A Sinkhole of Money

[CMoore]

I got back into photography right about the time i joined APUG.
To put things in perspective, i was born in 1960, and first got into photography in high school. circa 1977.
At that time i had no idea that Canon made an F1. I thought my AE-1 was "the best" camera that Canon made.
By 1980 i was well ware of the F1, and of course the Nikon F2 and coming F3. Not to mention all of the fine Pentax, Minolta, and Olympus offerings.
But life intervened. I never got a Guggenheim, never worked for National Geographic or The New York Times...never shot Rolling Stone covers, etc etc etc.
Getting back into it "now", and seeing all those cameras i dreamed about as a much younger man, i went ape-shit on Ebay. I could not believe i could get a Nikon F2 for 100-200 bux.
But then the cameras needed a CLA.
I had WAY Too Many of them, and way too may lens, so i started to sell them off one at a time. I STILL need to sell some more, but at least i have gotten started.
I have not quite spent the same amount of money, but I can totally relate to The OP.
I got excited and bought way more cameras than i can use. Maybe, if i was 30, but not at 60. I need to pick just a few and become a better photographer. I do not have time to to be collector or an authority on all the different brands and iterations of the 35mm SLR; and I do not really care.
I just want to learn some of the "Tricks" and Ins and Outs of Black & White Film Photography.
I am VERY fortunate to have been able to convert a spare bedroom into a darkroom.
I got carried away with buying the "Cameras Of My Youth", and now i need to come to my senses.

 

[Arklatexian]

Now that I've sold off about 60% of my camera gear (all 35mm cameras and lenses except one), it's amazing how much money I have sunk into this hobby. Built up over the last 10 years, I had well over $10,000 in hardware! No wonder my wife gets angry from time to time (and is ecstatic these days).

This is not a critical comment towards others (or myself!) as that gear gave me immense pleasure during the past 10 years. You have to spend your money on something, as you can't take it with you.

I still have my medium format gear, and the digitals, which are worth next to nothing since time has passed them by.

Has anyone ever actually proven that you can't take it with you. That could be a ploy to keep you from continuing to put money in a "money-pit", whichever one it is. Remember, no one has been there and come back. Well almost no one.....Regards!

 

[Arklatexian]

I got back into photography right about the time i joined APUG.
To put things in perspective, i was born in 1960, and first got into photography in high school. circa 1977.
At that time i had no idea that Canon made an F1. I thought my AE-1 was "the best" camera that Canon made.
By 1980 i was well ware of the F1, and of course the Nikon F2 and coming F3. Not to mention all of the fine Pentax, Minolta, and Olympus offerings.
But life intervened. I never got a Guggenheim, never worked for National Geographic or The New York Times...never shot Rolling Stone covers, etc etc etc.
Getting back into it "now", and seeing all those cameras i dreamed about as a much younger man, i went ape-shit on Ebay. I could not believe i could get a Nikon F2 for 100-200 bux.
But then the cameras needed a CLA.
I had WAY Too Many of them, and way too may lens, so i started to sell them off one at a time. I STILL need to sell some more, but at least i have gotten started.
I have not quite spent the same amount of money, but I can totally relate to The OP.
I got excited and bought way more cameras than i can use. Maybe, if i was 30, but not at 60. I need to pick just a few and become a better photographer. I do not have time to to be collector or an authority on all the different brands and iterations of the 35mm SLR; and I do not really care.
I just want to learn some of the "Tricks" and Ins and Outs of Black & White Film Photography.
I am VERY fortunate to have been able to convert a spare bedroom into a darkroom.
I got carried away with buying the "Cameras Of My Youth", and now i need to come to my senses.

Don't kid yourself. I am 87 and I still see cameras that I would like to own. But there is at least one that I probably don't have strength enough to pick up and mount on a proper tripod, a Linhof Super Technika but it still tempts me. I found some years ago that basically there are only two things wrong with me. I can stand anything but pain and resist anything but temptation but age has tempered the second. So, I'll make do with what I have until I can no longer pick them up. Did anyone know that Hasselblads gain weight as do Rolleicords......Regards!

