Anti G.A.S.

I think collecting is different from G.A.S.
If collecting it has no motivation for use, but to keep. With G.A.S. it is search for gear to get better. IMO.

I also think my motivation for film G.A.S. was curiosity to see how it works and to see the difference. LF -check, MF -check, SLR -check, Spy camera - check. Instant - check and so on.
It was interesting to try it before it is gone. And it will be gone, the only question how soon.
 
While I do still buy gear, it's less often now. I don't really have a desire for much these days as I have what I consider to be some good cameras that can produce the goods. Even my lens ranges are limited as I have no need for every focal length. Compacts used to be my mostly changed cameras, though the ones I have now I've owned for ages.

Currently have:
Olympus OM-5 MKII, 8mm, 12mm, 25mm, 45mm (for when I need the advantage of interchangeable lenses)
Olympus OM-1, 24mm, 50mm (recent purchase to try out film shooting after many years of digital)
Ricoh GR (great street camera)
Sigma DP2 Merrill (a little slow and quirky but fantastic image quality)
Fuji X100 ( bought the week it launched so paid full whack for it. Still love the imagesetters from it)
Fuji XQ-1 (bought re-curb for Fuji. Tiny compact with wide, fast lens. My general carry around camera. Like the Dynamic colour mode)

Gear I need to part with:
Olympus OM-D EM-5 Elite version plus grip
Panasonic LUMIX 20mm 1.7
Tamron Adaptall 90mm 2.5 Macro
Canon G1x

As you can see I don't have anywhere near as much gear as some of you guys but temptation is always there. Missed my Epson RD1 so have ordered another which should be here this week and just bought a CV 28/2 Ultron for it.
These days I'd much rather be out shooting. Currently saving my pennies for a trip to Canada next year. Wonder if I'll still have the same gear for that trip.

Paul
 
GAS comes and goes, occasionally it just takes over and resistance is futile ...... similar to a teenager with sex on the mind ...... other times it is more of a curiosity and can be dismissed. Having had a bad case late winter, early spring last year it has been relatively calm for a while.

..... until the next attack......

Life is Grand!
 
Aquiring and selling are just things one does. Neither mean anything other than that is what one wants to do at the moment. I have done both and no doubt will again. I attach no special meaning to either.

What I have found more disturbing over the years is reading the travails of those who go through periods of unabashed aquisition and then dismayed selloffs, not because they do it (which is entirely their own business), but because they proclaim some moral superiority by so doing, and attempt to browbeat others into joining them in their mewling self-flagellation.

Buy or sell. Own a lot or a little. Do what pleases you. Go through cycles, it's all fine. Just don't start getting all philosophical or try to develop moral rules from it. I see this with everything, by the way. Cars, motorcycles, guns, watches, cameras, audio gear, etc. People suddenly decide that they own too much, make a big production out of 'simplifying', tout it as a virtue, and then try to force it down everyone else's throats. "Oh, how many X does one person need?" As if 'need' had anything to do with anything.

I say do as thou shalt and enjoy, just don't confuse personal decisions with moral superiority.

🙂

PS, not accusing the OP of this. Just noting history.
 
I've been saying for years that I'm not a collector. But things accumulate. Currently I have more cameras then I could possibly need and I'm in the process of thinning out the herd. But which ones to let go? There are few that I rarely use but which hold sentimental value. Then there are others that get usage quite often and some which are used in very special cases. The ones that don't see use nor have sentimental value are worth so little it makes little sense to sell them (like Agfa Click & Clack).

I'm dreaming of photographing my cameras and then having a wall filled with those photos. After that I could sell all that see usage far to little. Everything else then my valued ones, those that I want to see in the hands of my children.

There's no GAS anymore, some needs from time to time. "Need" is a strong word. What I mean is that from time to time I get ideas for photos for which I lack something. Perhaps a correctly coloured reflector / light. Or a speciality lens. Perhaps a nice backdrop. Or that massive monorail I've been dreaming about at night. But those are not GAS attacks, I have no wish to own everything. Nor even all that I already do. I could easily just rent, if only there would be rentals available even relatively locally. Now I simply have to purchase and re-sell. Or keep in the ever overflowing attic..

One "need" has been with me for a long time though. That 40mm biotar for contax mount.. Yes I have that focal length covered on other cameras. But I would love to shoot with it on Kiev 4a or a Contax body... If someone has one that is simply lying in the glass cabinet with out usage, I would love to either purchase it for sane price (or in instalments), or even better, make a trade and give some large print in exchange.
 
I think that GAS starts subsiding, when you really find your niche in photography. Then you settle on what equipment does best the job you have chosen to do. I just happen not to have been able to eliminate (so far) many genres that require different tools. Ideally, I could settle down on two cameras: the main one and the back up. As to lenses, as long as you shoot them on a tripod at F8 and infinity, there's not much difference to talk about, but as the distance changes, and so does the F stop, sharpness, aperture blades, contrast, flare resistance, distortion, bokeh, IS, etc, the world of lenses suddenly becomes a very complicated place.
 
