jrista]
Great talent trumps good equipment said:
The 1DX doesn't know what "emotion" is. The advancements in tools have only made our jobs easier, so we can spend more time with our families.
Certainly not, no gear knows what emotion is. But your missing the point. The photographer DOES, and the photographer also knows the exact moment when that emotion should be captured for the most impactful effect. Sure, you could get such a photo with something like the lowly EOS-M and its original lackluster AF. But, you might also miss the moment as well. With a better AF system, the changes of that same photographer capturing the perfect moment increase, thereby increasing the chances they might capture one of times greatest moments in the form of a photograph.
My POINT is that just because it's the photographer who makes the photograph doesn't mean that if you put better, more capable gear in the hands of a brilliant photographer, they won't make better, more emotionally impactful photographs.
The argument I am trying to debunk is that "It's ONLY the photographer that matters". That is a fallacy. The photographer matters most, yes, but what gear that photographer has in their hands also matters. The two together are what make a photo. A camera, or a lens, or a flash, or any other piece of photographic equipment MATTERS, which is in direct contrast to painting, where it really doesn't matter what brand of brushes you use or what kind of paint. In photography, gear is important, it is not meaningless...because without gear, you couldn't make a photograph at all. (And, in contrast, without brushes, you could STILL make a finger painting!
)