Which Camera Did You Buy After Deciding NOT to?

camera.bear

camera.bear

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Have you ever bought a camera that you promised yourself you wouldn't? That's whats happened to me. The Minolta Freedom AF35 was my first 35mm camera. I got it just after high school and I wanted something new and modern that I could afford. The AF35 fit the bill and gave me many great pictures. I kept the camera even as I upgraded to Canon EOS SLRs. Then, along with most of my possessions, I lost it in hurricane Katrina.

I had seen the camera for sale over and over again, but decided to not rebuy the memories...so to speak. However, this one was available with the original case and accessory lenses and I just couldn't pass it up. I did have to pick up a strap at the thrift store from a broken AF35. While I was attaching the strap, I realized that no one had ever used this camera and had lost the strap without ever attaching it. Quite a find....Ahh the memories.

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What camera have you promised yourself not to buy, but have anyway?
 
Not a P+S, but I did recently buy a leica IIIg, after trying to convice myself with multiple arguments against. I even made it as far as my car, before I walked back in the shop and bought it.

The IIIg was the SM leica I had always wanted, and now I have one!
 
I had made the decision to get a Leica CL after debating between it and a Bessa. I just really wanted a Leica as my first "serious" rangefinder and the Bessa just wouldn't cut it.

Then a great deal on a Bessa came along... and I haven't looked back.
 
A leica rangefinder, the M3 in my case. I'd convinced myself I didn't need to spend the money on Leica, especially since I'd gotten a fairly complete Contax G set, and was (and am) perfectly happy with the results I got from that setup.

And then I saw an M3 w/ the collapsible summicron. $450. needed a shutter overhaul, pointed that out to the seller, prepared to walk away, and heard..."How about $200?"

And now I carry it with me almost everywhere...
 
My first rangefinder - Leica M4 and 50 Summicron. I couldn't understand why people paid so much for these Leicas but it was a really good deal so I thought I'd try it out and sell it later if I didn't like it.
I've never looked back...
 
M6... At first I thought I need a meter in my camera and I was shooting Pentax SLR's. I thought it would be nice to get a good rangefinder after trying out Canonet and Moskva etc. Then my friend talked me into buying a Gossen Digiflash and M4. It was really a good thing and I was happy with the combination.
Then I decided I want the 28/2 Ultron and a black MP-4, ok... Then I noticed I didn't use it much and a friend offered a trade to black M4. It was a stupid trade for me I guess, because that camera was too expensive for me, so I sold it and bought a much cheaper M6. I thought maybe I'll use the meter sometimes too. Anyway the black M6 was just a bit more expensive than my first chrome M4 so I'm happy.

I also got a 35 Summicron from a really nice trade. I never thought I'd buy Leitz glass because VC are just great and affordable, but this was a trade I just had to make because it was so good.
 
My very 1st serious camera - Prinzflex [ Chinon ] STTL , which I will probably never use ,
initially a good chrome one @ £30 , then a poor black body which with a little tlc works as well as the chrome one !
[ I knew that it was painted OVER chrome , so looked terrible in the e-bay pics , but it was all cosmetic - not even a dint ]
.... NOT a Zorki 4 , which I could not get on with 1st time around .
 
I wasn't gonna get a Leica either. Then I saw my (to be) M4-P sitting in my favorite camera store, and only about $200 more than I would pay. I talked with my friend Ned about it (he had one) and the next day, went back to the store, talked them down two hundred bucks, and walked out with it.

I had never intended on getting a Leica, let along a meter-less model. Now I wouldn't want it any other way!
 
Almost all of them. I usually talk myself out of buying something, as, rationally, i probably didn't need it. But, my practical/rational side is weaker than the consumer/gear fetishist side.

The most recent 'reversed decisions': Leica R7 and Nikon FE2.

The typical series of events:
1. Want camera.
2. Research camera.
3. Price camera.
4. Decide to buy.
5. Decide not to buy.
About an hour after i've FIRMLY decided not to buy... i buy.
 
I decided not to buy a Leica D-Lux 3. What a silly camera, I thought, what with its little joystick. So I bought it. Not right away. But I bought it. That was over a year ago. Then last month I went back & got the D-Lux 4. OK, I probably don't need both; but I like the wider-angle capability of the 4, along with its f/2 lens. But the 3 is a keeper nevertheless. These little cameras are addictive.

I do have some self-control. I decided not to buy the R-D1. After reading all the reports of problems, it seemed like a bad idea. I've been tempted several times since then, despite the negative reports. But I have not bought one. Yet. . . .

By the way: I use the joystick all the time. Great idea!
 
An M8 ... after deciding that there was no way I would ever pay so much money for the over hyped flawed enigma that the M8 was ... I sold my soul to the devil and bought one.

No real regrets ... at times the camera annoys the hell out of me but just as often it totally wows me luckily! :p
 
Leica MP. No, Leica PERIOD. Now I have more than one and I love working with them. Simply fantastic feel throughout the whole picture taking process. They come to the eye nicely, the release is perfect etc. Only the price is a pig and I resented paying through the nose for a long time. Now I just look forward to printing the negatives. I am no Leicaphile nutcase, but have to say that it is a wonderful way to work. I drew the line at the super expensive asph line of lenses and use the wonderful ZMs instead.
 
Rangefinders in general is my ultimate answer to this one: I kind of stumbled upon some old Russian cameras in a store last Summer. Not knowing whether they worked or not, I dared not to buy one. Even though I really wanted to. I was pretty sure I would actually end up buying one in the end, but when we left the place a couple of days later the risk still felt a little bit too high. For a while I was pretty proud of my self, having resisted the temptation. But what I did not realize then was that on the way of making that decision I had already sold my soul. - I had started researching in the world of Rangefinders...;)
Two months later I was sure I had taken the wrong decision, even though it had been right one there and then. Now I had the chance of buying either a bessa R3* and a couple of lenses or a CLE with more or less the same set. The bessa was my first choice, but someone else bought it first.
Now I and the CLE are becoming the best of friends, but I still can but help wonder if one of those Russian creatures will be waiting for me in the Summer. It's pretty much thanks to them I went from digital to analoge photography, not just dreamt about it, but actually took the step.
 
Most recently I bought a Minolta AF-C in spite of saying that I'd never do so because it was just another overrated point and shoot camera. I figured that I already had enough 'fast' p&s cameras and didn't need this one, but I found it on the bay for a ridiculously low price. I couldn't pass it up, so now I own it in spite of myself.

Andy
 
I recently bought an R3A after telling myself for a couple of years that I had no interest. But then I got a nice 40 lens, and my mind quickly changed.
 
I never thought about doing Large Format photography. I mean just a couple of short years ago, I thought pictures from a digital P&S is enough... ;)

Got a century old 5x7 camera last week :D
 
Just bought a cherry Olympus C-3030 digital after having said "no" to one for what... nine years now?
Then there's the Canon P that I got from Jiri while my 7 was being rebuilt by Eddy Smolov... wasn't going to do that either
 
Leicaflex SL. I decided at some point I wouldn't want an SLR system, and relatively expensive at that. Months later, a semi-accidental bid on eBay..
 
its got to be the M8. I spent the last 2yrs slagging it off, and after testing it for a month really hated it. Now guess what my G7 replacement is?

I'm hearing to no end from my mates all the stuff i hate about it. And to be honest, i still do hate it. Although my relationship with its iso2500 on b/w jpg is a whole new thing.
 
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