i need help...i think i really do!

[back alley]

i have 3 seperate and complete (+ complimentary) camera outfits.

granted my leica m3 with the 50 & 90 collapsibles are kinda on hiatus till i send them off/get them back for/from a cla on each.

i just bought a new lens for the new zi and the canon p has the complete set - 35/50/100.

so why the hell am i looking through ebay at lenses and cameras?
how come when i saw the ad here for a canon p i started counting my money?

i don't much care for 50's but i have 2 and am saving for a third.

i check the classifieds at p.net everyday too.

i need help...i think i really do!!

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Joe: you don't need "help". You need money.

Oh, the 50s will grow on you; you'll see...

:: muuuuaaaaahahahahaha ::

 

[rover]

I have been really good with the buying thing lately. I mean, I know what isn't in my wallet right now so I haven't been looking. But if I do see a bargain that doesn't mean I don't get itchy.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Joe, I'm thinning out my kit, so I'm going through exactly the opposite of what you want to do. When I'm finished, I'll have the Canon P and lenses (Jupiters 3, 9, and 12), two folders, the large format camera, and various toy cameras that I'm only using for fun. After making some changes in my kit (selling the Canon 50, giving someone ELSE the chance to use the Fed), I think I can finally say I'm happy with what I have.

I think I went on a streak and forgot what really matters: the photography. I've been taking CRAPPY shots for no reason. Lots of shots have presented themselves to me...I didn't take the oportunity to go out and get them because I was too busy worrying about the next piece of my kit that I need. I'll say this: do what it takes to get your kit to where you want it. If you do, you'll find yourself buying something new only when it's too good of a deal to pass up.

 

[ch1]

damn joe,

I thought you were getting sick or something again! :bang:

You just have GAS! 😀

 

[VictorM.]

Do you think this is the right place to ask for that kind of help? Everytime I check in here, there's something interesting for sale. So then I go to ebay to see what similar stuff sells for. Then KEH. Then Ritz. Then back to ebay to look for other stuff I don't have money for. But the prices might be down so maybe I'm not that far away... The only solution may be to move somewhere without internet access.

 

[Gid]

Joe,

At least you've got three complimentary systems. I'm all over the place with film and digital RFs and film and digital SLRs. That's 4 times as many reasons to buy - you know, if only I had that lens, or maybe that camera is better than the one I've got. Of course the recent foray back into film means I've had to buy a scanner and darkroom stuff - didn't want to, but I just had to 🙂

I've got a stack of stuff in my *bay watch list that taunts me every day. I've been checking out the Ikon ever since Dave's taunt post etc, etc. How do you like the Ikon BTW? (no do't tell me its a fantastic camera, please 😀 )

Reason's why? Well the weather is still crappy, so shooting is limited and I've more time available to lust after stuff. This place - so many guys getting bargains and new stuff that you've got to join in 🙁 . The hunt - we're natural hunters and hunting the bargain is a good substitute. GAS and the magic bullet. It gives us something to talk about here.

Maybe we should set up a camera exchange system where we loan a system to a fellow RFFer in exchange for a different system, for say a month. We get to play with something new without having to spend big bucks and maybe, just maybe we get out and and shoot some more as a result. So, who wants to loan me an M6 or Ikon in exchange for an RD-1, or a Mamiya 6/7 in exchange for a Bronica RF645? 🙂

There's no cure, BTW 😀

Gid

 

[ray_g]

I'll help you, Joe. Which 50 were you saving for? 😉

 

[back alley]

the zm of course

 

[ray_g]

Ah.. I forgot about the neurosis. That will cost you big when you get the craving for a ZI telephoto.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Look for a J-3. LTM so you'll have to mess with adapters, but it's a great lens.

 

[DougK]

I've got the same problem as Gid, too many cameras, film formats... an overwhelming number of choices every time I want to go take photos. It's good for getting rid of excess cash, but not improving my photography.

Sometimes I miss the days of being a kid running around with a cheap Kodak 110 camera and just shooting what I saw, not knowing anything about apertures or shutter speeds. It's probably time to purge the collection and go with a nice simple outfit again.

Nahh, that's just crazy talk. 😀

 

[back alley]

'It's probably time to purge the collection and go with a nice simple outfit again.'

that's what i thought i was doing when selling off all that canon gear a while back.
create 3 kits to make choosing easier.

but i'm still in the habit of looking at ebay and all the classifieds i can find.
it's like hunting/looking/buying/collecting has become a part of the photographic ritual for me.
i still like the taking pics part but it's harder in the winter around here so the collecting part has become just as important it would seem.

i need to shift gears...somehow.

 

[Rich Silfver]

Funny, I was talking to a friend of mine about something very similar just the other day - about why one gets obsessed about collecting, buying things one doesn't *really* need, etc.

He had been an avid collector of many things (comic books, rare novels, etc) and had come to the conclusion that he went through the heaviest collection phases when his personal life was lacking in many ways. If he was lonely, work was giving him a hard time or felt that he didn't have anyone to turn to - he turned to his collection and it suddenly became extremely important to him to gather more and more items for it. The whole completionist attitude came from him having to divert his attention from things that SHOULD matter - to things that were easier to cope with (buying, trading, fondling) and that were easier to 'complete'.

