Although I enjoyed the article very much, that does not work for me, here are my ramblings...
I also went that way when I got an x1, sold everything else to pay for it... Guess what, it all started over once the honeymoon period was over, but I sure do regret that period, it was liberating. So was the period with the grd4 but the difference being that I kept the other gear safely. I have now got a nex5n and have kept my rx100, omd and lenses for now and see what happens.
One thing I have learnt "with me" is that most of my gear choices were compromises. That's normal you would say, any equipment comes with compromises, so the trick is to understand that there is no UCAM that will ever exist and that we need several pieces of equipment. We just have to hold onto our equipment for some time before selling again, that is of course if money permits... When my wife will see my VISA bill come in at the end oft he month I’m going to get a hell of a lot of pressure to get rid of so called redundant equipment…
One other thing I have learnt is that by looking at so many great shots all over the web, I tend to want to reproduce that shot and unconsciously I need the gear that was used to make that shot. To take a contrapoint to what I have just said, I sometimes get bored of what I am shooting, and that getting some new gear triggers my photography into something else.
I tend to not have enough confidence in my own abilities and seek compensation with purchasing some new gear that will help me achieve my vision, thus confusing the means and the ends.
GAS becomes a problem when it get's out of control and prevents us from taking pictures. When I finally have the appropriate gear I will truly be dedicated to taking pictures and moreso, taking better pictures... That will never happen. The gear is only part of the equation… Some will say that you can make very good pictures with any type of gear! I adhere up to a point : we cannot force ourselves into taking a certain form of picture that will suit the gear…
We all have natural inclinations towards a certain type of photography and the gear is what will allow us to achieve the vision, so I don’t think telling someone to put up with his current gear is going to help him, this person would be better helped by helping him define the type of pictures he want’s to take at this time, but I personnally get lost in the flickr realm with so many temptations of other cool shots that I don’t invest sufficiently in the gear I have…
But is that really a problem ? I’m not so sure, most of us are looking to create a kind of signature to our pictures, looking for a recognizable style… It may work for some but not necessarily for other, I felt better about that when I viewed Harry Callahan’s interview in « Vision and Images » (go tot he end of the page here :
thef8blog: Life, cameras, passion » (f/8) TV: Street Photographers), this guy actually says that once you have achieved a vision you are stuck, it’s time to move on, that certainly is at the other extreme of the spectrum.
I know people under heavy GAS who got a M9 under the belief that once they got the equipment holy grail that they would no longer have any excuses for not taking good pictures, that GAS would be cured… The magic wore off in many cases and they sold their equipement and GAS crept back in. That actually happened with me with a 5dmk2 so I'm not here to give any lessons, only my experiences.
When I got the OMD I thought OK now old lad, invest in this system and commit to it. I got a bunch of really good lenses but I didn't use it as much as I should have. Something was wrong, my excuse is that I'm missing depth of field. So I got a Nex5n and threw a nokt 50 1.1 and 35 1.2 at it. With this combo I'm under the illusion that I have something that can be kept small when needed and give me the option to use cool lenses with less short DOF penalty than with the m43 systems. This investment is done with the hope to be able to use these lenses on a FF camera.
So I'm making an experiment, I'm going to work with the 5n + zeiss 24mm f1.8 (when stock permits...) and the nokt 50 f1.1 with close focus adapter and and extension tubes, this gives me a versatile 35mm and 75mm with lots of DOF control and take along the rx100 and see what happens. Christ, I could even take the nex5 kit lens with instead of the rx100 but that means changing lenses too many times and it is not so well suited for close candids (shutter noise comes to my mind).
Where is the camera industry headed? God knows, but many people I talk to would be quite happy to have something like a FF ricoh or Nex that would accept all our lenses. Imagine a Nex FF on which you would configure the crop size to use a nokt 50 1.1 as an equiv. 50 or 75, the view finder would show of course the cropped picture. Take that idea down to 2 or 3 crop factor, there is still a lot left in there to make a good picture. That would be possible with the sensor used in the nikon d800, once croped to APS-C or more there would be plenty pixels left for the shot! UCAM? Sure not, but better than APS-C vs FF dilemna, a smaller body than a reflex is all I ask for, it could be amde smaller than a M9...
Talking with the owner of one of my prefered local shops here in Geneva, he is convinced that the camera industry is going towards cameras with larger sensors. The compacts will gear up to survive the camera phones and the FF will become more common than they are today. From my perspective that is what I believe will suit me, the rx100 took the lead in that trend and let’s see if this Nex FF rumor isn‘t just vapor…
So here I am facing my own GAS, believing it is a problem. I’ll tell you what, forget believing it is a problem because that may well be the primary problem of gear addiction for many, it has to be gone through and time and taking more pictures will dissolve it to a certain extent. Focusing on the problem and seeking solutions to it only reinforces the problem, it's a universal psychological tendency. Fight or flight the problem? Neither, don’t care, say WTF and see what happens, you’ll end up taking more picture. Will it cure GAS? Don't care
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I say to myself, feel good, be happy and take pictures, it's not a cure, there's nothing to be cured.