new credit card = new lens!

[Mycroft]

Woo, my new creditcard came in the mail today! tomorrow morning I'm picking up a 28-135 IS. :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Maureen Souza]

Uh-oh, another one bites the dust!!!! Enjoy it:)

[Raj]

Thats how credit card companies make money !! :mrgreen:

[rdenney]

Woo, my new creditcard came in the mail today! tomorrow morning I'm picking up a 28-135 IS. :D :D :D :D :D :D

In case you are not joking, and for others...

The voice of experience: Be careful, dude.

When my wife and I moved to digital, we were standing at the camera store counter trying to talk ourselves into writing that check (a 10D for me and a D100 for her). The sales guy, who is a former regional sales rep for Nikon, asked jokingly why we were taking so long. I told him that I wanted to consider carefully a purchase that would clean out the savings account. He got serious and told us that it's just camera junk and not worth it.

We bought anyway, because the account we cleaned out was our toy-buying account.

As much as it sucks that the 10D I bought that day is today only worth half as much, it would really suck if I was still making payments on it, and if what I still owed on it was worth more than its current price.

Never borrow long-term money for a short-term purchase. What you buy with borrowed money should always be instantly worth more than what you still owe on it.

Don't ask me how I know.

Rick "who knows for sure what it is to be upside in debt" Denney

[mr.photoguy]

In case you are not joking, and for others...

The voice of experience: Be careful, dude.

When my wife and I moved to digital, we were standing at the camera store counter trying to talk ourselves into writing that check (a 10D for me and a D100 for her). The sales guy, who is a former regional sales rep for Nikon, asked jokingly why we were taking so long. I told him that I wanted to consider carefully a purchase that would clean out the savings account. He got serious and told us that it's just camera junk and not worth it.

We bought anyway, because the account we cleaned out was our toy-buying account.

As much as it sucks that the 10D I bought that day is today only worth half as much, it would really suck if I was still making payments on it, and if what I still owed on it was worth more than its current price.

Never borrow long-term money for a short-term purchase. What you buy with borrowed money should always be instantly worth more than what you still owe on it.

Don't ask me how I know.

Rick "who knows for sure what it is to be upside in debt" Denney

Well said, and I can relate very well.
I recently paid off my Discover card for 1400 bucks, and deactivated the account until further notice. Any lens that I have purchased, I have payed cash for.. I have no intention of charging anything...

Anyhow good luck with your purchase.. btw: you should really get the 10-22 instead .. lol...

[lmelendez]

In case you are not joking, and for others...

The voice of experience: Be careful, dude.

When my wife and I moved to digital, we were standing at the camera store counter trying to talk ourselves into writing that check (a 10D for me and a D100 for her). The sales guy, who is a former regional sales rep for Nikon, asked jokingly why we were taking so long. I told him that I wanted to consider carefully a purchase that would clean out the savings account. He got serious and told us that it's just camera junk and not worth it.

We bought anyway, because the account we cleaned out was our toy-buying account.

As much as it sucks that the 10D I bought that day is today only worth half as much, it would really suck if I was still making payments on it, and if what I still owed on it was worth more than its current price.

Never borrow long-term money for a short-term purchase. What you buy with borrowed money should always be instantly worth more than what you still owe on it.

Don't ask me how I know.

Rick "who knows for sure what it is to be upside in debt" Denney

Great advice man....

Sometimes we put too much attention to the race of having a full collection of "L" glass...

Leo.

[Andy_T]

As much as it sucks that the 10D I bought that day is today only worth half as much...

I think it would suck even more had you bought the D100 as well :lol:

Tell me you didn't :o

Best regards,
Andy

[ohenry]

As much as it sucks that the 10D I bought that day is today only worth half as much, it would really suck if I was still making payments on it, and if what I still owed on it was worth more than its current price.

It's only worth half as much IF you sell it. Had you never bought it, you'd still have the $1500, but no pictures to show :mrgreen:

[rdenney]

It's only worth half as much IF you sell it. Had you never bought it, you'd still have the $1500, but no pictures to show :mrgreen:

Oh, I'd have pictures, alright. They just wouldn't be digital (at least not to start with). I do love having the 10D, of course.

Let's say I have a heart attack, or I drive my car into a tree and book myself into the hospital for an extended stay. I'll need cash and I'll need it badly. Mr. Mortgage Company will be sympathetic, but if you don't make payment by the 16th we will initiate foreclosure proceedings and ruin your credit rating. I'll have to sell off stuff. The camera might be pretty low on the list of things to sell, or it might be pretty high (digital cameras are lots easier to replace than my classic film cameras). But if I can sell it for $600 but still owe $900 for it, not only will I have to keep it, but I'll have to keep paying for it. When we cut cash flow too fine, we are vulnerable to the unfortunate things that sometimes happen.

When I came out of college, my new income made me go a little nuts and I was spending several hundred a month building a race car. (This was a while ago--that race-car budget was more than my rent.) I had a pretty tidy chunk of race car tied up in credit cards, when I blew up the engine in the thing on the backstretch of the Longhorn Speedway in Austin, Texas. The result was that I was still paying for car parts that were lying in pieces in the grass. I sold the roller (that I'd spent $15,000 building) for $1500. I paid off the credit cards of those expenditures no less than four years later. I was ready to explore new hobbies, but I was still restrained by having to pay for the old one.

