back alley
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we make fun of each other...we tease each other...we crave the new toys and that's what it seems they are to many of us...toys!
we are always reading up on that new body or lens...checking out those first images and reviews and then waiting for the follow up comments and start checking the classifieds to see how soon the first used ones appear...
GEAR!!! we want it...no matter how serious we might be about photography and image making...we like the gear!
...and before you come down on my head about how you are not like this...check your inventory...
we are always reading up on that new body or lens...checking out those first images and reviews and then waiting for the follow up comments and start checking the classifieds to see how soon the first used ones appear...
GEAR!!! we want it...no matter how serious we might be about photography and image making...we like the gear!
...and before you come down on my head about how you are not like this...check your inventory...
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
True but you need to cycle in and out of that state of mind occasioanlly for your own sanity ... you can't live it 24/7
My name is Keith and I sold a lens today!
But I bought one last week ... !
My name is Keith and I sold a lens today!
But I bought one last week ... !
john_s
Well-known
I have a Voigtlander R4M coming in the mail at the moment. When it arrives I will need no more gear!
back alley
IMAGES
back alley
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True but you need to cycle in and out of that state of mind occasioanlly for your own sanity ... you can't live it 24/7
My name is Keith and I sold a lens today!
But I bought one last week ... !
a man in balance...
JamesFromSydney
James Morris
I can stop any time!
Brian Legge
Veteran
Any time I buy something, I put something else aside to sell. Its the actual time investment to do the selling where I fall short. I know exactly what should go out the door, I just have to dedicate some time to doing it.
mfunnell
Shaken, so blurred
I have a cunning plan to duck and weave around GAS (we all know how well those plans work out!) And it's all your fault, Keith. There are two stages to my plan. The first is that I will buy nothing (take a deep breath and say again: I will buy nothing) until I buy myself a full-frame digital M camera. (This part is not Keith's fault.) Ideally, this will be a pristine black paint M9-P for less than $2,000 but we all know that's not happening. The main point, though, is anything else I should happen to buy (and I won't, I won't, I won't) would detract from the longer-term savings for that digital M. So I won't do it (I tell myself).
The second stage of my plan, the one that is Keith's fault, was triggered by his thread about re-contemplating his M2. That got me thinking about my M3, how much I've loved it, and how long it has been since I used it. So last weekend, when I went home, I retrieved my M3, brought it down to Melbourne where I'm stuck for the next few months, and resolved to reconnect with it and use it. That's just an example, though. The actual second stage of my anti-GAS plan is that each time I feel the need to get something different I go to my cabinet (on occasions when I get back home) and take out some other camera or lens or whatever, remember why I bought it in the first place, and actually use it.
I have a lot of cameras, and a lot of lenses. Each and every one of them has it's joys - and all have been used. But most, after an initial burst of use, go to the back of the queue behind my regular users (Canon FF and APS-C DSLRs, OM-4T, FM3a and Hexar RF - with the film gear not getting much use, of late, through absence from home).
I will change this! I will. (I tell myself.) Really. I'll use the M3 I brought down here just recently. And not just with my workhorse Elmar-M and Summilux 75 (both of which I brought down) but also with that CZ C-Sonnar that I was so glad to buy but haven't much, well, actually used.
And when I suffer another GAS attack I shall resist (I will!) by dragging out some other theoretically loved but not-much-used equipment - like my Nikon F, or my Canon New F-1 or my Pentax MX (or my Rolleicord, for that matter, though 120 may be too difficult while away from home).
It's a plan, anyway. Let's see if I can stick by it.
...Mike
The second stage of my plan, the one that is Keith's fault, was triggered by his thread about re-contemplating his M2. That got me thinking about my M3, how much I've loved it, and how long it has been since I used it. So last weekend, when I went home, I retrieved my M3, brought it down to Melbourne where I'm stuck for the next few months, and resolved to reconnect with it and use it. That's just an example, though. The actual second stage of my anti-GAS plan is that each time I feel the need to get something different I go to my cabinet (on occasions when I get back home) and take out some other camera or lens or whatever, remember why I bought it in the first place, and actually use it.
I have a lot of cameras, and a lot of lenses. Each and every one of them has it's joys - and all have been used. But most, after an initial burst of use, go to the back of the queue behind my regular users (Canon FF and APS-C DSLRs, OM-4T, FM3a and Hexar RF - with the film gear not getting much use, of late, through absence from home).
