The curse of expensive equipment?

[Lauffray]

In other words, is it just more "noble" to carry a cheap film set or P&S and sightsee in the most beautiful cities of the world, compared to loading up on top-of-the-line cameras and lenses but only working in the 20 blocks around your home?

I guarantee you if it was the other way around, that is if you sold some expensive gear and decided to keep it simple, you'll definitely find somebody else to criticize that choice too. Forget people's opinion, it's your money and your gear, who cares ?

 

[Paddy C]

I was reading a very fine article on using the Noctilux ASPH as a B&W lens when I noticed some comments beneath, calling the Noct a piece of "pointless bull****" and stating that the author was "simply trying to justify his needless purchase". Other comments noted that "nothing this lens can do a $800 Voigtlander can't do" and suggested to "sell the glass and go traveling" and "stop creating bokehy mess and make real pictures".

In other words, is it just more "noble" to carry a cheap film set or P&S and sightsee in the most beautiful cities of the world, compared to loading up on top-of-the-line cameras and lenses but only working in the 20 blocks around your home?

"Comparison is the thief of joy." – Roosevelt

I think there is some envy in the comments you were reading.

I also think photographers have become obsessed with fast lenses and that they are often not necessary, have lots of downside, and often aren't used to produce great photos etc.

I love to travel, but I also find travel overrated. We inhabit a small part of the world for the majority of our lives. If one can't find wonder and happiness in that patch of land, there are bigger problems that need to be looked into.

 

[zuiko85]

While a noctulux is not my cup of optical tea (actually I have an old 50 f1.4 Takumar that had a weak tea color in the glass) it is not only the price. Even if I were flush with cash don't think I have such a heavy and large lens. I've always liked compact and lightweight equipment and that has usually been the slower versions of lenses. Since I've stayed mostly with film this personal preference has limited what I can do in low light, a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

As to your own choice, well, there are folks who spend 8 or 9 hundred dollars on cowboy boots. If you like fast glass then what you buy with your money is nobodies bussness but your own.

 

[Bill Clark]

Originally Posted by Rodchenko
My favourite car is an original Mini.

Take a peek at this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNV0mc_cpQ0

 

[icebear]

If you can afford one, it's your personal choice of priorities. Nothing else really matters.
You'll always have people getting into rant mode, if you tell them about it.
So just enjoy it for yourself, get out and take pictures and delete the exif data in case you post anything 🙄.

 

[David_Manning]

That's the wonderful thing about art, and creating art...you can do whatever you want. Shoot a Noctilux. Enjoy. Be creative.

My M9 was expensive, but I justified it in my mind (and to my wife) as an investment in my craft. End of story. I only had to please me.

 

[Lauffray]

I love to travel, but I also find travel overrated. We inhabit a small part of the world for the majority of our lives. If one can't find wonder and happiness in that patch of land, there are bigger problems that need to be looked into.

I definitely agree with that, especially if one buys their gear primarily to use away from home. But I think you're mixing the yearly two week vacation with a broader meaning of travel.

 

[tunalegs]

Different people have different priorities. If I had 9K to burn, and somebody suggested I buy a lens with it, I would probably laugh at them. But then again they might laugh when they've seen I've gone and wasted it on a 2-stroke SAAB 96...

 

[Pioneer]

I love the Noctilux! I suspect most people who really care about this type of thing would love one as well.

If you already own it then enjoy it. Life is far too short to end it worrying about what others think about your hobbies.

If you are considering one then you can certainly ask for advice, but as always the advice you should be most concerned about is that from your close friends and loved ones.

But, since it is always fun to give unsolicited advice; (human nature, you know,) I believe that you may want to consider...

😀

 

[f16sunshine]

Money is like hair. It's either getting longer or shorter until one day... you just may not be able to grow it like you used to anymore. Enjoy it while you can!
Why other care about what another does with their money is not something I will understand. 😛

As to the Noctilux. I love the look but don't like the ergo on any camera that can mount it.
It would balance perfectly on an Eos 5D sized camera.... That will never happen.
Wonderful output though. It's a lovely lens.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

Why other care about what another does with their money is not something I will understand.

I think it's about reasoning from the particular to the general, sometimes described as "transference". For example: "selfish rich bankers ruined our economy then made us pay to bail them out and I lost out as a result" becomes "anyone with a lot of money to 'waste' on a LeiCanIkon deserves all the nastiness I can give them".

I don't believe, as others have suggested, that it's envy. I think that it's quite different from envy and more to do with peoples' sense of fairness. I think that it's misguided in many cases, possibly most cases, but on a forum such as this, which spans continents, wealth bands and political leanings, I think it's inevitable.

