Call me strange, but since getting 'into' photography I've really enjoyed learning about lenses and functions, I've enjoyed collecting gear and spending all my money on gear too. I think I've actually spent more time researching gear than taking pictures, but I don't consider it a bad thing.
Don't get me wrong, I love taking snaps and that's what the gear does, but I also enjoy comparing gear and generally just collecting photography items.
Am I alone?
No, you're not strange or alone, but what you're admitting too is simply terribly ...
uncool 
!!!
Don't get me wrong,
I'm with you all the way - I love hobbies which entail lots of expensive, technical equipment, myself and generally enjoy reading about equipment on TP.
The fact is though, this forum (like any other) has it's fair share of people who like to remind us all that "
It's the photographer and not the camera ..." etc. etc. Of course,
there's a lot of truth in what they say, but the fact that it
sounds "cooler" to say that, which means that you tend to hear it more often, IMO
. Naturally, there are a number of (generally) experienced and/or very pragmatic photographers here, who genuinely
do feel that way and have absolutley no regard for what equipment they use, so long as it gives them the images that they desire. My assertion here is that those individuals are
less numerous than we might think :|.
It's the same thing as on car/bike forums. Everyone goes there to drool over the hardware, but there's a hardcore of antagonists who can't help questioning the ability of the driver/rider of the vehicle in question with comments like, "
What's the point of having a Ferrari if you're not going to use it on the track :shrug:"?
Music's the main offender, though
! Guitar forums are even
worse than photography ones, when it comes to the great "
Equipment vs. Skills" debate :bang:.
Remember, the Internet's a fairly anonymous medium and so people have the opportunity to lie about themsleves, without being found out. That's just too tempting for some
.
So,
my belief is that the silent majority are actually
at least as interested in learning about the equipment and how to use it, as are interested
purley in what they see with their own eyes and how they reproduce it :|. They must be - every amateur photographer that I've met in public always wants to talk about what cameras/lenses we're using and never about what we both might actually be photographing at the time
.
/End_of_Rant
even though it's part hobby / part work.
:nono:
:shrug: