If only I stopped buying cameras 15 years ago...

film_man · Jul 23, 2017

Warning: This is just a long story about what GAS can do to a person and how in the end, it is all a circle. Feel free to ignore and move along

My first camera (as in the one I bought with my own money), was a Canon EOS 300. Quickly I graduated to a 30E, always drooling over the 3 and the 1V. Eventually I sold the 30E (kept the 300) and got a Nikon digital system. Went from the D70s to the D2H, to D2X (plus some other digital stuff over the years) and then back to medium format film. At that point, I decided to get a 35mm camera as they were dirt cheap. What better than getting a EOS 3 for nothing, I could even use my first 300 as backup. Eventually I replaced the 3 with a 1V.

At some point I decided to try some Zeiss lenses and what better way than on a Nikon FM2n, as a manual Nikon is something I always wanted to try. I loved that so much I decided to drop the 1V and get a F100 to accompany the FM2n, both as backup but to use the AF lenses too.

Well..that didn't last long...at some point I though I don't need 35mm much, I just shoot medium format anyway (have I been here before?). So sell everything only to realise I do want 35mm as MF can be a drag to carry around. So back to a Canon 3 as I'm thinking I only want 35mm for convenience, right? So that's AF. And if it is AF I'll get a Canon as I still have my first EOS 300 and why not have that as a backup (eeeerm...I really have been here before).

But then somehow I end up with a Summicron-R 50/2 which is great to use on the EOS 3...apart from the stop down metering. And I'm looking at the pictures and I'm thinking...this Leica stuff is great...so there's an R8 arriving a few days later. And obviously what do you need some Canons if you have the R8, so sell the EOS 3 and get a backup R8, so now I have one in black and one in silver. And a few lenses. At this point I should have sought professional help but...

All would be good till the point where the lack of AE lock is just too painful and I'm thinking my eyes are just not up to scratch for manual focus anymore. So back to a EOS 3 (is this my 3rd now?) for a week as there I go walking around and I find a EOS 1N for £49. Fourty.Nine.Pounds. Grab that, sell the 3 and make £50 profit. Did I just have a free 1N? Done.

But not done. The 1N is great...but heavy. And big. Just like the 3 and 1V were. So...here's the solution. An EOS 30. See, if only I stopped buying cameras 15 years ago I would have saved myself a bit of money (admittedly not that much since I hardly ever make a loss worth mentioning when buying/selling gear).

The end. Oh no wait. See, I wanted a macro lens a few months ago. I could just get a macro on Canon mount but there I am looking at an F3HP and a 55/3.5 micro for less than £200. Which is roughly the cost of a reasonable macro lens for the Canon. So now I have the F3HP. And that 50/1.2 kept winking at me so there it is too. And while I'm at it...I really like the shots from the 85/1.4 (had one with the FM2n and F100). So I'm looking for one of those too now. And if I find one...well wouldn't it be great to have a AF body for it, say a F100...

At least the EOS 300 has always been there for me.

DOES IT EVER STOP?

Sirius Glass · Jul 23, 2017

No.

Well for some of us, like me, yes. I learned my lesson and bought Hasselblads and their lens. GAS stopped abruptly after that.

JensH · Jul 23, 2017

DOES IT EVER STOP? No. I hope it takes some time until a Markina 67/670/W67 or Mamiya M7 appears to your eyes... you like MF without too much wight, don't forget. ;-)

Have fun
Jens

Craig75 · Jul 23, 2017

its just light tight box with a shutter

Theo Sulphate · Jul 23, 2017

I have just one camera and about 85 classical guitars.

Or is it the other way around?

There's probably some guy out there in APUG land who has only one camera and is perfectly happy.

Ok. I'm happy, too, but for different reasons. Having many cameras and using them all can be enjoyable. I did have just one camera and one lens for 15 years, but I always enjoyed reading about different cameras and their features: the different viewfinders, metering systems, and even the way they looked. I never felt one was vastly superior to the other or that buying a certain camera would improve my photos. Like cars, mechanical watches, musical instruments, or most hobbies, variety itself can be fun.

It's fun to hold, use, and compare a Nikon S2 rangefinder with a Contax IIIa or Leica M3. It's nice to feel the solidity of a Nikon F2, the simplicity of a Canon FTb, the elegance of a Minolta SRT-101, and the sophistication of a Leica R8.

Moving up in format, Hasselblads, RB67's, Fuji 6x9's, and Rollei TLR's are wildly different, but each has their own charm and advantages.

