为何在60年后的今天，当摄影器材不论是在照相机的功能、镜头的锐利度、底片的细致度以及解析度都已经改进到一定的程度，却仍然没有人能够取代或甚至拍出相同於安塞亚当斯(Ansel Adams)在1940年代所拍摄的作品？
Why is it that with over 60 years of improvements in cameras, lens sharpness and film grain, resolution and dynamic range that no one has been able to equal what Ansel Adams did back in the 1940s?
在安塞所处的时代，并没有像Photoshop这样的电脑软体，那么他是如何创造出那些无与伦比的作品？许多企图挑战大师的人很快发现自己的失败，他们有些或许可以很接近如摄影大师杰克迪金卡(Jack Dykinga)一般，然而每个人的作品却又不尽相同。
Ansel didn't even have Photoshop! How did he do it? Most attempts fall short, some are as good but different like Jack Dykinga, but no one is the same.
为何有摄影师带著最特别的摄影器材，前往他们利用网际网路(Internet)所取得，当年安塞亚当斯或是杰克迪金卡拍摄照片时所站过的精确位置，他们透过观景窗构图，并且小心翼翼地比对著他们手上那安塞或是杰克的摄影作品，试图仿造大师们的心血结晶，然而，结局往往是他们或许能够拍到非常接近大师作品的外观，却没有办法得到跟原作品相同的那份冲击与感动。
Why is it that photographers loaded with the most extraordinary gear who use the internet to get the exact GPS coordinates of Jack's or Ansel's photo locations and hike out there with the image in hand to ensure an exact copy (illegal by US copyright laws and common decency), that they get something that might look similar, but lacks all the impact and emotion of the original they thought they copied?
上述所言绝非空穴来风的笑话，大家可以参考以下这个连结，由於天文学家预测，安塞亚当斯於1948年在优美地国家公园所拍摄的作品『秋月』(Autumn Moon)，画面里那月亮与山脉相互辉映的景象，每19年就会重复一次。於是在2005年9月15日那天，将近300位业余摄影玩家浩浩荡荡地从各地出发，在天文学家所预言的位置集结，然而结局却是，他们并没有拍到相同於安塞作品中的云、布满山头的雪景或是月球上的阴影，然而仍有参加该次活动的摄影者说：『除此之外，我想我们已经拍得很像安塞的作品了。』相信安塞亚当斯如果在场听了应该也会瞠目结舌吧！？
I'm not kidding. You can read about a bunch of these turkeys here. They used university astronomers to predict the one time in almost two decades that the conditions would match and had 300 of the clueless converge at just the right spot. They still didn't get the clouds, snow or shadows right. This makes Ansel cringe. Of course they didn't get anything like what they wanted.
他们当然无法拍到他们认为自己可以拍到的影像，因为令人拜服的摄影师来自於能创造鼓舞人心的灵感，而非擅长於仿造他人的作品。
Compelling photographs come from inspiration, not duplication.
为何即使我们都知道，可以利用Photoshop这样的软体，将任何我们认为不好的影像，处理成为一幅幅杰出的作品，却往往在花上几个小时的修制以后，才发现这些经过后制的影像，可能比他们在原始未经处理前的样子还要糟糕？
Why is it that even though everyone knows that Photoshop can be used to take any bad image and turn it into a masterpiece, that even after hours of massaging these images look worse than when one started?
或许一幅影像完全是造就於一个艺术家的眼光、耐心与恒心再加上技术，而非他的器材。
Maybe because it's entirely an artist's eye, patience and skill that makes an image and not his tools. Even Ansel said "The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it."
