New Year's resolution: I give up!

I don't suffer so much from equipment "dissatisfaction", as equipment curiosity. My main digital shooter is the E-M5, and I have no need to upgrade it, but my secondary cameras come and go with astonishing rapidity, sometimes because I need to free up some ready cash, but most often because I want to try something else. I loved the X100, and when I look at the images I got with it, and the creaminess of the tonal transitions, especially in black and white, I wonder why the hell I sold it. I now have a DP2 Merrill, which I absolutely had to try. It's wonderful; pixel level sharpness is astonishing; and I may not keep it because I never tried the Leica X1 and have wanted to since they first came out at prices I could not afford. You can get them under $900 now, though even to do that, I'll I'd have to sell the Merrill. Stay tuned.
 
I've always suffered from GAS- and probably always will. I also collect high-end acoustic guitars and I've owned more this100 automobiles including some fairly exotic models. Why? Not really in search of "the pinnacle" but rather more simply enjoying the experience. I want to try them all! I enjoy learning the limits and capabilities of a new instrument, automobile or camera. Once I feel like I "understand" the machine- I'm ready to try something new. ADD? Yes. ADHD? Yes, that too. Easily distracted by every new shiny object? Obviously! But it works for me! LOL!

That said- there is a limit. With cameras I buy new and have a great history of selling my used gear on Ebay or elsewhere- usually for minimal loss. For collector guitars and autos, I tend to buy used and make money as often as I lose money when I re-sell. That's part of the joy; horse-trading! LOL!

As an aside, I was in a local camera store today to pick up a couple of small items and was looking over the beautiful new and used Leica gear. (I've never owned a Leica, btw.) As I was talking to the owner about Leica, we got to talking about the Leica M-E. He said, "The E stands for 'economy'" We both laughed at the idea that a $6000 body could be ever be considered "economy" and wondered at a world in which that is even possible. The search for "the ultimate" knows no limits, really.

So here's the bottom line for me: I LOVE to trade gear and learn new equipment-- always have and always will.

But I ALSO appreciate the need to actually "Do Photography" rather than just acquire new gear continually. If we never master our cameras and never use them we might as well be collecting antique cuckoo clocks or celebrity autographs. For me there is joy in BOTH aspects of the hobby- making photographs, and collecting/exploring cameras. Two hobbies with a common theme.

I resolve to take more photos in 2014. And I resolve to explore new cameras and new technologies as they enter the marketplace as well!

Steve
 
I had seen the first one but not the second one. Fascinating read!

I was considering buying a Nikon FF (initially sony A7/A7r as well) but I should probably wait and focus on improving my skills instead (I remain optimistic ;-) ).

There might be another reason to wait and focus on taking photos in 2014 and get ready for the big announcements in 2015 that may disrupt the industry. The organic sensor is coming in 2015...If it indeed offers unprecedented IQ from small sensors, there is no need for big sensors anymore and perhaps also no need for big, fast lenses. Fuji with an organic-sensor based x-pro2, Olympus with an organic-sensor based successor of the M1, etc etc. And I haven't even mentioned the grapheme sensor.


 
For me, theres too much, too often, and too expensive for me... at the time. It doesn't stop me wanting new gear but being as financially challenged as I am, theres a kind of brake on. I suppose I could have bought the Ricoh GR or the RX100 instead of the Nikon 1 stuff, but that was what I wanted at the time. I could have bought a lot of things which have been discussed on forums (RX1, you betcha) but I am not able to do so without selling nearly everything else I own and when it comes down to it, I don't really want to. So, like you, Jock, I am trying to make the best of what I have for now.
 
I loved the old E-420. Especially with the Zuiko 25mm f/2.8 pancake on it. Oly got it right with that little camera and the lack of IBIS didn't really make much of a difference if you knew what you were doing.


Meanwhile, I am actively working on paring down my photo kit and have let four cameras go in the past week.

I sometimes miss my E-510; the sensor in it produced very nice images; it fit nicely in the hand, and had an optical viewfinder. But my E-M5, which takes its place, has some benefits I enjoy. I find using legacy lenses with it more enjoyable, and the IBIS in low light is occasionally a godsend. But I understand your liking the E-system DSLR's. Even now I'm tempted to get an E-30, but I no longer have any original 4/3 glass, so micro will be my way forward unless I ditch it an move on to something else, which is very unlikely.
 
As somebody who is a lot wiser than I once said, "Happiness is not getting what we desire, it's appreciating what we have" ...there may be a little paraphrasing there but you get the gyst.

I think as human beings we do basically prefer less choices to have to make. I liken it to owning more than one of something, for instance - I have 3 keys for my motorbike but can never find one of them. The subconscious assumption being that if lose one then there are always another two somewhere, so I become careless with all of them and always have to go looking when ride time comes. If I had only one then I'd probably keep it safe so that I always knew where it was. Same with a certain medication I have to take periodically - a heart spray thing. I used to just have one to carry around with me, but the pharmacy have recently been sending a new one with every months ( sometimes 2 in a month) supply of new meds, so despite telling them they still come and I now have about 7 of them - and guess what? Yep, I can never find one and when I need it so have to go hunting again.

