Not shooting so much bad thoughts creeping in...

Hi guys/gals. Lately I have not been shooting much, mostly because of work and other things. I am also finding that I am not using my 5d mark iii to its full potential. I have even thought about selling it and buying a 6d. I am not a pro by any means, just an "advanced hobbyist" to say the best. I have also downgraded a lot of my gear to its minimums (Down to 2 lenses and flash) mostly to save on weight when travelling and biking.

Does anyone else feel this way about their gear?

I would like to upgrade to a full frame camera. I wish I lived closer to the train tracks, I would like to take more pics. of trains. I'm about 2 hours away from the rails. I entered some photo contest, but never won.

I have been feeling exactly like that and I am wondering what I can do to get my interest up again. What I have done in the past is to buy new lenses, but I feel I have too many now.

If you don't need the money, keep the body. I know too many people who went through a rough patch with a hobby, jettisoned a bunch of gear, and regretted it in a few months. You don't loose points for keeping a camera in a drawer. Maybe just forget about photography completely for another month, giving yourself a free pass. Absence makes the heart grow fonder? Maybe start a 365 or 52 project to get you going again.

RWK wrote in post #16377287
I would like to upgrade to a full frame camera. I wish I lived closer to the train tracks, I would like to take more pics. of trains. I'm about 2 hours away from the rails. I entered some photo contest, but never won.

I eat peanut butter with a spoon.

waterrockets wrote in post #16377772
If you don't need the money, keep the body. I know too many people who went through a rough patch with a hobby, jettisoned a bunch of gear, and regretted it in a few months. You don't loose points for keeping a camera in a drawer. Maybe just forget about photography completely for another month, giving yourself a free pass. Absence makes the heart grow fonder? Maybe start a 365 or 52 project to get you going again.

This is good advice. You already have it. Keep it. It doesn't cost you anything to own it and if your interest picks up you'll have great gear ready. Unless you need the money.

milleniumking wrote in post #16377264
Hi guys/gals. Lately I have not been shooting much, mostly because of work and other things. I am also finding that I am not using my 5d mark iii to its full potential. I have even thought about selling it and buying a 6d. I am not a pro by any means, just an "advanced hobbyist" to say the best. I have also downgraded a lot of my gear to its minimums (Down to 2 lenses and flash) mostly to save on weight when travelling and biking.

Does anyone else feel this way about their gear?

Sell it all. The value is not going up on your gear, get rid of it now and maximize the money you'll get. If you get interested in this hobby down the road you can always buy a 5d3 and a couple of lenses, and if you wait long enough you will probably be able to pick up something better than the 5d3.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder"...or something like that.

From the late 70's through the 90's I always owned a 35mm SLR...mostly manual match-needle cameras. Back around 2000-2001 I laid the 35mm down and picked up a little Canon point-n-shoot. I couldn't afford a DSLR and settled into snapshot shooting for the next decade. Last year I bought yet another little PNS camera, a Canon A1200...cheap $75 camera to use when working with my honey bees...I didn't want bee glue or honey dripping all over a nice camera, ya know. Anyhow, a little later I stumbled upon CHDK and that got some suppressed photography juices running. As it is I ended up picking up a used T2i/550D from a guy and I'm like a kid at Christmas! I'm even dragging out some of my old Nikon glass and tinkering with it some...having the old glass is like icing on the cake. Seriously, it is hard to describe how good it feels to have the weight of an slr/dslr back in my hands.

It sounds like you have gotten your equipment list trimmed down nicely and probably to the lenses that you feel the most comfortable working with. I would not sell the equipment unless I needed the cash...it's hard enough to rationalize and convince one's self to invest in a "luxury" (remember, it took a decade for me to buy my first used dslr).

Store the equipment well with maybe a couple of packs of dessicant to insure against fungus/mold. One day, time will give you a breather and the sun striking the worn cobblestones of a sidewalk or some goats staring out of the backend of a junked out farm truck sitting in a pasture will stir something in you...and you'll have the net waiting patiently at home that can capture that image forever.

Best wishes,
Ed

From a purely economic standpoint - if you can get a good price for your MK III just sell it now and be on the lookout for a good deal for when you get back into it.