Having a lot of cameras is like exploring a different world. I can make decent photos having just one nice camera, but having many doesn't detract from being able to do that. Contrary to what's often stated about people with many cameras, I'm not searching for something to make my photography better (I know how to do that), I'm exploring and using the objects that I enjoy.

Cholentpot · Jul 23, 2017

Theo Sulphate said:
I have just one camera and about 85 classical guitars.

Or is it the other way around?

There's probably some guy out there in APUG land who has only one camera and is perfectly happy.

Ok. I'm happy, too, but for different reasons. Having many cameras and using them all can be enjoyable. I did have just one camera and one lens for 15 years, but I always enjoyed reading about different cameras and their features: the different viewfinders, metering systems, and even the way they looked. I never felt one was vastly superior to the other or that buying a certain camera would improve my photos. Like cars, mechanical watches, musical instruments, or most hobbies, variety itself can be fun.

It's fun to hold, use, and compare a Nikon S2 rangefinder with a Contax IIIa or Leica M3. It's nice to feel the solidity of a Nikon F2, the simplicity of a Canon FTb, the elegance of a Minolta SRT-101, and the sophistication of a Leica R8.

Moving up in format, Hasselblads, RB67's, Fuji 6x9's, and Rollei TLR's are wildly different, but each has their own charm and advantages.

Having a lot of cameras is like exploring a different world. I can make decent photos having just one nice camera, but having many doesn't detract from being able to do that. Contrary to what's often stated about people with many cameras, I'm not searching for something to make my photography better (I know how to do that), I'm exploring and using the objects that I enjoy.

But the tone of the Martin is not as full as the tone of a Taylor!

Collect electric guitars. They all sound about the same but who cares?! Pre CBS? Can't afford. Mid 80's Japanese Squire? Out of my reach too...Discounted LTD Tele from Samash with the stupid 'aged' body? How does it sound? Great! A little ashamed to play it in public though...stupid paint job...

fstop · Jul 23, 2017

Craig75 said:
its just light tight box with a shutter

and a Ferrari is just 4 wheels and an engine.

eddie · Jul 23, 2017

fstop said:
and a Ferrari is just 4 wheels and an engine.

It is, if your only concern is to get from point A to point B.

Sirius Glass · Jul 23, 2017

Heck if I had never joined APUG I would still only be shooting 35mm and I would not have a darkroom.

Theo Sulphate · Jul 23, 2017

Cholentpot said:
But the tone of the Martin is not as full as the tone of a Taylor! ...

I have a Garcia No.1 from November of 1970. This is right after Sherry Brener moved production from Spain to Japan. Sherry was criticized for alleged misleading advertising or somesuch, but the guitars had a good reputation.

eddie said:
It is, if your only concern is to get from point A to point B.

I notice that a lot of people are leaving point A. It must be a ghost town by now.

TheRook · Jul 23, 2017

As I've accumulated about a dozen different film cameras over the years, I've simply stopped looking for any more. Sometimes I come across a really nice camera at a flea market at a good price, but then I realize that I already own something similar, and I move on. For me, right now it makes more sense to put the money towards film purchasing and developing, not buying more cameras!

mshchem · Jul 23, 2017

I buy Saunders easels, 20x24, V track 16x20, 2 V track 11 X14 easels, single size, multi print easels,. I have easels coming out my ears. Contact print frames from 11 X14 down to adjustable post card size. GAS is Good!

David T T · Jul 24, 2017

I have generally had G.A.S. feelings more than behaviors until recently. I have an RB67 with 5 Sekor C lenses, 12 film backs (10 120 and 2 Polaroid), a bunch of accessories. I also have a modest light rig, 2 Olympus XAs, and an old film Rebel with the 40mm f2.8 and 85mm f1.8.

I've fantasized about getting more, but never did until I dug out the Rebel with its nasty little kit lens and realized I could slap some good glass on it and have a wicked, versatile 35mm system. This opened the entire ***world*** of EF mount lenses, of which there are seemingly thousands, whereas the XAs are fixed lenses and the RB already has my ideal lenses in it's very limited range.

This will not end well. I just caught myself shopping for a 135mm, and almost pulled the trigger when I realized I have a shoot with a model this week and need money for the studio and film/processing/development. I haven't even used the 40mm or 85mm yet! Help!

Les Sarile · Jul 24, 2017

Similarly - 15 years ago I acquired the EOS3 and thought I could not possibly need another body. One evening I tried to shoot a scene that required a shutter speed longer than 30 seconds in aperture priority mode. I figured if the EOS3 could not do there could not possibly be any camera that could. Fast forward many years later - and many many camera bodies tested, it turns out there were other cameras that can do this.

