got $.. what to buy?

I've been selling off some gear I dont use. I should end up with about $1500.
I want to re-invest this in my photography hobby, but I'm at a loss of what to spend it on.

I know that purchases are a personal choice, but I do value the opinions of others and sometimes talking it through helps me alot.

here are my options so far:

I allready have some good canon FD gear. But I may want some of the unique expensive lenses like the 85mm f1.2 L and the 300mm f2.8.

One thing i do not have is a high-quality AF camera for fast action. I was thinking something along the lines of a Nikon F100 or EOS 3 and one or two good lenses.

Another option is to go for a really high quality rangefinder. I was thinking along the lines of a leica, minolta cle, or contax g2.

Off-topic I was also thinking about a Hasselblad or a Deardorff.

Argh! I finally have some dough to spend but I just dont know what to do!

Perhaps I should hold off on buying gear and spend it on studio time or a photo trip.

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

Fun should come first! buy yourself a nice, clean Zorki-1 or FED-1 bottomloader and a couple of old FSU lenses. A 50mm/f:2 Jupiter-8 from the fifties (first number of the serial is five) is the best value for money IMO as far as old FSU lenses are considered.

The Nikon F100 can wait.

Darkroom supplies. If you already do it, then more darkroom supplies.

I have a Omega D5500 for 4x5 and a philips pcs 150 for 35mm-6x7, along with a fair amount of equipment. I dont have a jobo or equivilent, but i havent had a problem processing by hand.. thats part of the fun!
Incitentally I dont have a focus aide like a microsight grain focuser.

Depends on what you want to shoot. Looking at your gallery, it looks like you shoot a lot of 35mm, but you also shoot a reasonable amount of landscapes. I'd try medium format. Hasselblads are nice (I love mine). They are a good compromise between negative size and weight. The mamiya C220/C330 cameras are really nice to use too and you can get a complete kit plus any needed CLAs for the price you are talking about. I had a C220 at one time and it really is a nice system. Hard to beat for the price. The other purchase that makes a huge difference is a good, carbon fiber tripod with head. I love my Feisol with Kirk ballhead. A high quality tripod and head is really important and a pleasure to use.

Buy my 4x5 so I can buy more gear for myself! Lol

Film and paper.

Treat yourself to a nice trip. Take your favorite shooter and 'yer sweet thang' for company, and have a good time.

Rick

Contax G2 & Zeiss..... or.... maybe if you can find a deal... Mamiya 7 (MF)

When I invest, I invest in things that are going up in value. Like paper and film. Don't buy gear just to get rid of money. Only buy gear if you constantly find yourself unable to do what you want to do with the gear you have.

Another point of view would be to spend the money on something you can get the money back out of, like a used camera that you know will hold it's value. You could try out a really nice Rolleiflex to see if it captivates you like it does others. If it doesn't then sell it and use the money on something else.

Dennis

I have GOBS of Graflex stuff for sale... and some lenses... and some vintage woodies from 4x5 through 8x10. Show me the money and I'll show you my stuff.

Wow, what a question--packed with possibilities. I just love my Nikon FEs. I bought two not too long ago. I got an EX+ FE/MD-12 combo from KEH for $238. This has to be the best $238 I have ever spent on camera equipment. The camera and drive are both very nicely made, and the FE takes non-AI lenses (you could buy a bunch of these). I also like my F3HP, and Canon F-1Ns (but you have FD gear already).

I had an EOS 3 briefly, but gave it up...too much plastic for my taste. However, is it a feature-rich camera with perhaps the best grip I have ever felt--truly anatomical. Personlly, between an F100 and F5, I would go for the F5. I use to own a pair of F100s, but decided to go back to MF (manual focus) gear a few years ago. If I were to go for another Nikon AF body, it would be the F5--a true tank of a camera.

My take on auto-everything AF cameras is, why use film then?

I'd go for a good rangefinder. Though Contax G belongs to the above definition: IMHO it is absurd to make a (badly implemented) AF rangefinder.
Otherwise, go for a Leicaflex SL or SL2 and a few choice lenses in order to enjoy the world's best manual focus viewfinders.... ;-)

darinwc said:

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

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Sounds like you are considering a lot of totally different directions. Nothin' wrong with that Why not just try a lot of things out first and aim for something that'll really give you some totally new experiences.

Rather than spending money on gear you don't even know if you need or not, how about using some of it to attend a workshop? Might be a better investment than a lens or camera that you might not even like better than what you sold to get it.

Or, for medium format, a Pentax 6x7 system can be gotten very cheaply now.

Depends on what & how you shoot....

I did not read most of the thread, but my recommendation to what to do with the money will not be different.

The smartest thing to do with that $1500 is: Not to spend it.
I know we all love new things. And shiny things. And new gear. And more stuff. It's all cool.

