Growing out the phase of wanting every piece of equipment?

[mammothboot]

Is there anyone out there, having the same thought as me? I used to wow at every new product and would be hunting them reading the specs and features. But now, I am just like meh. Wonder if I am normal...

[Mathy]

Never! , cheers Deb

[Xenedis]

Is there anyone out there, having the same thought as me? I used to wow at every new product and would be hunting them reading the specs and features. But now, I am just like meh. Wonder if I am normal...

Pretty normal.

While I love and use good gear, more important than the gear itself is what I'm doing with it. At the end of the day, it's about the images.

I really don't follow camera technology much, especially as I'm not in the market for a camera.

I rarely upgrade gear -- I haven't bought a lens in over four years, and I've been shooting with my current DSLR for over two years.

I couldn't tell you the specs of any of the current-model Canon DSLRs beyond model designations and sensor sizes!

It's more satisfying to get out there and capture images you love rather than fretting over specs, prices and upgrade options.

Some wise person once said that it's better to want what you have than to have what you want.

[ricktas]

Wanting equipment is fine, if you are going to use it. Show us some of your photos!

[ameerat42]

Hi Mammothboot. (Weren't they all the rage in the Pleistocene)

Anyway, that lusting after gear is soon cured with a good dose of bankruptcy.
Cheers, and...
Am.

[mammothboot]

@XenedisSame as u! Been using my 2nd-hand D200 for like many years! Sometimes, I wonder if I shld upgrade to one with video recording capabilities and having a live view.

[swifty]

I've never been excited about 'every' new product. But I've always been and still am interested in the forefront of technology.
But just because something is interesting or has the wow factor, it doesn't mean I want it/need it or will buy it.
In fact, I tend not to buy 1st generation products and also prefer buying items later in its life cycle.
But leading edge technology (not just in the imaging industry) very much interests me, always has and probably always will so I doubt I'll grow out of the phase

[mikew09]

Hmm, normal to a degree I think. I am similar in a way. I have build up a group of useful items I use most the time and I don't really feel the urge to update with the exception of my camera body, but I have yearned for a FF for 2 yrs now and will likely purchase 5d3 next yr and then a 16-35, then replace my 70-200 f4 with the new 70-200 2.8 II and then the new model flash and a 100-400 L for my horse event work then maybe a ...., Oh hang on, I am nothing like you - maybe look at yourself again LOL

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[arthurking83]

.....

Anyway, that lusting after gear is soon cured with a good dose of bankruptcy.
Cheers, and...
Am.

I must be immune to this condition ... bankrupcy in perpetuity and beyond all reasonable doubt ..... and still lusting(and acquiring!


The only real surefire cure to gear lustfulness is to just get it all and be done with it.
You may well end up incarcerated for various financial indiscretions(so plan for the secure protection of your collection) .. but just think, in three thousand four hundred and seventy eight years, after release, you can play all you like with everything and anything you like(coz you got it all now!)

any other solution(to this problem) is just a bandaid, temporary pseudo psychotic patch job, that is eventually doomed to failure!

The Borg were right ... resistance is futile!

[kalley]

I find that wanting and getting are two different animals.

I'm still learning to take awesome photo's with my kit lenses. No point in my thinking of getting expenses lenses if you can't use the ones you have now.

Although I will buy a 24-105L F4 shortly as it fits in with what I want to make my main Photo Topics.

Nothing wrong with looking at specs and comparing them to what you have now.

Wish I would win the lotto, then I could spend more time creating art.

[Linton]

Pretty normal.

I couldn't tell you the specs of any of the current-model Canon DSLRs beyond model designations and sensor sizes!

It's more satisfying to get out there and capture images you love rather than fretting over specs, prices and upgrade options.

Some wise person once said that it's better to want what you have than to have what you want.

Very wise words and good advise, no amount of gear can replace the value of practicing your art....

[MattNQ]

My theory is...(in my best Anne Elk voice)

Number One piece of equipment you need...is a good eye for composition & lighting
Number Two is shooting discipline & technique

and the latest & greatest gear is way down the list in importance for a good photo...but I must admit that a nice lens makes life easier.

In a perfect world, I'd have a D800, D4 & the Nikon 'holy trinity' of lenses, but it ain't going to happen anytime soon.

But in the meantime, there are many photos waiting to be taken with what I have in my hand & many more things to learn - I figure if I'm not pushing my current gear to the absolute limit, I'm not trying hard enough...

[Analog6]

The only 'bell & whistle' I've seen that I'd really like is the tilting ciew screen - it would save my poor back and knees on those low level shots. Most of my gear is older.

[ameerat42]

The Borg were right ... resistance is futile!

I always took The Borg to be a collective noun, but this implies it is also a collector noun

[Snpsht]

Now I have a nice kit that I feel really comfortable with and am learning to use, all I want is a weather resistant lens because I love fog and rain. Pentax WR lenses are pretty reasonable, so I feel an early Xmas present coming on!!!!

Oh...and a light travel tripod. Then I suspect it'll be quite a while before any new gear finds its way to my door....I think the K-5 will always be a better camera than I am a photographer, so no point getting the latest and greatest if I am simply incapable of stretching to its limit!

[Wayne]

I am always interested in the forefront of tech gear, and I don't always have to have it, but I do often buy new toys. With camera gear, I pretty much have all I will ever need for quite a few years to come, but I'm always buying/selling to get later or better suited gear. I have spent the $$, now I just need to make more time to use it all.

[JM Tran]

From my experience, amateurs stock up on as much cameras and lenses as possible, professionals invest in lighting and modifiers.

[inplace]

I haven't bought anything for close to two years, purely because I don't use the stuff I have already enough and want to concentrate on a better technique above anything else.

[Xenedis]

I love good gear as much as anyone, but I spend more time talking about my images and the associated experiences than the gear I used to capture them.

Amateurs worry about equipment; professionals worry about light; artists worry about the image.

[WhoDo]

Amateurs worry about equipment; professionals worry about light; artists worry about the image.

Makes me an artist, I guess, although I doubt anyone viewing my images would consider them art, or professional when it comes down to it! Nice doorstop grab, though.