GAS is bad for photography, just saying

kshapero

kshapero

South Florida Man
Local time
10:22 AM
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Messages
10,052
For me the key to getting the "shot" is knowing your camera and lens so it becomes "part of you". GAS constantly screws that up.:bang:Just saying.....:)
 
I agree!! When I get those gas pains I quickly grab my Bessa R with cv 35/2.5 & 50/1.5 in the bag & the pains are quickly subsided. I'm really begining to come into one with the Bessa. At first I wasn't sure I liked it very much.
 
I am capable of knowing and effectively using more than just one camera. I choose which camera to use based on the task at hand, as different cameras have different strengths and weaknesses. I also choose to use different cameras based on whim and what I feel like using on a particular day. Sometimes that's RF, sometimes SLR, sometimes AF, sometimes medium format, etc. This works well for me. Others are free to find out and choose what works best for them.

So I have to disagree with your general statement that GAS is bad for photography.

I could even go further and say that my GAS has helped my photography by keeping it fresh. Changing to a camera I have not used in a while is like a rejuvenating holiday or a tonic. Variety is the spice of life, after all!
 
Last edited:
I kind of disagree with this, what I consider to be my best/favourite photo was with my 2nd roll of film I ever put through my Hasselblad.

It's of course a matter of opinion if I could have done better having known the camera better, but really it's a light tight box with a lens on the front.

I guess the more time we spend on eBay, the less time we have to take photos, but we'd probably all find some other reason why we're not out taking pictures.
 
FrankS said:
I am capable of knowing and effectively using more than just one camera. I choose which camera to use based on the task at hand, as different cameras have different strengths and weaknesses. I also choose to use different cameras based on whim and what I feel like using on a particular day. Sometimes that's RF, sometimes SLR, sometimes AF, sometimes medium format, etc. This works well for me. Others are free to find out and choose what works best for them.

So I have to disagree with your general statement that GAS is bad for photography.

I could even go further and say that my GAS has helped my photography by keeping it fresh. Changing to a camera I have not used in a while is like a rejuvenating holiday or a tonic. Variety is the spice of life, after all!
Click to expand...

I agree with your analogy Frank. For landscapes I like my slr & lenses. (don't have a MF except holga) The assumption I got from Akiva's post was buying gear because of seeing a thread of one's photo's in a certain forum or review.
 
If GAS means such a turnover rate in your gear that you never acquire familiarity with it, then it is definitely an obstacle.

In most cases, GAS and photography occur in two separate temporalities. I almost never experience GAS while I'm shooting, not because I always have the coolest bestest most appropriate gear on hand, but because I get so involved in shooting with what I have, enjoying the darned compromises and limitations (paramount of which would be my own limited abilities).

GAS occurs when I'm not shooting, but rather developing photographs and reviewing my output.

I doubt an M9 would present much of an obstacle to my photography if/when one falls into my hands.
 
For sure, if all one is doing is buying gear, chasing a magic bullet, and not doing photography, then of course GAS is bad. But the time spent on gear acquisition is not necessarily time spent away from photography. The results, fruit if you will, of GAS is a variety of cameras and lenses to choose. Some may, but I do not suffer from the "paralysis of choice". YMMV
 
I don't think it is bad. I like to use different gear, and it gives a different twist to what I'm shooting.

But I do say that sometimes getting distracted by "new gear" can get in the way of "improving technique".

Vick
- chronically afflicted by GAS....
 
I totally agree with FrankS. It doesnt take long for a camera to "become part of me", I guess. Using new gear is refreshing and I end up making "different" pictures.
 
Currently I am having difficulty controlling two camera and three lenses to my satisfaction. I DO want one more lens (sometimes I wish I had a long lens), but once acquired I hope that will be the end of my GAS.

Maybe those of you with many years experience are in a different category.

Randy
 
I agree, and I am currently selling most of my cameras, just keeping my leica and hassy.....
I came to this conclusion, the day while shooting with my hassy, I couldn't remember how to correctly change film in the camera :bang:
 
zauhar said:
Currently I am having difficulty controlling two camera and three lenses to my satisfaction. I DO want one more lens (sometimes I wish I had a long lens), but once acquired I hope that will be the end of my GAS.
...
Click to expand...

Oh, you believer! After GAS is before GAS :D
But I feel very similar: I aquired a new lens and I'm still learning. Yet still I see the lack of one more focal lenght I definitly need... :angel:
 
Absolutely right. It doesn't take long to "become one" w/ your gear either. Getting so familiar w/ it, that using it becomes second nature. It didn't take long for me to determine which of my cameras were the keepers and which were the ones to be sold, BUT it took a lot of testing and a lot of buying and selling to get to that point. Thankfully that's behind me now. I now have a price point that I am willing to have invested in the photography game. That's eliminated the accumulation of gear. I still buy a different camera now and then just to see how it fits my shooting style (what I currently have is great for my needs. Don't need anything "better"). The difference now is that if I decide to keep the new camera, one of the old ones has to go.
 
I'm with Frank ... the one camera one lens thing means little to me. They all have shutter speed and aperture control (mostly) and although a couple of my cameras focus in opposite directions I generally feel comfortable and familiar with all of them.
 
Agree and disagree

Agree and disagree

Swapping out cameras gives me an emotional boost. Going from rangefinder to SLR to MF and to LF each carries it's own thrill and challenges. Kind of forces me to see things differently because I am wrestling with capabilities.
I love to use a zoom lens after using fixed lenses for a long period. But this is not GAS is it?

Where I might agree with you is in the idea of personal growth--> I notice that no matter what I use, the shots tend to look the same. Given that idea, it is safe to say that gas gets in the way because instead of concentrating on growth, I can tend to concentrate on equipment and that shift of attention, is time away from the reasons I shoot.

One last comment-> how do you know what you like if you don't try things out? I think you have to use something in order to see if it's for you.

So I agree and disagree. Cool topic
 
I like being familiar with my camera and it would stink to lose a once in a lifetime shot because I was stuck in an unfamiliar white-balance menu (but, that will only happen once and all the other pictures of my lifetime will still stink).

I don't think equipment matters very much in making a good picture.

.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom