Amateur view on Gear

fotoworx, why would your wife mind? You can't get a camera pregnant.

OhLook wrote in post #15908567
fotoworx, why would your wife mind? You can't get a camera pregnant.

I wish I could, breeding them would be terrific......but what would happen if the shutter went off whilst I was trying?

fotoworx wrote in post #15908620
I wish I could, breeding them would be terrific......but what would happen if the shutter went off whilst I was trying?

Two words: time exposure.

OhLook wrote in post #15909271
Two words: time exposure.

Macro or telephoto ?

But in all seriousness I love owning wonderful engineered and designed high tech gadgetry.

Tommy1957 wrote in post #15907332
I've been fascinated with the 'act' of photography since my Brownie Hawkeye days. With this little plastic box, I can actually stop time, or time travel if I choose!?!? This is so COOL! Look! There is dad at the beach in 1964! Takes me right back there. Or shots of my mom from my wedding.

With photography, I can freeze you as you are at this very moment, as you never will be again. Or twenty years from now, I can come back and visit this moment, and stay as long as I like.

Don't get me wrong, I like gear. As an amateur I've spent in the neighborhood of $10,000 on digital camera stuff, on top of 30 years of film stuff. The magic is still in the result. Be it a goofy snapshot of my grandson, one of my cats sleeping in a bucket or a posed shot of my daughter's family. I've recorded that moment, potentially forever with digital.

Well said, this is pretty much how I feel too. Those family memories are so precious and you can't go back in time to catch them if you miss them. I like to have great gear because even though I'm an amateur and have sooo much to learn, I want to be able to take the best possible photos of those wonderful moments - like a 2 yr old laughing gleefully as her grandmother pulls her through the water. I hope the children will love these when they're older, and that the photos will be treasured long after I have finished up on this planet.

There are people who don't think you need great gear for this sort of thing, but to me personally there is no better reason to buy it. I REALLY love what my gear allows me to do compared to the P&S I used to have, and even the DSLR I started out with. I'm familiar with most of its capabilities and loving the process of continually learning, practicing and improving.

I like knowing that if a photo doesn't work out it's because of my own shortcomings and not those of my gear! If it was the gear, as it has been in the past, then I'd be kicking myself for not having bought something more capable of doing the job. At least if it's due to lack of skill I can learn from whatever mistake I made and hope to do better next time. It adds to my confidence to have at my disposal a wide aperture, a fabulously capable flash, great high ISO performance and all the other things really good gear can offer. Of course it means spending less on the other things I like, but the results mean it's worth it to me!

Savethemoment wrote in post #15909884
Well said, this is pretty much how I feel too. Those family memories are so precious and you can't go back in time to catch them if you miss them. I like to have great gear because even though I'm an amateur and have sooo much to learn, I want to be able to take the best possible photos of those wonderful moments - like a 2 yr old laughing gleefully as her grandmother pulls her through the water. I hope the children will love these when they're older, and that the photos will be treasured long after I have finished up on this planet.

There are people who don't think you need great gear for this sort of thing, but to me personally there is no better reason to buy it. I REALLY love what my gear allows me to do compared to the P&S I used to have, and even the DSLR I started out with. I'm familiar with most of its capabilities and loving the process of continually learning, practicing and improving.

I like knowing that if a photo doesn't work out it's because of my own shortcomings and not those of my gear! If it was the gear, as it has been in the past, then I'd be kicking myself for not having bought something more capable of doing the job. At least if it's due to lack of skill I can learn from whatever mistake I made and hope to do better next time. It adds to my confidence to have at my disposal a wide aperture, a fabulously capable flash, great high ISO performance and all the other things really good gear can offer. Of course it means spending less on the other things I like, but the results mean it's worth it to me!

Cool.

20droger wrote in post #15907652
No religious discussions, guys. That includes Eastern religions.

You don't want those pesky Pastafarians bringing in the FSM, do you?

This applies to those rude Nikonians as well. And Olympusites.

But on topic, the better the tool is the more pleasant it is to use, and the better the results with less effort. Of course, there's that whole allocation of resources thing, but "when you buy quality, you only cry once".

Does anyone else hate selling gear that they don't use?

I don't think I'll ever really use my 50D again, but I just don't want to sell it. I know it doesn't make sense at all.

fotoworx wrote in post #15928843
Does anyone else hate selling gear that they don't use?
.

I rarely use the 50mm 1.8 but it's cheap so there's no "opportunity cost" in keeping it

watt100 wrote in post #15928929
I rarely use the 50mm 1.8 but it's cheap so there's no "opportunity cost" in keeping it

Everything I have that I might be willing to part with is worth so little the effort of selling isn't worth the return.

I've got a few different views on my gear.

1) It is a tool that lets me do something I enjoy. Without it, photography wouldn't be the same
2) My gear is mine, it has become a good friend. I've done some pretty cool stuff with my old 40D in my hand and to loose it or replace it would be a sad moment for me. We've done a lot together!
3) I'm an uber tech-nerd and an engineer, so any sophisticated piece of equipment, like a camera is fascinating to me. I enjoy thinking about what the designers put into it. For this sake I enjoy the 'tech' side of photo gear and following it's advances.