jbq Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 I seem to be suffering from Equipment Acquisition Syndrome again. I just look at equipment catalogs and wish I could buy a few more lenses or accessories. Recently I've been looking at Canon's 135/2 and 85/1.2 and Sigma's 12-24, along with looking for a used Canon 300/4 (non-IS), and I even keep an eye on eB*y for Fuji's 6x9 rangefinders. This seems to happen to me each time I have a big workload in the office, i.e. each time I'm stuck for a while without having any time to shoot or print. Does anything similar happen to you? What makes you want to buy new gear? How do you fight it? As I'm writing this I'm getting ready to go spend a photography morning in San Francisco, so I'll see how I feel about that 135/2 when I come back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max g. Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Hi Jean, I know exactly what you feel like and what you are talking about! It is the most enoying thing ever! I get it all the time, what helps me too is taking some pics with what equipment I have, as soon as im not taking pics iv got my eyes peeled to some new lens or some deal. But I want to stop thinking about buying equipment all the time!! Is this normal among other people, to always want new gear? How do the lucky ones who dont always want new gear do it? More questions than awnser sorry, but I feel the same as you... Someone help us gear heads! :o) Thanks, Max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_levine Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Time to put away all the cameras & reflect.Or try heading out with a single lens & body for a month or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter_strong3 Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Don't bug me, I'm busy fondling my new 24mm F/2.8!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnabdas Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Try this one -- <P> -- Sit down with a pen and piece of paper<BR> -- Jot down approximate figures for the various savings you have made that you expect to be able to use after retirement<BR> -- Calculate how long you expect to be working professionally (Note: Those of us in the IT industry will likely burn out earlier than others -- I'm hardly able to see myself working effectively past the age of 45, even if I did, I'd likely fail to keep up with technology and/or younger blood) -- Predict how long you expect to live<BR> -- Jot down approximate figures for future savings until you retire<BR> -- Calculate your ballpark total earnings, including interest, in your lifetime<BR> -- Calculate how much money you would need -- to live comfortably until the day you die, by factoring in appropriate amounts of current and predicted future rates of inflation<BR> <P> All the above need not be very accurate, you can even do it in your head. Not sure about you, but whenever I go through this exercise it fills my mind with uncertainty and fear, and I feel lot less inclined to buy the next piece of equipment that I don't *need*. <P> If you still feel brave after doing the above then you really deserve to buy new equipment -- go ahead and just do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awahlster Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Bull it's a well know fact that the one that dies with the most toys wins. This is a very commonly disscused topic on the Canon FD group on Yahoo where guys like me have 11 FD mount bodies and over 45 lenses. And that don't include the Leicas, Brauns, Retina's, TLR's and couple of dozen misc. cameras. Mark W. Canon Acquisition Syndrome memeber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_fromm1 Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Mark Wahlster wrote "... it's a well know fact that the one that dies with the most toys wins." Mark, what's the point of a game that one has to die to win? Jean-Baptiste, just say NON! Cheers, Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_swanson Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 I find it is not a problem when I have a chance to use the new stuff. If I buy a lens and I can't play with it right away I feel like I didn't get what I wanted when I bought it so I need to try something else. I don't buy much camera stuff in the summer when I'm out using my camera but I buy alot in the dead of winter when I can't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max g. Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 well Mark W, you would not have a huge loss if you where so kind to make me a very happy man and sell me one at a very good price! :o) Max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Repeat as necessary: It's not the equipment. Some gear offers some advantages in certain situations, but if you are unhappy with your photos odds are you can improve without buying a single extra piece of camera equipment ... if you shoot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_finley Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 This is something new?? We old guys have had bad gas for years. Sometimes selfdiscipline will help control the gas pains but it always seems to come back. G.A.S. = Gear Acquisition Syndrome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 Avoid dairy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbq Posted February 28, 2004 Author Share Posted February 28, 2004 Z - a very wise piece of advice. I like the fact that it's not the usual clear-cut "equipment doesn't matter". I'm totally happy with my 420EX flash (before that, I couldn't get a decent indoor snapshot with flash), or with my 400/5.6 (because cropping 2x the long end of my 70-200 didn't cut it). Anyway, I