一台相机捕捉到的是你的想像力，没有了想像力，就没有照片，那只是垃圾。英文『image』(影像)这个字来自於另外一个英文字『imagination』，也就是想像力的意思，而非来自於『lens sharpness』(镜头锐利度)或是『noise levels』(杂讯程度)。大卫拉卡贝尔(David LaChapelle's)的作品完全关乎於他自己的想像力，而非他的照相机。布置出他那些疯狂的摄影场景是最难的部分，一但场景布置完成，任何相机都可以用以作为他的拍照工具，然而如果把大卫所使用的相机交给我，并且给我相同的模特儿，我也无法拍出任何跟他相同的作品。
A camera catches your imagination. No imagination, no photo - just crap. The word "image" comes from the word "imagination." It doesn't come come from "lens sharpness" or "noise levels." David LaChapelle's work is all about his imagination, not his camera. Setting up these crazy shots is the hard part. Once set up, any camera could catch them. Give me David LaChapelle's camera and I won't get anything like he does, even if you give me the same star performers.
我之所以会在我的个人首页上放上那张我与一只大炮镜头的合照，完全是因为这样——我就不用在网页名称上多写一句『这是摄影师的网页』或是『这是一个摄影网站』，那颗大炮镜头能够比文字更明显而快速地表达这个网站的主题，这就是所谓的视觉语言，让我们一眼就可以清楚地看到事情的重点，而事实上我已经好几年没有碰过那只镜头了。
The only reason I have a huge lens in my photo on my home page is so I don't have to say "photographer" or "photography." The lens makes it obvious much quicker than words. That's what visual communication is all about: thinking long and hard to make your point clearly and quickly. I haven't used that huge lens in years.
任何一台照相机，不论多好或是多坏的照相机，都可以被用来创造那些出色的杂志封面、赢得摄影比赛的作品，或是被悬挂在美术馆里面供人参观。不论是照相机或是镜头的品质，都跟摄影作品的内涵深度毫不相关。
Just about any camera, regardless of how good or bad it is, can be used to create outstanding photographs for magazine covers, winning photo contests and hanging in art galleries. The quality of a lens or camera has almost nothing do with the quality of images it can be used to produce.
乔荷马斯的13 x 19” 限定版美国国家历史博物馆系列相片，在曼哈顿的金别克门美术馆以650美元一张贩售，而这些照片是用D70拍的。
Joe Holmes' limited-edition 13 x 19" prints of his American Museum of Natural History series sell at Manhattan's Jen Bekman Gallery for $650 each. They're made on a D70.
有许多展览贩售由Holgas相机所拍出的、价格高昂的照片，但是贩卖者不会告诉我这些作品是用什么相机拍的，因为在这里，全新的Holgas相机一台只要14.95美元(相当於500元台币不到)，你可以欣赏到许多以Holgas相机拍摄的得奖摄影作品，展出於华盛顿区的可可画廊所举办的『2006历史的双眼- 白宫新闻摄影师协会摄影比赛展。
There are plenty of shows selling shots from Holgas for a lot more money, just that those folks don't tell me about it. Holgas sell for $14.95, brand new, here. You can see an award-winning shot made with a Holga hanging in Washington, D.C.'s Hemicycle Gallery of the Corcoran Museum of Art in their 2006 Eyes of History competition of the White House News Photographers Association here.
摄影大师霍克伊凡(Walker Evans)曾说：『人们总是问我用何种相机拍照，其实拍照的不是相机，而是……』接著他用食指轻敲著指向自己的脑袋。
Walker Evans once said "People always ask me what camera I use. It's not the camera, it's - - - " and he tapped his temple with his index finger.
公元1837年新墨西哥的一间教堂里出现了一个杰作，传说中耶稣的父亲约瑟所建造的木造楼梯(奇迹楼梯 The Miraculios Staircase)，有人会在乎他是用什么工具去建造的吗？利用网路上的搜寻引擎去查一查，您会发现我们可以得到许多关於这座木造楼梯的学术讨论，但是绝对找不到任何关於他所使用工具的相关资料。
Jesus Christ's dad Joseph built a masterpiece of a wooden staircase in a church in New Mexico in 1873, and does anyone care what tools he used? Search all you want, you'll find plenty of scholarly discussion but never of the tools.
