what if i had new stuff?

[Chris101]

...
why do i (we) want new gear, different gear?
what would it change in our shooting (my) shooting habits?
...

Joe, I find that I have a deep streak of creativity whenever I add something new, or change gear completely. It's because I subconsciously ask myself, "what can I do differently with this that I couldn't do without it?"

I wish I could ask what I could do differently NOW, cause then I'd have creativity on tap. But I don't.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Nowadays, I tend to buy new gear only when it does something my existing gear can't do (ever more rarely the case) or when it does something better than the gear I have.

Hence MP for better finder, meter, Leicavit, to replace (or rather, supplement) M4-P and M2 (actually I did sell one M2 but kept the one with the Rapidwinder on it); M8 for digi; M9 for full-frame digi.

In other words I didn't get any more Leicas for close on 20 years (early 80s to early 21st century); then 3 in a decade; and I fnd it hard to imagine what an M10 may have that will tempt me to spend another fortune on it, so the M9 may yet see me out.

Likewise with lenses. In this century I've added the 1,5/50 C-Sonnar (my favourite 50), the Thambar (unique) and the 135/2.8 to my Leica-fit lens collection. The 135/2.8 was the only one I've had before. I'm a little bit richer than I used to be, so I could more easily justify a lens I use very seldom (but love when I do). My wife has added the 4/18 Zeiss (which she prefers to the Voigtländer 15/4.5 and any 21) and 50/2.5 Summarit (her favourite 50). If we could afford it we'd buy a WATE.

Unlike many, I find that major changes of gear (such as the 3-lens Hasselblad outfit I reviewed a couple of years ago -- the new Zeiss Classic lenses) can actually reduce creativity: I spend time thinking about the equipment and how to use it, not about the pictures.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Sparrow]

I'm glad I'm done! well apart from maintaining what I have, I bought a Minox a couple of years ago to replace a mju II that I broke but I haven't bothered getting anything else since.

Anyway the buttons are always in the wrong place on new gear, with the old stuff it feels almost automatic, a bit like driving ... one gets to the destination but can't remember any of the gear-changes, that's what I want from a camera. To get in the way of the picture as little as possible, new stuff have too many bells and buzzers usually.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I'm glad I'm done! well apart from maintaining what I have, I bought a Minox a couple of years ago to replace a mju II that I broke but I haven't bothered getting anything else since.

Anyway the buttons are always in the wrong place on new gear, with the old stuff it feels almost automatic, a bit like driving ... one gets to the destination but can't remember any of the gear-changes, that's what I want from a camera. To get in the way of the picture as little as possible, new stuff have too many bells and buzzers usually.

Dear Stewart,

Exactly!

Cheers,

R.

 

[alistair.o]

Dear Stewart,

Exactly!

Cheers,

R.

Besides agreeing with that which Stewart, Roger and Keith have written, I feel as though the whole 'new gear' thing can so easily be driven in one's mind by industry and peer pressure.

I am in a place now of 'drilling down' on what I have and use and saying 'Yes, I enjoyed that buying phase, but what do I really know about photography itself and capabilities of my kit and me?'

"Wretched man that I am, who will save me from the internet shops?" 🙄

Al

 

[rover]

Roger's bought $10,000+ worth of new stuff in the past couple years.

Err, that qualifies him in with the rest of us hacks no matter how hard he boasts that he isn't.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Roger's bought $10,000+ worth of new stuff in the past couple years.

Err, that qualifies him in with the rest of us hacks no matter how hard he boasts that he isn't.

Well, four or five years, I guess.

Last 'new' car (1972 Land Rover): 2002. Last 'new' motorcycle 1978 BMW R100RS in 1981. Admittedly Frances bought a 1966 Mobylette moped for 150€ in 2007 and a 1990 Seat Marbella for 1100€ in 2010, and re-tiled the kitchen floor herself (200€ in tiles, when I was recovering from appendicitis) in 2009.

An inheritance from her late aunt Helen helped us both. Hence the 20-year gap between the M4-P and the MP.

Edit: a further thought. NOT buying stuff I 'can afford' (because it's cheap or even 'a bargain') is another factor, alongside the inheritance, which means that I have the money to buy what I really want. Also, of course, I can offset it all against taxes.

Second edit: And no mortgage since 2002.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Sparrow]

I got a huge rush of insecurity complex when I first started on the interweb, spent a few grand on new kit. Then, being quick to catch on, a few years later I noticed my contact sheets were like chequer boards, exposures all over the place and a convincing explanation why printing the buggers had got so difficult.

It would seem I found TTL metres and their attendant LEDs was much too complex for my weak will and I was treating chase-the-metre as the prime task, instead of framing and timing. With the end result being I did none of them properly and everything went tits-up, surprisingly when I went back to the old kit everything went back to normal.

 

[Pherdinand]

i have 50-60 rolls of film slowly expiring in the fridge... or maybe they all are expired already... I should use more. Maybe i should buy a "new" camera to excite myself and use them?
well, the x100 won't help in that of course
so there it is, i have the answer to myself: no i should not get the x100 😀

 

[slm]

I'm excited to try out the new Kodak Portra films !
My best color RA-4 print was from a Portra negative (best as in, nicest looking colors).
It seemed to be much easier to print vs. consumer color film (Fuji).