoom lens I truly liked
I know some people will disagree, but it is my honest opinion that, aside from the top-end G lenses, I never really liked Sony zooms.
And I didn’t want to solve the problem by adding adapters and making the kit even bigger.

How I Fell in Love with Fuji

One day, I traded my Sony 35mm for a Fuji 18-55mm lens and bought a second-hand Fuji X-E2.
That was it.
That was the moment I fell in love with Fuji.
Even before leaving for Morocco, I started taking photos of everything.
And while my Sony sat in the backpack, my Fuji got all the attention.
Why?
Because of one thing: ease of use.
I simply love Fuji dials and controls.
I feel comfortable with them.
I hated pressing buttons and diving into menus on the Sony. On Fuji, I started customizing the camera almost immediately.
When I came back from Morocco, I knew what I had to do.
I sold the Sony gear and went all-in on Fujifilm.
I bought a used X-T1, and from there the real joy began.

What Actually Makes You Better

I had never had so much fun using a camera.
And the most important thing is not the trips.
It’s this: not a day goes by without me taking the Fuji out of the bag and photographing something.

Books. Stamps. My desk. Clothes. Things outside. Whatever is around me.
That is what matters most.
Not autofocus. Not ISO. Not paper specs.
Practice.
If you have an expensive camera that you only use during vacations, you won’t get very far.
But if you use your camera daily — no matter what you shoot — you will improve.
That is what makes you better.
Not the sensor.
Not the frame rate.
Not the spec sheet.

Why Feel Matters More Than Specs

I love turning the dials on a Fuji camera.
I love seeing the histogram move toward a better exposure.
I love controlling aperture directly from the lens.
I love how quickly I can change things.
And when you watch YouTube or read reviews, most people just ramble on about specifications, often without truly testing the camera in a meaningful way.
That kind of content is useless for most people.
You need to feel the camera. Hold it. Use it.
See if you like the weight, the layout, the lenses, the rhythm of working with it.
Because in the end, most people will never use 80% of the specs they spend all their money on.
And for many photographers, less than 1% of their photos will ever be printed or sold.
So why obsess over tiny technical details if your main output is Instagram, Facebook, or personal albums?

My Current Kit

My current kit is very simple:
• Fujifilm X-T1
• Fujifilm X-E2
• Fujifilm 18-55mm
• Fujifilm 50-230mm
• Samyang 12mm f/2
• two tripods
• three backpacks
• five spare batteries
• a few SD cards
That’s it.
Some people may laugh at how small or modest this kit sounds.
But honestly?
I truly believe it can serve me well for years.
The limitation is not the camera anymore.
The limitation is me.
I need to get better.
The camera is still as good today as it was when it launched.
In the hands of a great photographer, it can still create great work.
In the hands of a beginner, it will still create weak images.
That simple.

Photography Must Fit Your Life

There is one more thing people rarely talk about when buying gear: your actual life.
I have a demanding job.
I have other passions too, especially fitness.
I’ve been lifting weights since I was 18, with breaks in between, and I want to keep doing that for a long time.
At 37, I realized something.
On my free time, on my vacations, when I want to recharge, I simply cannot live like a full-time landscape photographer.
I can’t wake up at 4 a.m., drive two hours and hike into the mountains for every sunrise.
I can’t regularly go out at 2 a.m. to shoot the Milky Way.
I can’t always keep my camera in my hand in every new city.
And that matters.
So when buying gear, you need to ask yourself a very honest question: how often will I use this camera?
Because all cameras these days can make beautiful images.
The issue is not whether the gear is capable.
The issue is whether you will actually use it enough for it to matter.

My Take on Photography

My take on photography is very simple.
You should find joy in what you are doing.
You should find joy in the gear you use.
And most importantly, you should find joy in the places you visit and the moments you photograph.
I honestly believe that while Instagram helped photography in certain ways, it also did real photographers a huge disservice.
For every good photograph in your feed, you scroll through mountains of shallow images designed only for likes.
Bad selfies. Crooked photos. Blurry images. No story. No care. No intention.
And all that noise affects the people who really care about making something meaningful.
So if there is one thing I want you to take from this long article, it is this: buy a camera you love holding in your hands and shoot as often as you can.
Do not believe that better gear will make you a better photographer.
It won’t.