Getting on & Gear

[daveleo]

I am similarly positioned in life - I'm 68 and use 3 cameras similar to yours in functionality ( D5100, X100 and LX3).
I have amassed, a bunch of other (idle) cameras simply because they are wonderful machines.
I don't attempt to justify buying or selling off some camera gear. When I'm dead,
my wife will have a yard sale and spend the money on a vacation.
If she sells off her closets of shoes and handbags as well, she could take a tour of the world for a year !

 

[giellaleafapmu]

I don't understand the "don't need any more gear" thing. First of all "need" is a very strong word, only specific works "require" something, like a case for underwater photography or such, otherwise most gear can be substituted by different one, however part of the process of creating images is experimenting and that involves also using different gear. I know I sometimes buy gear just for the pleasure of owning it, especially when we talk lenses, especially when we get into 35mm and 50mm lenses which I own in dozens, but I also know that I will never get to say that I have reached a point in which I don't want to experiment a new lighting setting. Ok, that's also kind of fashion, the snoot in the hair in the 70s, the beauty dish now and so on, but is also an essential part of making a picture. The same goes for developing and printing, "what if we change dilution and...". That's all part of the fun of taking photographs, if it doesn't break the bank it's fine... Why the self punishment. Perhaps, the only real alarm should ring if one is spending more time cleaning the gear than taking photographs but it doesn't seem so for most of us.

GLF

 

[Godfrey]

I don't understand the "don't need any more gear" thing. First of all "need" is a very strong word, only specific works "require" something, like a case for underwater photography or such, otherwise most gear can be substituted by different one, however part of the process of creating images is experimenting and that involves also using different gear. I know I sometimes buy gear just for the pleasure of owning it, especially when we talk lenses, especially when we get into 35mm and 50mm lenses which I own in dozens, but I also know that I will never get to say that I have reached a point in which I don't want to experiment a new lighting setting. Ok, that's also kind of fashion, the snoot in the hair in the 70s, the beauty dish now and so on, but is also an essential part of making a picture. The same goes for developing and printing, "what if we change dilution and...". That's all part of the fun of taking photographs, if it doesn't break the bank it's fine... Why the self punishment. Perhaps, the only real alarm should ring if one is spending more time cleaning the gear than taking photographs but it doesn't seem so for most of us.

GLF

No self punishment at all. My statement, "I don't need any more gear," means simply, "I have all the gear I need to do all the photography I have in mind."

I actually have more than enough to do that, for reasons that I stated: Every camera and lens sees differently, I enjoy experimenting with all the different ways that cameras see.

For me, the fun of making photographs has little to do with acquiring more and more and more equipment, ad nauseum. It has to do with using the equipment I've chosen creatively to produce the photographs I have in mind. There comes a point where too much equipment gets in my way. Too many choices means too much time spent making decisions that aren't making photographs.

I've reached that point now, today. It's time to start pruning what's in the closet again. Let the sales commence! 🙂

G

 

[Vics]

I'm 68 and I have 8 cameras and many lenses and accessories. I'm sorry. What was your question?

 

[giellaleafapmu]

No self punishment at all. My statement, "I don't need any more gear," means simply, "I have all the gear I need to do all the photography I have in mind."

G

I didn't mean to argue with people saying what you say like in "This is wrong", but don't you think that in the future you might have something different in mind and you might need new gear? I remember that sometimes in the 90s, or maybe even in the 80s, I come to see the work of Steve Allen (a commercial photographer from Northern England) in which he used optical fiber to light paint, at the time I didn't like it because it looked really too time consuming and difficult to get coherent results at with film but now with digital I come to like and use this technique quite a bit. Also, now I could experiment with very cheap equipment producing nice light for light painting which was simply not available in the 90s. For myself closing all possibilities and deciding that I have all I need to produce what I want would be a kind of self punishment. I might have everything I need to produce all the pictures I tought till today but I might learn something new tomorrow which requires new gear and in that case I wouldn't hesitate to buy what I need.

GLF

 

[Brian Legge]

If push come to shove, I could make due with my Rolleiflex and a M4. The Rollei for large enlargements, the M4 for wide/long/fast glass. Or so I thought.

I thought I was done with bodies when after shooting my M4 for a while. Unfortunately I need some rather complex glasses or I tend to become fatigued due to eye issues which are not easily corrected by a dioptre. As a result I can only see the 50mm framelines easily and I'm more of a 35mm shooter. Depressing as I love this camera and the results I get from it.

Now I'm stuck thinking about something with a .58 finder. A shame as I really thought I was done on at least bodies.

 

[shadowfox]

Yoni,
My problem is getting new "old" stuff 🙂

With a few exceptions, most new digital cameras bore me.

But there are seemingly endless of cool vintage cameras that are so nice, with their individual quirks and characters.

 

[semi-ambivalent]

If the Dalai Lama were a photographer, would he want a camera? Or be satisfied without one?

I have seen more than one photograph of the Dalai Lama wearing a Rolex. But that was a while ago. Everything is a statement, he has to be careful, yes?

s-a

 

[yoniDar]

Saying it better

Saying it better

I think Godfrey said it better than I did.
And it is crystal clear.

"I don't need any more gear," means simply, "I have all the gear I need to do all the photography I have in mind."

When I get something else, or something new into my head I'll
consider other options. That could involve "getting stuff".
At least until this moment, nothing I have and use has held me back from trying out new ideas, and in my best judgement adding new gear would not ease my efforts or better my results.

I experiment with different lighting and PP techniques all the time with series or thematic picture making. I actually do more research with regard to software than I do with hardware.
This is likely a result of my former life as software engineer.
Oh well, nobody's perfect.

Yoni