To me this have never been about photography. As a kid I had a hard time to find words to express my thoughts and ideas. Of course I felt bad about this, growing up as an introvert I always looked up to people that were good with words. They could express themselves and influence others. Fortunate to me I developed other skills, one of them being my ability to listen intensely and analyzing the world around me. Photography became my way of translating my ideas to the world.

Seamless Flow with Professional Gear

Photography is about conveying my ideas and thoughts to the world as seamlessly as possible without interruption. This is where professional gear is key, they are tools that “work in the background” without me even noticing them, they let me do what I do best – create. I often talk about getting into a flow, when everything just lines up perfectly, time just flows by and creativity is optimal. Even if I were an analytical person and could deep dive into tech, I prefer not to because I want to focus on my work, not my gear.

Focus on the Creativity

Every time gear fails on me, my focus and attention is in the wrong place. I do understand that this material will be used to promote EIZO and that there may be benefits for me writing this text, but the honest truth is that that basically all my gear has failed on me except my EIZO monitor. I cannot remember even once that I had trouble with my EIZO. I have used it in my studio, on location, in rental studios, in terrible taped boxes, in dusty places, in wet places, spilled coffee on it. Never had a problem with it.

The Transition to EIZO

Before my EIZO I had an older iMac with its built-in monitor. I remember I tripped on the wire the first day I bought it and I smashed the whole monitor. I was devastated. Later on when I decided to do photography full time I bought my EIZO ColorEdge CG242W, I believe it was around 8-9 years ago – I still use it. Everyone was talking about EIZO when I first asked around about what monitor to invest in. Most of my professional colleagues I know use EIZO. My first impression was that it looked like a space ship with its monitor hood and timeless black design. I liked the fact that you could calibrate the monitor yourself and that it has a wide color gamut. It was a big difference from my iMac monitor.

I am no tech freak but I would say it was much more clear and sharp and it shows how the image truly looks. The transition from my previous monitor was pretty straight forward. Of course I had never calibrated a monitor before but it was not a big deal. Now I do that maybe once a month with my external calibrator.

In Comparison with Other Monitors

I do have other monitors to, for example I use a consumer Samsung monitor when I tether my camera to the computer in the studio area, mostly to see composition and that the focus is spot on. Let me tell you compared to the EIZO it’s not very pleasant to work with. The viewing angle is horrible and when my customers are standing next to me they barely see the image. The colors are way off so I can’t use it as a reference monitor. Other details I like with the EIZO is that it does not reflect the room in the monitor.

A Work Horse

My monitor is one of those gears that I never think about. That is probably the best compliment you can get from me. It just works without problems, it does what it’s supposed to and I believe that this is one of the advantages of the EIZO – it’s a work horse made for professional work. It’s really durable. This has obviously helped me on my road to realizing my ideas.

About Andreas Varro