Is the constant need to upgrade/blame kit a digital thing?

I get the best I can afford, and once I can perform at a better standard than the equipment is capable of producing then I upgrade.

... needless to say that I don't upgrade anything much.
 
Siilver said:
Can people not just get bored with there gear? Fancy a change?if people just stayed the same we would still be in caves hitting rocks together making fire
Click to expand...

Their nothing wrong with living in a cave,as those i have upgrade to a lighter :D
 
Well we probly wouldn't even be in caves as that would have been a upgrade from outside
 
Upgrading for the sake of it, enjoying buying new things and so on is fine and not really what I was getting at when I started the thread.

It was more to do with people feeling they are limited by an 'old' camera (i.e two years old and one model behind!) and having to have the new one as it is clearly the cameras fault.
Along with the assumption that it is almost a rule that thou shall upgrade after a set number of time and experience.
 
My first SLR was an entry level Minolta Dynax something or other, with a kit lens. I bought a few magazines and decided I needed to upgrade it to the top-of-the-range Minolta Dynax (800si IIRC). The entry level Minolta was sold within two week of owning it and I manged to bag a second hand 800si from the local paper (I remember it had the most powerful built-in flash of any SLR).
The only reason I haven't upgraded my 450D is money. when I get obsessed with a hobby, i'm never happy unless I have the best I can afford (I'm saving for a 5d mk3).

If I didn't read magazines or on-line reviews/forums, I would most probably stick with what i've got.

EDIT:
Perhaps I made the right choice upgrading: Minolta 800si
 
Last edited:
ernesto said:
Upgrading for the sake of it, enjoying buying new things and so on is fine and not really what I was getting at when I started the thread.

It was more to do with people feeling they are limited by an 'old' camera (i.e two years old and one model behind!) and having to have the new one as it is clearly the cameras fault.
Along with the assumption that it is almost a rule that thou shall upgrade after a set number of time and experience.
Click to expand...

:lol: that's usually my way of buying a bargain ie buying the 500D after the 550 was released. I see what you're getting at & I think some people in general always want to have what is perceived to be the best all of the time. I don't know if this is down to the digital era or more down to the throw away society we seem to have become.

I suppose a good comparison would be me replacing the perfectly good Sony Bravia in the corner with in LED backlit 3D creation just because I could or buying a 5D3 even though there is nothing wrong with my 5D2, it's just older. Him indoors can be a bit of a sod for this sometimes but only with certain things ie we don't have a blu-ray or anything remotely like it & are not bothered about it but he did ask if I wanted to replace my perfectly good iPad 1 with a 3 (although I said no & that was the end of it)
 
Just reading through this whole thread one thing strikes me

I have read similar elsewhere good old Ken Rockwell seems to harp on a basic dSLR and lenses are all most of us probably will ever need to get the shots were happy with and I think this time he is right.

Like others said the desire to have the bigger, better bodies and lenses are down to marketing and seeing new stuff as being better than the current stuff.

I currently have a Nikon D300 but I feel it's wasted on me as the pictures seem similar to the results I got with my D3000 why I changed it I don't know I think I just saw it as a better camera will take better pics. Now I know it's more down to what I tell it to do than what it can do.
 
ernesto said:
Upgrading for the sake of it, enjoying buying new things and so on is fine and not really what I was getting at when I started the thread.

It was more to do with people feeling they are limited by an 'old' camera (i.e two years old and one model behind!) and having to have the new one as it is clearly the cameras fault.
Along with the assumption that it is almost a rule that thou shall upgrade after a set number of time and experience.
Click to expand...

This kind of reminds me of folk who upgrade their MS Windows, their MS Office or their Photoshop as soon as a new version comes out purely because they have to have the latest - not because they need them, or even make good use of them. The version number is more important than if they actually use it (a lad I used to work with was like this about MS Office - but he never did anything in Office 2007 that he couldn't have done in Office 4.2). Most of those people have wised up. I think that people who know and use their tools are less likely to be the ones who feel a burning need to have the latest model/release - and those that do feel the need soon find something else to obsess about.
 
I think its just the way things are today, people are pressured into buying what they dont need, unless your a pro then all you need are good pics which all the dslrs will do.
I'm just starting into the dslr world and looking at the 650d and 60d but do i really either? probably Not, the 550d or nikon 3100 would probably do for my needs but ..............
i remember not having mobile phone and was my life less exciting? far from it but now i have a smart phone............. half the time we want what we dont need but like to keep up with the world
I also see many of these camera reviews pick at the little things, it doesn't have this,that and the other technical waffle and no doubt make some people think they need something better when most the time,they dont. Like all this video, personally if i want to do video i'd buy a decent camcorder not a camera, i want a camera to take pictures. thats what they used to do, not that i'm against them having video but it does anoy me when many reviews concentrate more on its video capabilities than its picture taking ones.

.
 
Last edited:
this all depends on context

10 years ago a top of the range Nikon, Kodak or Canon, cost the price of a good second hand car. Phootgraphers, professional or not waxed lyrical about how good the cameras were.

Nowadays, if I said I turned up to a wedding with one of those cameras, I would be laughed and sneered at. 10 years ago, they were the business, what you needed

I guess in 10 years time turning up with a Nikon D3s or D3x or D4 will provoke equal amounts of disdain from peers

let us not forget how the D1 was pitched to us http://www.steves-digicams.com/d1.html and http://www.steves-digicams.com/d1.html
 
I have to laugh at those who think they're being really humble when they say stuff like "I only use a 550D and only have 3 lenses ... I'm keeping it real!" - or whatever. Even entry level bodies cost more money than most old film SLR. If you want to do the basics, get an old Kodak or Agfa and some roll. Otherwise, doesn't matter what gear you have, if it's a dslr, and only a few years old-tech, you're spoiled.
 
It is not actually about whether you are spoiled though (that is the taking technology for granted thread)
I am "keeping it real" with an 1100D and one prime lens, but not to prove any point and just because I have realised that is all I need and more than good enough for my needs.
I would never blame a bad photo on my camera or lens.
 
I feel a bit spoiled at times. And I don't even have fancy gear. I know that I'd have much more expensive gear right now if I'd not been out of work the last few years. I used to be delighted when all i had was a bridge camera, and when I got my first old dslr, I was over the moon. It was only a Sony A200 and a 50mm minolta prime. But it opened up a whole new chapter for me. Every time I step up a notch I feel privileged. And I know I really will when I go FX.

I kind of did mean spoiled tech-wise though,. as it's all made very handy for us these days. There's no bad dslrs anymore. I think it's the easiest time to get into photography, whether just a hobby or with plans to make money from it. Only problem being nobody has the money to hire us now :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top