Ah, where has the time gone? It seems like only yesterday that I joined this forum after flipping through it had convinced me to buy an XSi instead of a Sony A350 (I will forever be in POTN’s debt for that one!).
Since that day, during which I was waiting for the aforementioned camera to arrive, I have gone from a Powershot S50, to the XSi, to a 40D, and finally to a 5D2.
I have bought and sold an 18-55 IS, a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, five Takumar lenses, a Tokina 80-200mm f/2.8, a 100mm f/2 USM, a Sigma 28mm f/1.8, a Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8, a Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8, a 28-135 IS, and a Magic Drainpipe. (Holy crap, I never really thought about how many freaking lenses there have been. I think I have a problem.)
I currently own all of the lenses in my sig plus a newly acquired Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 35-70mm f/3.4. The 24-105 will hopefully be sold shortly.
I have spent, taking into account all of the profits and losses on equipment sales, approximately $3000.
I have made $75 from selling a single framed 8x10. That I had, incidentally, taken with my S50.
I have started:
5 “which lens” threads (all a long time ago, I promise!)
8 want-to-buys
14 sales (8 of them successful)
5 stupid gear questions
3 travel advice threads
and many more
I have posted in (estimated):
5 Apple fanboy threads
2 threads that were closed for being too political
5 european travel threads
4 asian travel threads
10 “what lens” threads
10 “show us your pictures of XXXX” threads
9 rumors threads
3 troll threads
14 “amateurs are ruining the photography industry” threads
7 sale threads for things I had no intention of buying
7 lens sample archive threads for lenses that I have owned
10 for lenses that I haven’t
3 market watch threads
20 c&c threads
5 threads that wound up being about gun control, regardless of how they started
7 threads that contained an argument over the meaning of the word “bokeh”
Etc, etc.
•I have posted two pictures of ducks. In both cases, said ducks were made of wood.
•I have used knowledge learned here to advise 5 friends (and my mother) on camera purchases. Only one of them bought a Nikon.
•I have been personally responsible for at least 8 sales (and likely 5 or 6 illegal downloads) of “Understanding Exposure.”
•I have accidentally blinded my girlfriend for several minutes with a flash from my 383 on full power.
•I have taught a random child how to use my CPL so that they could take a picture of me looking at a urinal behind a plexiglass case
. (It didn’t really work.)
•I have actually never been told any iteration of the phrase “your camera takes really nice pictures.”
•I have, however, been told by a British coworker “Whoa, that’s a huge #$%@ing camera. You Americans do everything big, don’t you?”
•I have, thanks to this forum, never purchased a Gary Fong Lightsphere™.
•I have had at least one comment be dubbed "
" It was a very proud moment for me. Right up there with the birth of my theoretical first-born child.
•I have learned that anyone who runs a photography website that becomes popular enough to generate serious income eventually turns into a Leica snob.
•I have watched "sharpness" become a less- and less-meaningful factor in my appreciation of a lens.
•I have read many a post claiming the imminent arrival of the 24-70L IS. I suspect that I shall continue to do so for a long time.
•I have had the following opinion validated hundreds of times: I could never, ever be a wedding photographer.
But, most importantly, thanks to this forum, I’ve developed the one hobby that I’ve ever enjoyed enough to merit spending any kind of time or money. So, while I have had no noticeable impact on POTN, it’s certainly had one on me.
So thank you everybody!
