A year without camera purchases

[David Hughes]

Hi,

I get mine mostly in charity shops and it would be very selfish and mean on my part if I stopped contributing to all those various charities. I just wouldn't be able to live with my conscience...

Regards, David

PS This excuse is copyright D R Hughes 1996 but may be used on payment of a fee. ;-)

 

[sig]

Master of your domain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Contest

 

[cosmonaut]

How would you go a year without camera or lens purchases, regardless of intensity of GAS?

Selling is acceptable.

But no purchases.

Buying and processing film is okay, so is buying and using consumables for printing digitally.

I would just about stay clean off of the Internet to do that. Otherwise it would be very difficult.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I'm not quite there yet, but working on it. I haven't bought any new cameras since I think it was January or February of this year. March/April-ish was a Rolleinar 2, and that's been about it until yesterday (if you count yesterday - I bought some colored gels to use with a flash - the whole kit only cost $30). I've greatly simplified my life by shooting almost exclusively with my Rolleiflexes, and I'm loving photography all the more for it. No choosing lenses, no zooming, no bells and whistles. I'm even contemplating selling off my Contax G/G2 kit (the large format stuff will stay - it's a serious investment and if I ever got the bug again it would cost me a mint and a half to get back into it).

The tough bug to put down has been collecting carte-de-visites.

 

[MISH]

Ok for the last thirty years or so I have gotten great pleasure buying cameras and the things that go with them. I am a bit of a bottom feeder and usually would not buy something unless I felt I was getting a pretty good deal. Essentially this amounted to investing small amounts of money over a long period of time. About a year ago I took a long hard look at what I had and what I wished I had and decided that instead of hanging on to so much that was not getting used, sell it and get some really good stuff that would get a lot of use. I tried to look at as here is something that I would like to have, if I could go to some one and trade a few things that I was not using or was replacing as a upgrade I would do it with no hesitation. So now all I had to do was go through the huge pita to actually sell these items and trade the cash for the new item. Part of the joy that GAS brought me was the thrill of the hunt and I found that selling can also be quite thrilling and with my preset goals was quite a adventure. In 2012 I bought a CL, a M4 and four Leica lenses (all used and at great deals) and with everything I sold* my out of pocket cost was only $200. Not only couldn't be happier but don't foresee any big changes or new camera purchases for the next several years. I still have more equipment than I probably need and I would hate to think I had bought my last Leica but for now I am quite happy to be spending my money on film, paper and chemistry.

Thanks to all that bought from me here and elsewhere!

* if you sell enough things at $50 after awhile it adds up

 

[shadowfox]

Nope, don't see the point.
My GAS nowadays are $40 rangefinders from the 60's.
And I scored a few items that I will sell for more than that already.

Paper, darkroom chemicals, and film are my photography vices.

 

[Godfrey]

With today's acquisition (couldn't resist another minty Leicaflex SL in black with Summilux 50/1.4 and Summicron 90/2 — dealer gave me a price discounted off the stickers on the lenses and body that essentially meant I paid his price for the lenses and the body was free!), I'm switching over to "sell the little used and neglected" mode.

A year of buying abstinence and using what I have seems a good thing now... And the sales will put the money back into the bank.

Lets see how it goes. 🙂

G

 

[CK Dexter Haven]

But why would you *have* to buy that? What bad thing would happen if you just said "nope, not gonna buy it" ?

Because the economics of photography for the various professional projects in which i am/will be involved sorta dictate use of a digital camera. I like Canon lenses as far as SLRs go, and so that's the logical purchase.

I'm still more comfortable with an SLR than a rangefinder-ish camera, so i'd prefer a 5D to something like a Fuji XPro, and i definitely don't like the NEX 'device' feel. That might change when they come out with a full frame model, but for now, a 5D3 makes sense. I may also 'need' to write/direct/produce a film short, as well, so.....

 

[CK Dexter Haven]

I can understand the hand wringing about gear (GAS) excessiveness if your kids don't have shoes to wear, you're living on beans and rice and your priority in life is your next piece of photographic gear while your financial situation crumbles around you.

Otherwise ... where's the problem?

You can still be a serious photographer and have a sh!tload of camera gear that gives you as much pleasure as the philatelist (who probably never posts a letter) gets from his/her stamp collection.

'Enjoy' the fact that you are financially able to be this way for chrissakes! 😀

Because, for me, waste is waste, regardless of the ability to afford it.

When i think of how many cameras and camera systems i've owned in the past 15 years, and how much money i spent on them in pursuit of 'something,' i'm embarrassed. Enjoyment? A bit. But, typically, it was all in pursuit of something that was never completely satisfied. I always thought that 'next thing' would be it. And, i was never an accumulator.

 

[Andrea Taurisano]

I am trying to quit too and am almost there. I got rid of almost all I had and now I'm "down" to my faithful M6 and GR1. But before I quit completely I need a last one, a very last one, please.. just a little, Ricoh GR and I quit, I promise.:bang:

 

[hamradio]

I'm pretty sure I've gone over a year without buying any new cameras or gear, now.

 

[John E Earley]

Because, for me, waste is waste, regardless of the ability to afford it.

I hate to see all those cameras and lenses go to waste so I've been buying them and putting them to good use 😀

 

[nikon_sam]

Okay......starting NOW.............

 

[mike rosenlof]

Here's my suggestion. I'm not going to say it will work for you. I'm not going to say it will work for even ME. I haven't bought anything new since Monday. 🙂

But I'm truly going to try this.

