Good gear is "transparent"--it doesn't get between the vision and the realization of that vision. Of course, nothing lives up to this perfectly; weight, bulk, and the inherent limitations of the equipment all create their own obstacles to be dealt with. While one is certainly better off capturing an image with a digicam in the hand than not capturing it with the 8x10 in the trunk, the reason the 8x10 is in the trunk instead of in-hand (or on-tripod) has at least as much to do with the photographer as the equipment itself. I prefer to shoot with my Canon DSLRs, but while I was in Iraq I had to make do with my Olympus SP-350 due to restriction on how much stuff I could take with me, cramped living quarters, and the impracticality of carrying a 40lb camera bag when one already must carry a weapon and ammunition (12 lbs), body armor (30+ lbs with attached gear and ballistic strike plates), rucksack (20-70 lbs, depending on what's inside), aid bag (20 lbs or so of medical supplies; I'm a medic) and one or two duffel bags (30-70 lbs each) when moving from one location to another. In spite of its limitations, I got some good images from the Olympus, but now that I'm back from my deployment, I'm back to using my 1Ds and 1D-MkII again, because they are more "transparent" than the Olympus.