I will change this! I will. (I tell myself.) Really. I'll use the M3 I brought down here just recently. And not just with my workhorse Elmar-M and Summilux 75 (both of which I brought down) but also with that CZ C-Sonnar that I was so glad to buy but haven't much, well, actually used.
And when I suffer another GAS attack I shall resist (I will!) by dragging out some other theoretically loved but not-much-used equipment - like my Nikon F, or my Canon New F-1 or my Pentax MX (or my Rolleicord, for that matter, though 120 may be too difficult while away from home).
It's a plan, anyway. Let's see if I can stick by it.
...Mike
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Contarama
Well-known
The minute I get a pocket full of cash I'm done...no stopping...just as sure as the Gestapo is taking over the USA slowly but surely.
mfogiel
Veteran
I think, the overall reasons are two:
- There is always something that you "might need to have", or that is "better" than what you have aleady
- You spend too much time browsing the forums and classifieds and too little time with a camera in your hand taking pictures
I have solved point 1 quite easily: I only shoot B&W and I dislike digital B&W, so I bought ALL the film cameras and lenses that I will ever need to use, last year. Since then, I have no more GAS, because I already have everything. I am still working on solving point 2...
- There is always something that you "might need to have", or that is "better" than what you have aleady
- You spend too much time browsing the forums and classifieds and too little time with a camera in your hand taking pictures
I have solved point 1 quite easily: I only shoot B&W and I dislike digital B&W, so I bought ALL the film cameras and lenses that I will ever need to use, last year. Since then, I have no more GAS, because I already have everything. I am still working on solving point 2...
ricnak
Well-known
I blame all gas ("research need" in female speak) on you Mr BackAlley and Mr Keith. I was very happy with one camera until I found RFF.
hugivza
Well-known
There are far worse things to be addicted to, which cost a lot more money, and cause a lot more grief. if it does not cause your family to miss out on things that they need, and you can afford it, and have room for it, go for it. Just remember that there are few, if any, U-Haul trailers in a funeral procession, so you cannot take it with you! My 10c worth - yours may be different.
nikon_sam
Shooter of Film...
Okay...but my heart was in the right place...
I responded to a WTT ad and ended up trading one camera for two...see I was downsizing by one but..well, I'm +1 more...
Before that deal I was given a beautiful Canon A-1...so I had to find and buy a decent 50mm lens for it and I did at a local thrift store...one more camera & lens...hmmmm...not really my fault...
A few weeks ago I wanted to check out a local camera show and sell some gear so I went with a bag of gear TO SELL but the offers were so bad I kept everything...then on the last table I found what turned out to be a like new Canon 100mm 3.5 FL lens and traded for it...so I'm up one more lens but I traded for it...then today I had to buy the correct lens hood for it since the seller had just lowered the price and it's in great shape...
So...I'm going to be done buying for now...and I'm not going to allow myself to buy this Canon 35mm 2.5 lens for at least a year...I hope...
I responded to a WTT ad and ended up trading one camera for two...see I was downsizing by one but..well, I'm +1 more...
Before that deal I was given a beautiful Canon A-1...so I had to find and buy a decent 50mm lens for it and I did at a local thrift store...one more camera & lens...hmmmm...not really my fault...
A few weeks ago I wanted to check out a local camera show and sell some gear so I went with a bag of gear TO SELL but the offers were so bad I kept everything...then on the last table I found what turned out to be a like new Canon 100mm 3.5 FL lens and traded for it...so I'm up one more lens but I traded for it...then today I had to buy the correct lens hood for it since the seller had just lowered the price and it's in great shape...
So...I'm going to be done buying for now...and I'm not going to allow myself to buy this Canon 35mm 2.5 lens for at least a year...I hope...
koven
Well-known
everyone has their vice.
russelljtdyer
Writer
Tools
Tools
When I was a boy, I was fascinated by tools. If I went into a hardware store, I would look for a long time at the tools that were for sale and wanted them. I had no money to buy them and no reason for needing them: I was only eight years old when that fascination started to manifest itself. For me, tools were things that my father and grandfather used to make things: I would stand next to them in their sheds watching them work with tools. I wanted to be like them. It was a manly (as opposed to a boyish) thing to build and fix things with tools. The act of using tools and even possessing tools seemed to bring me closer to them. I still have tools, but over time I lost interest in possessing them. I have them now only to the extent that I need them.
