What was your biggest-ever waste of money in photography?

<p>What was your biggest-ever waste of money related to photography? It could be gear you never use, clunky software, worthless workshops... anything.</p>

<p>I'll start off: About 5 years ago, I bought an underwater case (maybe around $150) for a specific model of Canon point-and-shoot. It sat proudly on my shelf for years while I never ever went anywhere it would be useful, and the camera it fits is now long-obsolete.</p>

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<p>every flash I ever bought....present count is 5 of the things. Yeah, all better than the last one. And when I actually use them, they are the only way to do that particular picture. Trouble is, I only do that particular type of photography about once a year. Give me a ridiculously high ISO, and a really fast prime lens....and I'm in my glory. so, the other 364 days and 23 hours a year, the flashes all sit on the shelf.</p>

<p>When my Pentax K1000 was playing up, I bough a Pentax MZ30 to be getting on with. I didn't like the plastic lens, the AF or any of the other automated settings. I repaired the K1000 and went back to using that. When I sold the K1000 after going digital, I threw in the MZ-30 for free.<br>

I wish I still had that old K1000.</p>

<p>Nikon D100.</p>

<p>I bought a Holga and used it once. The quality was too high. Seriously.</p>

<p>Camera bags! Always searching for the perfect one. This madness has slowed down in the last year or so because now it's the perfect photo vest. I suppose in a couple of years I'll have a few hanging in the closet while only useing the latest 'this is the one'.</p>

<p>Peter, forget the K1000. Get a Spotmatic II or a Spotmatic F, have it CLA'ed and keep on the lookout for 2 or 3 of your favorite focal lengths in screwmount Super Taks. Yeah, I know, stopdown metering but you'll have one of the finest kits to ever come out of Japan and you can check DOF visually as you meter. As much as I like Pentax the lack of DOF preview on the K1000 always bugged me.</p>

<p>A cannon 20D. Lasted one day before I took it back, felt like something you get free with a Christmas cracker!</p>

<p>A laserjet printer, together with the never ending supply of cartridges that it consumes. I've long since stopped feeding the monster and now send my files to an online company for prints.</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

<p>Alan</p>

<p>Biggest waste was a Kodak film scanner I bought several years ago. Scan quality wasn't that great, and the software was so full of bugs, I was lucky if I could complete two scans without it locking up my computer. After about a year and a half, they finally released drivers and software that would allow me to get through three or fours shots without a total lock up. By far, the worst bit of equipment I've ever bought.</p>

<p>Bronica SQ-A... not a bad camera at all, but I wanted to be able to change the lenses and have 2 backs, as a result, since I shoot black and white only the extra back wasn't useful, the whole thing was too heavy and cumbersome, I didn't use it much. I sold it for a cheap price, I really spent too much on it. Now I'm happy with my Yashicamat 124G. Better know what you need before you spend.</p>

<p>A 500mm mirror lens. I forget the brand. It made donuts and I think I used it no more than twice. I think I bought it at a camera show. Also a camera with screw mount lenses and I can't remember the brand now. I never used it. There are more but they are also emminently unmemorable. Sometime ask what are the best things I have bought. There are a lot of those. </p>

<p>Mamiya RZ67 with several backs and lenses, about 9-10 years ago. I wanted to improve the results I got with my Hasselblad. I shoot B&W. The results were worse and the camera was even more annoying to use. I swapped it for a Deardorff, instantly losing around $1500.</p>

<p>Three different Epson inkjet printers. They were ink hogs, constantly plugged up on Epson original inks, banded and needed repeated cleaning, and eventually each one went majenta when the printheads went out. They all ended up in our landfill. I've learned to enjoy my photos on the monitor and only send out for printing the few that hang on our wall or go to State Fair.</p>

Large wooden contact print frames. I intended to try platinum prints from 8x10 negatives but never did. They sat for years in my closet. Happy ending though, I had bought them for $12 and sold them on eBay for $70 each.

<p>Norman 200B flash units. I bought two of them for wedding work and they were very expensive. They would break down (<strong>both) </strong>at the same time and often. If I recall right, I bought them after attending a seminar and the wedding guru at that time used them and recommended them. To say the least (after that), I didn't trust anyone who recommended products at their semimars. <br>

Tom </p>

<p>Ink cartridges for printers. The cost of these are so ridiculous that it just sucks value out of the digital camera. If you hold the DSLR up to your ear when the wind blows, you can hear money falling out of your pockets. These little wonders are partly to blame. Ink cartridges for printers. </p>

<p>Don't own enough gear yet to have made a mistake, so this thread is good for me :)</p>

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<p>Ink cartridges for printers.</p>

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<p>This reminds me of my old Epson.. when I went to buy more ink, the ink was more than the printer cost! The other thing that bugs me about inkjets is that the cartridges dry up if you aren't using the printer alot. Seems like a waste to me. However, I'm sure the larger, professional Epsons are great.<br /> <br /> I have since picked up a HP color laserjet that is excellent for the printing I need to do. It doesn't work for any serious prints but it does a great job if you need proofs or color flyers. I've printed thousands of sheets over the last couple of years and still haven't replaced a single cartridge, although the black is getting close.<br /> <br /> For prints/photos I just go to the lab. Much more economical for me.<br /> <br /> The only peice of photography equipment I really haven't been happy with was the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 EX Macro I bought. It wasn't sharp wide open at all, and even stopped down it wasn't sharp at the wide or long ends. I put it on my F100 once and couldn't beleive how small of an image circle it cast, seemed like it could barely cover a DX sensor. Surprisingly when I went to sell it, I got about 85% of what I paid for it. So all-in-all I guess it was like a Honda Civic, not an amazing car but it held its value!</p>

<p>Both ink jet printers I bought, and the EXPENSIVE photo paper to go with it.<br>

There's nothing like the frustration of throwing out page after page of expensive paper on premature printing because the ink is so expensive you don't want to waste it by printing proofs on cheap paper!<br>

I haven't printed a photo myself in years now. Digital C-prints look SO GOOD and are SO CHEAP... I don't understand why anyone bothers printing their own.</p>

<p>A Tamron 70-300 macro lens. It didn't go into "macro" until you had it set to at least 180mm. And of course at anything between 180 & 300 mm the lens was so soft it was worthless. It wasn't very good as a regular telephoto zoom, either. </p>

<p>Nikon D70. I gave it away.</p>

<p>A $400 ADB Mac connection Wacom tablet I never used when I first got into digital imaging. I didn't even have a camera at the time. I was teaching myself all the technical aspects of computer hardware and software in how it affects screen to print matching on a consistent basis.</p>

<p>With that world of confusion time and money just slipped away while the Wacom tablet sat in the closet. Ten years later and two computers and OS upgrades the tablet was slow, incompatible and obsolete. I gave it away to a Goodwill type organization for senior citizens.</p>

<p>And oh, I forgot. I also have a $600 Epson 1270 I only used to test prints on. It's up in the closet replaced by a $75 Epson "Three in one" scanner, copier and printer. I'm not going down that road anymore.</p>

<p>The Canon EF 28-200 lens. WTF was I thinking?</p>

 

<p>A Bronica SQ from the 60s. The prism viewfinder is always dark and the shutter sometimes just doesn't fire at all. I took it to the repair shop and the two guys there told me all about the lousy cheap screws the company used at the time and how they could have lost the store if they guarateed work on those Bronicas past 90 days... Now it's a paperweight, and I feel too guilty to try to sell it to anyone.</p>