你的器材『并不会』影响到你的作品的品质，花较少的时间与注意力去关注於你所使用的器材，那么你会有更多的时间去注意思考如何创造更令人赞赏的影像。正确的器材只是协助你能够更简单、快速且更方便的得到你所想要拍到的影像。
Your equipment DOES NOT affect the quality of your image. The less time and effort you spend worrying about your equipment the more time and effort you can spend creating great images. The right equipment just makes it easier, faster or more convenient for you to get the results you need.
诚如安塞亚当斯於1937年时，在一封回覆爱德华(Edward Weston)请求他建议如何添购镜头的信中说到：『任何良好的现代镜头都已经经过矫准，能够在最大光圈时有最好的分辨率表现，缩小光圈只是增加景深而已。』(详见安塞亚当斯的自传第244页) 70年前，安塞亚当斯虽然没有浪费时间在担心他的镜头有多锐利，仍然能够创造出许多以难以置信的锐利而闻名於世的影像作品。经过这70年来的沿革改进，比起拍摄所谓的测试图，我们应该更有余地去专心致力於制造极为漂亮的照片。当然这些大型相机所使用的镜头，其最佳光圈值不论是在1930年代或时至今日，都只维持在f5.6左右的水准，而一般相机与数位镜头最佳的光圈值大约比这个数值再缩两格。
"Any good modern lens is corrected for maximum definition at the larger stops. Using a small stop only increases depth..." Ansel Adams, June 3, 1937, in a reply to Edward Weston asking for lens suggestions, page 244 of Ansel's autobiography. Ansel made fantastically sharp images seventy years ago without wasting time worrying about how sharp his lenses were. With seventy years of improvement we're far better off concentrating on making stunning photos than photographing test charts. Of course these large format lenses of the 1930s and today are slow, about f/5.6 typically. Small format and digital lenses work best at about 2 stops down.
购买新的摄影器材并不会让你的摄影进步。数十年来，我认为『如果我拥有了那颗新镜头，那我就能够拍出满意的作品了！』不过…..这个欲望似乎没有停止的一天，如今我已经有超过30年的摄影经验，然而永远有更新更好的镜头在吸引著我。熬过去！看看这篇文章『The Station』，你将会得到更多启示。
Buying new gear will NOT improve your photography. For decades I thought "if I only had that new lens" that all my photo wants would be satisfied. Nope. I still want that "one more lens," and I've been shooting for over 30 years. There is always one more lens. Get over it. See "The Station" for a better explanation.
1985年，伊恩斯特哈斯(Ernst Haas)在他的工作室里做了这样一个注解：『照相机唯一该做的事就是从摄影里滚出去。』
The camera's only job is to get out of the way of making photographs.
当时有两位从加拿大Nova Scotia州的女士，她们在一间相机店工作，并且是十足的莱卡(Leica)迷，她们存了钱并且各自买下了一部莱卡相机，由於景仰伊恩斯特哈斯是个使用莱卡相机的摄影师(虽然他在1980年代帮万宝路香水拍摄的广告是用Nikon相机拍的)，所以尽了许多努力才得到进入伊恩斯特摄影工作室的机会。
Ernst Haas commented on this in a workshop in 1985:
Two laddies from Nova Scotia had made a huge effort to be there and were great Leica fans, worked in a camera store, saved to have them and held Ernst on high for being a Leica user (although he used Nikons on his Marlboro shoots, when the chips were down).
初时伊恩斯特并没有发现，直到她们来到工作室的第四天，他才警觉到原来这两位小姐把注意力都放在莱卡相机上面，在一次的谈话中，两人仍不断提出关於莱卡相机，当其中一人再次提及莱卡在摄影上所占优势的问题，伊恩斯特终於忍不住的说：『莱卡相机和其他的相机并没有不同，它们都能够留下你们所看见的事物，但是，那也要你们要『看得见』才有用！』
About four days into the workshop, he finally maxxed out on the Leica adoration these kids displayed, and in the midst of a discussion, when one of them asked one more question aimed at establishing the superiority of Wetzlar, Ernst said, "Leica, schmeica. The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE."
从此之后伊恩斯特的工作室里再也没有人问起莱卡、Nikon、Canon或是任何其他品牌的摄影器材了。
Nobody talked about Leica, Nikon, Canon or any other brand of camera equipment for the rest of the workshop.