Related to photography equipment, I sense feelings similar to those I once had for tools. When I was a boy, the adults had cameras. When the printed photos arrived a few days after a trip or an event, adults held them and they would look at them with great interest. Photos were the focal point of discussions during those moments. I would hear comments from the adults like, "That's a nice picture you took" and "When I took this photo, I was trying [to do something or other]". Making photos was what grown-ups did and admired. Now that I'm an adult, or rather now that I perceive myself as one, I should have a camera. If I want to perceive myself to be better than other adults, I should have a better camera--that seems logical. I know that many of us were taught as children that no one is better than anyone else. However, some people are better (e.g., smarter, stronger, prettier, etc.), and many of us want to be one of the better ones.
I'm speculating that what I have sought to achieve by getting a good camera is a sense of satisfaction, a feeling that I am an adult and I am better than others by having a better camera. However, the thing itself will not achieve the happiness I want, at least not for long. So I sometimes would think that I will find sustainable happiness with a better camera than the one I have, with more cameras and more lenses. To that end, I have bought more and more, better and better equipment. You can see this obsession in the photo below, which was taken in December 2008 of my equipment closet. At one point I had thirteen cameras and seven lenses. I had more money in photography equipment than the cost of a nice new car, but had no car. And yet, I was no happier and no better as a result of possessing them.
These things alone won't do it, they won't achieve sustainable happiness, as I realized a few years ago. The satisfaction that I seek has to develop within me.
I work in the computer business. I've worked as a programmer and done other such work, and now I write about computer software. But I am not fascinated by computers--not even a little--perhaps because adults did not have them when I was a boy. I'm interested only in what a computer can do for me. I'm not interested in the thing itself. For me, a computer is just a tool--in a true utilitarian sense, not like they were for me when I was a boy.
To enjoy truly cameras and related photography equipment, I believe, you have to be interested only in what they can do for you. To the extent that a camera you do not own will allow you to do what you cannot do with the one that you do own, you might shift from one to the other. For instance, if you own a Leica M8 camera, you might sell it and buy a Leica M9 to get a full-frame sensor to produce higher quality digital images. But there's generally little need to keep the M8 when you buy the M9. To the extent that you do not have time or energy for every form of photography possible, you might let go of certain forms and concentrate on that which gives you the most pleasure. For instance, you might have a minor interest in macro photography and photographing birds, but prefer street photography much more. In which case, you may do better not to spend time on macro or wildlife photography, and you therefore probably don't need macro lenses or large zoom lenses.
Based on my realization mentioned earlier of developing satisfaction within me, and assessments like in the previous paragraph, over a year ago I began a retraction, consolidation, migration plan. I sold all of the cameras and lenses I didn't want or need. I put most of the money from the sales into my home, buying furniture and household items I needed and that would be of use to me and any woman who might live with me. I did buy some new photography items with some of the money, but I ended with less equipment overall. The one new camera I bought was a digital rangefinder to replace the digital aspect of the SLR camera I sold. Now, I have only two cameras (a Zeiss Ikon and a Leica M8.2) and three m-mount lenses that work with both cameras.
As result of the implementation of this plan, I feel better and I'm concentrating on how to use my cameras and lenses better, how to get them to do what I want them to do. By focusing on what I can do with my camera, and not focusing on the camera itself, I think I'm becoming a better photographer. I think that that's making me more of an adult and helping me to be a better person in a truer sense and in more ways than one.
Tools
When I was a boy, I was fascinated by tools. If I went into a hardware store, I would look for a long time at the tools that were for sale and wanted them. I had no money to buy them and no reason for needing them: I was only eight years old when that fascination started to manifest itself. For me, tools were things that my father and grandfather used to make things: I would stand next to them in their sheds watching them work with tools. I wanted to be like them. It was a manly (as opposed to a boyish) thing to build and fix things with tools. The act of using tools and even possessing tools seemed to bring me closer to them. I still have tools, but over time I lost interest in possessing them. I have them now only to the extent that I need them.
