DESIRE V COST.

G

GRECIAN

Suspended / Banned
Messages
644
Name
Liam.
Edit My Images
Yes
I have over the years been involved with a few hobbies’ inc Golf, Shooting and Fishing inc having my own boats.

While doing these past hobby's I never found myself constantly looking for a new piece of kit and feel driven to spend as much money as I do with photography, am I alone with this?

This all came about when I switched to Nikon from Canon, I was unsure of the Nikon line up and made a few learning mistakes via miss buy's and I now seem to have lost my way in what I am trying to achieve and what kit I want, more driven by desire than need.

I now have 2 D700's one with a Nikon 24-70 on it and the other with a Nikon 28-300 attached which I swap with a 50MM F1.4 when I want something fast or easy to carry.

Then like an idiot I just brought a Brand new D300s as I wanted to get a Sigma 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS APO HSM to keep on it for Wildlife as I do like a crop for that.

That would be fine but on checking my savings account the Sigma isn’t going to happen and I will have to get rid of the unused D300s quickly to avoid a crap Christmas.

I have recently found myself doing as much overtime at work as possible to buy more photographic equipment rather than save for Christmas or even a Holiday where the kit might actually get used.

I just wondered if this has happened to anyone else, photography is just a hobby for me; I do enjoy it but now need to stop spending and looking for the next purchase and just use and make the most of what i have.
 
Interesting post. Photography is a business for me and still the desire for equipment is far greater than the need. I've got all the kit I need for the weddings and portraits that I do - 2 D700's numerous lenses, flash units etc. But, I still buy photo magazines and read the hardware reviews before anything else. I always think, well, that lens might be a good buy for blah blah blah. I'm worst with camera bags. I dread to think the amount I've spent on camera bags - far too much.
 
Well somthing totaly new happened to me this week. I got £200 from selling my D60 and I thought I could get my self a new photographic toy, I have rather shockingly found that I don't want anything else! I'm happy with the kit I've got!

It took me three years though!
 
I used to be worse than that, especially when bikes were my passion. I'd buy a bike every 6 months, quite often from new, and with sports bikes being around £6k a pop, the Mrs wasn't impressed !! Last bike I bought was 5 years ago and I'm still happy with it. I think I just took time to find the right one.

I'm not so bad with the photography stuff. There's still stuff I need, but a huge amount of kit that I desire. I'm now selling off what I don't use to pay for what I need, and trying to leave the desires at bay.

My wife has now taken quite an interest in the hobby and I'd like to get another body for her to use, but I also keep thinking about going FF, and wonder whether I should get a 5D2, or pick up a 50D for the Mrs..... (and as a 2nd body for me).

When I win the lottery.......

Steve
 
Im the opposite, I have the money, but not the desire to go a blow it on stuff I don't need or will hardly use.
:)
Im happy with my G1 and a couple of lenses, Im considering getting a Nikon/Canon to, but it will only be a low to mid range body and probably the one decent lens.

I always find it a bit strange to see amatuer photographer's with full frame pro cameras a shed loads of gear to accompany it, especially when they only snap their cat or birds in the garden.

Motorcyles on the other hand, now there is a money pit...
;)
 
Last edited:
Easy to fall into the trap of endlessly buying kit.
Fortunately for me I am well satisfied with what I have and have nowhere near achieved it's full potential.
 
youv got it realy bad .[ a body for every lens wow] it does get adictive ive had to stop myself ive got *** i need for now but saying that ive been looking at the 17 55 2.8
 
I can only handle one camera at a time so no way I would want 3 (I'm not a pro).
I've got a reasonable selection of lenses but would never need them all at the same time so generally just take what I need for what I plan on doing.
I've got some 'unwise' lens purchases due entirely to not thinking/researching before buying but IMO better to have too many lenses than too many bodies.
 
We are unfortunately bombarded by gear talk and reviews in the photography world. Websites, flick, pro's blogs etc are all full of nice shiny looking kit that if you read the reviews we all MUST buy.
I think it's true to say that this lust for gear is not totally unjustified given I said above.

I used a 400D for a LONG time but have in the last year been through a 7D, used 1DmkIII and now have a 1DmkIV. I was very happy with the 400D but it really was starting to hold me back hence the upgrade. Since selling the 400D I have never been quite satisfied with the other cameras. Now with the mkIV I have found one that just works perfectly and I will be able to keep for a good few years as it does everything I need of it. I have found the more you keep and use a camera the more you learn to love it and accept it.
Unless you are using the camera for work then I think for most uses anything from a 550D to a 1DmkIV will give pretty much the same images if shrunk down to web size or A4 print (and that's what most images are used for). The thing with having the mkIV is I am now starting to push the type of images I take. I shot a marathon in Sept and the images were miles ahead of anything the 400D would have been able to produce.

Now I am happy with my gear I have made a decision to try and avoid looking at posts of gear in blogs and only looking in this forum's gear section to offer advice. Otherwise it will only be a matter of time before there is something else that I just HAVE to buy. :bonk:
 
Jelster said:
I used to be worse than that, especially when bikes were my passion. I'd buy a bike every 6 months, quite often from new, and with sports bikes being around £6k a pop, the Mrs wasn't impressed !! Last bike I bought was 5 years ago and I'm still happy with it. I think I just took time to find the right one.

I'm not so bad with the photography stuff. There's still stuff I need, but a huge amount of kit that I desire. I'm now selling off what I don't use to pay for what I need, and trying to leave the desires at bay.

My wife has now taken quite an interest in the hobby and I'd like to get another body for her to use, but I also keep thinking about going FF, and wonder whether I should get a 5D2, or pick up a 50D for the Mrs..... (and as a 2nd body for me).

When I win the lottery.......

Steve
Click to expand...

Wait for the 5Dmk3 to come out :)
My Mrs had a 400, she got fed up with it, she swiped my 50D, I bought a 1Dmk2 then a 5D and she's looking at the IQ of the 5D with covetous eyes already, the 50D is a fine camera but the 1.3 and FF produce nicer images.

Matt
 
I've managed to convince myself I need every peice of kit I have bought at the time of purchase.

In reality, I don't - but I rather like owning it.

So the desire for gear is definitly there for me. I enjoy photography and I know I don't do enough - but I also enjoy using nice kit. I enjoy using the right tool for the job - even if the tool is many times the price of a heath robinson alternative.

Am I mad? Probably. Do I care what anybody else thinks about my madness? No.
 
I count myself extremely fortunate to have all the gear I need. Yes I could upgrade 2 D700's to 2 D3s but I'm not going to. The benefits of doing so would be so small it is not worth the level of expenditure required to achieve it.

There is a point of reasonableness to the money I spend (even as a pro) and I invest in good training as much as kit. Next week I am off doing a 1-1 day on PP and album design to streamline the processing as much as possible. Cost? £200, value? Could save me days! lol

That's where the biggest gain in performance actually is for me.
 
We've all done it: I bought two D3x bodies thinking that bigger would be better and quickly realised they were all but useless for my line of work (but very good at the purpose for which they're intended).
Sold one as soon as I could, which partially-funded the purchase of two second-hand D3 bodies and a couple of lenses instead...
Much better...

Still wanting a D3s for those extra 2 stops at the top-end, but not really needing the video capability...
 
Cars are my normal money pit but of late I seem to have decided that my lenses need regular upgrades. I changed two in March and have now sold them on for better glass. I'm sticking with the trusty 30D for the moment though as I feel no need to change that just yet ;)
 
I'm basically trying to let it pay for itself, I do some very small jobs here and there and everything I earn goes straight back into funding kit. As I'm still learning its both good practice and also handy to be like this as I rarely have free cash I could use on gear.

I DO need better gear really, but I will have to be patient and work my way towards it. if I had the money I'd blow a fortune on the best stuff, purely becuase I think it would allow me to tackle any situation and not get frustrated by the equipment, would only be my own skills holding me back then.

However I do strongly believe that people seem to have better kit than they are photogrpahers, like the other day a manager here told me he has a 50D 'but if I'm honest I wouldn't know what to do with it out of the auto setting' - seems waste to me.

I guess you can say the same for alot of things, many people have 1000cc sports bikes yet never ride them hard, or fast cars and never drive them properly etc.
 
RichardtheSane said:
I've managed to convince myself I need every peice of kit I have bought at the time of purchase.

In reality, I don't - but I rather like owning it.

So the desire for gear is definitly there for me. I enjoy photography and I know I don't do enough - but I also enjoy using nice kit. I enjoy using the right tool for the job - even if the tool is many times the price of a heath robinson alternative.

Am I mad? Probably. Do I care what anybody else thinks about my madness? No.
Click to expand...

There is pleasure to had in owning nice things.:thumbs:
 
Tell me about it.
In the last 12 months I've gone from-
5D2+40D
to
7D
to
7D+5D2
to
1DS3+50D
to
1DS3+1D4
to
5D2+1D4
to
5D2+7D

Gone virtually full circle and thrown away a lot of money in the process.All trying to find the "perfect" camera.I now know it doesn't exist.Looks pretty flippin stupid when you see it written down in a list like that.