 

[Arklatexian]

My wife has been telling me for more than forty years to get myself a mistress and set her up in an apartment because it would be cheaper than my photography

Please tell your wife not to tell anyone what she told you. We don't want everyone to learn the truth about film photography. I must say, she sounds very perceptive.....Regards!

 

[benjiboy]

Please tell your wife not to tell anyone what she told you. We don't want everyone to learn the truth about film photography. I must say, she sounds very perceptive.....Regards!

I told my wife what you wrote, and she said "tell him I wasn't joking".

 

[Sirius Glass]

Don't kid yourself. I am 87 and I still see cameras that I would like to own. But there is at least one that I probably don't have strength enough to pick up and mount on a proper tripod, a Linhof Super Technika but it still tempts me. I found some years ago that basically there are only two things wrong with me. I can stand anything but pain and resist anything but temptation but age has tempered the second. So, I'll make do with what I have until I can no longer pick them up. Did anyone know that Hasselblads gain weight as do Rolleicords......Regards!

I took find that the Pacemaker Speed Graphic is heavy to carry around, but I do not find the Hasselblad with the PME prism heavy. What gets heavy with the Hasselblads is the other Hasselblad lenses which are made of metal not plastic. That is very different from TLR Rolleis which require a different camera for each lens. The slr Rolleis are just plain heavy.

 

[John51]

My wife has been telling me for more than forty years to get myself a mistress and set her up in an apartment because it would be cheaper than my photography

That's a brilliant idea. I mean the apartment, not the mistress.

You'd have all of the kitchen (or bathroom) for your darkroom. Living room and bedroom for a photographic studio and/or a workshop etc.

Best of all, when you're there, your wife will think that you're with a cost saving mistress. Win Win.

 

[eddie]

My wife has been telling me for more than forty years to get myself a mistress ...

It worked out well for Edward Weston.

 

[Helios 1984]

Don't kid yourself. I am 87 and I still see cameras that I would like to own. But there is at least one that I probably don't have strength enough to pick up and mount on a proper tripod, a Linhof Super Technika but it still tempts me. I found some years ago that basically there are only two things wrong with me. I can stand anything but pain and resist anything but temptation but age has tempered the second. So, I'll make do with what I have until I can no longer pick them up. Did anyone know that Hasselblads gain weight as do Rolleicords......Regards!

I just wanted to say that I find awesome that you are still able to practice your hobby and be with us on the internet at 87.

Godspeed!

 

[Sirius Glass]

My wife has been telling me for more than forty years to get myself a mistress and set her up in an apartment because it would be cheaper than my photography

Genesis 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “... Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; ..." There it is, you have been commanded to listen to your wife!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

That's a brilliant idea. I mean the apartment, not the mistress.

You'd have all of the kitchen (or bathroom) for your darkroom. Living room and bedroom for a photographic studio and/or a workshop etc.

Best of all, when you're there, your wife will think that you're with a cost saving mistress. Win Win.

But she'll know when you come home smelling like fixer instead of cigarettes and cheap perfume.

 

[benjiboy]

That's about all I could do now with this arrangement at my age Scott, notwithstanding the mistress

 

[ReginaldSMith]

I gave up Starbucks that I might be able to buy film. Just about a cup for a roll ratio.

 

[RattyMouse]

I gave up Starbucks that I might be able to buy film. Just about a cup for a roll ratio.

I'd rather give up film than Starbucks coffee. I get pleasure every day out of coffee.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I gave up Starbucks that I might be able to buy film. Just about a cup for a roll ratio.

I'd rather give up film than Starbucks coffee. I get pleasure every day out of coffee.

I'd rather give up Starbucks than film coffee.​

.

 

[faberryman]

I'd rather give up film than Starbucks coffee. I get pleasure every day out of coffee.

I don't have to get out of my pajamas to make my coffee just like I like it at home. Who wants to drive to Starbucks?

 

[RattyMouse]

I don't have to get out of my pajamas to make my coffee just like I like it at home. Who wants to drive to Starbucks?

I do. 5 days a week.

At home I drink UCC Coffee, brew #117. Incredible drink.

 

[eddie]

I'd rather give up film than Starbucks coffee. I get pleasure every day out of coffee.

I think this speaks volumes...