Related to photography equipment, I sense feelings similar to those I once had for tools. When I was a boy, the adults had cameras. When the printed photos arrived a few days after a trip or an event, adults held them and they would look at them with great interest. Photos were the focal point of discussions during those moments. I would hear comments from the adults like, "That's a nice picture you took" and "When I took this photo, I was trying [to do something or other]". Making photos was what grown-ups did and admired. Now that I'm an adult, or rather now that I perceive myself as one, I should have a camera. If I want to perceive myself to be better than other adults, I should have a better camera--that seems logical. I know that many of us were taught as children that no one is better than anyone else. However, some people are better (e.g., smarter, stronger, prettier, etc.), and many of us want to be one of the better ones.
I'm speculating that what I have sought to achieve by getting a good camera is a sense of satisfaction, a feeling that I am an adult and I am better than others by having a better camera. However, the thing itself will not achieve the happiness I want, at least not for long. So I sometimes would think that I will find sustainable happiness with a better camera than the one I have, with more cameras and more lenses. To that end, I have bought more and more, better and better equipment. You can see this obsession in the photo below, which was taken in December 2008 of my equipment closet. At one point I had thirteen cameras and seven lenses. I had more money in photography equipment than the cost of a nice new car, but had no car. And yet, I was no happier and no better as a result of possessing them.
These things alone won't do it, they won't achieve sustainable happiness, as I realized a few years ago. The satisfaction that I seek has to develop within me.
I work in the computer business. I've worked as a programmer and done other such work, and now I write about computer software. But I am not fascinated by computers--not even a little--perhaps because adults did not have them when I was a boy. I'm interested only in what a computer can do for me. I'm not interested in the thing itself. For me, a computer is just a tool--in a true utilitarian sense, not like they were for me when I was a boy.
To enjoy truly cameras and related photography equipment, I believe, you have to be interested only in what they can do for you. To the extent that a camera you do not own will allow you to do what you cannot do with the one that you do own, you might shift from one to the other. For instance, if you own a Leica M8 camera, you might sell it and buy a Leica M9 to get a full-frame sensor to produce higher quality digital images. But there's generally little need to keep the M8 when you buy the M9. To the extent that you do not have time or energy for every form of photography possible, you might let go of certain forms and concentrate on that which gives you the most pleasure. For instance, you might have a minor interest in macro photography and photographing birds, but prefer street photography much more. In which case, you may do better not to spend time on macro or wildlife photography, and you therefore probably don't need macro lenses or large zoom lenses.
Based on my realization mentioned earlier of developing satisfaction within me, and assessments like in the previous paragraph, over a year ago I began a retraction, consolidation, migration plan. I sold all of the cameras and lenses I didn't want or need. I put most of the money from the sales into my home, buying furniture and household items I needed and that would be of use to me and any woman who might live with me. I did buy some new photography items with some of the money, but I ended with less equipment overall. The one new camera I bought was a digital rangefinder to replace the digital aspect of the SLR camera I sold. Now, I have only two cameras (a Zeiss Ikon and a Leica M8.2) and three m-mount lenses that work with both cameras.
As result of the implementation of this plan, I feel better and I'm concentrating on how to use my cameras and lenses better, how to get them to do what I want them to do. By focusing on what I can do with my camera, and not focusing on the camera itself, I think I'm becoming a better photographer. I think that that's making me more of an adult and helping me to be a better person in a truer sense and in more ways than one.
ricnak
Well-known
^great post.
Spicy
Well-known
Secondhand escorts and meth have poor resale value
anjoca76
Well-known
I haven't had GAS in 4 or 5 months, and in that time I've shot more than I ever normally would have. It's hard to deny that, at least for me, there is a direct correlation between gear preoccupation and lack of photographing. If you're looking at gear online, you can't also simultaneously be out shooting. It's impossible.
Anyway, to Joe's point, I don't know why we fuss so much with gear, but it's quite liberating--and more productive--not to, or at least try harder to limit it.
Anyway, to Joe's point, I don't know why we fuss so much with gear, but it's quite liberating--and more productive--not to, or at least try harder to limit it.
ray*j*gun
Veteran
Russell said it well (2 posts above) I love beautiful machines that do mysterious things ....... cameras are the perfect machine..... they don't even need gasoline.
Mcary
Well-known
Sure I have GAS nothing wrong with wanting something new or different in fact I'm currently trying to decided if I want to get a Zeiss 50mm F-2 to fill the gap between my 28 and 75mm or if a Nokton 35mm F 1.4 would be a better choice on the M8 as it would give me a good low light option. Either way I won't be getting either one until the end of the year so I'll just continue to enjoy shooting with what I have.