There is an annoying breed of camera user and they’re everywhere no matter how hard you try to avoid them. This is officially the age of the ”born again camera user.”

To avoid offending all photographers, I do want to be clear that it’s not all photographers who switch systems, there are many pleasant switchers, but it does seem like the Facebook has a much larger volume of these problem users than I have experienced with other platforms. It similar to the people who get behind the wheel of a car and act like idiots endangering other users because they know better…in Australia we call them hoons, but every country has them. Whilst they drive every kind of car, more often than not they are confined to one or two brands, and specific styles of cars like utes (small pickups). In todays technology world, it would seem that Facebook has become the modern platform of choice for the photography hoon, and they are officially becoming a very annoying group.

Normally when people switch from Canon to Nikon, or Nikon to Fujifilm, or Fujifilm to Nikon, the disappear to another forum appropriate for their brand, write a blog and move on with their lives. I get the need to write about your experiences, or sometimes even create a rant about it, for some people it’s a creative output or just documenting their experiences. Not to the born again camera users on Facebook…they feel it’s their right, their duty and their personal crusade to hang around their old groups, and become the saviours of the fellow photographers souls, lest their poor Sony, Nikon, Canon, or Fujifilm souls go to camera hell by continuing to use a camera they actually like.

The spend their time annoying the crap out of the previous fellow camera users whilst they let them know what they are missing out on. It has more dynamic range, its smaller, beyter colours, better AF, better battery life, the glass is cheaper, better high ISO, and it can predict the next week’s lottery numbers. The have become the modern day evangelist equivalent of the old problem ex-smokers who feel the need to hang around with their smoking friends just so they can lecture them on the dangers of smoking after they quit a month ago.

Whatever you do, do not try to argue with them! That would be like herding cats. Using any form of argument, whether logical, factual or just something about your own preference will cause consternation and outrage. How could you be so idiotic not sell all your glass, your car, your home and everything else you own to purchase the latest Sony A7iii or Fujifilm X-T3 right now? You don’t know what you are missing out on! Ergonomics? Your current camera good enough for you? You’re just lying to yourself! You need full frame whether you like it or not! APSC is smaller. I’m not sure how we survived without small cameras. Eye AF is now the single most important feature in the photography world, and far more important than composition, even if all you do is landscape photography. Did you know that X-T3 and A7 are just as good as the Nikon D5? Well you should know it, damn it, because that’s more important than world peace! Did you know you can take a photo under exposed by 5 stops and still bring it back? Don’t even think about asking why you would take a photo underexposed by 5 stops, that’s not as important as knowing you can.

I’m still mystified as to where this evangelism comes from. At least with the Apple fanboys you could argue they were attracted to equipment that looked aesthetically good even if it wasn’t functional. You can’t argue that about the Sony aesthetics with that horrible orange band. Fujifilm on the other hand is more aesthetically pleasing but in some cases they’ve put aesthetics above practicality with a Q menu designed with 1980’s technology in mind. I think they missed the boat on aesthetics being a look thing only. And Nikon and Canon? Watching every other brand and still getting it wrong after having the benefit of seeing what works and doesn’t work. Maybe it’s a chemical they put in the paint of the camera or subliminal advertising on Facebook. I think Facebook makes it easier to join and leave groups. You don’t have to register. You just click join it’s done.

Please pass some prozac, I’m off to harass the Canon users about their single card slot.