Is there a cure for kit lust?

stu_the_flat

stu_the_flat

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Stuart
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Yesterday and today I was at a photography course at Calumet run by John Clements who is a really nice guy.

For the afternoon he lent me his D300 with 24-70 f2.8 and SB800. I was really resistant to using it for two reasons. one is my "don't borrow what you cannot afford to replace" rule the second reason was I would rather not know it existed!

But the enviable happened, I fell in love with it!

Now I have been lusting after that lens since I got a Sigma 70-200.

And The SB800 was fantastic with all of the easy to use buttons and clever things it was trying to tell me!

But oh my god what a camera the D300 is! I love how easy it is to use in manual rather than the D60 which if you take a photo will not let you change any settings until its finished writing to the card!

I love the way the auto focus can be placed almost any where in the view finder! Well when I first looked through it I thought "This image finder looks like its should be on a submarine periscope not a camera!"

I love How much less noisy the ISO is compared my camera.

Do I need one...
Nope

So I thought I better just tell you all that I'm sitting here failing miserably to not want a D300! :D Now I'm just off to calumets website to drool on my keyboard.

Stuart
 
Fraud? I'm not sure putting a D300 sticker on and telling people it is one will really help.
 
NO! I had this problem three years ago at a Mark Cleghorn seminar. I lasted a week.Then a Canon 5D snuck it's way out of Calumet into my camera bag and it's not stopped since.

We should start a self help group......"My name is Alison and I'm a gear junkie..."
 
I know how you feel. I spent a lot more than I could afford on my canon kit. I just bought and bought and sold and sold on ebay. So far I have made a profit of £250 over three months, but I still have far more than I need. I just don't want to let go of it. I am sure I will se sense eventually, but it is so easy to get hooked.

I'm Gordon and I'm a photoholic!
 
Okay Ali, what have you got your sites on now?

Gordon
 
Three things to do here:

First, force yourself to be happy with what you have. Take a walk around flickr and see what brilliance and vision can do with a D60. If you can beat those shots, then you deserve the D300.

Secondly, force yourself to use the ridiculous high ISO modes on the D60 [if it's like my D80, then they're H0.7 and H1.0. Grainy and noisy as hell, but they're still taking pictures, still ISO3200 - and try your best to love the grain. Until recently, I'd never used H1.0 because of the 'unacceptable noise' [common concensus, not mine] - and so missing hundreds of shots just because I didn't bother, couldn't handhold etc. As long as the shot's composed and well thought out, there'll always be something you can do in PP to bring out the best from your photo. If you shoot over 50% at H1.0, then you need a D700.

Thirdly, aim for 25k shutter actuations on the D60. This will do two things; you'll have the satisfaction of really having used your kit [and it'll still be about halfway through its life and therefore worth something]; and secondly, you can't take 25,000 shots and not get better, developing your own personal style.

Was that any help?
 
lol. Not a lot! Possibly a second Canon flash so I can play with ratios on the ST-E2 or more pocketwizards (only go two)

But I'm done with kit for some time. My 5D is still under 10k actuations and the 1Ds about 20K so they have a lot of life in them. Got 2x MF cameras and although I'd love a wide angle for the Hasselblad I don't fancy selling a kidney!

My aim is to use what I've darned well got. I'm lucky that I had the luxury of buying some good gear for which I'm very grateful and the real pity would be not to use it to it's full potential. I think that's one reason I push myself to learn pretty hard.

Sorry for the thread hijack :)
 
There is only one cure for kit lust and that unfortunately comes with its own problems!

Death!
 
Merovingian said:
Why not master you d60 first and then feel happily justified when you buy a d300!
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You couldn't be more write! At the moment I'm very disappointed with my photography skills. and I'm on a mission to improve my skills.

functionally D60 has all the buttons I need to take a good photograph.

But that doesn't stop me want fancy toys. I'm not usably prone to marketing but there something about lenses that I find exciting!

From the workshop I've had a good idea. when I go to 800 or 1600 ISO I will start shooting black and white so the images look good grainy! I even found a touch or over exposure make them look very cool!

