Re: Many good points - however
>A moderate camera that you have with you is better than a superb camera that has been left at home.
This. And the best way to learn photography isn't to dick around with medium format, which most prosumer users don't know how to use creatively anyway (sorry John...), but to start with a phone cam or maybe a compact and learn the basics of composition and lighting on that.
You can worry about focus, shutter speed and aperture later, after you know how to frame a good-looking shot.
Also
1. Take lots and lots of photos and learn what works and what doesn't.
2. Look at the work of the best photographers - not just the well-known ones like Cartier-Bresson and Adams, but the more obscure ones like the remarkable Vivian Maier.
3. Look at art and learn some art history. (Learning to draw will help, even if you never get very good at it.)
Bottom line is that any £300 DSLR is so good now that you can take semi-pro photos with it. Any £3000 DSLR is good enough for professional use - and you'll see photos taken on this kind of kit daily in high-end print outlets and on the web.
So the idea that 'there is no progression for photographers' is nonsense.
The only people using medium format are geek hobbyists who obsess about the technology but have no clue about visual framing, fashion/food/product photogs who actually need the quality, and a few slightly crazed landscape photographers.
No one else cares. And high end DSLRs are so good now most professionals have absolutely no need to drag a Leaf back around with them.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
