Regret purchasing?

[nickthetasmaniac]

I don't know that I've genuinely 'regretted' any photography purchases. There's been some I wasn't happy with, but in all cases I sold the gear with minimal loss and moved on. But just for fun here's the ones I wasn't happy with...

X100 (mkI, initial firmware) - super buggy and never should have been released to market. I hear they did great work with later firmware updates, but by then mine was long gone.

50mm Summilux v2 - impulse buy. Perfectly good lens, but way to rich for my taste. Made me nervous.

Leica III - fiddly. Managed to get in the way of photography in every way my M2 doesn't.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

I regret getting into collecting cine cameras 😛

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

I regret being sucked into the whole micro four thirds camera thing. What was I thinking? Sure, I made some good images, so what, could have done it with most any other camera system. Money down the drain, moving on, that’s life.

I’m not bitter about it, just wish I’d not gone there.

Mike

 

[Michael Markey]

I`m not sure that I really regret buying anything.
I wish I hadn't spent the money only to find out that whatever it was didn`t work for me.
That`s the price of experience I guess.
What I did learn from that is that photography is a very personal business and very dependant on what sort of photographs you take .

So someone raving about this or that type of camera whether an on line reviewer or RFF member can only be taken at face value.

When reading a rave review or enthusiastic post I always check now to see what type of subject matter they are taking.

This I learned early on when trying to take action shots with film Rangefinders.
It sounds obvious but sometimes enthusiasm is infectious .

I don`t regret buying the Rangefinders …. still have them … I was just using them in the wrong circumstances.

 

[nickthetasmaniac]

I regret being sucked into the whole micro four thirds camera thing. What was I thinking? Sure, I made some good images, so what, could have done it with most any other camera system. Money down the drain, moving on, that’s life.

I’m not bitter about it, just wish I’d not gone there.

Mike

I'm curious about the story behind this... Why the regret if you used it to make some good images? Isn't that the point?

 

[gavinlg]

I regret being sucked into the whole micro four thirds camera thing. What was I thinking? Sure, I made some good images, so what, could have done it with most any other camera system. Money down the drain, moving on, that’s life.

I’m not bitter about it, just wish I’d not gone there.

Mike

Me too, I bought an E-p1 when they first came out and later an E-3, both of which were likable, but ultimately produced vastly inferior images to my 5d at the time. Massive waste of money.

- The Epson R-d1 was a waste for me too, there's just no fun in a cropped 35mm or 28mm experience.

- Minolta film SLRs with the mc/md lenses - most overrated lenses I've ever used bar none and the cameras are finnicky and delicate.

 

[Canyongazer]

Sony NEX 7

Pages and pages of seemingly randomly "organized" menu items , many such items titled in Sony-speak terms, intelligible only to the Sonyese.

Too much time spent pulling my hair out muttering "how the heck do I make it ........" fill in the blank.

Excellent IQ tho, which is why I waited so long but finally had to let it go before hurling it it against a wall.

 

[karlin]

every digital camera I bought .

sony a7
nikon d610
dp2 merril (twice)
gr
leica x(113)
fuji x100 ( twice)

I made some good images with all but I guess I'm feeling comfortable with shooting film.

only digital I think I would be satisfied with are the leica M M9 M10 MM but they are too expensive to me.

 

[al1966]

Nikon D200, its AF was worse than the lower cost D80, more weight and more or less the same IQ
Canon 5d, damn sold my Fuji S3 and it produced less aesthetically pleasing to me files.
Canon T90, I loved the A line and the F1 but the T90 was just not as enjoyable in the hand, still have some FD gear still love them as cameras.
A Sony Nex3something, just horrible user interface and no eye level finder, the Nex6 is nice to use though.

 

[presspass]

My periodic attempts to return to medium format. Having shot Koni Omegas and Rolleis when I first started doing newspaper work, I occasionally think I should go back to them or something like them again. That's led to a well-used Koni and, of all things, an RZ67, both sitting on shelves for well over 18 months. I also have a 2.8 Rollei, the last one I used professionally. Even though I will probably only put a roll or two more of Tri-X through it in the next year, it will stay as long as I do. The RZ and the Koni will probably go when I get around to it.

 

[faris]

I do not have the luxury of returning cameras, once purchased. And neither do I have access to an active camera buy-sell market.

And neither to near repair facilities.
Having said that...

Two cameras I regret having purchased...

Fuji XH-1.
Nikon D 750.

They dont add except a little, to the cameras I have or to my requirements for my photography.

Want vs need. An expensive lesson for me.

btw, I don’t regret purchasing Leicas..the M8, the ME, M7, MP. They still work.