I found many of the things we discussed pertained to myself as well and it may be tough to admit that. I have gone through phases of my life when I have not been very happy with who I am - or with the people I do or don't have around me (that's what living in seven countries do to you after a while).

I'm not saying that the above is the reason for why we get 'GAS' - I'm just saying that if you sometimes feel that you are obessing too much about material acquisitions it may be worth a few minutes of self assessment to see if maybe there are things in the 'real world' that needs to be tended to. I know I will try to apply that.

 

[Kyle]

Joe, you're only getting the 50 and 90 CLA'd, not the M3, right?

 

[MinorTones]

I take photos as a job everyday with a "boring" Nikon D-1H. After I got my first RF-leica iiif w/ 50/2 summicron four years ago I keep looking for more things to photograph with as well.

In the past year I have bought a Bessa-R w/CV 35/2.5, canon 50/1.8, elmar 90/4 and FED-2

I think I'm kinda keeping it in check. 🙄

A large part of RFF for me is seeing all this new stuff to mess with.

And man I wish my paper would pay for an RD-1 for me to use instead of that huge SLR.

-Mitch

 

[back alley]

Joe, you're only getting the 50 and 90 CLA'd, not the M3, right?

yep!

the camera seems fine and ray had it done before also.

 

[back alley]

Funny, I was talking to a friend of mine about something very similar just the other day - about why one gets obsessed about collecting, buying things one doesn't *really* need, etc.

He had been an avid collector of many things (comic books, rare novels, etc) and had come to the conclusion that he went through the heaviest collection phases when his personal life was lacking in many ways. If he was lonely, work was giving him a hard time or felt that he didn't have anyone to turn to - he turned to his collection and it suddenly became extremely important to him to gather more and more items for it. The whole completionist attitude came from him having to divert his attention from things that SHOULD matter - to things that were easier to cope with (buying, trading, fondling) and that were easier to 'complete'.

I found many of the things we discussed pertained to myself as well and it may be tough to admit that. I have gone through phases of my life when I have not been very happy with who I am - or with the people I do or don't have around me (that's what living in seven countries do to you after a while).

I'm not saying that the above is the reason for why we get 'GAS' - I'm just saying that if you sometimes feel that you are obessing too much about material acquisitions it may be worth a few minutes of self assessment to see if maybe there are things in the 'real world' that needs to be tended to. I know I will try to apply that.

i think my 'thing' is tied to photography.
i would prefer to be out shooting more so now than ever before. but i'm also older and my body refuses to do some of the things it once did, like staying out in the cold for long periods.
years ago i would drive to a rural region and leave the car by the side of the road and hike in for hours, sometimes in snow up to my hips, just to find a tiny abandoned old church to shoot.
now i find it hard to walk a few blocks in the city when it gets too cold.
so i think, in order to stay/feel connected to photography, that i obsess about things photographic, like lenses and gadgets etc.

 

[sf]

I know why. At least I understand why. I have no money. I just sold off my Nikon D70 kit and a Manfrotto tripod, and I am still over $1000 in debt. And yet I spend at least an hour a day scanning through Ebay, feeding the GAS monsters. ANd I'm looking at the Zeiss Ikon . . . black one. . . and the 50mm and I want it. But I know I can't have it. And then I think, maybe I'll sell something! But then I've sold everything but the Bronica. And I'll never sell that because their are fewer of those than Ikons and Leicas and all those little creatures.

Help. There is no help here, my friend. They come seeking solace, to escape from their torturous cravings for gear, knowling full well somewhere deep down, like the man reaching to scratch the bug bite, that things are poised to escalate. Man is weak.

But with all the pain comes that endorphine rush. And who would rather make their way through the experience alone? No one. We are mutually amplifying and simultaneously calming members.

RF-dorphins are coursing through my veins.

mmmmm

 

[leafy]

Funny, I was talking to a friend of mine about something very similar just the other day - about why one gets obsessed about collecting, buying things one doesn't *really* need, etc.

He had been an avid collector of many things (comic books, rare novels, etc) and had come to the conclusion that he went through the heaviest collection phases when his personal life was lacking in many ways. If he was lonely, work was giving him a hard time or felt that he didn't have anyone to turn to - he turned to his collection and it suddenly became extremely important to him to gather more and more items for it. The whole completionist attitude came from him having to divert his attention from things that SHOULD matter - to things that were easier to cope with (buying, trading, fondling) and that were easier to 'complete'.

I found many of the things we discussed pertained to myself as well and it may be tough to admit that. I have gone through phases of my life when I have not been very happy with who I am - or with the people I do or don't have around me (that's what living in seven countries do to you after a while).

I'm not saying that the above is the reason for why we get 'GAS' - I'm just saying that if you sometimes feel that you are obessing too much about material acquisitions it may be worth a few minutes of self assessment to see if maybe there are things in the 'real world' that needs to be tended to. I know I will try to apply that.

We back home call it "The Squirrel Syndrome". Squirrels collect lots of food and bury them all over the place and they forget where the food were buried....and kept collecting more 🙂