My wife asked me about my white lens last night

goatee wrote in post #6135963
If you don't need the extra stop, why bother? It's much bigger and heavier to carry round. If you do need the extra stop, then it's a no brainer .

I think he meant 'reason' as in, justifying to his wife.

hahaha this is funny...

I bought my wife a rebal XT for Christmas full well knowing she loved to take pictures with her point and shoot. And I was fostering growth for her. I paid for a course. She went to it 3 times. Came home and said I am lost I give up. I encouraged her to push through.... she wouldn't

That is when I picked up the XT (full well knowing this would happen as I have friends and family that shoot and I was always interested)

Yep I picked up the XT in May and stated shooting....see my gear list... not that impressive but for a new guy....hahaha... no red rings but already up to a 30D with a flash and several lenses....

Scuba diving is expensive enough for me. I do technical diving and Cave diving and I have a mass of gear there.... I don't think I like hobbies. I think I like gear... more gear..

she is savvy enough to know things that are different... ie she picked up on a new lens and said...where the hell did this come from...."I have always had that" no you haven't....your a dork...now go out and play so I can sit with the girls and drink Sangrias and talk about how foolish men are.... ....mmmmm.... OK, see you after...

Mine doesn't fret. Yeah we're not married, however we are dead set comitted on a future, and I'm sure we will last. I treat my relationship as though we're life partners but not quite married, there are some things I still can't do with the relationship.
Nonetheless, I buy what I want when I want, as long as I do the groundwork in research and ensure I'm not making a bad decision, or paying too much (in which case I save or take out a flexible loan and pay it off). After I pay off my current equipment I already have another lot of gear I would very much like, and theres a strong chance I'll get them, and it'll probarbly be around $5000 worth.

It all comes down to the question of it being reasonable, and starting to make profit well it pays for itself, being a hobby business, all the income goes straight onto purchases to claim at tax.

Canadian Techdiver wrote in post #6155462
Scuba diving is expensive enough for me. I do technical diving and Cave diving and I have a mass of gear there.... I don't think I like hobbies. I think I like gear... more gear..

I can relate to this, I've collected pretty much all consoles for the sake of having a choice. The only thing I've ever really taken a serious interest in however is my lens collection, and I will add that many of the lenses I will have in the near future I don't need in ANY respect. For example, I want the Canon EF 35-350L f/3.5-5.6 when I already have the Canon EF 28-300L f/3.5-5.6. I also collect single barrel whiskey and bourbon - quite a big and nice collection, and various other things including 2 GPS's, phones ect... I'm kind of a technophile and gearophile

You know "white" is cooler is also a scientific statement. Its keeps the lens cool when in sunlight.

Oh yeah. I can attest to this. Was shooting in some really strong sunlight a while ago, 17-40 got quite warm (actually it was like nice warm cuddly l lens >.> and the 70-200 stayed fairly cool to the touch.

TaDa wrote in post #5702917
She is still yet to notice that my Silver Rebel XT had miraculously morphed into a black 30D about a year ago.

My wife did notice my XTi morph into a 40D. She was unhappy until I was able to explain that I only spent $100 in the end - bought it for $800, got $200 back from microsoft cashback, and sold my XTi for $500. That brought it back into the realm of no-permission-required.

My other half fretted a bit when she discovered my 100-400L around 2-3 months ago. Luckily, it looks just like the 70-200 2.8 I bought yesterday. Now I just have to make sure I have never have them both in the same place at the same time! lol

RobNYC wrote in post #6228010
My other half fretted a bit when she discovered my 100-400L around 2-3 months ago. Luckily, it looks just like the 70-200 2.8 I bought yesterday. Now I just have to make sure I have never have them both in the same place at the same time! lol

Yeah, like the push/pull zoom thing would never give it away.

Mr. B... not a chance she is going to notice that difference!

RobNYC wrote in post #6246094
Mr. B... not a chance she is going to notice that difference!

Famous last words.....

How exactly am I going to explain the 430 EX I just bought..."Yeah, the flash just grew bigger on it's own..."

RobNYC wrote in post #6228010
My other half fretted a bit when she discovered my 100-400L around 2-3 months ago. Luckily, it looks just like the 70-200 2.8 I bought yesterday. Now I just have to make sure I have never have them both in the same place at the same time! lol

I did that exact thing, Rob, and made sure I never had both out at the same time for a while. But when the 100-400 morphed into the 300 f2.8 IS, the change must not have been subtle enough, judging by her, "Oh my God!" reaction. She's completely lost track of what I have now. So with her on the ropes, pretty much anything is fair game. Her dumbfounded reaction to my home studio, when I had it all set up one day, was particularly funny, as I managed to keep a straight face and act like I had all that stuff for ages and only the 4' bench seat was new (and on sale, of course!).

LOL

sjlund wrote in post #6227897
My wife did notice my XTi morph into a 40D. She was unhappy until I was able to explain that I only spent $100 in the end - bought it for $800, got $200 back from microsoft cashback, and sold my XTi for $500. That brought it back into the realm of no-permission-required.

Good call - I just did the same thing with my 70-200 f4 purchase... sold my other telezoom and kit lens, so I'm only spending about $300 on the new lens...

Jason C wrote in post #6247906
How exactly am I going to explain the 430 EX I just bought..."Yeah, the flash just grew bigger on it's own..."

Try the Men In Black mind trick --- Put on some shades, fire it right at her, then tell her "I've always had this flash unit."

Maybe?