 

[Emile de Leon]

Never met a camera I didn't like right off the bat..or didnt learn to like...
From Kodak disc...to 16x20 ULF Wisner..
All have been reliable once the bugs were worked out..
Never went the Leica M digital route though..too frought with potential problems..and too expensive...
Closest I came to regret though..was the 4x4 baby Rollei in mint cond...camera shop owner says..$35 bux for it..but.. it needs repair..
so...I got it because it was cute..but paid thru the nose for Krikor to repair it..and film was a pita..and its shooting parameters was a pita too..as in too complex..
So it sat in a drawer for 20 years...I only ran 1 roll thru it..and decided it wasn't better than 35mm so why bother..
But just recently..at advancing age..held it once again and thought..this is pretty cool...lightweight too..and I have some left over old film..and a new developing reel..
OK..lets use it..this will be fun..
And so it goes..

 

[DanskDynamit]

at this point we could open a facebook group "I too regret buying the Fuji x100" 😀

 

[Ted Striker]

every digital camera I bought .

sony a7
nikon d610
dp2 merril (twice)
gr
leica x(113)
fuji x100 ( twice)

I made some good images with all but I guess I'm feeling comfortable with shooting film.

only digital I think I would be satisfied with are the leica M M9 M10 MM but they are too expensive to me.

The DP2M is a great camera. I loved shooting with mine while I lived in Asia. Still have it, but am not sure where it is. I should try digging it out. Amazing lens on that camera.

 

[Graybeard]

I regret ever having dabbled in Russian 35mm cameras.

The lenses have been of good quality (often only after relubrication and shimming, that being done, I use them to this day). The Russian LTM, Contax clones, and SLR M42 bodies, I have obtained via eBay were nothing but disappointments.

The Russian LTM clones that found their way into my hands were all in need of service. I was an earlier user of Oleg's repair services, and he treated me fairly and well. The Kiev which he CLA'd for me worked properly for a while, then failed (shutter) when I had backpacked the damn thing ten miles from the trailhead. The Rolleicord that I also had in my pack saved the day.

Barnack Leicas, and Barnack Leica copies/clones, require periodic cleaning and service, this is the nature of mechanical clockwork shutters. The cost of a proper CLA is the same regardless of if the camera is a genuine Barnack Leica, a Japanese post WWII copy, or a Russian copy.

I can only suggest that one buy a genuine Barnack Leica, have it properly CLA'd, and shoot with it for years.

The Russian copies are best forgotten.

 

[pyeh]

Regrets, I've only had one

Regrets, I've only had one

I've bought lots of gear which I then realised I could have done without, or they're not as great as cracked out to be, but the one item that I actually regret was the M Typ240 (the real M10). Now that was such a clunker and so un-M: fat, feature-bloated, awful colours, terrible almost useless add-on EVF, prone to hanging, HUGE red dot. All this coming after my M9s, which I still have, and we all know how risky M9s are. I sold my M Typ240 as soon as the current M10 (M11) was released, before the catastrophic collapse in M 240 prices.
I realise many people like the M240 and often there are recommendations in this forum to buy one second hand because of perceived good value, but I say only buy one if you never had, or didn't like, the M9.

 

[Michael Markey]

Now that’s interesting Peter ... I’ve often been tempted.

 

[arseniii]

Olympus E-P5 (aka PEN 5) had the worst shutter shock issue on the most used (by me) shutter speeds. Could not get a sharp image out of this thing. Sold at a huge loss and switche to E-M1, no regrets on this one...

 

[pyeh]

Michael, many people dote on their M 240 so mine is only one data point, as people around here say. I can only add that for me the M9 gives a very authentic M-camera experience and wonderful colours. If it has the new stainless sensor then it has only two drawbacks: noisy shutter (quite a big deal actually) and need for Lightroom to process its DNG files. Its JPGS are not good really.

 

[farlymac]

I regret becoming a camera enthusiast. It all started so innocently enough. I started buying Canon gear to make up a kit to replace one that my oldest brother lost in a fire many years ago. The leftovers got me to wondering what it was about Canon that so many people were enthralled by, so I made up a kit for myself. Pretty nice really, and I'm a Nikon kind of guy.

After that, it was Minolta, then Olympus, then any P&S camera I found at Goodwill (don't laugh, some of them have excellent lenses). It didn't help that a friend on the other side of the country would send me a box of cameras every month.

Then I graduated to the hard stuff: Rollie, Zeiss to name a couple. I tried to stay away from Leica, but after toying around with FSU cameras, I eventually succumbed to the lure of the sirens.

Now, regrettably, there are too many cameras around here. But the only one I truly regretted came early in the order of purchase, and that was a Taron VR fixed lens rangefinder with the aux lens set. Man, is that some piece of junk, and it didn't help that someone tried to fix it before putting it on eBay.

So my only regret now is having to start getting rid of most of the collection, as a majority of them really should be in the hands of folks who will use them. I've had a lot of fun with them myself.

PF