When I see and start lusting after some new photographic toy. I'm going to stop what I'm doing. Pick up some photographic toy that's nearby, and there are plenty, and go shoot some photos.

Like I said, it might not work, but I'm going to try and redirect that desire for an object, beautiful, well made, funcational, really not that expensive object (...) yes, and redirect that desire into some creative energy and make more photos.

Somebody ressurect this thread in a year...

 

[btgc]

Because, for me, waste is waste, regardless of the ability to afford it.

It takes time to come to this conclusion. Before that I felt urge to "save great gear from obsolescence and hey, it costs a tiny fraction from what it used to cost". Then I realized this isn't productive route - instead of taking more pictures I spent time scouring ebay and servicing gear. This is like drinking wine with alocoholic in hope to turn him away from drinking spirits. This is a dead end. I can't save all that gear and actually - I don't need to do this, and don't have to. I can't piss against wind and remain dry. I can't rescue someone sinking picking water by spoon.

I had to commit I've failed. This is no end of life - even more strong people fail. And what? They stand up and move on. If I lay down and agonize I gain nothing.

So I realized when fine camera, lens or kit goes for "almost nothing" I calculated total costs of purchase if winner would be me and compared what I could do with this money - travel certain distance or stay for a day there, and how that would reflect in photography or otherwise in personal growth.

Counting I realized how expensive becomes "I for sure can afford this" hobby and how many actual pictures are left behind me!

I hate to see all those cameras and lenses go to waste so I've been buying them and putting them to good use 😀

Nice you have time and energy to maintain all the process. Don't know exactly what you mean by good use but I certainly can't wear down all my gear and this kind of bothers me.

 

[Godfrey]

Because, for me, waste is waste, regardless of the ability to afford it.
...

I agree with you there. It's better to have a little and use it a lot than to have a lot and use it a little, at least from my sense of aesthetics.

I've been in a big experimentation mode the past couple of years, bought a lot of gear along the way. Much of it I'll rarely or never use but the once or twice, and I know what I want to work with now, so my goal is to bundle up what of it I'm not going to use and sell it off, keep the core bits that I know will get used.

It's wasteful and distracting for me to be constantly buying gear IMO. There just comes a point where it gets in my way. I'm there now, so only what I want to work with stays. I'm confident that the quality of the gear I have acquired already is up to the tasks I'm going to put it to.

G

 

[39per1]

How would you go a year without camera or lens purchases, regardless of intensity of GAS?

Selling is acceptable.

But no purchases.

Buying and processing film is okay, so is buying and using consumables for printing digitally.

Done, 14 months....and was so sad!😀

 

[Doug]

I figured I was "in", but had to check my records... last camera body was Feb '11 so I'm fine there coming up on 2.5 years. But 10 months ago I bought a lens, so I may not "qualify" on that account. But the lens before that was Jan '11 which must count for something... 🙂

I just sorta ran out of GAS, and I'm delighted to hear that selling can be as thrilling as buying; I'll have to try that.

 

[sreed2006]

How would you go a year without camera or lens purchases, regardless of intensity of GAS?

Selling is acceptable.

But no purchases.

Buying and processing film is okay, so is buying and using consumables for printing digitally.

There was a financial advice columnist that answered subscriber's questions in the local newspaper. One answer has stood out for me. A subscriber stated that he had some "extra money," and wondered what to do with it. The columnist replied, "There is no such thing as 'extra money.'"

To get away from the grip of GAS, and the buying of more gear than you can use, realize that the money really should be going somewhere else more important. What area of your life should have a higher priority? Once that higher priority becomes real, there won't be any money for new cameras and lenses. It is not fun. But it works.

Another method, for just one year since that is your goal, is to write up a schedule for the use of your existing gear. Say you have 12 cameras (and it appears that you do) and you use each one for only a month, you see two things: 1) Using a camera for only a month is not really very long, and 2) It is a long time until you get to use that camera again. Then, when tempted to purchase another camera or lens, you will ask yourself, "But when will I ever have a chance to use it?"

I've used both these techniques this year, after about 5 years of acquiring more gear than I can possibly use. I've still filled out the missing pieces, so haven't been totally free from spending more on gear, but I have slowed way down.

 

[Photog9000]

GAS is a syndrome I don't have...

GAS is a syndrome I don't have...

How would you go a year without camera or lens purchases, regardless of intensity of GAS?

Selling is acceptable.

But no purchases.

Buying and processing film is okay, so is buying and using consumables for printing digitally.

In 2003 I bought a new Nikon D2H and a D100 to replace a D1 and D1H. Did not buy any new lenses as everything converted over. When I dropped my Tokina 28-70mm f2.8 in 2005, I bought a Tokina 12-24mm to replace it and a Nikkor 18-200mm. When I was laid off from the newspaper in 2008, I bought a used D2H to have a second body. In 2011, I bought a 35mm f1.8 DX and a 85mm f1.8 AF-D as I looked to drop some weight from the heavy zooms. Now, in 2013, I sold it all and bought a Fuji X100S as I enter retirement. But I still had the original D2H I bought in 2003. What a great workhorse that camera was! I did everything from my newspaper work, to web work, to even having images from that little 4.1MP camera thrown up on billboards. It is gone now (hopefully to a good home in Florida) but not forgotten. As I rebuild my website, I am going through those images and reliving the memories!!!