What you want and what you need: How to tell?

noimmunity said:
One thing they as a whole do confirm is that actually using the equipment is an irreplaceable step in the process of figuring out the proper need/want ratio.

... the art of choosing one's limits and deploying them in interesting ways.

I would have never ever thought I would have allowed myself to buy a 75/2 summicron. And when I finally made the decision it was impulsive, becuase otherwise I would have never been able to "reason" myself into doing something so foolishly whimsical. Yet I have to say that it really is exactly the portraits-plus lens I had been looking for.
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First para: Absolutely!

Second para: You have neatly summed up one of the most important things in photography

Third para: But were you working from the premise of 'I know what I want to do with this lens' or 'I wonder what this lens can do'?

It sounds like the former: you really wanted that lens because it would fulfill a need ('portraits plus', as you put it). Did you already have a lens that would do that? If so, what led you to replace it? If not, it's a question of looking at all the 75mm lenses on the market (including zooms for other systems) and deciding which is the most rational choice for you -- which is why I always try to emphasize that my choices work best for me, with the clear implication that others may feel differently.

Cheers,

Roger
 
Simple. If there is something you WANT to do and don't have the gear to do it, then you NEED more.
But really, unless you are getting paid for your work, you don't even have to own a camera, let alone 15 different lenses.

I am definitely an emotional buyer and I'm really starting to get annoyed with myself. (I just bought a 35 uc hexanon 2 months after selling mine.)
I think I need to slap a 6-month buying ban on myself.
 
Keith. I have an M3 and an Ikon. (this does kind of tie in with need/want) and I find myself drawn to an 0.72 MP. Build, feel and shutter of M3, viewfinder and built in meter of the ZI, surely the perfect camera?

As to need and want, I need a meter, I need to use 28 & 35mm - lenses the ZI does that. I want the feel and shutter of the M3.

So I need and want the MP :)

Ahem, kind of.

To the OP, I think you have nailed it. Don't think buy. Not only will you find a way to pay the bills and eat no matter what, but top quality gear is a savings account. You can cash in if you have to always with less loss than renting.
 
for the longest time I was limited by my financial resources and one camera and one lens was it for me. I got used to the setup and recorded the world thru a 35mm Summicron v3 and M4-P. Later I was able to snag a 50 Cron and a 90 TE, and shortly thereafter sold them both as unneeded baggage.

Some people need to be "prepared" for every eventuality. Sam Abell said he would be happy with a 28 and 90mm lens kit. He also said he could shoot publishable photos with his high school TLR if need be.

What we truly "need" is that one camera and one lens to provide that one window to the world. Add to this some vision, heart, and passion for the art.

There are tones of photographers that we hold as legends who only worked a with a single camera and lens; why would we need so much more?
 
Keith!

Keith!

Keith said:
My current rangefinder collection, R3A ~ R4A ~ Ikon ~ M2 and M3 really does not leave any room for 'needing' anything else at all.
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Whoa! Did I miss something? I've been busy and haven't kept up...but, Keith, did you sell your M8? You were doing some pretty sweet work with that...
 
This question does not make much sense to me! Unless you are a professional photographer (which I am not) you don't need any gear anyway. So for an amateur, wanting and needing are pretty much interchangeable.
I having been buiying gear pretty much every month for the last year. Some of it I only used once (Minolta Himatic 7). The point is I don't need any of the gear, but it gives me pleasure to use it so you could argue it satisfies an emotional need!
 
35mmdelux said:
. . . There are tones of photographers that we hold as legends who only worked a with a single camera and lens. . .
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Reputedly. I'm not convinced. HCB clearly worked with more than one lens, and (I suspect) with more than one camera -- though obviously, only one camera/lens per picture, maybe one camera/lens per shoot (plus backup).

Of those who may have used only one camera/lens, some were very specialized (Hollywood photographers, for instance).

Without wishing to be unduly skeptical, who were you thinking of?

Cheers,

R.
 
I think I want all the gear I couldn't afford when I was a teenager in the late 1970's.
But I could probably get by with just a Ricoh 500G, my first adjustable lens camera.

Chris
 
I've tended to think not so much in terms of "wants" or "needs" so much as "what possible effect with this (fill in the blank: camera, lens, scanner. printer, accessory) have on my photography in the day-to-day?" If I'm fairly convinced something will have a positive effect the way I work, and the way I want to work, and I can somehow stretch the cashflow to get it, then I get it. No tedious rationalizing like I really need this or, worse, I deserve this. If the piece of gear does the trick for me, I don't waste time BSing myself into it; I just buy it.

When I "downsized" my setup from a pair of AF SLRs and quintet of lenses to a pair of RFs and trio of glass, what I finally realized was that I could actually do more with less, in both quantity and size of hardware. I'm thinking quite seriously about further rationalizing the amount of gear I have by letting go of my remaining SLR gear, plus one fixed-lens RF, and maybe even most of my p/s cameras, in favor of an R4a and 21 f/4. The thing I'm grokking is choosing what allows me to work and think clearly when behind the lens, and to eliminate that which gets in my way. Any other considerations are, at best, secondary, if not irrelevant.


- Barrett
 
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I tend to agree with that last comment.

I look at it this way: Will this improve my photography?
I really want an interchangeable lens rangefinder. But at the end of the day, it isn't actually going to do anything that my SLR doesn't do right now. So that's a "want".

At the moment, my budget is aimed at replacing my scanner, so you guys can have the opportunity of basking in the glory that is my art - err, that is, I can subject myself to the criticism of fine photographers. :)

Your feedback will improve my photography, as will having the shots available on the computer for processing. So that's my current photographic "need".

Cheers,
Steve
 
What do you call a need that cannot be realized until you've tried that piece of gear?

Is that a valid *need* or is it's simply a justification for GAS? :p
 
A need is against an objective; want is against an emotion. Whether or not the objective is a valid reason or necessary is an entirely other conversation :D

Actually, if I have ANY needs photographically, its to get rid of a lot of stuff I have...
 
I dont need a whole lot, just a 50m lens and a 35m really. So I am short one....my recent return to photography I have only a 50, but I am working with what I have, and not crying too much...you work within what you have, after all, if there are no rules there is no game....
i would like to own something with Leica written on it though....:D
 
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