Do you ever get the feeling your equipment is never enough.

lost said:
Im happy with what i have you can only carry so much. But i know my gear inside out and it does just what i require. lifes to short for lens & camera envy
Regards
Richard
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But you have 600mm, that I envy. At least I can console myself that yours is the wrong colour :lol:
 
I seem to suffer with the opposite problem to that described in the OP :(. I have guilt problems if I start to feel that I have too much kit! This usually results in me selling off stuff that doesn't get used a lot. The obvious problem there is that I sometimes decide that I want to have that gear back at some point :bang:.

Am I alone in this :shrug:?
 
Naboo32 said:
I seem to suffer with the opposite problem to that described in the OP :(. I have guilt problems if I start to feel that I have too much kit! This usually results in me selling off stuff that doesn't get used a lot. The obvious problem there is that I sometimes decide that I want to have that gear back at some point :bang:.

Am I alone in this :shrug:?
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Nope not at all... I used to suffer with the previous problem, but now I have the D700, D300s, 14-24,24-70,70-200 and a couple of primes I now ended up selling other kit I had as it was no longer necessary.

That kit coupled with my lencarta safari's and a couple of SB900's and a ton of modifiers and I have everything I need for any situation...

I cannot see my buying any more gear for a long time now... (although that panasonic gf1 keeps winking at me :D)
 
I have felt like this since signing up on here!! :(

Been looking at the D300s/D700/D2-3? :( All of which i cannot afford!!! :'(

Also, alot of people mentioning the 24-70 which seems to get a lot of praise....but looks very pricey! :(

I could do with an upgrade as my D50 is very dated now, but i dont have the spare ca$h, so i suppose i'll have to stick with what i've got! :(
 
this 'problem' seems to be endemic with many people, but at the end of the day, you need to stop making excuses and go out and take photos. That simple.

Yes, this is easier for me to say because I am fortunate enough that because photography is my job, I have equipment that does not limit me (far from - and yet my equipment is 'inferior' to a fair amount of what you shoot with), but even if your equipment or access or life DOES limit you - for example, you only have a kit lens and want to go and take photos of small birds - then work around that limitation. Superclamp your camera to a branch next to the bird feeder and fire it remotely, whatever... or go and shoot something different entirely. Not a bad thing - but if you have full control of the photo, it exercises a lot more parts of your brain, namely actual creativity, rather than just technical skills in getting the shutter speed right.

if your pictures suck, it's not because of your equipment, it's not because you don't have some lens or magic doodah, it's because of the soggy matter in the 6" behind the camera, and there is ONE way to improve that, and that is to go out and take photos. Or better, much better, /make/ photos. Sounds like a flickr cliché, but it's a real difference - and almost ALL of the photography on this site, you have no control of the photo other than what you're doing with the camera.

so stop making excuses 'oh wow my photos would be so much better if I went out and bought the latest thing', actually go out and take the best photos that you can with the equipment that you have.
 
I think that what I have is adiquate for what I do, but like everyone I do lust over certain things and wonder if xx lens would be better in certain situations - especially when I take the odd couple of pictures in Churches or other dark places. It's fine if no one is around and I can use a tripod and slow shutter speed, (though for the moment I need hubby to help me, but not for long! *happydance*) but if it's during a service I have 2 issues - one is that I can't use slow shutter speeds while people are moving and the other is hubby wouldn't be seen dead in a Church while it's being used for worship - was hard enough getting him there for our wedding! Generally I'm happy with what I have.
 
itsdavedotnet said:
if your pictures suck, it's not because of your equipment, it's not because you don't have some lens or magic doodah, it's because of the soggy matter in the 6" behind the camera, and there is ONE way to improve that, and that is to go out and take photos. Or better, much better, /make/ photos. Sounds like a flickr cliché, but it's a real difference - and almost ALL of the photography on this site, you have no control of the photo other than what you're doing with the camera.
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True to an large extent but my pictures certainly improved massively when I got the camera I have now. I think my experience of taking pics for several years with a P+S compact helped though.
 
I don't really feel that my kit is never enough, because I know that I'm the weak link in the photographic chain - I don't shoot wildlife/sports where I'd need mega-long/fast lenses. I try where possible not to shoot people, so again fancy wide aperture glass isn't needed.

Given my choice, I shoot landscapes which aren't noted for running away or moving too much, so fast auto-focus isn't exactly a premium. With the Digital camera I can shoot/chimp/tweak/repeat until I'm happy with the exposure, so fancy metering isn't massively high on my list. High quality glass is nice, though some of my more memorable shots this year have been done on either a pinhole camera or the mis-shapen blob of plastic that's in a Holga. I'll happily shoot on the SLR (35mm or digital) using a old manual focus/manual aperture lens if the glass in it is good enough.

No - to be honest, what's holding back my photography is lack of time and access to inspiring locations. Last year I shot a 365, and the furthest shot from home was about 15 miles away. I don't live in a particularly unpleasant area, but it's a good hour's drive from any decent hills, and nearer 2 hours to the coast. When I've generally no more than a 2.5 hour window of opportunity to get out and shoot, this puts a bit of a crimp on things.

Doesn't stop me getting out and shooting though - there's always something out there, you just have to MAKE a photo, rather than have it handed to you on a plate. :)
 
itsdavedotnet said:
this 'problem' seems to be endemic with many people, but at the end of the day, you need to stop making excuses and go out and take photos. That simple.

Yes, this is easier for me to say because I am fortunate enough that because photography is my job, I have equipment that does not limit me (far from - and yet my equipment is 'inferior' to a fair amount of what you shoot with), but even if your equipment or access or life DOES limit you - for example, you only have a kit lens and want to go and take photos of small birds - then work around that limitation. Superclamp your camera to a branch next to the bird feeder and fire it remotely, whatever... or go and shoot something different entirely. Not a bad thing - but if you have full control of the photo, it exercises a lot more parts of your brain, namely actual creativity, rather than just technical skills in getting the shutter speed right.

if your pictures suck, it's not because of your equipment, it's not because you don't have some lens or magic doodah, it's because of the soggy matter in the 6" behind the camera, and there is ONE way to improve that, and that is to go out and take photos. Or better, much better, /make/ photos. Sounds like a flickr cliché, but it's a real difference - and almost ALL of the photography on this site, you have no control of the photo other than what you're doing with the camera.

so stop making excuses 'oh wow my photos would be so much better if I went out and bought the latest thing', actually go out and take the best photos that you can with the equipment that you have.
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All fair comments Dave, but what you should also consider is that a lot of hobbyists who aren't free to go and shoot whatever they want, when they want (due to having other jobs/commitments), still like to indulge themselves in their hobby when they're away from it. That's why some people seem to spend a lot of time on this forum, talking about gear or critting other people's photos - it keeps them close to what they love :shrug:.

As long as nobody is just acquiring mountains of gear and never actually using any of it, I don't think that there's anything fundamentally wrong with daydreaming about their 'ideal kit'. It is part of the hobby, after all :|.
 
The main thing people ought to also appreciate is that the best isn't necessarily what you need. Identify your needs and what's "good enough" or does the job and be happy with that. Makes lusting after gear much less a problem. Right now, I would fancy a newer DSLR with better noise control, but after years of using my current kit, I know it to be adequate enough for what I do. My faulty zoom lens however, that's costing me photos so that NEEDS to change when I can afford it.
 
I get this too... This is a disease and you will find that you taking more pictures is the only cure. "ZOOM WITH YOUR FEET." "The best camera is the one you have with you" etc... We can't all be rich... so logoff right now and go take some pictures... I am.
 
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