'Buy My New Presets' Said Every Targeted Ad From a Sony Shooter

'Buy My New Presets' Said Every Targeted Ad From a Sony Shooter

We've all scrolled past a targeted ad on Facebook or Instagram with a caption screaming for us to buy their new Lightroom or Photoshop presets if we want to take better photos. Is it just me, or does it usually seem these ads are often from folks shooting Sony cameras?

This is definitely not a camera brand versus brand discussion, there are already way more than enough articles trying to have that debate. This is more a humorous observation that struck me the other day when I saw yet another image on Instagram with the caption telling me if I want to learn the secret to better images it all starts with buying the photographer's new Lightroom presets. Upon checking out the profile, you guessed it, they are shooting one of the a7 models.

This situation seems to be pretty common, at least in the land of Instagram and it seems like a bit of an odd coincidence, don't you think? I sure feel like every single time someone tries to sell me presets they also make sure to bring to my attention something about an a7. Is there some kind of Sony-meets-Adobe preset conspiracy we should all be on the lookout for? If anyone is in the mood to go looking for a conspiracy theory, start here. Is it because in general Sony shooters are often a younger audience more inclined to believe that it's the color preset that make a good photo? Is it because Sony is all the rage right now (possibly rightfully so, no dispute from me that they have been on fire these last couple years) and if you want to be popular on Instagram you've gotta conform to the norm?

It's at a point where the folks selling presets have started to feel like a used car salesman (yikes). We get it, your green and gold color preset pack will bring our images right in line with every other green and gold toned image out there. At the very least, it would be nice to see advertisements that actually have something to say or a point to make other than argue that your presets equal quality work. You be the judge, all I can say is that if one more person tells me to buy their presets and asks what camera I shoot I might lose it!

In an effort to prevent anyone from taking this a bit too literally (it's the internet after all), know that this piece is written from a place of satire and good friendly humor. I've got nothing against Sony and by all accounts they are totally killing it right now and are doing tons of cool and innovative things. Truth be told, auto-eye focus makes me super jealous and I certainly would rather be able to focus near the edge of my frame rather than focus and recompose. Furthermore, if presets are your jam keep rocking, no sweat. With that said, presets and one button fix-alls have never and will never be the secret sauce. Great work isn't great because of a preset; there is always more going on behind the curtain. I get that folks are trying to earn a buck these days but the whole, “buy my new presets 2019” feels like it has already run its course. 

Evan Kane is a portrait photographer based near Seattle. He specializes in colorful location portraits with a bit of a fairy tale flair. Always looking to create something with emotion behind it, he fell backwards into photography in mid 2015 and has been pursuing this dream ever since. One if his mottos: "There is always more to learn."

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Actually I started as a Canon shooter and would have liked to have continued to own Canon cameras as I like the lenses and I have always preferred Canon colours (particularly skin tones).

1. You can't shoot vintage manual lenses effectively with Canon cameras. Sony and Nikon both allow this with one button zoom in and zoom out. Canon is the old four button press nightmare to get in and out.
2. Video: I want full sensor high quality video, not the line skipping crap Canon delivered with the 5D Mark III with their lying claim to have added HD video. 500 lines in doesn't not make 1080p out.

I'm just so sick of Canon segmenting and feature dripping and crippled cameras. Who at Canon thinks it's a good idea to treat its customers as rubes and marks? In the end, I want to shoot with cameras from a company who does try to make the best camera possible. That's Nikon (Panasonic's S1 is very nice but it's as big as a DSLR: not what I want to carry all the time, small is good if it remains usable).

Apologists like you for Canon's disrespectful treatment of its customers really make my stomach turn.

I grew so tired of having to keep Canon + Sony or Canon + Fuji or Canon + Nikon to be able to shoot stills and video. I want a single system which just works together.

Sony's cameras and full time mirrorless didn't appeal to me. APS-C (Fuji) didn't work for my low light shooting either. When the Z6/Z7 came out, the obvious choice was Nikon. That's how Canon turned this once enthusiastic Canon shooter into a very happy Nikon shooter. Canon's mistreatment of its customers is why their profits are in free-fall.

Schadenfreude at this point. I don't wish Canon much good as they haven't wished me or photographers much good since the original 5D. Canon's only goal is to turn what should be a single $2500 purchase into two x $2500 purchases (two crippled stills cameras with feature drip bought sequentially) with a $7000 second purchase (a camera with full video capabilities, either a 1DX Mark II or a Canon C200). I'm happy to invest in lenses but I'm not ready to ride on Canon's body merry-go-round any more. At the same time as they feature cripple their cameras, Canon has arrogantly condemned its photographers to work with underperforming sensors (the 5DIV seems to be the best of a bad lot, though to achieve better shadow performance Canon seems to have changed its traditional pink skin tones into a nasty yellow cast).

Switching main brands is not a decision to undertake lightly. Fortunately moving from Canon to Nikon is easier than it looks at first glance. Both make good stills cameras with good ergonomics. Both offer affordable high quality lenses (well Canon used to until it launched the EOS R line, another reason to dump Canon). The only difference is that Nikon doesn't deliberately cripple its cameras. Generally Nikon works very hard at keeping its gear cross-compatible and building the little adapters necessary to allow one to use accessories from one line on another.

The more time I spend in Nikon land, the better I like it. The Z6 is the most enjoyable camera to shoot with since the original Canon 5D appeared.

-"This pictures were both shot with a sony A7RIII"

Who knows, maybe there's a perfectly good explanation, but, exif shows Canon.

I never get why people buy pre-sets in the first place, they almost never translate to the images you took anyway since almost all are only applicable to specific circumstances.

Most software allows you to create your own and so if you do that for the first photo in your series and then apply it across all those that are similar - you now have a decent starting point, but that's all it is.

Right now the barrage of FB/IG ads seems to be all about marketing/sales webinars. Literally everywhere I look, it's "I can show you how to make tens of thousands of dollars with almost zero investment in keywords, zero knowledge about SEO, and don't worry about whether or not the product/service you're selling is any good, cuz that doesn't matter either, all that matters is your sales pitch and funnel page! Give me $350 and I'll teach you how to be a millionaire!"

How can you not click on this article. Brilliant title.