How do you deal with GAS?

Sirius Glass · Sep 21, 2009

How do you deal with GAS - Gadget Acquisition Syndrome?

1) Do you give in the the GAS and buy it immediately?

2) Do you think about the GAS for a while and then buy?

How do you handle a GAS attack?

I tend to do #1 and some times yield to #2.

Steve

eddym · Sep 21, 2009

Easy. I can't afford to buy anything that won't make me more money than I spent on it.

Ira Rush · Sep 21, 2009

Usually I go to my local CVS, with a prescription for DIRNI.

Sometimes I get the generic form, (way cheaper) comes in a bottle of 60 tabs. Since its generic its called Do I really Need It.

Usually after taking two tabs, about an hour later, I come to my senses and realize Hey, do I really need to piss more money away for something thats likely to sit in my camera bag Works every time geeand they say that aspirin is the wonder drug

mark · Sep 21, 2009

Show the item to my wife. She helps me forget it.

reellis67 · Sep 21, 2009

I used to have problems with always wanting new equipment, but one day I realized that what I really wanted most was the cash and time to be able to get out and photograph more with the one or two cameras that I used all the time anyway. We've done a number of 'material goods' purges over the last few years and I can say that once you realize how freeing it is not to be tied to a lot of material things (that don't get used because you have too many things to use them all, or the shine wore off after a time, or whatever) appreciation for what you do have will go up and you'll feel better in general, or at least that's the way it worked out for us...

- Randy

Sirius Glass · Sep 21, 2009

Randy, I do not know ... but every time I get a new lens for my Hasselblad or in the last GAS attack a SWC and I learn to incorporate it into my capabilities I feel really great and the feeling never decreases. It is the temptation of the next possibility that causes the rise in GAS and its discomfort. that is when I wish that I was born independently wealthy instead of being so incredibly handsome!

Steve

Tom Nutter · Sep 21, 2009

The longer I photograph, the more I realize I don't need so many things to get the job done.

Leighgion · Sep 21, 2009

Sometimes I give in to #2, but most of the time I can resist these days after some wasted hours eying the stuff. I find the best cure is picking up some gear that I have, taking it out and using it. Rarely do I give into #1.

mike c · Sep 21, 2009

Buy a big old watermelon and eat it,practice spiting seeds into a close wastebasket.It doesn't always work, but by the time you finish swiping up the seeds off the floor from the shots ya missed the GAS attack may have passed.

Mike

Dave Pritchard · Sep 21, 2009

Sirius Glass said:
How do you deal with GAS - Gadget Acquisition Syndrome?

First of all, it's Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

1) Do you give in the the GAS and buy it immediately?

2) Do you think about the GAS for a while and then buy?

Steve

I think about it for a while, then bid on several, and buy two. Then I see a few more that are "bargains". After a while, I discover that I need to learn to repair the bargain items so I can use them at all. Then I go buy tools and repair parts. Isn't that what everyone does?

jglass · Sep 21, 2009

I look at some Henri Cartier Bresson, or some Stephen Shore or some Walker Evans or some Andreas Gursky or some [you name the serious photographic artist] and remind myself that for art, one camera one lens is pretty much enough.

Then I go and ask my wife fersomejack. When she says, fuhgedaboudit, I load some tri-x and shoot her.

mike c · Sep 21, 2009

That's funny jglass.

jasonhall · Sep 21, 2009

Sirius Glass said:
How do you deal with GAS - Gadget Acquisition Syndrome?

1) Do you give in the the GAS and buy it immediately?

2) Do you think about the GAS for a while and then buy?

How do you handle a GAS attack?

I tend to do #1 and some times yield to #2.

Steve

Personally, I found unemployment to work wonders

It is, however, not recommended for everyone as staying on it long enough can and will reverse past effects of GAS.

Of course, once you have been infected with GAS, your chances of a relapse are very high.

To answer your question more directly, I tend to fall under #2 but at times I have been guilty of #1.

Jason

jasonhall · Sep 21, 2009

jglass said:
I look at some Henri Cartier Bresson, or some Stephen Shore or some Walker Evans or some Andreas Gursky or some [you name the serious photographic artist] and remind myself that for art, one camera one lens is pretty much enough.

Then I go and ask my wife fersomejack. When she says, fuhgedaboudit, I load some tri-x and shoot her.

That is very funny, thanks for the laugh! Next time I load up some Tri-x I will be hearing "BANG BANG" in my head

Jason

Dave Pritchard · Sep 21, 2009

jglass said:
I look at some Henri Cartier Bresson, or some Stephen Shore or some Walker Evans or some Andreas Gursky or some [you name the serious photographic artist] and remind myself that for art, one camera one lens is pretty much enough.

Then I go and ask my wife fersomejack. When she says, fuhgedaboudit, I load some tri-x and shoot her.

Are you wearing a large bowling shirt during all this?

mopar_guy · Sep 21, 2009

I don't understand. You seem to be insinuating that this so called GASS is a bad thing. If this is such a problem for you, perhaps you should see a shrink or something. However seeking professional help could bee very expensive. Why not buy a nice used lens instead. I bet you feel better already.
Dave

thisismyname09 · Sep 21, 2009

quite simply, i can't afford to buy anything, so I don't.

Ole · Sep 22, 2009

I did #1, until I discovered that I have everything I could possibly need and more than I can possibly use.

johnnywalker · Sep 22, 2009

Same as Ole, except something always seems to pop up that will be the "last" acquisition.

Laurent · Sep 22, 2009

As time passed (and wife says about twice a week "you DON'T NEED any other camera") I discovered that the cameras I have are really nice cameras, and that I need to use them more...

I've even sold some items so that I'm back to 2 LF lenses (was 5), 1 LF camera (I had 2), 2 TLRs (but one is for sale) and two 35mm (EOS3 is the serious one, the AE1P is my first serious camera and I can't sell it)... Makes me feel free and releases creativity.

Chris Nielsen · Sep 22, 2009

I don't like to think of it as GAS. When I lust after a piece of photographic equipment, usually it is because that item will let me do something that I cannot currently do. I always lust after more than one item at one time so I tend to make a spreadsheet up and list the items that I want, the costs, and try to prioritise them, and I also try to justify the item. Seeing how much money I am looking at is usually a fairly sobering experience. I then try and save up and buy the items in the order I've decided on.

calceman · Sep 22, 2009

Sometimes it is more than just about the item, it is about the price. So it is about buying a cheap bargain or investing into an expensive one. Any purchase will always be justified.

DWThomas · Sep 22, 2009

Usually I research the idea to death, tracking candidates on ePrey, reading reviews, etc., until the weird vibrations pass. But every now and then I fall off the wagon. By some of the numbers I see quoted, I don't have very many cameras, and several of them are cheap toys and/or no longer functional, but I've had them since they were new. The working ones get at least occasional use.

I am still sighing over 6x9 folders but haven't quite leaped for the brass ring yet. Ha, there was a Bessa II with APO Lanthar on that evil auction site last week -- starting bid $4200. I laughed until I noticed there was a bid -- that makes the new Bessa III look like a steal! (I know they are rare, but the word 'shill' popped into what's left of my mind.)

ricksplace · Sep 22, 2009

I'm building a house for my son. I bought a house for my daughter. Sure as hell cured my GAS.

colrehogan · Sep 22, 2009

johnnywalker said:
Same as Ole, except something always seems to pop up that will be the "last" acquisition.

Isn't this the truth! Or at least it seems to be for me.

How do you deal with GAS?

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