Will a $10K “Pro-Grade” Camera Make Better Pictures? Perspective from a Boomer Photographer

Jim Moore
38 min readDec 21, 2022
Grackle Nikon Z6ii by Jim Moore

“Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.” Ansel Adams

Introduction

If there is one word that amps up anxiety or conjures images of bank-breaking expenditures among millions of photographers, that word is “professional.” For as long as I’ve been a photographer, earning my living in the business, or just enjoying the art of photography in my retirement years, pro-gear — professional equipment — is the image which generations of new and advanced photographers have come to embrace as the pivot upon which turns their chances of achieving just the right image.

In online forums, in camera manufacturer’s ads, in camera clubs, in popular discourse among photographers, there is preference — maybe deference — afforded the would-be-buyers and owners of top-end cameras and lenses otherwise known as pro-gear or, worse, prosumer equipment. I have no idea what a prosumer is other than an advertising gimmick to lure amateur photographers into ever-increasing price levels of camera bodies and lenses.

Absent experience, you cannot buy better outcomes

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Jim Moore

Journalist, former Capitol Hill staff (House and Senate), former Cabinet speechwriter, editor, photojournalist and bird photographer. Top Writer Quora 2016–2017