Beside I've got to put my Alfa 166 through her MOT next month and that can cost a penny or two! At least I've got something to photograph!
 
And to get out to locations in! :)

Good luck with the MOT and the continued learning. It's fascinating stuff.
 
Also with kit lust, and whether you should go out and buy the stuff is the level of the waf, wife acceptance factor
 
Gear lust??

Never heard of it...

I have however just bought a 17-50 f2.8. anyone heard of theses?? just last month bought some weird thing called a sb900, and ordered two playmates for it this month, sb600's.

I am in complete denial and am completely convinced that when I have the 18-300mm range covered by good fast glass that I will stop, oh how I wish that was true....
 
If you shoot over 50% at H1.0, then you need a D700.
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sweet, a justification in writing, well text at least.

and as luck would have it theres one on the classifieds. Just need a 50mm f1.4 to go with it
 
I feel the only reasonable cure (leaving out death and a lottery win) is a swift kick in the balls from the OH.




Dont know why but it seems to take my mind off of the shiny white lens...





Strange that....
 
fontmoss said:
sweet, a justification in writing, well text at least.
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That's my justification, too....

I prefer available light photos, and if I should just bite the D700 bullet, I'd rather do it sooner than later. My D80's just about to hit a trouble-free 22k actuations though, and just like my 107,000 mile Volvo it's too good to get rid of at the moment..


Sensor yield mathematics... full frame's not going to become cheap, so there's no point hanging round for a deal. Economy variance/Exchange rates might account for a hundred pounds here or there, but in truth if we're that worried about £100 we probably can't afford a £1700 camera....
 
stu_the_flat said:
Hmmm Photography and Alfa Romeos on a PhD student grant. I'm doomed!

Stuart
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Italian cars are quirky, but by God are they exciting...........:D
 
There will always be a better camera to fall in love with, we just need to remember the reason why we bought the camera we have now.
 
Realise that (in certain circumstances obvs) that no matter what kit you have, you'll still be sh' unless you master the basics.

I was upset that I didn't have full frame, and a 17-40L, and a 24-70L, and a 70-200/2.8 IS L.

But then I realised that my 10-20 is very very f-in sharp at f/8, my 24-60 is perfect in most conditions as long as I don't shoot wide open, and my 55-250 is absolutely pin sharp and as long as I whack the iso up (not the end of the world) it's usually perfect for sports.

I would love a 5dmk2, with all the above kit.
I'd love an extra flashgun.
I'd love a MF and digital scanning setup.
I'd love a leica.
I'd love blah blah blah blah blah.

Can I justify it? No, not really.

Is the stuff I've got at the moment okay? Yes, yes it is.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you overcome gear lust.

Now, I'm off to scower the internet to look at L glass and pro-spec bodies :D
 
Looks nice doesnt it? Shame you cant have it :D


nikon-d300.jpg


Sorry thats the dark side coming out of me :lol:
 
Nah what I was holding was more like this!

2090133405_615e3a72fd.jpg


This thread has actually helped. I chose Nikon for three reasons.

1 My PhD is based on a novel optical system and I think Nikon make the best microscopes in the field.

2 You'll laugh at this Remember I bought it in January. They had a range of high quality optics at affordable prices. I actually thought I could buy a Nikon 70-300 VR for around £300! :D

3 It was the cheapest I bought it at calumet for £305 with VR kit lens and got £30 student discount and £30 cash back!

and you've all reminded me that I'm rubbish so I there no point in being rubbish and poor!


Cheers Stuart
 
Yes there is a cure... it's called the wife :)

That or redundancy
 
They're exciting. "is it going to get to 60mph before I run out of motorway..." :D
 
At some point you may look at the over priced bling in the camera shop window and wonder what you are haemorrhaging money for and resolve to see what you can achieve with what you actually have - rather than make 'equipment' excuses for your failing to take good pictures.

When you realise you can do a lot with a simple camera and simple lens you might start to look at 'shock and awe' equipment as a burden rather than a pleasure.
 
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