had a great morning taking snapshots in the city, I mostly shot film (so that I could use normal-to-wide angles), though I was glad that I had my 10D with the lightweight 80-200 in my bag (one great opportunity in Golden Gate park). Heck, I even put 2 rolls of 400UC through my 6x6 Holga... Thanks everyone for the nice answers to my totally useless post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Currie Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 I have recently been suffering from "NAS," the Nikon variant, aggravated by the fact that I have an old Nikon, for which the lenses and accessories keep turning up at almost irresistable prices. I mean, I just got a mint bellows and slide copy attachment for fifty bucks. I know I don't need it badly, but how could I refuse? We've heard all the arguments. I guess it's a matter of perspective. Can you afford what you buy? Is it junk, or something durable? Of course, when you do have a chronic case of acquisition syndrome, rationalization comes easily, but I was jolted a little today, when I went to the convenience store for a cup of coffee. I have been agonizing over whether I should indulge in a bargain-priced KEH lens to complement the bellows - can I justify ordering another ~50 bucks, etc. etc. Then I noticed that the guy next to me had just rung up a $75 purchase for beer and cigarettes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constance_cook Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 For the past two weeks I suspected I was dead. There is nothing I want right now. I can't even think of anything I want in the near future. The only thing I have outstanding is a lens for my Voigtlander RS but I'm not worried or intense about finding what I might want. If I don't get something, I will at last have a camera to just look at. All the other equipment gets used more or less all the time. Maybe my doctor could make a vaccine to innoculate against NAS/GAS. Spouses might pay for the injection. Conni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted February 28, 2004 Share Posted February 28, 2004 With digital causing equipment to be dumped; I too buy spares and oddball stuff. I recently bought an Ebay Nikkormat FTn; with working meter; for 75 dollars; and 8 postage. The 50mm F2 Non Ai Nikkor-H was included too; and is perfect. I wonder if this combo will be only worth a few bucks in a decade. My 2nd Nikkormat FTn with 50mm F1.4 SC cost 301 bucks from Olden Camera 31 years ago. Cameras are not an investment; but tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverndude Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 Somebody PLEASE help me out here and identify and post the link to the brilliantly-written piece (relatively recently) on this site about the "You Don't Need More Equipment" vs. "The Equipment Is Everything" debate; wherein he stated; basically, if equipment acquisition is your bag, (and you can afford it), go for it and don't feel guilty. He said something to the effect that NOBODY thinks a Jaguar (or did he say Mercedes?) is about getting from point A to point B, so why is it such a sin to buy the photographic analog? Anything I'd try to add... was already stated MUCH better in that posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigfish Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 HI there, Need more be said?....anyway, sell all your equipment and buy a Mamiya 6 MF with the 50mm, 75mm and 150mm alongwith the 35mm panoramic adaptor. It's the only camera you'll ever need in the field, ever. It folds into smaller than a 35 mm, and you can shoot amazing 35mm panoramics too. You can pick up the whole set on Ebay for about 2000. End equipment blues now!brianwww.brianhallett.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilburn Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 It's a tough one all right. Never goes away. Self discipline helps for awhile but the urge always comes back. If you're unable to resist, then call yourself a *collector* and folks will *expect* you to purchase things :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_gage Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 I find when the itch hits I can usually get rid of it just by buying SOMETHING new, it doesn't always matter what it is or how much I had to spend. Thankfully I've got a soft spot of older cameras; so when I scratch the itch I CAN'T WAIT for USPS to drop off that $16 Canon QL-17 rangefinder from EBAY. I'd be in real trouble if it took a $1000 (or more) lens or camera to get me my jollies. As it is $100 is (almost) always more then suffice. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnystiletto Posted February 29, 2004 Share Posted February 29, 2004 I'm with Mark - I definitely have Canon Equipment Acquisition Syndrome, especially with FD lenses. I'm especially glad that I have both the original AE-1 manuals as well as the hotshoe cover and the PC cover. Oh, and let;s not forget the ugly brown leather hard case that it came with. Not bad for a camera older than me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_Lai Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 All last year, I had a bad case of NAS/NLS - Acquisition then Liquidation of Nikon gear. The final tally was that I spent more than $4500 after all the trading was done. Yet, I think that I have the equipment that I can live with, and I'm not too unhappy about the process. I still have occasional urges to get a 300mm f/4 AFS lens, but I've suppressed them (so far). Three things have made the gear buying very quiet lately:<p> 1) Angry spouse<p> 2) Income TAX<p> 3) New car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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