the never ending process of gear editing

back alley

back alley

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i envy those with enough self-confidence/money/direction/whatever who can buy gear and be content. some of us (ok, me) continually edit or add gear on a relatively crazy basis. for me, i can't seem to have 'too much' gear around. it makes me nuts. i have a hard time owning rangefinders with different mounts. i have owned and liked contax and nikon gear but the idea of the same focal length lenses in different mounts made me dizzy.
i have recently bought a g1 and sold an a300. i didn't really need 2 digital kits and i love that the g1 will take my zm lenses. it seemed a wonderful thing to my head.

now i am struggling with the idea of selling my zm 25 as the zm 21 is my favourite of the 2 and then adding the 85/4.
this would give me 21/35/85 and while the 50 pov is not my fave, i love the 50/1.5 sonnar and hope i never reach the point where i would think of selling it.
i'm also thinking of selling the r4a and just buying a 21 finder for the zi. that would keep the kit simple and if i ever decide to travel i would have one body and 3 small lenses. the sonnar would stay home.

so, honestly, who else goes through this sort of mental gymnastics when thinking about what to buy and what to sell? are more of you more practical or do you go 'on your gut' when deciding these things?
and of those who can keep gear on a shelf until ready to use it, are you really ok owning gear that you infrequently use?

joe
 
I am there too. I have edited a lot, though I have not gotten as lean as you have, but I have sold quite a bit in the past few years. I am struggling right now about getting a G1. I do have 3 lenses I will put up for sale, and maybe my Canon G7, but I don't know if I want 2 digital kits either and I really like my Pentax set up. I seem to go in spurts, buying and selling. I have to say happily that I have more buyer's remorse than I have seller's remorse, and I have been able to sell at a fair value without financial loss. I have settled into the reality that I don't want, nor can I have everything. I am ok with that.
 
To be honest it's not a problem for me at the moment for one major reason ... no dough!

Poverty has been good for me and has taken this syndrome right out of the equation ... it's forced me to sell some (a lot of) cameras/lenses that were idling in the cupboard and compress the gear down to what I actually need instead of what I think I need. At times it's been damned traumatic to be truthful because I am a self confessed fondler but have had to abandon that instinct for survival!

The end result has been a marked increase in my focus on improving my photographic skills. If I stumble into a situation where I have excess income again to spend on these sorts of things I'm not quite sure what may happen ... will the whole cycle start again or will I have learned my lesson?
 
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In my case, the anxiety about editing is just too overwhelming, so I try not to do it.

To tell you the truth, the process is agonizingly slow for me. I may reach a time when I'm happy, in the zen zone, one-with-the-universe... and then, a sudden longing or need springs out. Then comes the agony: to add that piece of gear without leaving some other unused. Worse yet, how to find a bargain for that particular piece of gear. I've had nightmares about it (buying, selling, finding)... so, I finally decided that, no matter what, I'm done, and that whatever I have will have to serve me for my purposes and that's just about it.

That doesn't mean I no longer dream...

It's just a deeper, untroubled sleep.

In short, joe... Nope, I really don't go through those anxieties because I have, and now I avoid them.

Hmmmm... what could I do to get a ZI 21/f2.8?

😱 😱 :bang: :bang:

Your fault! 😉
 
I prefer to call it "gear refinement" and I think it's a common ailment for rff'ers, pnetters, etc...

I totally understand wht you are going through about having the perfect kt, but if you are struggling with selling the ZM 25, then you should probably hold on to it.

Just to show how bad it's gotten for me, I actually have several kits, all for people photography, and expecially street. I even have them in separate bags, e.g., I have a kit with 20, 35, 85 and another with 24, 50, 105 and so on...

So, I'd say keep the 25 and pair it with your 50mm SOnnar, add another body and longer lens, and presto -- another kit. 😀

Oh, BTW, wrt travel, I NEVER travel with just one body. I always have at least one backup in the same mount.

Cheers,

Keith
 
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There is no answer to your question because there are no rules governing gear or anything you wish to acquire. If you have the money and want it then buy it. If you don't want something sell it, give it away or throw it out.
 
I'm pretty settled after a period of active gear buying/selling/trading. I have a few tweaks still to make with some trading, but no more major realignments. I'll still keep my eye open for good deals on interesting gear, but I'm not in turmoil over gear any more.
 
There are two sides from which to view it:

In spite of all the sound advice, it is impossible to know what works unless you try it out.

"What works" can change, too, as ideas about one's vision change.

And it is always fun/creatively stimulating to interact with something new.

ON the other hand...

Working with what you know very well provides a new kind of natural ease.

Creative ideas in this state can deepen, often at a non-conceptual level.

Interaction with the old and the familiar can stimulate a sense of trust and confidence that is deeply satisfying.

I'm really glad I recently sold off a bunch of stuff to get an M8, especially given the way I got it (a new one with warranty and a cool special edition body that matches my chrome lenses all for a price that is close to or less than demo/used). But the process of selling off gear to pay for it was a real hassle. I hope I don't have to go through that again for a long long time.

Now, for a scanner...
 
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I rarely buy or sell. I don't buy much because I usually cannot afford to, and I rarely sell because I use almost all of the gear I own on a regular basis.

