New Cameras Suck, A.I., YouTubers, Leicas, and More Buzzwords 

Every single day the YT recommendations are showing you a new video with this title "This (insert the name of a camera/lens here) changes everything", and two weeks later the same channel comes up with a new video "Why I sold my (insert the name of a camera/lens here)", with a clickbait picture making the same facial expressions of being super excited or super dissapointed, then a week later another new video shows up "This (insert the name of a camera/lens here) changes everything again" and this cycle is repeated over and over again. We are ending up with YT channels that instead of making you feel inspired, are just trying to sell you something all the time, something like "this is faster, this is newer, this is sharper". It is so annoying.

Re: “Don’t be an A-hole”. I work with graphic designers, it’s a small community and word gets round, especially bad words about bad people. I remember once being told by a designer that if two photographers pitch for the same job, and one of them is a very talented artist but is really hard to deal with, and the other is not quite so talented but fun to be around, the fun guy will always get the job. It was an important lesson. Humble wins the day.

That shitty ikea desk is iconic. I had the same one for years, pretty sure I have permanent nerve damage from how bad my posture was at that thing. Also, glad someone else has had a recent obsession with Tornados.

I see a Bryan Birks video uploaded, I press play

Gotta admit window shopping on youtube is fun tho. I would never buy 90% of the cameras I look at in all those annoying videos 😂

i do agree so much about the youtube photography talk, everyone's concentrating on the wrong stuff, the easy stuff. Then people spend huge money on pro cameras and complain about the camera...composition, exposure, mood,storytelling, colour grading, feelings, separation, focused/unfocused areas etc..don't really hear much about that, not referring to you just in general

Yet again awe inspiring, I just took my Fuji GA 645W to England but ran out of film and it’s Sunday no shops are open today so I’m watching videos about photography after watching this I can’t keep still I’ve got inspiration running through my veins. Northern Spain in the house.

Bad day to be the dropped sponsor - they missing out! Now that the poetry is in your head I can’t wait to see it come through in your upcoming work

I'm part of the 1% that needs the latest and greatest. I do sports and wildlife (mainly ducks). I can either curse my luck for having to spend so much on gear, or I can just smile and enjoy the essence and peacefulness that being in the duck marsh brings. It is truly special. I could sit there all day long.

Great video and discussion, Bryan. The past several years, I've been shooting with older film cameras both B&W and color. I still keep a few older digital cameras for backup work. Been re-focussing on composition. Good serviced film cameras last a life time. I'm seeing more younger, experienced photographers , as yourself, working on creating and less gear crap. Keep the work coming. KB

Bryan speaking his mind. Nice. Old habits die hard. You might be one of my contemporary fav photographer

Thanks for introducing me to Reed! When you first started mentioning your getting into all of that, I assumed you were talking about Pecos Hank. The dude has a massive following on here and he just knocks it out of the park. Also, I kept thinking about the Tornado work you did a while ago (has it already been a year?) with the recent events in Nebraska and Oklahoma and was wondering if you were ever going to do anything like that again.

Hey Bryan, was happily surprised to see your work in NY on the walls of the Lensculture exhibition last weekend. Good to see your work in person. I bet it looks even more amazing when printed poster size.

Really enjoyable watch, thanks! I've been telling anyone who asks me "what camera should I get to start?" to get the cheapest hunk of metal with a working shutter. The speeds don't even have to be right, just make sure it opens and closes when you hit the button. It's wild that everyone wants an AE1 just... because.

thanks Bryan ! I am glad i saw this so i can stay up to date with your videos !

Tool bands music inspire me so much. I remember getting to know them from some WOW video in 2008 and listening to them since than.

I’ve had an obsession with tornados and Mitch Debrowners STORMS work for years. The scale he is able to capture is inspirational. If anyone else knows of any tornado photographers I would love to know more!

I’ve been watching a lot of the stuff you put out and seeing what you’ve accomplished speaks volumes compared to all the gear heads who claim to be professionals and truly haven’t done shit. I truly appreciate the fact that your work is inspiring and unique and I also appreciate the effort and passion you have put into your work. A lot of these gear heads don’t put in the work you do which makes what you do more valuable. And I think that’s where it counts. You’re awesome bro. Keep up the good work.

Was a professional trumpeter for a couple of decades... rule #1 (after "be good at what you do"): don't be a dick. Glad to hear someone else reminding us all to be good. Loved the vid!

Your talent as a photographer is amazinng, you have something very special in the look and feel you achieve, it is great to get inspired by others, but you are young and your work is fantastic. Trust yourself completely, follow your gut, I am sure you will achieve great things. Your mind and eye behind the lens is, in my opinion, one of the very best there is around. Keep it up, enjoy, be happy! You are also amazingly elegant in your style of photography. Congratulations.

Relatively new to your channel, but I find the videos really inspiring. Thanks!

Really enjoyed this format with quick hits on a number of subjects. “Curt email” made me think of the scene with Harvey Keitel as The Wolf in Pulp Fiction, “If I’m curt with you it’s because time is a factor…” 🐺 “If I’m curt with you, , it’s because you should be paying be based on the value I create.” 🖕

At this point I'm not sure if I'm here for the photography or the tool Easter eggs in each video lately! 🤙🏼😎Keep rockin mate!