I am a 21 year old Business Major and I recommend not to buy anything right now. (assuming you still have at least 1 or 2 cameras to use)

Here is the scenario that I present to pull out a fantastic result.
-Take that $1500 and put it into a CD at the highest gain possible. The banker/credit union employee/etc. will probably tell you (if you ask nicely) what the best yield at the current moment is. Time does not matter but if it goes over, say, 3 years, you might want to reconsider and do a 3-year option.
-In 3 years (by my quick financial calculations), $1500 put into a CD at 5% will yeild= $1,736.44 (before taxes)
-Because of the onset of digital photography, film equipment is losing it's value. In 3 years (a very small amount of time where you can learn more about photography instead of just buying equipment and shoot with the cameras you did not sell). Just look at the prices from 3 years ago in the new AND used markets!
-All the gear you want to buy will have gone down in value substantially in 3 years and you can purchase MORE of it with the ENHANCED amount of money you have. The US economy will either have gone back up by then or went in the toilet completely. I (myself) would like to have an "$1800 crutch" if the economy turns sour again. And hey! if it doesn't then you've got about $1800 to spend on camera equipment that is still the same quality that it was 3 years ago. A Leica M7 is still a Leica M7. A 'Blad is still a 'Blad. An EOS 1v or a Nikon F100 is still the same camera it was three years ago.
-What if some new technology comes out that completely and utterly revolutionizes the photography world? Something that completely outs the Bayer/Foevon sensor(s)? Something to bring film back into the light completely and tells digital to gtfo? Something completely and utterly unexpected. Wouldn't you like ~$1800 to get it?
-Tastes change and so do markets. The short story is that things are always changing and the long run is better than the short run. \

And that just covers photography! What if something happens to your house, your car, your family, you, or anything else? Wouldn't you want ~$1800 to cover that event rather than just take pictures of it?

In short: don't spend the money and think of it as an investment in future gear instead.
Questions?

TheSohnly said:

I did not read most of the thread, but my recommendation to what to do with the money will not be different.

The smartest thing to do with that $1500 is: Not to spend it.
I know we all love new things. And shiny things. And new gear. And more stuff. It's all cool.

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Must be someone who has never had GAS.

Steve

Sirius Glass said:

Must be someone who has never had GAS.

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And (not to impugn well-intended advice) but CD's? Might as well put it into a low yield checking account. What CD's are paying 5% anyway?

if this is to be considered bonus cash there isn't any reason to bank it
Certainly not bank it for a measly $100 a year, if that

3 years!!!!!! DAYUM.

I'd think you'd be better off in "this economy" to buy rather than save as prices now are likely lower than they'd be when "this economy" turns upfield



My advice
Wait till RED hits 10 or more times in a row then martingale BLACK
Sit there all day waiting for such a consecutive streak to place a $20 almost hoping to lose the first few bets so you can win one worth a few hundred and then do it all over again the next day -likely- and soon enough you'll be in your car heading to photo-rama to buy that MF

I agree... this is definitely a buyers'/investors' market. This is no time to be shy.

If you will send me your money. I'll send you some of my stuff. For $1500 I could send a Durst 1200 and either a Canon F-1n Olympics edition and several lenses including the 17mm or maybe a Bessa II folder.

Seriously $1500 should give you an opportunity to try a couple different formats to see if that was the direction you wanted to travel and if not get get out without getting hurt too bad or perhaps not at all. Just for fun you could buy a Diana +, a pinhole, some film and chemistry and still have almost all your money. A Bessa folder might be a fun venture (Bessa RF or Bessa II) If I were using the Canon system, I would be very tempted by the 85mm f1.2. I use Olympus OM and my 85mm f2 is almost always on the front of one of my cameras. For what I like to shoot it is a near perfect focal length and I often like to shoot it wide open. I know this probably doesn't help a great deal, however you don't need to spend all your money. Get your toes wet and then see where it takes you. $1500 will take you a long ways. I recently bought a complete mint Zone VI 4X5 kit for $1200. Include camera, lens, Pentax Zone VI digital meter, tripod, head, case and a bunch of other stuff. Bill Barber

David Brown said:

Film and paper.

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exactly

I'm glad my advice was so well received

Regardless of how the money is saved (CD/stocks/bonds/mattress_in_the_back_room), I still say that now isn't the time to buy film stuff. It will keep going down and down in price until it hits a bottom. By arbitrage definition, it will probably meet the price of scrap metal AT the bottom when digital gets too enticing for people.
You can even find people that don't know what they have and get it for dirt cheap because of it. Use your friends, coworkers, craigslist, thrift stores, and garbage sales.

Putting that money away and concentrating on technique instead of gear is a revised solution and will help you more than buying a new camera or lens. It might even help clear that nasty G.A.S...
(btw, I DO have G.A.S. but i've since used T.U.M.S. to clear it up. I've only got 5 or 6 as of right now but it's down from the 20 or so I used to have )

TheSohnly said:

I still say that now isn't the time to buy film stuff. It will keep going down and down in price until it hits a bottom. By arbitrage definition, it will probably meet the price of scrap metal AT the bottom when digital gets too enticing for people.

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I disagree. For instance, prices for some of the higher end Olympus OM gear is slowly going UP. Digital guys are using the lenses on their Cannons.

Zuiko 100 mm f2.0 = $1000.
Zuiko 24mm f3.5 Shift = $2500+.
Zuiko 180mm f 2.0 = $3500+.
Zuiko 250mm f2.0 was $4500 and I cannot even find one for sale now.