I agree with what Steve Bellayr said...if you can afford it, buy it...if you don't want it get rid of it.
 
wow, kxl, you dug up a thread our dear moderator wrote six years ago! i remember those heady days of joe's camera gear romances, OM system, Leica CL, CV wide angles, digital slr... i think he has actually settled down and is living the quiet life with a set of cameras and lenses he loves now. there's hope for happiness and contentment in us all, i guess...
 
Interestingly for me, changing or "refining" gear only happens to me with M Leicas .... I have a Rolleiflex and also Hasselblad 500 C/M since quite a long time without the "need" to get a different / second body, camera or lens (in case of the Hasselblad). Only with Leicas ... :bang:

On the other hand, when I happen to come accross really good photos from a photographer, it usually turns out that he or she uses at most 2 cameras (sometimes 1x 120 and 1x 135) with two or three lenses ... Or in other words, the quality of the photos and the amount of gear seems to be inversely proportional ... 😱
 
I've been quietly accumulating a range of Voigtlander folders over the years - probably more for sentimental reasons than any, as my father's first (serious) camera was a Bessa I and mine was a Perkeo I. Then came other lens/shutter combo's in the same models, then a Vitessa and so it went on until I recently realised I had about 16 cameras that I was trying to put a film through each once a year to keep everything in good working order.
With that realisation came the thought that I was spending more time and money "fondling" as someone else put it, than I was committing photography. So, I decided to slim down the collection. I'm keeping one Leica IIIf with 2/50 Summitar (just because I like it and not because I'll use it a lot - it's my "car camera"), an R3A and R4A which is my main kit with 15/25/40/75 lenses, the Rolleiflex Planar 2.8 TLR and the Yashicamat 3.5 TLR (probably one or the other will eventually go) and my trusty old Nikkormat SLR which hardly gets looked at but an SLR will do stuff that an RF won't and I'm keeping it for that alone. All the rest is on the block.
 
I have an awful time with this. I sometimes find myself making lists - trying to figure out the perfect kit for myself.
I end up buying and selling lenses over and over. For example, I am now on my third copy of the ltm canon 28/2.8. I've probably owned - in some cases, very briefly - at least 3 dozen different lenses made by Leica, Canon, Nikon, Voigtlander, Konica and Zeiss.
I think I may finally be running out of steam on this, with hopes of settling on a few of the lenses that I have most enjoyed.
I don't regret any of it though. It has allowed me to get a taste of so many different cameras and lenses. And it gives me something to do when I can't be out shooting pictures.
 
back alley said:
the angst of deciding.
Click to expand...

True words.

On my last round I couldn't for the life of me decide between 21/28 or 18/25 among other things, so I just put it all up for sale and let the buyers decide. They went for the sexy big highly-acclaimed lenses, and I'm left with the small discreet ones. And I'm very very happy with that.

Since this is the philosophy section of the forum...
I find the decision process really consuming--of both time and energy. I'd try to make sure that it isn't just a clue about some other area of life that is calling for attention. Life (or the psyche or whatever you wanna call it) rarely says directly "you need to pay more attention to this" but rather often uses oblique clues. Often when you change something else in your lifestyle, the things that made certain kinds of decisions so compelling or even obsessional will just melt away.
 
Joe, gone through this many times and have seen much $ fly out the window (it's not so bad if buying/selling used gear).
Eventually, after committing to digital, I had to really sit down and evaluate which focal lengths I use the most....
now I'm "done" 😉
 
back alley said:
i envy those with enough self-confidence/money/direction/whatever who can buy gear and be content. some of us (ok, me) continually edit or add gear on a relatively crazy basis. for me, i can't seem to have 'too much' gear around. it makes me nuts. ...
and of those who can keep gear on a shelf until ready to use it, are you really ok owning gear that you infrequently use?
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm ok owning infrequently used gear, doesn't bother me except when I can't find something.

Joe, I'm guessing you have a compulsion regarding simplicity and tidiness... The simplicity removes the options that would otherwise become agonizing choices of gear to use for the occasion.

I too like order and tidiness, but I work it differently, taking on documentation and organized storage as solutions. I keep records in a computer database for each item of gear, with specs, commentary, repair/svc data, etc. I even document things like hoods and filters including where they are now (in box, or on the 25 Biogon, whatever). I like my gear to be in perfect working order, ready for use at any moment. I hate not to be able to put my hands on a specific item instantly.

I much prefer having a variety of gear on hand so that I can set aside what I've been using and grab something unused for a while... It's like going out and buying the gear fresh except that I know it's already CLA'd and well-cared-for, ready to go. If something is "out of favor" I'll secure it in a plastic bag and set it aside ... as if I'd sold it but it's there awaiting the time I'll want to use it again. I keep currently in-use stuff close to hand, loaded and ready to grab on the way out.

The advantage is that I avoid selling, which I dislike, and when GAS strikes I may already have the item of desire! It also prevents unnecessary gear buying, as I've already got it or something as good. Why should I buy a Leica 24mm when I already have a Zeiss 25mm? Right, no need! Whew, at least $2000 saved, perhaps regretfully. Aids discipline! It's gotten to the point, now, that almost any GAS pressure is relieved in such a way. And I can assemble "kits" any way I want, then change later without buying or selling anything.

It still can be a bit difficult to decide what to take on a trip, so my challenge is to try to make this more enjoyable.
 
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