How Addicted to Buying Gear Are You?

[gb hill]

One day I'll pick up a MF camera, but most of my funds are geared toward film, developing, & darkroom supplies. As far as 35mm I have enough, but if I see a good deal I'll jump at it. I think my next purchase will be some contrast filters for my enlarger.

 

[kid_a]

Very.
Just to give an idea.. A little over a month ago, I had never even SEEN a rangefinder camera. Since then, I've got:

Nikon S2
Nikkor 5cm 1,4
Voigtlander R2A
Voigtlander 50/1,5
Voigtlander 25/4
BetterScanning.com ANR 35mm glass inserts
Bare Bones Bag
2x custom leather straps

After every purchase I find myself going "Alright, I'll be good for a bit.. no more spending money on gear for a while..."

not.

 

[italy74]

Chris

Bodies:
Actually I have two, and I'm waiting to afford the Zeiss Ikon. Once got it, I don't think I'll need else for very long time

Lenses: after having passed through the "the more I get, the happier I am" valley, I'm actually waiting for the end of this year to resize/reduce what I have. I knew a few new primes are coming and I like to play with all the cards over the table. At that time, I'll revise all what I have (= sell everything necessary): points of view change by the time and lenses too, consequently.
With the Zeiss Ikon, if I could ever afford it, I'd go for the Biogon T* 35 F/2 (at first) and then (eventually) the C Biogon 21 F/4.5. By the time I have learned to appreciate smaller and compact lenses.

Probably more than a number thing, my addition is turned to "brand" thing, but this is another question.

 

[reagan]

I'll just be glad when we get all these ol' heavy rangefinders bought up and out of the way. Then we can start collecting all the cool old 2MP plastic digis. 😎 Wellp, gotta go. Time for my group. 😱

 

[novum]

I don't have the old "gotta try just one more camera" urge any more. For me, it's all about trying new film/developer combinations and figuring out ways to better store and display prints (walls and expensive print file drawers).

 

[Benjamin Marks]

The poll is missing the following category: "Cameras I own likely to outlast me, given the probable service life of the shutters."

Seriously, though: I have often said that I have more cameras than sense. I'm with Bill, though. I don't really see it as a problem. These days, film-based gear is so cheap that it hardly makes sense to sell what I own and there are sooo many good deals out there for cameras that I have always wanted to try. Somewhere in my future is a Mamiya RB67, a Plaubel Makina Wide, a 617 camera . . . you get the idea. Need 'em? Nope. Will I enjoy them? You betcha.

Ben Marks

P.S. I believe it was Robert Heinlein who said: "Yield to temptation, you never know when it will pass this way again." Hey- Isn't that an RFFer's sig line?

 

[kshapero]

Things have gotten better since I got Bicycling GAS.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I'm addicted to gear at the moment because I am trying to find the gear that I feel most comfortable with.

Yes. That's why I buy VERY little any more. Either I've already got it, or I know damn' fine it'll make little or no difference to my pictures.

But there are exceptions: about one piece every 12-18 months. In 2004 or 2005, an MP: the ultimate functional film M. In 2006 or 2007, the 75/2 Summicron. In 2007 or 2008, a Thambar. Maybe this year a 24 Summilux. And of course an M8 or M8.2 if you want digi.

Tashi delek,

R.

 

[former member]

I'm bored of buying stuff that I do NOT have to take apart, repair, or modify.

 

[colker]

i need more camera gear than i have... i borrow, rent and yet i refrain from buying. i rather have less stuff.
things brake, get fungus, lost, it takes space.
i would love to shoot w/ one camera and one lens only.

 

[colker]

I purchased eleven 50mm lenses before realizing that the 50 Summilux ASPH was the only 50mm I'll ever need. I've since purchased two more 50's just to confirm my findings. 🙂

hey... i need a 50mm. i have a Leica w/ NO lens.😱

 

[colker]

Things have gotten better since I got Bicycling GAS.

aaaahh... been addicted to those things for almost 20yrs. steel and titanium frames, vintage mtbs. 4 bikes.:bang:

 

[DougFord]

My equipment purchases deal mostly with practicality.
I prefer a small light weight RF, so it’s a CLE or CL, after which there are no further reasons to buy another rf.
I’ve gone through a period where, if I took a couple of decent pictures with a specific camera, I’d convince myself that I needed the same exact model of camera as a back-up, just in case. No longer do I have more than one camera of the same model.
At some point I’ll probably buy into the whole digital camera thing, but not just yet. So no new cameras for me, at least for awhile.
Currently own; CLE, CL, T3, GRV1

 

[Eric T]

Around the house, my official camera count is 6.
Unofficially, the count is 17. And I am looking at a Panasonic DMC-L1K with Leica lens that is for sale locally at a good price. I am working hard to resist the temptation.

 

[bucks11]

I'm really trying to acquire what I ultimately want and weed out everything else I already have....With the economy spiraling downward I'm trying to resist... 🙂

 

[kshapero]

Very.
Just to give an idea.. A little over a month ago, I had never even SEEN a rangefinder camera. Since then, I've got:

Nikon S2
Nikkor 5cm 1,4
Voigtlander R2A
Voigtlander 50/1,5
Voigtlander 25/4
BetterScanning.com ANR 35mm glass inserts
Bare Bones Bag
2x custom leather straps

After every purchase I find myself going "Alright, I'll be good for a bit.. no more spending money on gear for a while..."

not.

Nice, you have the sickness.

 

[amateriat]

For me, most of the good stuff isn't made any more (and I don't mean ancient gear; my Hexars were bought new in early 2002; the Contax Tvs I'm buying from someone here isn't much older).

And, something I watched last night made me appreciate "old stuff" all the more, not that I didn't appreciate it a lot beforehand.


- Barrett

 

[StanSmith]

I purchased eleven 50mm lenses before realizing that the 50 Summilux ASPH was the only 50mm I'll ever need. I've since purchased two more 50's just to confirm my findings. 🙂

I use the same excuse. Lets buy a whole bunch of 50mm lenses, use them all, keep the best one and sell the rest. The selling part never happens because there is no such thing as best, only different characteristics. Now repeat for all the other focal lengths and various formats. 😱

 

[AzzA]

It's getting a little out of hand for me.
Been into film cameras for a little over a year now and would have over 40 them. All have been used except for about 4 or 5. The only way I can justify the expense is that everything i've bought has been a really good price.
I'll go through stages where i'll get rid of about 10, but the week after will find a deal "too good" to pass up and end up buying more cameras. It's getting a little stupid now I think, and I seem to buy more cameras when I dont have enough time to shoot the ones I already have. In other words, if i'm not using a camera i'm buying one.
One of the biggest problems was getting addicted to Olympus gear. I cant get enough of their compact rangefinders and p&s's, not to mention their OM SLR's of which i have way too many.
I use about 6 cameras regularly and hope to cut down to 20 in total this year.
The only thing thats stopped me from getting seriously into medium format (I only have 4 medium format cameras) is that my scanner cant scan 120 film.
It is bit of an addiction =/

 

[scorpius73]

I bought an M6 last fall. I told myself it was my LAST film camera ever! I bought a Zeiss Ikon ZI from someone on the forum last week. I should have it on Tuesday or so. The addiction continues. But, I'm a lightweight with only 14 cameras.