伊恩斯特还说过：『什么是最好的广角镜头？只要退后两步，顺便看看海阔天空！』
He also said, "Best wide-angle lens? 'Two steps backward' and 'look for the ah-ha'."
(This Haas anecdote comes from Murad Sa?en, the famous photographer from Oxford, Maine over whom people are all abuzz. Many say he emerged from the back woods as a cross between Eliot Porter and Henri Cartier Bresson. I found at least three websites claiming to be Haas' official one here and here.)
你能在这里见到一些世界上最棒的摄影作品，该网站的版主在这里也提到跟我相同的主张。还有在这里有一些关於为什么拥有更多镜头只会让你拍出更糟糕相片的相关文章。这里有一些我用一台已经被使用过50年，价值3块美金，比现在市面上的即可拍型相机更为阳春的箱型相机所拍摄的黑白照片。另外这个网站里看到的出色摄影作品，是用Olympus 8080傻瓜相机所拍摄的。
You can see some of the world's best photography here by a fellow who says the same thing here. Here's another load of data which also confirms why owning more lenses just makes worse photos. I made these B/W photos here with a 50 year old $3 box camera more primitive than today's disposables.
法国摄影大师安德瑞斯菲南格(Andreas Feininger)(1905-1999)曾说过：『有很多白痴的摄影者说：『啊！如果我有一台Nikon或是Leica相机，那我就可以拍出伟大的照片了！』而这是我这辈子听过最笨的一种说法。除了观察力、思考及对事物的兴趣是能让人拍出好照片的元素，你还应该去除那些诸如错误的光线，错误的背景或是不正确的拍摄时间等等，会破坏一幅摄影作品的因素，否则就别拍了！不管在你面前的主体有多美！』
Andreas Feininger (French, b. 1905 - d. 1999), said "Photographers — idiots, of which there are so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s nothing but a matter of seeing, thinking, and interest. That’s what makes a good photograph. And then rejecting anything that would be bad for the picture. The wrong light, the wrong background, time and so on. Just don’t do it, not matter how beautiful the subject is."
人们都知道车子本身并不会自己开动，打字机也无法自己也文章，荷兰画家林布兰特(Rembrandt)的油画笔也不会自己画画。所以为什么还会有那么多聪明的人会认为有照相器材能够自动帮他们捕捉影像？就算是最高级且先进的进口车也不能在高速公路上不靠人力而自行保持行驶在同一车道上，更别说它能自动载你回家了！无论再先进的摄影器材，你仍然需要负责在正确的时间将它带到正确的地点，然后将它指向正确的方向才能正确地得到你想要拍摄的影像。每一台相机都需要你来帮他设定拍摄条件，不论那是一台多先进的照相机。绝对不要去责怪你的相机怎么会不懂摄影，居然拍出错误的曝光或是拍出不符要求的模糊影像。
People know cars don't drive themselves, typewriters don't write novels by themselves and that Rembrandt's brushes didn't paint by themselves. So why do some otherwise intelligent people think cameras drive around and make pictures all by themselves? The most advanced, exotic and expensive car can't even stay in the same lane on the freeway by itself, much less drive you home. No matter how advanced your camera you still need to be responsible for getting it to the right place at the right time and pointing it in the right direction to get the photo you want. Every camera requires you to make manual adjustments now and then as well, regardless of how advanced it is. Never blame a camera for not knowing everything or making a wrong exposure or fuzzy image.
一个好的车手，即使他驾驶著一台像Geo Metro这样的烂车，一样可以在大白天 从许多在后头紧追不?的警车群中逃逸，那是车手的能力，而非那台车，请看这则报导。
Even a good driver in a crummy car like a Geo Metro can escape from multi-car police chases in broad daylight. It's the driver, not the car. Read that one here.
接下?我要告诉大家我是如何得到这些体悟：
Here's how I came to discover this:
当我开始学习某些技术，比如音乐、摄影、冲浪或是其他任何事，在该技术的领域中，总是会有一座需要挑战克服的高山。最初的20年当你开始学习任何技术时，你大概只知道你自己手上有个很好的工具，不论是相机或是冲浪板，你可以确定的是，你所使用的工具跟在该领域占有一席之地的专业人士可能是相同等级。你会花很多的时间关心自己的器材而且想尽办法要买到更好的设备。20年后，你终於跨过那座山，成为该领域中的佼佼者，也可能已经名扬四海，然后有一天，当一个后学之辈跑来请教你的意见，要如何像你一样成为该领域中的一位人物，你才顿悟到并且理解，原来这一切跟你所使用的器材一点关系也没有。
When it comes to the arts, be it music, photography, surfing or anything, there is a mountain to be overcome. What happens is that for the first 20 years or so that you study any art you just know that if you had a better instrument, camera or surfboard that you would be just as good as the pros. You waste a lot of time worrying about your equipment and trying to afford better. After that first 20 years you finally get as good as all the other world-renowned artists, and one day when someone comes up to you asking for advice you have an epiphany where you realize that it's never been the equipment at all.
你最后终於体会到那些你曾经使用过的，所谓正确的器材，只不过让你更容易得到你所要的外在，而其实就算当初你没有这些玩意儿，或许只是多花一点心思，你一样可以达到今天的成就。你体会到原来对於那些你所使用的器材来说最重要的事情就是不要造成你发挥技术时的阻碍，而如果你把这20年来所浪费在研究这些器材的时间，花在如何专心致力於该技术本身，那么你可能可以在更短的时间达到相同的成就。
You finally realize that the right gear you've spent so much time accumulating just makes it easier to get your sound or your look or your moves, but that you could get them, albeit with a little more effort, on the same garbage with which you started. You realize the most important thing for the gear to do is just get out of your way. You then also realize that if you had spent all the time you wasted worrying about acquiring better gear woodshedding, making photos or catching more rides that you would have gotten where you wanted to be much sooner.
2003年的12月，我在一个选拔赛中见到了菲尔柯林斯(Phil Collins)，人们一听到他的音乐就知道是菲尔柯林斯了，有一群人趁著菲尔暂时离开位置的时候，把玩起他的乐器，结果你猜怎么着？他们弹奏的一点也不像菲尔，反倒是像罐头发出?的声音一般。菲尔柯林斯就是菲尔柯林斯，你会认为是他的乐器让他成为有名的菲尔柯林斯吗？
I met Phil Collins at a screening in December 2003. It came out that people always recognize his sound when they hear it. Some folks decided to play his drums when he walked away during a session, and guess what? It didn't sound like him. Likewise, on a hired kit (or "rented drum set" as we say in the USA) Phil still sounds like Phil. So do you still think it's his drums that give him his sound?
有一位来自於密西根州的赛车教练，他其中一位学生的女儿也想要学赛车。有天她用租来的小车(Chevy Cavalier)在赛道上试开了一番，没想到随随便便把一些开著保持捷911或是雪佛兰跑车的中年秃头男人甩在后头。怎么可能呢？很简单，她开车时非常的注意赛道上的各种标示，并且很滑顺且很稳定的保持在赛道线上，而不是努力尝试如何把车子的马力发挥到最大，或是耍一些花招证明自己开车的技术有多好。那些老伯伯非常的不能接受，自己居然会在赛道上输给一个16岁的女生。
A fan from Michigan teaches auto racing at a large circuit. The daughter of one of his students wanted to come learn. She flew out and showed up at the track in an rented Chevy Cavalier. She outran the other students, middle aged balding guys with Corvettes and 911s. Why? Simple: she paid attention to the instructor and was smooth and steady and took the right lines, not posing while ham-fisting a lot of horsepower to try to make up for patience and skill. The dudes were really ticked, especially that they were outrun by a GIRL, and a 16 year old one at that.
