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Lol @ ADE, I want red!
I get sick and tired of people saying in one post that the camera doesn't matter yet spending thousands on equipment and comparing the merits of different bodies, lenses, flashes etc in other posts. They must be mad or are deluding themselves.
It's a COMBINATION
What percentage of the images in your portfolio could have been produced with a cheap cameraphone or a pinhole camera?
If your answer is 100% sell your expensive camera and lenses because clearly they are surplus to requirements.
If it's less than 100% then please stop saying equipment doesn't matter
red, large and bold - with an aggressive font 
ok - so to take it as literally as you're doing Chris...
Quote: What takes the best photo ? Camera or photographer ?
just put your camera on a table, leave it there for and hour, come back and see how good its photos are
if it's the camera that's responsible for the photos, it will have gone for a walk on its own, found a nice spot - composed a lovely shot, exposed it perfectly too, then wondered back and plonked itself back in the bag
In fact - leave it on the table without a lens on - it's proper screwed. the camera really struggles to take its own photos, but putting on a lens... with no hands....
so logically, it's the photographer that takes the best photo - because the camera is unable to on its own, without human interaction
Wow i went out to get my wifes christmas present and came back to a war !!! lol 
I think the truth to this is as most of say that there has to be a certain amount of skill before any good photo can be taken, i'm new to photography i have a little panasonic compact DMC-FS510 camera and the pic,s i have taken are alot less than great !! lol
However i have noticed that by looking at your photo's here on this site taken by all the members and comparing them to my own. I can see i have alot to learn about composition, and all other aspects of taking and presenting photo's. I do understand now that it's not just about having a fancy high spec camera. It's about understanding and looking for the right shot and how to take it.
I am fairly sure i am going to invest in a Pentax Kr soon after looking endlessy at reviews and asking for advice but i know that i have alot to learn about composition and seeing a picture.
Thanks everyone for joining in and please add anything you like to this debate i for one find it fasinating and already i can see that it's not just the camera but who is taking the shot. It does raise another question for me and that is how do i improve as novice but maybe thats for another thread !!
thanks again all Sam
Quote: because the camera is unable to on its own, without human interaction
No they can, they can be triggered by animals etc. You can come back in the morning and have 100 photos. If you just leave a photographer there without a camera there are zero photos
Never seen you so wrong Ade. The OP said "Is it something like 70% camera and 30% photographer or is it the other way around ?"
I've said it's a combination whereas you said, and I quote, "100% photographer". Wrong.
Quote: Display an average image from the expensive camera alongside a well composed image with impact from the lower quality gear and the latter will always get the most attention!"
If we are going to use a good and useful comparison, then surely we must compare a well composed and taken image from an inexpensive camera and lens - with the same image taken with a more expensive camera and lens both taken by the same photographer. The result quite obviously would be that the quality from the better camera would make the better shot.
My photography has progressed no end through learning online, trial and error, practise, and also through the purchasing of better kit. There are shots taken with my 50mm 1.2 prime which cost over a grand that could not have been taken with a cheap camera or lens full stop, and having a body capable of good low light performance has saved shots which would be a blurry mess with cheaper cameras.
In conclusion for me there are no percentages as thats down to how good the camera and how good the photographer but it is definitely a marriage of both ...
Quote: If you just leave a photographer there without a camera there are zero photos
pen + paper + human = pictures
we did have pictures before cameras were invented
Quote:
we did have pictures before cameras were invented
We certainly did. I wonder if there might have been an ePAINTozine in which classical painters went on about how fine-tipped their sable brushes were. Then they got blown out of the water by the impressionists using low-res brushes. 
pictures not photos, as you know fine well 
Don't see any of those in your PF. I can't see anything in your PF that was 100% photographer and 0% camera.
Quote: I have a very expensive camera and a variety of expensive lenses. My image are sh*t. should I leave my camera on the kitchen table?
probably better at the bottom of the garden Danny - where the fairies live
have you raised a request to the team for that red font yet Chris
Dan, according to Ade, it doesn't matter how much your camera costs, how expensive your lenses are or what variety you have as it will not affect your photographs even one percent.
indeed - if you take rubbish photos (and Danny doesn't, always some cracking landscapes and Hexam shots from him in the gallery) you are 100% to blame]
a bad workman blames his tools
Quote: I have a very expensive camera and a variety of expensive lenses. My image are sh*t. should I leave my camera on the kitchen table?
Only if it can grill a fillet steak and have the Pinot Noir poured for when you get home.
Quote: What takes the best photo ? Camera or photographer ?
The Photographer. At some time the camera simple becomes a "tool". Photographers go through a generic photography journey or stages of growth.
Photographers Journey
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