I learned. I'm rebuilding a classic GMC motorhome right now, to use as a traveling camera bag with a really good capacity, and a portable hotel room. But it's on a strictly cash basis, and even then there's a limit to what I will spend relative to what it's worth. Ditto photography equipment. I want a 17-40L, a 50/1.4, an 85/1.8, and a 1Ds. My credit cards have more than enough room on them to allow me to by the whole lot this afternoon (and, frankly, I have the cash to do so, though not for buying those sorts of toys). But I won't do so; photography is hobby, and who wants to be a slave to monthly payments or vulnerable to the slightest downturn for a hobby?

On the other hand, I once burned a hole clear through a credit card to buy a tuba that was unlike any other tuba I'd ever played. I suffered some short commons while making those payments, and I've never regretted it for a second. Of course, that tuba is worth twice what I paid for it today. By comparison, a digicam and some lenses grow on trees--there's no urgency.

Good pictures were made before L glass, and good pictures are still made with lesser lenses. If you can afford the fancy stuff, blessings upon your house. I'm just suggesting that folks be careful.

Rick "wanna see my scars?" Denney

[rdenney]

I think it would suck even more had you bought the D100 as well :lol:

Tell me you didn't :o


Oh, I did. My wife is a Nikon owner, and I'm a Canon owner of old (I bought my F-1 in 1972). If I persuaded her to switch to Canon, I would assume responsibility to know ever detail of how the camera works to show her how (she has no mind for such things). I have to do that now with the Nikon, but it is seen as a favor and not a responsibility, which makes all the difference in the world.

Plus, she had several quite decent lenses for Nikon that I didn't want to replace.

And I certainly DID NOT want to SHARE!. I put her camera on the Nikon equivalent of P, in JPEG large mode, and she enjoys the 325 pictures she can put on a 1-Gig card. Her dreams are realized when she downloads the memory card to computer, burns a CD, and takes it to Costco for a big pile of 4x6 prints at 19 cents each.

So, $1500 in rogue technology to make sure my Canon stuff stays exclusive to me? Cheap, man; cheap.

Rick "who also bought two Pentax 645's for commercial work so we would not be fighting over one camera" Denney

[cfcRebel]

Woo, my new creditcard came in the mail today! tomorrow morning I'm picking up a 28-135 IS. :D :D :D :D :D :D

Forget engineering or computer science, I'll have my kids major in Finance & Accounting. So that in the future they can start a credit card company and make big money. Chahhh.....Ching $$$$
Just kidding. :D

[Mycroft]

McBain Camera is awesome. They take trade-ins, and gave me credit for the full retail price I paid for my 75-300 non-IS (4 weeks old, purchased from them), so I upgraded that to IS as well as getting the 28-135 IS. I am a very happy camper. :D :D :D

[ed2day]

OK, my confession. I've been going nuts buying lenses. In the last couple of weeks, I've bought a 100-400L, 24-70L, 85 1.8, and 100m macro. All on plastic. All at 0% interest for a year. Since I've come to the realization that people will pay more for a used lens than a new one I can indulge myself in an expensive hobby for free. In a year I'll probably roll the card into a different 0 % card. I'm wouldn't recommend this to anyone else, but I'm having fun right now.

[willg]

how much was that tuba?

[rdenney]

how much was that tuba?

When I bought it, right about the price of a brand new 20D with a 100-400L on it, plus a 50/1.4.

I paid the same for my most recent tuba acquisition.

Rick "who could trade in his tubas can have a right nice 1DsII and L-lens collection" Denney

[steibeldj]

If you can deal with 1 year old technology, you will save about 50%. Let's face it, are my D30 photos that much worse than the 20d. Ooops, yes they are! SLR and film are released at the the top of their resolution, only the features have changed.

If you are in the digital SLR game in the last few years, you just happen to have money to burn and you like these toys. Otherwise, spend your money on a good lens and buy a $250 film camera and wait 2 more years until digital SLRs are $500.

[JAZZ D.P.G.]

Never borrow long-term money for a short-term purchase. What you buy with borrowed money should always be instantly worth more than what you still owe on it.

Don't ask me how I know.

Rick "who knows for sure what it is to be upside in debt" Denney

Your right, but there is a way to use this to your advantage:)

Most credit card companies offer extended warranties when you use their card to purchase products. Usually doubling manufacturer's warranty.

Use the CC to buy and pay it off when billed and avoid any interest payments. Get the extended warranty for free:D .

I've used this warranty and was quite well taken care of by the CC company.

But if your going to buy a lens, look to something that will give you close-to-cost return if needed. Better return on some types of lens than others. Yes, a larger outlay, but a good return in quality and re-sale value.

Either way, enjoy:D

[gastroboy]

Your right, but there is a way to use this to your advantage:)

Most credit card companies offer extended warranties when you use their card to purchase products. Usually doubling manufacturer's warranty.

Use the CC to buy and pay it off when billed and avoid any interest payments. Get the extended warranty for free:D .


Either way, enjoy:D

I can't agree more with Jazz. Never, I mean NEVER pay interest on your credit card. Always pay it off, if you cannot afford it, don't buy it, no matter how much you want it.

The credit cards in Oz have 17% interest! no such thing as 1 year 0% . Oh, if you want a new camera for a trip, buy it in CC instread of cash as they also have 90 day purchase protection, so if you drop ur camera, get it nicked or lose it, no matter.(except for the photos of course).

CC companies make money off the 2-3% merchant fee they charge, you do not need to give them interest as well.

photography is a very expensive hobby.........thats all we need to remember.

Thats all...