 

[removed account4]

i only go to starbucks when am meeting someone, other than that i drink stuff
that doesn't cost $3 a double. its the atomsphere one pays for anyways ( its the 3rd place and all that )
its not rocket science to make coffee, lots of differeent ways to make it, but still making it
at home with a bodum or saeco or joe dimaggio isn't quite the same je ne sais quois you get from
the speciial ambience you get from an overstuffed leather chair, people watching and hearing
and smelling the stuff associated with a coffee shop.. ( whether it is starbucks or someplace else )

 

[Theo Sulphate]

I love coffee. I've been drinking it since I was four years old (as a kid, going to the restaurant with my father, he'd order two coffees and the waitress would smile as she gave me coffee).

Anyway, I have had the pleasure of experiencing very good coffee in various countries all over the world. I realize tastes may vary, but to put this as diplomatically as I can, what Starbucks produces is less akin to coffee as it is to toilet bowl cleanser. As I've said before, if it weren't for first date meetups and free WiFi, Starbucks couldn't exist.

 

[RattyMouse]

I love coffee. I've been drinking it since I was four years old (as a kid, going to the restaurant with my father, he'd order two coffees and the waitress would smile as she gave me coffee).

Anyway, I have had the pleasure of experiencing very good coffee in various countries all over the world. I realize tastes may vary, but to put this as diplomatically as I can, what Starbucks produces is less akin to coffee as it is to toilet bowl cleanser. As I've said before, if it weren't for first date meetups and free WiFi, Starbucks couldn't exist.

It's great fun for a lot of people to bash Starbucks. I'm not sure why as it's one of the more responsible companies out there. Part time employees get health coverage. How many places do that? Part timers get stock options. I never got squat when I worked jobs like that when i was young.

Plus, they make a product that millions of people every day truly enjoy. No one is compelled to visit Starbucks. They are not selling a necessity. People go because what is offered for sale is worth their money.

It takes a special kind of person to find fault with this.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Some aspects of Starbucks' policies are good, as you mentioned. Other policies are irresponsible and very bad. I refuse to go into that in this thread.

As for their"coffee" - it's a matter of personal taste.

 

[removed account4]

It's great fun for a lot of people to bash Starbucks. I'm not sure why as it's one of the more responsible companies out there. Part time employees get health coverage. How many places do that? Part timers get stock options. I never got squat when I worked jobs like that when i was young.

Plus, they make a product that millions of people every day truly enjoy. No one is compelled to visit Starbucks. They are not selling a necessity. People go because what is offered for sale is worth their money.

It takes a special kind of person to find fault with this.

im not bashing starbucks, i can't afford to go there 5x a day for double espressos it would cost me about 15$/day to feed the monkey on my back.
couldn't agree more with your assessment of how they operate.
FULL BOAT of health insurance for part time ( vision, psych, health, dental )
FREE COLLEGE TUITION for part time
usually way more than minimum wage ...
30% off
free coffee
repurposing "mark out" food to food banks to help the homeless
they build dental and health clinics for their extended employees in indonesia, africa and latin america ...
employees get stock options only after working a certain # of years ( have to be "vested employees"
i can't rememer what the # of years is for "bean stock" i think 2, its not 3 months like getting health ins.

as i said if i could afford to give them $105/week i would, but their overstuffed chairs,
and speical ambience/atmosphere is more than i can afford ..
instead i fly solo..and make it at home..

sorry to say this, but their espresso tasted a lot better when they weren't using automated machines,
but unfortunately the drive thrus made it too much of a challenge to pull 20second shots with the atmosphere of the room
changing every x-minutes, causing a lot of wasted coffee and people waiting more than 30seconds for
their drinks.

 

[benjiboy]

Please tell your wife not to tell anyone what she told you. We don't want everyone to learn the truth about film photography. I must say, she sounds very perceptive.....Regards![

That's about all I could do now with this arrangement at my age Scott, notwithstanding the mistress

I think it's amazing that my wife ( I married more than fifty years ago ) still thinks that I can still do anything with a mistress

 

[MattKing]

Rattymouse and I don't agree on a number of things here on Photrio/APUG, but I wish I had the chance to help him get a darkroom up and running.
Over the years I've developed or encountered a lot of different solutions for the "awkward window" problem.