Lenses-don't get me started on that one!

Gary
 
Quaker said:
WoW

Some of you must be loaded!!!
Click to expand...

Or happy to take finance. One way or another, if you REALLY want it, you can normally find a way to get and justify it.

If a person is able to afford something, I don't see a need to question that (not that you are). I prefer someone to able to afford and use an item rather than afford and discard it, but, hey, that's their choice! :D

I've been on a 'have a credit card for emergencies only kick' for a while and a whole other 'buy kit only when you are ready for it' one for when I get onto various sites/magazines! It works for me :thumbs:
 
vulcan2912 said:
Tell me about it.
In the last 12 months I've gone from-
5D2+40D
to
7D
to
7D+5D2
to
1DS3+50D
to
1DS3+1D4
to
5D2+1D4
to
5D2+7D

Gone virtually full circle and thrown away a lot of money in the process.All trying to find the "perfect" camera.I now know it doesn't exist.Looks pretty flippin stupid when you see it written down in a list like that.

Lenses-don't get me started on that one!

Gary
Click to expand...
Is the current combination the best for your needs? I would like to add a 5D2 to my 1D4 but that would be wasting money for my area of photography.
 
Tell me about it. The last purchase (1D) was rather accidental rather than planned or needed. This is why I am still driving a bloody red Clio mkII 1.2. Probably even 1.2 lens would make me more happy than that car.
 
I honestly can't imagine why someone shooting as a hobby would need an additional body (unless you're delving into different formats). Care to explain why guys?
 
Hi Andy

I could give at least 1 reason why I moved everyone of the cameras on that are on the above list.
Apart from the better focus system on the 1DS3 I prefer everything else on the 5D2.My main problem with the 1D4 was the wide angle lenses.I loved everything about the camera apart from the 1.3 crop.I planned on it being a 1 camera does it all kind of thing but it didn't quite work for me that way.
I tend to use the 5D2 for everything apart from aviation so couldn't justify just keeping the 1D4 for maybe a dozen outings a year.
Unless you need the wide angle from going full frame I wouldn't bother with the 5D2.I certainly would not have if Canon had come out with a good 12-? lens.Waffled on a bit there but hopefully gave you the answer you were after.
7D is a compromise on the 1D4.I prefer the 1.6 crop for my aviation stuff and it's easier to stomach a grands worth of camera sitting idle for long periods of time rather than 3 grands worth of camera.It's just a shame that the files from the 7D are terrible compared to those from the 1D4.
Cheers
Gary
 
I honestly can't imagine why someone shooting as a hobby would need an additional body (unless you're delving into different formats). Care to explain why guys?
Click to expand...

Backup.

Eg-I spend approx £700 every July for my hotel and weeks ticket to the air tattoo.I love the aircraft but if I couldn't take pictures I wouldn't go.Imagine if my camera broke on the 1st morning.I've had 2 DSLR's and 1 lens pack in on me in the past at various times so it does happen.

It's also nice in some instances to have 2 bodies to give variety in your shooting.I would normally have 1 body with a 400mm lens on and another with a 100-400 on at any airshow that I visit.For arrivals it would be a 100-400 and a 24-105L.Two bodies become essential imo when you have a long fixed lens like a 400mm on your camera.

Cheers
Gary
 
Last edited:
vulcan2912 said:
Backup.

Eg-I spend approx £700 every July for my hotel and weeks ticket to the air tattoo.I love the aircraft but if I couldn't take pictures I wouldn't go.Imagine if my camera broke on the 1st morning.I've had 2 DSLR's and 1 lens pack in on me in the past at various times so it does happen.

It's also nice in some instances to have 2 bodies to give variety in your shooting.I would normally have 1 body with a 400mm lens on and another with a 100-400 on at any airshow that I visit.For arrivals it would be a 100-400 and a 24-105L.Two bodies become essential imo when you have a long fixed lens like a 400mm on your camera.

Cheers
Gary
Click to expand...

Thanks for explaining Gary. :thumbs:
 
I love my 1dMk2 as its a brick outhouse, so I know I can abuse it (a bit, although I dont BUT I could if I wanted to) and its got great AF etc. I love the files from the 5d, both were secondhand, I'd struggle to justify a new 1DMk4 and a 5D2 though.

So two (second hand) bodies work for me regardless of how much work each of them gets.

