GAS (gear aquisition syndrome) - are you affected ?

I've got the film variant. I really try not to buy any more cameras, I really don't want to be a freakin' camera collecting nerd. I try to only buy cameras that I want to actually use. I keep failing though. Bloody car boot sales - I should ban myself. At the moment, I shoot with around eight cameras (Sony A200 DSLR, Olympus XA2, Olympus Trip 35, Bronica SQ-A, Pentax ME Super, Kodak Brownie Flash III, Agfa Isolette I, and a Pentax Spotmatic 500). I still buy bloody cameras though. I've probably got around another thirty or so laying around.
 
Undecided if I have GAS, in last few years I've gone from Canon 1000D to 450D->30D-> 40D-5Dc, ontop of that I bought a fare few crop ef-s lenses, then ef only when I went to a 5D ! Then bought some studio flash gear from Lencarta. Loved the 5D for portrait/studio stuff but wanted something small, so went for Fuji X10, loved this but wanted something better for low light, high ISO so bought an eos-m, didn't get on with it so bought a Fuji X-A1, loved that but missed a viewfinder so bought an X-E2 ! Only have a few x mount lenses, so bought an eos to x mount adapter to make use of all my canon glass ! :). My work mates think I'm crazy !! Lol

I shoot mostly for recreation stuff, holidays, our kids etc.. and use the studio lighting, backdrops etc... for taking photos of our kids ! :). I also use it to take photos for our work website www.insync.tv (for anyone interested), and I've not earnt a penny for anything I've done ! :)
 
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paulcamcas said:
I used to have GAS but I've had my current kit for two weeks now so I'm pretty sure I'm cured.
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There is NO CURE for GAS. The best we can hope for is remission for a while.

Lee, that's GAS, I'm afraid.

Actually, I was lying about there being no cure - I have a limited supply of the medicine available. Just send me your credit cards (fully paid off, £15,000 CL) and I'll send the recipe for the cure. ;)
 
Nod said:
There is NO CURE for GAS. The best we can hope for is remission for a while.

Lee, that's GAS, I'm afraid.

Actually, I was lying about there being no cure - I have a limited supply of the medicine available. Just send me your credit cards (fully paid off, £15,000 CL) and I'll send the recipe for the cure. ;)
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I would agree,except when you run out of money :eek: :D
 
Nod said:
There is NO CURE for GAS. The best we can hope for is remission for a while.

Lee, that's GAS, I'm afraid.

Actually, I was lying about there being no cure - I have a limited supply of the medicine available. Just send me your credit cards (fully paid off, £15,000 CL) and I'll send the recipe for the cure. ;)
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Noooo !! :), I was afraid I suffer from it, thought I was normal ! Lol
 
I thought I was cured having not bought any lenses or camera since December, I've bought and sold a few little bits since then but they are cost neutral so don't count :)
But then Photokina happened and the 7d2 and the Sigma 150-600 S came along. I am now battling a potential relapse :(
 
I've spent 7 grand at WEx over the last ten years, I know because WEx keep a running tally. Reading your stories I feel like I'm not spending enough.

The 6D, 35 and 400 keep the wolves at bay for now. Love the idea of the LX100, but at £800 I'll pass for now. Maybe at £500.
 
I'm pretty well behaved actually. I have picked up several hobbies over the years, but managed to keep them all fairly well under control. I don't want to spend all my money on one thing at the expense of others.

Currently have a 650d, 50mm 1.8 and 18-55mm. Planning on picking up a fast wide zoom, then I'll be done for a fair while I think except for some accessories (batteries, bag etc) Same goes for my other interests. I pick up a good quality base of kit, then add to it only when I see a real need.
 
danbroad said:
I've spent 7 grand at WEx over the last ten years, I know because WEx keep a running tally. Reading your stories I feel like I'm not spending enough.
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I thought I spent a lot too, around £27,000 in the past 3/4 years buying and selling,( but thats nothing compared to Gary :D ) I think it works out to anyway, probably more but I dread to dig deeper and look :eek::exit:
 
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Not sure I have GAS, more like GPS - Gear Ponderance Syndrome. I spend a lot of time thinking about buying new kit but rarely actually do. Relatively speaking.

I am lucky I have my wife who puts things in perspective, she'd never actually stop me buying anything but points out the options. The most recent was "you could buy that lens and not use it much or we could go to Vietnam where there will be some amazing things to actually take photos of". She's right, of course.