So at least my quest for a camera with that capability has come to a very satisfying end but the acquisition of many many cameras has opened other adventures!

Frank53 · Jul 24, 2017

I had 3 complete sets of Mamiya 330 over the years. Everytime decided it wasn't half as good as my good old Rolleiflex 3.5F and selling again. Finally I have a Hasselblad (and Rolleiflex of course).
Regards,
Frank

Steve Smith · Jul 24, 2017

Craig75 said:
its just light tight box with a shutter

A box to keep the darkness in.

Steve.

benjiboy · Jul 24, 2017

film_man said:
Warning: This is just a long story about what GAS can do to a person and how in the end, it is all a circle. Feel free to ignore and move along

My first camera (as in the one I bought with my own money), was a Canon EOS 300. Quickly I graduated to a 30E, always drooling over the 3 and the 1V. Eventually I sold the 30E (kept the 300) and got a Nikon digital system. Went from the D70s to the D2H, to D2X (plus some other digital stuff over the years) and then back to medium format film. At that point, I decided to get a 35mm camera as they were dirt cheap. What better than getting a EOS 3 for nothing, I could even use my first 300 as backup. Eventually I replaced the 3 with a 1V.

At some point I decided to try some Zeiss lenses and what better way than on a Nikon FM2n, as a manual Nikon is something I always wanted to try. I loved that so much I decided to drop the 1V and get a F100 to accompany the FM2n, both as backup but to use the AF lenses too.

Well..that didn't last long...at some point I though I don't need 35mm much, I just shoot medium format anyway (have I been here before?). So sell everything only to realise I do want 35mm as MF can be a drag to carry around. So back to a Canon 3 as I'm thinking I only want 35mm for convenience, right? So that's AF. And if it is AF I'll get a Canon as I still have my first EOS 300 and why not have that as a backup (eeeerm...I really have been here before).

But then somehow I end up with a Summicron-R 50/2 which is great to use on the EOS 3...apart from the stop down metering. And I'm looking at the pictures and I'm thinking...this Leica stuff is great...so there's an R8 arriving a few days later. And obviously what do you need some Canons if you have the R8, so sell the EOS 3 and get a backup R8, so now I have one in black and one in silver. And a few lenses. At this point I should have sought professional help but...

All would be good till the point where the lack of AE lock is just too painful and I'm thinking my eyes are just not up to scratch for manual focus anymore. So back to a EOS 3 (is this my 3rd now?) for a week as there I go walking around and I find a EOS 1N for £49. Fourty.Nine.Pounds. Grab that, sell the 3 and make £50 profit. Did I just have a free 1N? Done.

But not done. The 1N is great...but heavy. And big. Just like the 3 and 1V were. So...here's the solution. An EOS 30. See, if only I stopped buying cameras 15 years ago I would have saved myself a bit of money (admittedly not that much since I hardly ever make a loss worth mentioning when buying/selling gear).

The end. Oh no wait. See, I wanted a macro lens a few months ago. I could just get a macro on Canon mount but there I am looking at an F3HP and a 55/3.5 micro for less than £200. Which is roughly the cost of a reasonable macro lens for the Canon. So now I have the F3HP. And that 50/1.2 kept winking at me so there it is too. And while I'm at it...I really like the shots from the 85/1.4 (had one with the FM2n and F100). So I'm looking for one of those too now. And if I find one...well wouldn't it be great to have a AF body for it, say a F100...

At least the EOS 300 has always been there for me.

DOES IT EVER STOP?

You know when your obsessive camera buying has gone too far men in white coats put you in pyjamas whose sleeves fasten round the back, and they put you in a rubber room on the funny farm .

benjiboy · Jul 24, 2017

Craig75 said:
its just light tight box with a shutter

"A woman's just a woman, but a good cigar's a smoke" Groucho Marx

aparat · Jul 24, 2017

I have two cameras, both of which I've owned since the early 1990s, a Pentacon Six and a Minolta SRT 102.

The third camera is a Smena 8m, my very first camera. I got it for my seventh birthday. It must have cost a fortune back in the mid-1970s. I still have the box and owner's manual, and even some of the pictures I took with it that first year. To put it in perspective, those are the only childhood possessions I've managed to save over the years. Everything else is long gone.

These cameras have so much sentimental value to me that I cannot imagine ever parting with them or ever wanting to replace them with "better" systems. The perceived value of my cameras is so high that it keeps GAS at bay. And, yes, over the years, I've paid for CLA and modification far than a suitable mint-condition replacement would have cost. In a sense, my affliction is akin to reverse-GAS, somewhat unreasonably holding on to old gear.

