why are we addicted so badly?

Funny reading this post. I recently bought a camera I always lusted after, a Hasselblad Arcbody with 35 and 45mm lenses. Thought once I got it I really needed to concentrate on getting the best possible results I could from that system and resist any GAS situations. Stay away from Classifieds and concentrate on what I have got. Well 2 weeks and I still haven't been tempted but once an addict always an addict:) Real learning curve with Arcbody though and hopefully that keeps me engaged.
 
noisycheese said:
Q: Why are we so addicted so badly?
A: Marketing etc.
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I agree 200% with what you write, still this doesn't explain the addiction to buying old gear. They must have something, like Kirk Tuck writes about a recent Leica product they must have been soaked in heroin, nicotine and some other dangerous drugs.

I have a slightly different theory. I think that people coming to photography form some kind of art or business are not so much at danger. People who come from the art school and use a camera as part of their tools are often happy with a P/S. People who sells watches and wants to learn how to take good pictures of what they sell are not at danger, they buy a DSLR build a softbox and there they go. I suspect that the rest of us come from a background in which we were told that good photography was natural (low) light photography, hence photography which needs fast lenses. Eventually we were also told that there are expensive lenses, made by elves in the Black Forest, which give a special three dimensional feeling to our pictures and turn every boring image of a cat or a dog into a work of art and there we were screwed... It doesn't matter that even HCB was not shooting completely open and that at f5.6 most lenses are very good, we just believed that his pictures were better than most because of those special lenses he had access to. Of course those lenses should be mounted on a special camera which is silent, vibration-free and give a special tactile feeling which change the mind into that of an artist. Eventually most of us come back to reason and we now know that all this doesn't help that much but the addiction is here and it is not going away so easily. I notice this myself, there is no cure, if I buy something I really need, such as a reflector, a PocketWizard, chemicals, 20 rolls of film or a book which gives me more inspiration than any gear one can have, I never feel so happy as when I buy yet another 50mm lens. I come home thinking that NOW I will be able to finally take that special picture and then, when I am working I reach always for the same reliable, not so new, DSLR with the standard zoom or the 100mm macro manual focus...

GLF
 
I've been one of the worst gear heads but I'm now at a point where I've bought, sold and traded for all the gear that enticed me, and I'm happy with what I've got. Luckily I was not pulled into the digital photography gear arena which pretty much guarantees never ending upgrades as the technology quickly evolves and improves.

Within financial constraints and responsibility, I have indulged my desires and am now pretty much done and free of GAS.
 
FrankS said:
I've been one of the worst gear heads but I'm now at a point where I've bought, sold and traded for all the gear that enticed me, and I'm happy with what I've got. Luckily I was not pulled into the digital photography gear arena which pretty much guarantees never ending upgrades as the technology quickly evolves and improves.

Within financial constraints and responsibility, I have indulged my desires and am now pretty much done and free of GAS.
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testimonial #33...:angel:
 
Why not,

That is what happened to me eventually. I got all of them, Voigtlanders, Noktons, Leicas, Summicrons - the lot.

3 years on, got tired of ebay & flushing money down the drain. I kept what I loved most - I set my limit to 2 cameras and 4 lenses.

All the rest have gone and I couldn't be happier.


The lust for gear evaporated when I realised that my best shots were taken with a Zorki 4 and a Jupi 8; back when I was passionate about the pictures and not about the gear.

So off they went.


This addiction to gear is so bad on so many levels.
 
for me it's the curiosity of trying a different camera, lens, film that gets me.
i know i can take good pictures with any cameras but i'm just very curious to see what I can do with different combinations
 
My previous "I'm done" declarations were admittedly premature so I understand your doubt Joe, but I'm being sincere. One day I'll spring for a good digital camera, likely a fuji given the direction their last few models are heading.
 
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