I think this points to my attitude towards photography - I don't really consider photography as a hobby - I just like to capture memories of the amazing places we like to visit. If that means buying some flashy gear then sobeit :D
 
'kinell & Gary Coyle!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

I too suffer GAS & have probably spent nearly £15K in the 4 years since getting into digital purely as an amateur, but even though my `moneyboss` is usually a gem when I want summat, I'm more than happy for her to put the brakes on for a while now & again. :cool:

I think it's more of a bloke's thing somehow (not exclusively I'm sure) that we like our new shiny toys. After all, `he who dies with the most toys....wins!` (y)

For me at least, I could probably (virtually) cure GAS by not reading TP at all ...... especially the classifieds! :( & staying out of any discussions with any other `togger I meet, but then I guess that's part of the hobby for me. :cool:

Anyroad, I'm sorted now & won't be spending ANY more! :angelic:


( thinking: Since I can't afford a 500mm prime, that new Siggy 150-600 could be interesting though)
 
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Wow, this thread very quickly generated a lot more responses than I thought. Looks like a good number of us are as bad as each other :p
 
XFile2708 said:
Would love to see a shot of the collection if you have one matey
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Here is some of it:

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Picture%20155.jpg



Steve.
 
Not really. Used to be tempted a lot more, but now I have plenty of gear to get the job done. Newer stuff will come out, but it's not going to have a great effect on the end result.

Just think about how many more years you have to put off retirement for, to pay for all the stuff you bought but didn't need. Work that out, and it should make you think twice before 'upgrading' every time Nikon/Canon/etc. tell you to.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Remember that conversation we had last Saturday we had about cars while you were spending money on my D4, well im now another £20,000 lighter and it gets delivered at 10am this morning LOL
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So Gary has your symptoms changes and developed into a new strain of the disease called CGAS.

As for GAS, I think I have a mild recurring strain of the disease, that crops up now and again, but this years been very bad for me, but nothing in comparison to Gary's. Just a Canon 500mm f4 and 70D body with grip (used) and sold 10-22mm, 70-200mm f4 and 17-85mm. Score so far £4.5K v £1K and one very dead 20D (shuttered)
 
Is there a cream you can get for this over the counter?

For years I was happy with my D300s, 11-16/2.8, 17-50/2.8 and a Nikon 70-300 VR and just got on and took pictures. Even though I am happy with my kit, I still can't help but look at classifieds etc! Should get out and take more pictures....
 
The biggest problem I have with getting rid of old stuff is that, usually, it is virtually worthless, so I tend to hang on to it, which makes me look like a gear hoarder.

Unless anybody would like a 2Mp Olympus C2020 with obsolete ("Smart Media") memory cards or a 4Mp Canon Ixus 400?
Even my old Canon 30D SLR is only worth about £100 so I'd sooner keep it.
 
Brian G said:
The biggest problem I have with getting rid of old stuff is that, usually, it is virtually worthless, so I tend to hang on to it, which makes me look like a gear hoarder.

Unless anybody would like a 2Mp Olympus C2020 with obsolete ("Smart Media") memory cards or a 4Mp Canon Ixus 400?
Even my old Canon 30D SLR is only worth about £100 so I'd sooner keep it.
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That's so true.

I don't need spare cash now, I don't need those gear either. So the biggest obstacle to selling is devaluation. There's so much difference between what I paid for it and what my gears are worth now, I feel better to keep the gear just in case I may need it.


It's probably the worst investment strategy known to men, but at least I get some fun out of this hobby.
 
I have it a bit, but I've always had to contain it because of cash constraints. Probably for the best really. At some stage I'm going to get down to less than 10 guitars and 5 amps, at which point I may acquire another camera. ;)
 
Seeing as I have over a hundred transactions on the classifieds it would appear I may have GAS
Don't think it has cost a fortune, even my latest camera was a swap and bought a fair bit secondhand

Had the chance of early retirement at two months shy of 55 which was an instant cure, no contest whatsoever.
Might not have the funds for the latest greatest, but more importantly now have time to use the gear.
 
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I really feel for anyone this is a problem for so to those with excessive GAS and are bothered by it here's my idea...

One cheap way of buying kit or even a lot of kit is to get a cheap CSC, I have a Panasonic G1, and buy a lot of old manual lenses to use on it. That way you can shop and buy and sell and it only costs peanuts.
 
I used to suffer from it but I never had it too bad.

The turning point for me came when I realised that once I'd gone from entry level gear to half decent gear - not only would the next step be serious money - but would probably not have as much impact as me improving myself.

There are some people who I genuinely think are more interested in the gear than photography.
 
I fell in love with film six months or so ago, I now have, an A1, AE1, OM1 x 2, Minolta x700, xg1, x300, pentax me super, just got a CE mematron and was given a Yashica-E a few weeks ago. These are only the near mint aquisitions, loads of crappers went to charity. On top of that i am currently up to just over thirty old manual focus lenres, two rondinax 35U daylight tanks with all the devloping crap that goes with them and........

What I also love about film is that its so cheap and the cameras are simply beautifull to look at, I think the canon A1 and the Minolta x700 gripped are my fav's.
The thing is I keep telling myself that I should now get on with mastering film and slimming down my gear, but then I spot another bit of gear that costs very little to explore and play with. There is something in blokes that knaws at their psyches when they see something they want.

Like some kind of cranial erection that only that essencial new gear purchase and possession can sate.

I've still got medium format to get onto yet:)

Streve
 
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