当然，如果你是个职业车手，绝对可以把一台车最大的功能与优点完全发挥得淋漓尽致。但是如果你只是个一般人，不论是车子、相机、慢跑鞋都只是你用来发挥自我的工具，你自己才是事情成败的关键。
Sure, if you're a pro driver you're good enough to elicit every ounce of performance from a car and will be limited by its performance, but if you're like most people the car, camera, running shoes or whatever have little to nothing to do with your performance since you are always the defining factor, not the tools.
如果你问那些使用赞助厂商提供器材的各行顶尖好手，他们会这么跟你分享他们的经验的。
Catch any virtuoso who's a complete master of their tools away from his or her sponsors and they'll share this with you.
那为什么那些让你佩服的艺术家仍然要使用那些昂贵的器材，如果其实器材并不会让他们的表现有所不同？答案很简单：
So why do the artists whose works you admire tend to use fancy, expensive tools if the quality of the work is the same? Simple:
1. 好的工具让他们更容易得到他们想要达到的效果，一般的器材可能会让他花去较多的时间。
1.) Good tools just get out of the way and make it easier to get the results you want. Lesser tools may take more work.
2. 这些器材的耐久性对於这些每天都在使用他们的人来说，可以比较耐用。
2.) They add durability for people who use these tools hard all day, every day.
3. 这些器材可能有某些功能是某些摄影师惯用的，而这些功能让他们拍起照来较为得心应手，但不代表更好的照片内容。
3.) Advanced users may find some of the minor extra features convenient. These conveniences make the photographer's life easier, but they don't make the photos any better.
4. 嘿！老子有钱想买最高级的器材有何不可？但不代表它能帮我创造什么创意在我的作品里。
4.) Hey, there's nothing wrong with the best tools, and if you have the money to blow why not? Just don't ever start thinking that the fancy tools are what created the work.
正如我所说的，那只大炮镜头在我的首页只是要让大家一眼就看出这是个摄影网站，还可以省掉我的画面空间，让我可以只写一个大落落的『 Ken Rocawell』
这里有一些菲律宾人用手机上的相机所拍得的照片。
So why do I show snaps of myself with a huge lens on my pages? Simple: it saves me from having to say "Ken Rockwell Photography," which sounds lame and takes up more space. The big camera gets the message across much better and faster so I can just say "Ken Rockwell."
Here are photos made by a guy in the Philipines - with a cell phone camera!
最后一个例子，我买了一台无法正确对焦的二手相机，它已经被我送回去卖我的店家做了好几次的维修，每次维修完后，相机就如当初我买时的样子回到我的手上。身为一个摄影师，我知道如何解决这个问题，虽然是非常的麻烦，但是在任何情况下，我只要手动修正对焦的设定即可。而用这台相机拍的这张作品帮我赢得许许多多奖项，而且它被悬挂在洛杉矶的一间美术馆，他们把一幅安塞亚当斯的原作收起来，改放了这幅作品。当然展览过后，我的这幅作品又被换上了安塞亚当斯的那幅原作。然而请记得这幅作品是我用一台修不好的二手相机所拍摄而成。
One last example: I bought a used camera that wouldn't focus properly. It went back to the dealer a couple of times for repair, each time coming back the same way. As an artist I knew how to compensate for this error, which was a pain because I always had to apply a manual offset to the focus setting. In any case, I made one of my very favorite images of all time while testing it. This image here has won me all sorts of awards and even hung in a Los Angeles gallery where an original Ansel Adams came down and this image was hung. When my image came down Ansel went right up again. Remember, this was made with a camera that was returned to the dealer which they agreed was unrepairable.
在这幅作品中最重要的一件事，就是当我的朋友都决定要去吃晚餐的时候，我则选择停留在拍摄地点，当我料想接下来将会出现令人惊奇的天色，我用这台相机以四分钟的曝光时间拍下这幅作品，然而其实如果我用我另外那台3块美金买?，拍下这些黑白相片的那台箱型相机来拍摄相同的景象，其实也会得到相同的影像。
The important part of that image is that I stayed around after my friends all blew off for dinner, while I suspected we were going to have an extraordinary sky event (the magenta sky, just like the photo shows.) I made a 4 minute exposure with a normal lens. I could have made it on the same $3 box camera that made the B/W images here and it would have looked the same.
