I have a friend (all declarations misdirecting blame start out like this, ha!) who has a Canon 7D and a 5D M2, with a host of lenses, mostly L lenses (about 10 of them), multiple tripods with fancy ball heads, reflectors of every kind, at least 2 TTL flash guns, yesterday he picked up the 85mm 1.8, multiple camera bags weighing in way past the carry on limit on planes! He has been shooting for the last 2 years, and is mostly a hobbyist/ weekend shooter and every once in a while, he will shoot a wedding for friends. And he does take beautiful wedding pictures.
Well, I sent him this article.
As a follow-up (and to basically ruin his day today), we talked about how many actuations he'd made since he bought his cameras. After a rough calculation we arrived at a figure of about 5000 shots, given that he's a occasional weekend shooter. Of which he accounted for maybe 400-500 keepers, say 10% of his shots (these are his estimates, not mine). So it works out at roughly around 35$ per picture till date (his gear cost him an estimated 17,500$). This was an immensely sobering thought for both of us.
After a prolonged silence at the other end of the phone, we both decided to take more bloody pictures! If only to bring the average price per pic down to less ridiculous limits!
Obviously we weren't being serious about putting a monetary value to a hobby, and if he can afford it, why the heck not? My irrational purchase of the year involved a lot more money and a BMW (luxury cars in India cost exactly twice the money compared to other parts of the world, due to a ridiculous duty structure, same goes for cameras and all electronic equipment). So to even things out (and ruin my day as well) we calculated how much my car is costing me per mile traveled, and it's an astounding 20$ per mile given the amount I've driven! &%@&%@&@%!
And then I pointed out the fact that my car's cost/mile is still less than his cost/picture. * grin *
So in conclusion, we'll both be driving like maniacs, in my car, to all parts of India, with a boot full of cameras, to help even the averages of our respective GAS attacks!