Camera bodies depreciate like crazy, and it seems like they're depreciating even faster than ever before. With new tech constantly churning through, the market has got to be saturated with cameras everywhere... and since Canon has still stuck with the same sensor for the last 10 years... the IQ advantage of the newer cameras isn't that much over the older ones. Witness T2i vs T5i...

Not to mention the rise of mirrorless... 5D3 is a good camera don't get me wrong, but how many people would drop it in 2 seconds if Canon kept the same camera but put in an Exmor sensor? The only thing holding up it's value is the fact that Canon hasn't released the 5D4!

Between now and Jan you'll probably be able to save yourself some $$$ if you sell now and look for a great deal in the mean time... Come Jan guess how many people will have CC bills to pay and looking to offload their cameras...

For some reason people will still pay up to $3K for a used 5D3 and no doubt another $2,600 Buydig deal will come again so you should be safe in the mean time. You could also get the $4K adorama bundle and part everything out and get the 5D3 for less than $2.5K.

That's just my 2c. It depends on the area you're in too.

I've slowed down a bit because I have hundreds (if not thousands) of photos I have not yet worked on. Mainly because my old macbook pro is not powerful enough for the 5D3 file size and Apple has not yet released the new mac mini, I hope it will show up within the next weeks.

But aside of that, I've been in the same place before. Sometimes I let it rest, sometimes I get a book or three for inspiration, or I switch to a "forgotten" subject, like doing macro for a while if I haven't, or still life or food etc. Just switching things out. It's like writer's block I guess.

I'm also looking at a very wide zoom to complete my range, then head to the hills. Canon does not offer anything that wide, but I'm down to two options from Tokina and Sigma now, will probably decide over the weekend, then head to the hills next week, change perspective, play with something new

scotchtape wrote in post #16378058
From a purely economic standpoint - if you can get a good price for your MK III just sell it now and be on the lookout for a good deal for when you get back into it.

Camera bodies depreciate like crazy, and it seems like they're depreciating even faster than ever before. With new tech constantly churning through, the market has got to be saturated with cameras everywhere... and since Canon has still stuck with the same sensor for the last 10 years... the IQ advantage of the newer cameras isn't that much over the older ones. Witness T2i vs T5i...

Not to mention the rise of mirrorless... 5D3 is a good camera don't get me wrong, but how many people would drop it in 2 seconds if Canon kept the same camera but put in an Exmor sensor? The only thing holding up it's value is the fact that Canon hasn't released the 5D4!

Between now and Jan you'll probably be able to save yourself some $$$ if you sell now and look for a great deal in the mean time... Come Jan guess how many people will have CC bills to pay and looking to offload their cameras...

For some reason people will still pay up to $3K for a used 5D3 and no doubt another $2,600 Buydig deal will come again so you should be safe in the mean time. You could also get the $4K adorama bundle and part everything out and get the 5D3 for less than $2.5K.

That's just my 2c. It depends on the area you're in too.

The economics make sense, but there's psychology too. Consider the following inspiration: "Ok, I'm going to start shopping for a $3000 camera body and $2500 worth of lenses today." vs. "This is the most beautiful sunset I've seen in years, I'm going to fire up the 5D3 and shoot it while my wife and I walk the dog."

yes, i find myself having to push me and the camera out the door and find things to shoot! let alone hall my gear,i live in montery calif.so one can find lots of things to frame and shoot,so i no it must me me!i find myself getting out moor in the summer time with the birds and the bees flowers and trees so on,and i stop myself from buying moor dam camera gear,its just not needed at this time,keep saying,get out there and take photos....

waterrockets wrote in post #16378191
The economics make sense, but there's psychology too. Consider the following inspiration: "Ok, I'm going to start shopping for a $3000 camera body and $2500 worth of lenses today." vs. "This is the most beautiful sunset I've seen in years, I'm going to fire up the 5D3 and shoot it while my wife and I walk the dog."

That's why I said economics

I also kinda feel the same way as OP. I've been working on a timelapse project for a year and am kinda burned out, thinking of selling off lots of gear

In the mean time you can always pick up a T2i for like $250... that might boost the creativity!

my interest in the hobby ebbs and flows. sometimes it feels like i have the camera in my hand every waking moment and then i go a month or so without even touching it. i have regretted every single piece of camera equipment I have ever sold though so I wont be posting any of my gear in the marketplace just yet.