D :)
 
... prefer less choices to have to make.

Having fewer choices does make things easier... I remember when I first started in "real" photography (insert giggle) I had one 50mm lens and one film camera. Want to take photos... easy. Now I have so many I have to really think about what I want to photograph before I leave the house. Crazy. I need to get back to basics. Not necessarily one camera and one lens, but certainly not the sheer quantity of "stuff" I have right now.
 
Totally agree. I was made redundant from work a year and a half ago and aside from owning a 20 year old campervan that eats money, I have far less income than previously. Lots of gear I'd love to have but no longer possible. So am concentrating on what I have and trying to improve my technique instead.
For me, theres too much, too often, and too expensive for me... at the time. It doesn't stop me wanting new gear but being as financially challenged as I am, theres a kind of brake on. I suppose I could have bought the Ricoh GR or the RX100 instead of the Nikon 1 stuff, but that was what I wanted at the time. I could have bought a lot of things which have been discussed on forums (RX1, you betcha) but I am not able to do so without selling nearly everything else I own and when it comes down to it, I don't really want to. So, like you, Jock, I am trying to make the best of what I have for now.
 
Before eBay fees went through the roof I used to amuse myself by familiarising myself with typical sale prices of used gear, buying when the price was low, trying, and eventually selling at no (net) loss. The margins are a lot tighter these days so you either need to find screaming deals or be prepared to take a small loss each time. I have a much better idea on what I will and won't like now so I'm not prepared to lose money to try out gear that I never really wanted in the first place.
 
I've decided to join the "less is more" movement for 2014. As with all New Year's resolutions I'll probably fail at the first sign of a good deal on a tasty camera, but I'm really going to try hard to exclusively use my new DP1 Merrill this year.
All this talk about improving by limiting yourself to a single focal length and such.

To reward myself for making such an economically sensible decision I bought a new monitor :doh: I'm comforting myself with the fact that it was cheap and we needed it.
It's a Dell S2340L and I'm very impressed with it.
 
I'm feeling close to a liquidation. I'm really leaning toward the one camera, one lens bit for an entire year to see where it takes me. Many of the photographers who's work I respect the most did most of their work with a single focal length and really learned to do it well. Sell it all and get a GR or X1/2, X100, something like that.

Then on the other hand my latest toy with the 25-600mm lens opens up a ton of possibilities. I like the promise of mirrorless, but keep thinking it needs five years to get where I want it. If they made mirrorless that felt like my Canon dslr in tactile response and all other ways, but size and weight, that's where I'd be.

I have a couple of Olympus kit lenses for the 4/3 system, but not body at the moment. I keep thinking I should send KEH $90 for a E-500. That 40-150 is stellar compared to most kit zooms out there. The lenses themselves have almost no resale value.

I want to be the guy that picks a camera, and goes heads down for 5+ years and produces great work and then at some point wears the camera out and grabs another one and repeats that process.
 
Go for it, Ryan. Try it - you can always change your mind.

A couple of times we've had some "challenges" here on the forum where for a month some of us opted to shoot with one camera and one lens - or one fixed lens camera. I think for one of them I used my Fuji X10 at its widest angle.

I don't have an interchangeable lens set up...perhaps one day I will. For me, it's all about having a means to an end - and for me, it has to be easy to carry... One person's "easy" is quite different from another's.

Back to your idea - keep us posted with your photos!:drinks:
 
So, I give up. I am not going to pine for more choices. I am going to run the wheels off the cameras I already have, take them to -- and perhaps beyond -- the absolute technical limit of what they can do.

Well said. I recently reached this point. But I did not have the words to express it as well as you have.

Funny that the second that I settled in like this, I stopped making excuses like - "I can't shoot indoors sports in lousy light with my slow lenses and this body" and actually figured out how I CAN do just that. Sold off a bunch of stuff that overlaps and am down to a very slim kit of keepers.

I am beginning to believe that the single thing that has the very most potential for limiting my ability to shoot ANYTHING is... me. So I'll work on that for a while and save my dollars. I have everything I need. I just need to use it better.

Thanks!

woof!
 
Go for it, Ryan. Try it - you can always change your mind.
:

Yes, there is supporting evidence of that fact :)

I think I'm still somewhat in the kid in the candy store stage with my photography. I enjoy it all to some extent. But I'm also entertaining the idea that the best usually do one type and master that. It's a destination I want to reach and yet is somewhat at odds with the kid in the candy store.

I think the most important thing is to stay on the bus. Link is to "The Helsinki Bus Station Theory: Finding Your Own Vision in Photography" which is a great read if you haven't seen it.
 
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