Craig75 · Jul 24, 2017

Steve Smith said:
A box to keep the darkness in.

Steve.

Haha i like that

film_man · Jul 24, 2017

Jens Hallfeldt said:
DOES IT EVER STOP? No. I hope it takes some time until a Markina 67/670/W67 or Mamiya M7 appears to your eyes... you like MF without too much wight, don't forget. ;-)

Have fun
Jens

Haha...medium format you say? I started with a Bronica SQB. Since then the following passed through my hands: Bronica ETRS, Mamiya C330s, 6 and RB67 and a few Hasselblads (501CM, 500ELX, H2). I'm back to nothing now but will be going back into it with a RZ67 first and maybe, maybe[/b] a Hasselblad. But this time the Hassy will be an XPan.

Prest_400 · Jul 24, 2017

film_man said:
Well..that didn't last long...at some point I though I don't need 35mm much, I just shoot medium format anyway (have I been here before?). So sell everything only to realise I do want 35mm as MF can be a drag to carry around. So back to a Canon 3 as I'm thinking I only want 35mm for convenience, right? So that's AF. And if it is AF I'll get a Canon as I still have my first EOS 300 and why not have that as a backup (eeeerm...I really have been here before).

DOES IT EVER STOP?

Make me tremble. I've seen a nice Mamiya 645 kit with the 80mm f1.9 -- Yes, of course I'll make an offer.
The thing is when I went MF, did the rationale of bigger is better. Fuji GW690 which is the biggest format camera one can handheld around. Bad thing is that the 8 exp per roll make happy shooting a bit more select than I'd want.

Bought a Rolleicord, because well TLR, 6x6 and cheap. The thing needs a CLA so it's sitting and I put it for sale locally at a nice price. At least I tried the TLR experience and it is nice, but not as fast as my 6x9 RF!

Let's see how the m645 pans out, but 645 SLRs aren't light. I got a Nikon F80 and a 50mm for cheap and it's a great walkaround beach camera. The body I use it as if it was throwaway and it hasn't deceived me. Light and advanced. For that same reason I didn't get a F100, F90 or F4. Prefer lightweight as MF is heavy by construction!

That 1n story is good. We want one free too.

jim10219 · Jul 24, 2017

I have a camera collection that I display. It's mostly a bunch of cheap, but odd looking cameras that are better at looking cool on a mantle than shooting. Stuff like a Minolta 110 Zoom SLR, Argus C3, Apple QuickTake 100, a Hit camera, and other weird looking ones. Most were under $30, and I enjoy repairing them so I can shoot them, but don't really consider them serious tools. They're just toys to me.

The way I see it, G.A.S. is gonna happen. So rather than let it take hold of you when it comes to crazy expensive stuff, segregate it to the cheaper things. I have a Sinar and Graflex 4x5 that I use for my serious photographic work, and a decent amount of accessories for them. I don't really buy new equipment for them anymore because I pretty much have everything that I actually "need". All of the other things that I could add are clearly "wants", and I'm running out of room in my camera bag for them anyway. And since that stuff is expensive, it doesn't make much sense to keep spending down that path when I'm able to get by with what I have, as proven by the fact that I have gotten by with what I have. Plus, I find limitations inspirational, so sometimes not being able to do something the way you want because you lack the proper equipment leads you to do something differently, which turns out to give you a better end product because you did it a way that most people wouldn't have.

Still, the G.A.S. calls. So I buy a cheap project camera that will take a month of work to get back into good shape. Or I distract myself with a Kodak Brownie and ooh and ah over how the single meniscus lens give my photos such a soft and dreamy feel that you just can't replicate, even with a Noctilux 50mm f/0.95. Then I take the $10,000 I saved and splurge on a hamburger and some air conditioning, because I can now afford both.

DWThomas · Jul 24, 2017

Argus C3 a shelf decoration? Bite your tongue! I get mine out at least once every year and shoot a roll for Argus Day. It's not exactly smooth ergonomics, but the results are pretty good -- I bought it new around the end of 19-ought-57.

Argus Day falls on Argust 17th this year -- you've got time . . .

I've avoided the circular repeats by never getting rid of anything -- now if I could just manage to walk through the 2000 square foot closet I live in (and stop testing my wife's patience).

4season · Jul 24, 2017

It sounds to me as if you're pretty good with the money and don't have a hoarding problem, so consider any cash shortfalls the cost of entertaining yourself, same as if you went out for an evening out on the town! Or as a cheap rental fee.

Although I don't have a cure for GAS, I try to keep expenditures modest and keep the total size of the collection in check, and this works pretty good.

If only I stopped buying cameras 15 years ago...

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