I have a pile of stuff that I am photographing so as to sell. I've pretty much out-GASsed. The only things I want are

  • Fujinon 240/9 A for 4x5
  • Fuji 18/2 for X-Pro1/X-mount
  • X-100T or successor

But that's not GAS, they fulfill a real, thoughtful purpose. In the cases of the 240/9 I'm reasonably certain it will be useful, but I don't think I will know until I actually try one. If it doesn't really help, I'd sell it on promptly.
 
I'm glad somehow I got my G.A.S under control. A few weeks ago I was lusting over a Leica MP film camera on a different forum. I currently shoot with a perfectly fine M6, and I have no need for the MP. The only reason I like the MP over the M6 is because of the brassing look it gives over time and use. I'm so relieved that somebody purchased it, and it's no longer there. This year I'm going to sell some of my gear, I don't use, specially my Olympus OM cameras that are just sitting there. I'm going to try my best and think "less is more".:angel:
 
Ko.Fe. said:
I wonder if here is anyone who have tried many cameras, lenses and sold most of them to keep only few for actual use?

I'm having G.A.S. attacks every year for film gear, it is started about five years ago. Trying, do some CLA, selling often for less and giving away. And more I buy, sooner I want to let it go and use same cameras I have before G.A.S. outbreak.
Currently, I'm on anti G.A.S. stage. Selling all LF, Minox and TLR cameras, gear. It didn't made my photography better at all.

I have no G.A.S. for digital. Just using what I have for years now. Checking new things, asking about it, but not buying, even selling to have less.
Click to expand...

I have gone through a metric $h1t-ton of cameras. Canon, Nikon, Leica, Contax, Pentax, Leica-R in 35mm, and Fuji Mamiya, Hassy, Rollei, Pentax and Bronica (645, 6x6, and 6x7) in MF. And, usually, multiple times with each. If i still had the same kind of money i had when i was doing that, i would probably still be doing that. Maybe a bit less often, but still.

What i think i've learned, though, is that i don't need to spend on the highest-priced, 'best' pieces, or with a lot of lenses to cover a bunch of different focal lengths.. I've done that, and still found that the pictures i've taken that i like the most were done with the simplest kit. That may have been an expensive Hassy 203FE with an 80mm Planar, but, also with a borrowed Canon Elan and a kit zoom. Or, i had a Leica M7 and 35 and 50 Lux-ASPHs and got NOTHING out of it, but found my ideal 'formula' with an old Nikon and a $40 'amateur' lens.

But, the GAS is still there. I've just eliminated some items from interest. Unfortunately, i keep tending to want stuff i've owned in the past, but sold for some reason or other. Luckily, with eBay, you can acquire used stuff, use it gently for a spell, and turn it around without any loss.

I still wish i could just eliminate gear. I still have multiple systems/brands for both 35mm and MF. I have three Nikon film cameras, a Canon, and a Pentax, for example. Wish i could just have one. But, they're all different, and i kinda get bored. But, i admit it would be better if, when i picked a camera up, i already had an intimate familiarity with it and how it 'sees.' Feels like i'm always adjusting to something.
 
mfogiel said:
GAS for cameras is nothing... It's when you start developing GAS for lenses that you get into trouble... I think I have more than 50 lenses in the 40-60mm bracket alone... 🙄
Click to expand...

Thats not "GAS", it´s called compulsive hoarding.
 
Thank you all for comments. I think, I figured it out.
It is same pattern.
I can't just save and wait for something I really want.
Wanted M film Leica but purchased LTM one instead and bunch of other cameras/lenses.
Sold them after I have enough in total value and purchased M4-2.
Went through dozen of old lenses, before I could get Elmar M 50.
Now I'm on the sale stage to get expensive (to me) 35mm M mount lens.
And I remember how I went through bunch of less expensive lenses before I settled with what I have now for digital.
Buy more to have less 🙂
 
mfogiel said:
GAS for cameras is nothing... It's when you start developing GAS for lenses that you get into trouble... I think I have more than 50 lenses in the 40-60mm bracket alone... 🙄
Click to expand...

Holy schnikes. That's insane. INSANE. No offense : 0

I thought i was bad for having five 35mm SLR bodies, split between three different brands, but i only have a total of five lenses for them. Total. And i get overwhelmed by that amount of choice. How do you decide what to take out/use? Is it just like picking a BINGO chip? You must have favorites. And, if so, how do you justify using something that's not a favorite?
 
It's easy to get carried away with GAS but I am in a selling phase now -- in Fall 2015 I started to feel overwhelmed with all the camera gear I had sitting around. I honestly believe it's better to sell the stuff I'm not using and at least the lenses / cameras will find use and appreciation with a new owner.

New Year's Resolution for 2016: no more GAS! So far (4th of January) I'm 100% successful. Only 361 days to go!
 
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