就像我常常收到一些男性读者寄来的抗议信件(从来没有女性这么做)，他们大多是反对我个人对於器材的选择。他们对於我所使用与介绍的器材非常有意见，只因为我可能用了跟他们不一样的器材。问题是谁在乎呢？这些人真是可怜，他们大概是还没跨越摄影这个领域的那座山，而天真的认为某些品牌的器材还代表著某种程度的优势或意义。他们认为工具是他们精神上的延伸，所以如果我对於他们信仰的器材有所质疑，他们也会现身出来保护他们所坚信的器材。这里有些莱卡迷对於我的这个网页有很大的不满。不过我要说的是，所有的器材都有其不同的价值，那完全取决於你要的是什么以及你如何使用它，然而适合你的器材却不一定适合我，反之亦然。
Likewise, I occasionally get hate mail and phone calls from guys (never women) who disagree with my personal choice of tools. They take it personally just because I prefer something different than they do. Like anyone cares? These folks mean well, they probably just haven't made it past that mountain and still think that every tool has some absolute level of goodness, regardless of the application. They consider tools as physical extensions of their body so of course they take it personally if I poke fun of a certain tool as not being good for what I'm doing. For instance, the Leica collectors here have a real problem with this page. All gear has different values depending on what you want to do with it. What's great for you may not be for me, and vice-versa.
任何相机不论好坏，都能被用来创造出色的杂志封面照片、摄影比赛得奖作品或是被悬挂在美术馆里供人欣赏的作品。相机与镜头的品质几乎跟摄影作品的品质无关。
Just about any camera, regardless of how good or bad it is, can be used to create outstanding photographs for magazine covers, winning photo contests and hanging in art galleries. The quality of a lens or camera has almost nothing do with the quality of images it can be used to produce.
如果你能够将自己的器材发挥到极限，那么你大概已经拥有所有你所需要的器材了。更好的器材并不会帮你拍出更好的照片，因为并不是器材让你成为更好的摄影师。
You probably already have all the equipment you need, if you'd just learn to make the best of it. Better gear will not make you any better photos, since the gear can't make you a better photographer.
摄影师才是拍照的人，而不是他的相机。
Photographers make photos, not cameras.
可悲的是只有少数人领悟到这点，大多数人花许多的时间，检讨自己的器材如何让自己拍出差劲的照片。
It's sad how few people realize any of this, and spend all their time blaming poor results on their equipment, instead of spending that time learning how to see and learning how to manipulate and interpret light.
购买最新的相机只能保证你不会拍得更糟。接受让自己更有内涵的教育才能让你拍出更好的照片，而非更多的相机。
Buying newer cameras will ensure you get the same results you always have. Education is the way to better images, not more cameras.
别因为你的作品中缺乏任何东西而指责你所使用的器材，不相信的话你可以到一些有摄影作品的博物馆或是相关的历史书籍，看看50年前甚至100年前的人就已经得到的精湛工艺品质。相较起来现代的器材著重於方便性，而不在於影像品质的提升。请到我的死亡谷美术馆(Death Valley Gallery)，去看看我所拍摄的黑白照片，是不是很锐利呢？这些相片都是用一台3块美金，无法调整曝光设定的箱型相机，加上一颗已经使用过50年的老定焦镜所拍摄而成。这台相机比市面上的任何一台即可拍相机都还要阳春。
Don't blame anything lacking in your photos on your equipment. If you doubt this, go to a good photo museum or photo history book and see the splendid technical quality people got 50 or 100 years ago. The advantage of modern equipment is convenience, NOT image quality. Go look at the B/W images in my Death Valley Gallery. Look sharp to you? They were made on a 50 year old fixed-focus, fixed exposure box camera for which I paid $3. This camera is more primitive than today's disposables.
我曾经使用以美金10元购得的二手相机，拍出技术上及艺术上都堪称惊奇的作品，也曾经使用我那价值一万美金的镜头与Nikon机身，拍出许多垃圾不如的照片。
I have made technically and artistically wonderful images on a $10 camera I bought at Goodwill, and have turned out a lot of crap with a $10,000 lens on my motor driven Nikon.