HTH
Matt
 
Who needs interchangeable lenses when the Panasonic fz100 is a 25-600mm with 11fps or the fuji hs10 can reach 720mm equivalent :-) And they're only £300 ish:D

I have the same itch. I really want an sony alpha 550. I don't need it. I just want it. I could quite fancy the 850 too. I don't need that either.

I think camera manufacturers deliberately make cameras that miss something so you want the next one up all the time.

The a550 on sale stops being £400 tomorrow. Sadly the trade in offered is £200 less than I paid for it a few months ago so I'm going to stick with it as it is not as if I actually go anywhere where stuff is moving fast enough to really need 5 fps anyway!
 
GRECIAN said:
I have over the years been involved with a few hobbies’ inc Golf, Shooting and Fishing inc having my own boats.

While doing these past hobby's I never found myself constantly looking for a new piece of kit and feel driven to spend as much money as I do with photography, am I alone with this?

This all came about when I switched to Nikon from Canon, I was unsure of the Nikon line up and made a few learning mistakes via miss buy's and I now seem to have lost my way in what I am trying to achieve and what kit I want, more driven by desire than need.

I now have 2 D700's one with a Nikon 24-70 on it and the other with a Nikon 28-300 attached which I swap with a 50MM F1.4 when I want something fast or easy to carry.

Then like an idiot I just brought a Brand new D300s as I wanted to get a Sigma 150-500mm F5-6.3 DG OS APO HSM to keep on it for Wildlife as I do like a crop for that.

That would be fine but on checking my savings account the Sigma isn’t going to happen and I will have to get rid of the unused D300s quickly to avoid a crap Christmas.

I have recently found myself doing as much overtime at work as possible to buy more photographic equipment rather than save for Christmas or even a Holiday where the kit might actually get used.

I just wondered if this has happened to anyone else, photography is just a hobby for me; I do enjoy it but now need to stop spending and looking for the next purchase and just use and make the most of what i have.
Click to expand...

I used to be like this up until a few months ago, and then I decided enough was enough. Actually start using it rather than just throwing money at it.

I could perhaps make use of an IS lens, I could perhaps make use of a camera body that has better high ISO... but really I should just keep what I have got for now and use it.

I have decided for the foreseeable that anything I buy has to first have something sold for its place that is worth the same or more. It's just willpower, and I rather like having savings :)


shabba said:
I guess you can say the same for alot of things, many people have 1000cc sports bikes yet never ride them hard, or fast cars and never drive them properly etc.
Click to expand...

A lot of people can't drive normal cars properly :lol:
 
Last edited:
FruitFlakes said:
I honestly can't imagine why someone shooting as a hobby would need an additional body (unless you're delving into different formats). Care to explain why guys?
Click to expand...

I have 2 bodies (all packed into the one skin...). I have a D700 which is great for almost everything (wide angles and high ISO stuff especially) and a D70 which gives me extra apparent reach when using telephotos. TB absolutely H, I don';t need either! I have a couple of film bodies (used to either have different lenses on them to avoid changing or different speeds or types of film in (B&W and colour or negative and slide)) which would do the same job - I can scan the film and do what I want with the resulting files.
 
And i thought I was indulgent buying upgrading from 7D to 5d mkii. All the above inputs make me feel so much better now
 
I seem to get in the same situation with every hobby, thankfully the failed ones have had good resale values! :lol:

At the moment, I've got the car and photography. I've put the car on hold for photography this year and now I'm trying to just sit back and enjoy both but it's not easy, there is always something else...

I've set myself a goal not to buy anything not really required until 2012, but we'll see how long that'll last. :lol:
 
I had a mad splurge at the beginning of the year buying all those "I'd love one of those" bits, which included a new body, lenses, flash etc and, thankfully, since then I haven't suffered any more mad urges.

There are probably a couple of bits I will buy at some point in the future, but there's nothing pressing me to put my hand in my pocket at the moment.
 
Want and need are 2 different things, I always remember that. I get the gear that does the job that I want and no more. I am not a pro, so don't need to spend tens of thousands.

Buy what will do the job if you can afford it. Going crazy and always wanting new gear is what takes the fun out of a hobby.
 
Want and need are two different things, but it's easy enough to persuade yourself that you really "need" something. Harmless, if you can afford it, and no-one else's business.

I don't spend a lot on myself, and neither does my wife, but it's all relative too. Some people might think we're extravagant, and others would consider us, let just say, frugal!
 
Nice to see i am not alone.

I think i am back on track now, i have a clear idea of where i want to end up and will sell some of my kit to fund this and save rather than just keep buying.
i think i should also buy used and not new as i guess i lose more when i sell that way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top