Ai isn’t auto focus or content fill aware, I understand what you mean but there is a difference. Especially in generative ai and algorithmic I think ai isn’t disappearing, I think the same thing is going to happen when photography came around and painters were losing their minds. Realism as a style and painting portraits were instantly taken over by photography basically, but painters adapted and went into a new era and photography also found its place.

I stopped looking at new cameras after the original Fuji X100.

I sort of despise autofocus, I won't touch any of the film cameras with it, the ones I use are all manual focus only, and the lenses for those were all designed before 1982. I own a mirrorless camera, but since I had no intension of using that aspect of it I only looked at other aspects, leading to my one and only association with Leica, the L mount on Panasonic cameras. I like the S5 for digitising my negatives and recording video. I cannot for the life of me understand why people are ditching what is to me a perfectly good system for a 'pretty much the same, but we added a few tiny differences to impress you' camera. Will it alter or improve their images? Not in the slightest, and next year they'll be suckered into buying a new one. I just bought a new camera, a 6x17 field, or salon camera made of walnut and steel. I don't expect it to improve my photography, I expect it to provide more options and take a long time to master. I don't intend to replace it *ever*.

Thank you very much for your lengthy discussion regarding whether Leica is overrated. I have to say that’s by and large the most valuable discourse on the subject I have heard to date, and I appreciate it.

Bryan, As always...a terrific video. Your last point fits everyone.

Automatic thumbs up on the video for the Tool shirt

"You just need something that takes an image" 👌

Love your channel Bryan. You have a great attitude and this one especially made me laugh. Keep it up!

Bryan hi, what camera do u use for filming your vlog? Thanks

So I just realized I did not have the notifications bell selected when I followed because I am now watching this 2 weeks later. Really enjoy your vids partially because I am from IL now living in TN, So when you are out driving around it looks very familiar to me. Also I am a Leica shooter- so I maybe a little bit offended... JK. 😂 Really though for me the focus of the rangefinder allows me to get some of the sharpest images vs my Pentax K1000 SLR so that is the reason I shoot with Leica now, I can produce the same images but for me the Leica makes the process way easier.

Hi Bryan! please tell me, do you use the tape to secure the film to the led and mask all the light to, i supose the film has to be very flat and griped to the light...thanks!!

Rivers Dream may just be the best photobook I've ever purchased!

I’m a guitar player also and the GAS over there is probably worse. The RU-vid pimps are definitely worse over there 😂.

I would highly recommend, if you can, to attend a tool concert. Saw them recently and it was simply incredible.

Great content Bryan, really good!!!!!! Keep em' comin'!!

Good words all round, it is not easy to find bullshit free non-self inflating RU-vid work these days. Keep up the good work, hit the plains and chase those storms (I want to also) 🌪️

Love it, subscribed at 1:46. ❤

Great video Bryan. You nailed it

Dude that Orangutan transition had me HOWLING ahahahah, also I’m catastrophically jealous of your Joel Sternfeld book, one of the images from it has been my desktop background for three years now, an excellent one to have among the remaining few! Congrats on the desk by the way, looks super rad!

You come across, to me at least, as being super inspired AND inspiring in this video. You made me wanna go shoot! Also, glad to see your channel becoming a TOOL fanboy channel 😉 Maybe they will sponsor you

great info and truth bombs, subbed!

Love it when your videos drop 🙏

This video is not sponsored by S**********.... btw Jasper is such an incredible book.

Another video from Bryan? Oh my...

loved the vibe of this video, mainly the leica answer

You should ask #BraeHunziker to be your sponsor!, that guy is loaded!!! not just Portra 400 either!. 🤔

Love TOOL 🤘🏾

Great honest post. I can't wait to see what the next 12 months bring for you while you're not being a prick😅

AI won't take your job, it will simply eliminate us all. Not joking - in another window at the moment I have a view into a 160 petabyte storage environment and several hundred thousand CPU cores. It's only a matter of time. We won't even see it either - it will have spread beyond the point of stopping it before we realize full consciousness has been achieved. Perhaps in the end AI will keep some of us as "biological analog" photo generators? :D

👍

Ive watched and traveled more than I'd like to admin for tool shows in the late 90s early 2000s, and I don't even own a tool shirt......... :p Leica is overrated, but my daily camera is an M2. Go figure. Love the content.

Wait, you're over 2 bills? what are you like 5 percent BF, Holmes? (Lot's of great stuff in this vid, like so often, man. But yah I kind of got stuck on that. lol.) And after so many years of bad GAS pains - so many cameras bought and sold - I'm now of the opinion....5D Classic with a nikkor 55mm macro, FTW.

IV I got a Leica M4 as a present to myself, It's the worst camera I have ever had, It's now for sale.

Dood - how did you get Nick Offerman to pose for you?

The obsession with reed timmer is real.

Agreed, don't be an asshole, if you are a photographer and you actually have that kind of time to get out and take photos, make videos, make money, you Are beyond bless.

Coolest guy on RU-vid.

Is it possible to support you on Patreon?

lmaooo ikea shots fired.

IV. 😂😂😂

sorry for fucking up your 666 likes by adding one more!

AI is not the same as computing. Autofocus is not AI.

autofocus utilizes AI?

Haha. I think the last comment covers just about every photographer on RU-vid. All arse holes and narcissists... so yes dont be one 👍🏼

Workflow just stop saying workflow lol

Amen!