1921年，摄影大师爱德华(Edward Steichen)使用他跟所下榻饭店的领班服务生借来的一台柯达相机，在雅典卫城(Acropolis, Athens)为Isadora Duncan拍照。他之所以没有使用自己的相机，是因为原本他们计划只用拍摄电影的器材?呈现，然而事实证明后来虽然他使用借来的照相机，那张照片仍然是非常的出色。这张照片於2000 - 2001被展示於怀特尼美国艺术博物馆(The Whitney)。
The great Edward Steichen photographed Isadora Duncan at the Acropolis, Athens in 1921. He used a Kodak borrowed from the head waiter at his hotel. The images are, of course, brilliant. Steichen had not taken his own camera because the original plan had been to work only with movie equipment. This image was on display at The Whitney in 2000 - 2001.
你需要时间去学习观察与构图，当你浪费越多的时间在担心你的器材，那么你能够花在构思如何创造伟大影像的时间就会相对的减少。你应该担心你的作品，而非你的器材。
You need to learn to see and compose. The more time you waste worrying about your equipment the less time you'll have to put into creating great images. Worry about your images, not your equipment.
每个人都知道，一台比较好的打字机或许会让你在打字的时候更轻松愉悦，然而一个人写作的能力，跟他使用何种品牌的打字机，或是他能否维修打字机，是毫无任何关联的。既然如此，为什么仍然有许多人认为，一个人是如何使用何种相机，或是他对於快门速度、镜头设计甚至是相机设计工艺的精通与否，跟他能否创造出引起兴趣的作品，有任何的关联呢？
Everyone knows that the brand of typewriter (or the ability to fix that typewriter) has nothing to do with the ability to compose a compelling novel, although a better typewriter may make typing a little more pleasant. So why do so many otherwise reasonable people think that what sort of camera one has, or the intimate knowledge of shutter speeds, lens design or camera technology has anything do with the ability to create an interesting photo other than catering to the convenience of the photographer?
就像想要写作的人必须知道如何操作打字机一般，想要摄影的人也必须了解如何操作一台相机，但是这却只是创作过程中的极小的一个环节。您知道我是用什么牌子的电脑以及什么软体完成您现在正在阅读的这篇文章吗？您当然不会知道(除非您有读过我的『关於』网页)，因为这个问题的答案对我有意义，可是对各位读者来说却没有任何意义，就好比没有人会在欣赏您的摄影作品时，关心或注意哪一幅作品是用哪一台照相机拍摄而成，因为那真的是没有必要。
Just as one needs to know how to use a typewriter to compose a script, one does need to know how to operate a camera to make photos, but that's only a tiny part of the process. Do you have any idea what brand of computer or software I used to create what you're reading right now? Of course not, unless you read my about page. It matters to me, but not to you, the viewer. Likewise, no one who looks at your pictures can tell or cares about what camera you used. It just doesn't matter.
知道如何去做一件事情，跟有能力完成一件事情，已经算是两回事，而要把一件事情做到令人称许，那又更是另外一回事。
Knowing how to do something is entirely different from being able to do it at all, much less do it well.
比如我们都知道，要让一台钢琴发出声音何其简单，只要用手指头去按琴键，用脚去控制中踏板，一般人也能轻易地让钢琴发出声音，但是要能够用钢琴弹奏出感动人心的音符，那可就是另外一回事了。
We all know how to play the piano: you just press the keys and step on the pedals now and then. The ability to play it, much less the ability to stir emotion in those who hear your playing, is an entirely different matter.
别认为越贵的器材代表越好。拥有太多的摄影器材往往是拍出最差劲照片的好方法。
Don't presume the most expensive gear is the best. Having too much camera equipment is the best way to get the worst photos.
价值越昂贵的相机与镜头，其所代表的实质意义往往与其价格不成正比。
The more expensive cameras and lenses don't do much of anything significant for the huge increases in price.