Besides which, it's always fun to poke the rich, as Private Eye and Le Canard enchaîné have proven for many years. 😀

 

[GaryLH]

I was reading a very fine article on using the Noctilux ASPH as a B&W lens when I noticed some comments beneath, calling the Noct a piece of "pointless bull****" and stating that the author was "simply trying to justify his needless purchase". Other comments noted that "nothing this lens can do a $800 Voigtlander can't do" and suggested to "sell the glass and go traveling" and "stop creating bokehy mess and make real pictures".

While RFF is wonderfully devoid of such rude remarks, I have been on the receiving end of similar comments on a variety of forums (and in different languages, no less). About why expensive equipment, with the Noct being the obvious worst offender, are overpriced and impractical. People have told me that I should stay away from them and use the funds more wisely, such as buying a car or touring the world.

So yes, I bought a pre-owned Noctilux a short while back. I'm aware of how much traveling I could do with an extra 9 grand, but the Noct produces amazing pictures and gives an extra stop of light beyond any of my other lenses. I will admit that I bought it partly to explore the incredibly shallow DOF, but is there anything wrong with that?

In other words, is it just more "noble" to carry a cheap film set or P&S and sightsee in the most beautiful cities of the world, compared to loading up on top-of-the-line cameras and lenses but only working in the 20 blocks around your home?

While I am not willing to pay the price for a Noct nor do I ever shoot the type of pics that would require that unique look.. If u got the money and it's not a big issue.. Go for it.. is the way I have always felt about it. Life is too short to worry about the little things.

At the end of the day it is the results that count not what u are using. On the otherhand what is more important is that is what u are carrying got u so worried u are not enjoying yourself?

Gary

 

[daveleo]

If you have the cash to spend on whatever, buy what you desire and use it. If you don't scratch up that lens, someday you can probably sell it for a large % of what you paid for it.
People (me included) have lots of reasons to spend our cash on various other things besides $9k camera lenses. Okay, so what's that info worth? Not much. Enjoy your lens !

 

[zauhar]

Referring to my Porsche are we? Doesn't look big on my screens at all, even my iPhone (no side-to-side scrolling). Don't know what kind of screen you're using.....

Roger just has a small computer.

 

[Woody 63]

If that is the lens you wanted / needed, then i don't see the problem.
It's your money and if you can afford it, then why not.

 

[NickTrop]

The notion that someone would spend this kind of money on a camera lens, especially a fixed lens, as much as I like photography, seems preposterous -- a vulgar Veblen item. Nobody needs an f1:1 lens -- thousands for an extra stop or two? In fact, I regard most all Leica as Veblen goods -- straight down to their lens caps. That said, I wouldn't offend anyone who purchase something like this, though I might "smh" to myself as I read it. You must "really" like shallow dof the width of a human hair -- whatever. Nothing I'd spend thousands on. Seems silly. While I'm certainly not trying to take the "moral"(?) high ground here, I get satisfaction from the exact opposite -- finding overlooked/undervalued "cachet-less" photographic tools, like the mint XR Rikenon f2.0 k-mount lens I got in the mail yesterday for $20. Allegedly, "the sharpest 50mm ever produced". Sure, I'll drop an Andrew "for ducks" to see if it lives up to its billing. Not thousands, though. I hear Greece is very nice this time of year.

 

[sig]

One part of me want to comfort you with "what other people think does not matter" but another part is thinking: come on! Get over yourself! Your lens is so expensive that people have to compare it to expensive sportscars and you feel sorry for yourself because people think you could use your money otherwise?

You should consider yourself lucky to have the possibility to spend so much money on a lens! Not feel sorry for yourself.

 

[wpm]

such a curse.

such a curse.

It's your life, live it. If you can afford it and it is something you can get use from, do it and ignore the naysayers. If it doesn't work, sell it. It isn't necessary for me but that's me. Don't sweat the small stuff, just shoot it and enjoy. At your age I could no more afford it no less a body to put it on. The most "fun" I had was with my pawn shop Pentax super program 30 some years ago. Using what I had allowed me to have memories of places and people important in my life. I love using my Leicas and am fortunate to have what I have. Like everything else in life, I follow my own compass.

 

[oftheherd]

If you have the money and like the lens, I wouldn't worry what others say. Some may believe what they say, and some may just be jealous. Why should you care if you are happy with your purchase and the photos you get with it.

 

[YYV_146]

I think one should distinguish an "expensively embroidered" piece of equipment from a high quality/highly specialized/expensive equipment.
A gold plated camera with lizard skin would be in the first category, and is probably best left sitting behind a glass in your display box, while a Noctilux, like many other special lenses, would be in the second, and frankly I see nothing wrong with using one.

Indeed. Great analogy 😀