Photography is an expensive hobby

I justify it by saying if in invest in top quality glass now it gives me a head start for when i make the switch to full time, pretty much anything left over after my fixed costs gets invested into kit. Photography is my escape route so i try to think what will be the best investment long term. My theory is that there won't be huge strides made in the quality of Optics (possibly in the AF though). So if i have a good range of glass to cover most focal lengths then i will only need to worry about body upgrades, well unless Canon bring out a 10-1000mm f/2.8 zoom that can be handheld:lol:
 
I am looking at blowing £5k on a new body and 2 lenses with other gear such as flash, tripod, bag etc. Other half is rather cautious about it but I am looking at it as an investment, plus she will get my old body.

My only issue, stick with nikon and the D300s or move to canon for the 5d mk2 :thinking:
 
Harvey_nikon said:
I am looking at blowing £5k on a new body and 2 lenses with other gear such as flash, tripod, bag etc. Other half is rather cautious about it but I am looking at it as an investment, plus she will get my old body.

My only issue, stick with nikon and the D300s or move to canon for the 5d mk2 :thinking:
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You must have some Nikon lenses already having the D60 so if you were considering the 5D MK11 why not get the D700?
 
Harvey_nikon said:
My only issue, stick with nikon and the D300s or move to canon for the 5d mk2 :thinking:
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That makes no real sense tbh. If you're considering full-frame you need to play with a D700 or even hunt out a D3 now they're being discontinued.
 
Photography is an expensive hobby, there are just as expensive hobbies around, just as the local youth what they spend on ICE for their cars, a set of wheels can cost as much as a decent 'L' lens.



Dave.
 
I just show my wife shots that have been taken with what im hankering after next and usually get the "Wow you've got to get one of those" replies :D
 
I just order, then tell her to wait for the parcel next day. If she complains, I tell her, at least I dont do drugs, drink (just occassionally) and smoke and she keeps quiet.
 
One of the reasons I went Pentax.

Spend £650 on a good body, buy older second hand lenses that are perfectly decent and crisp, and have image stabilisation on all of them and even AF on some.

I spent £100 and got 4 lenses that would have cost me about £1500 for the DSLR Nikon/canon equivalent!
 
I've never smoked and don't drink (much) and I work hard. So as long as the family is ok why not? Work to live, not live to work.
 
my method is as follows

save a little bit until i have a solid base (typically about 20% of the price of whatever i want to buy) or when i cant wait any longer
pretend ive saved more than i have to the girlfriend
buy second hand
pretend it cost a lot less than it did (its ALWAYS 'a huge bargain!')
spend the next 3 weeks eating food out of tins, shopping in the reduced section of supermarkets and complaining.

its always worth it though!

to be honest i dont really mind living a bit cheap to afford a purchase, at least im not getting into debt.
 
since selling my rather thirsty audi and sharing the missus's car i've noticed my monthly balance much better! lol - got a good pay day job and also made quite a bit back on print sales through local shoops - spent roughly 2.5k this year on camera stuff, 50d, 2 L lenses, extender, flashgun, new bag, memory cards, lots of filters - not to mention lots holidays booked to use it all! :)

drew
 
Luke_ said:
One of the reasons I went Pentax.

Spend £650 on a good body, buy older second hand lenses that are perfectly decent and crisp, and have image stabilisation on all of them and even AF on some.

I spent £100 and got 4 lenses that would have cost me about £1500 for the DSLR Nikon/canon equivalent!
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You're far too sane for this place. Wait for those who proffer the perpetual carrot of the never-ending upgrade path.
 
there is no cheap hobby!!! I have had a decent slr mainly film for the last 30 odd years so the wife was supportive when I bought the D90 last December. I then spent a further £2500 very quickly as prices were rising and I sold it to the wife on the amount I was saving by buying straight away!!!

My biggest crime is that I dont get enough use out of my kit but I do enjoy using it when I get the chance - for me its good value.

Oh the wife goes horse riding with my daughter........£40 a week for lessons (1 hour each) £25 a week for loan pony, endless trips to the stables burns petrol, and so on. O and she looked at buying a horse - be afraid, be very afraid - thats when the money really starts going!

And after deciding against the horse we started refitting the kitchen and downstairs loo etc, even doing it myself theres more than £6000 out of the window, everything in life is expensive these days!
 
Its even more expensive for me as my wife is also into photography plus my eldest daughter is at uni doing art and has a Nikon dSLR and my youngest son is taking photography A level next year so is getting a Nikon dSLR for Christmas. Mrs C's D300 arrives at the end of the month !
 
Paul Philpott said:
Dunno about all this talk of Pentax but Deano's girlfriend is a Kool Babe!!:lol:
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But she's not smiling. Do you think she's just asked how much the camera/lens combination was? :D

I don't have a problem with camera stuff. I generally make a major purchase every 12-15 months and save for it, so it's taken me a while to get to where I am.

It's a little bit harder this month justifying the £850 to tune the car. You don't see anything for that.
 
I just spent about £6k on nikon and lighting gear, but the wife doesnt mind. Mainly because we both work very hard and have very good salarys... the mortgage is paid and the kids are happy so why the hell not. I wont spend my entire life working to have no pleasures in life.

Besides, the wife is just happy that I got rid of my 532bhp skyline (which cost me way more to build over 2 years than any camera equipment would cost) and got rid of the Honda S2000 so either way I am quids in with this hobby :)
 
Basically, work hard!

I'm at the point where I have the lenses I need...so now it's just seeing what comes with new camera bodies. Although there are still two lenses I 'want' to have rather than 'need' to have.
 
I recently quit smoking (I promised myself and my gf I would quit completely before I was 31) so the extra money in my pocket can go on PC and camera gear, it acts as an incentive :) Changing my car to something that does more than 20mpg so should have some extra pennes from that too soon.
I am not really after much else, I'd like a longer lens for wildlife and then I wan to upgrade my 55-250 for a 70-200L f/4 and I am done for a while :)
 
for me its mixture of savings and money made from the shoot or two we do each week.

I don't want to add up how much I've spent in the last year, but it's a hell of a lot...
 
I spend no more than £35 on lenses!! Cheapest i have bought was £8 delivered for a 50mm f2 prime which is a corker! 135mm f2.8 £16.01 80-200mm f4.5 zoom £5 and i have just won a 55mm f1.2 (yes f1.2) for £30. All lenses are used but in MINT condition. SWEEEEET!
 
Well at last I have got the lens combination I wanted: Canon 24-105L
Canon 100-300L Sigma 10-22 the flash is fine Canon 580EXII and I was happy with the body 40D then b.....y Canon launched the 7D:thinking:

So now its more money......................................
 
Deano said:
My girlfriend is also a photographer but has it sussed. I buy the L lenses and all the studio stuff :bonk:.
She spends her money on clothes, shoes and bags. She does however model plenty for me and is gorgeous so i dont mind a bit :love:
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I think, you have a very good deal going on there! :D:D:D


Paulie-W said:
I just show my wife shots that have been taken with what im hankering after next and usually get the "Wow you've got to get one of those" replies :D
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My problem would be, a couple of weeks later, she would be wanting to see similar shots!
 
henryf4 said:
How do you all afford your equipment, is it an addiction, do you get nagged by your other half?

I bought a used 5D last week and tomorrow I am purchasing my first L lens with a fellow poster here. My wife almost flipped out when I told her that by tomorrow I would have spent nearly 1.5k in two weeks. :help:
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tell her that you have more spare money to spend since you got rid of your mistress... :bonk:
 
I don't tell mine, if she sees a nice new lens or piece of kit, I tell her it was about £80. She wouldn't know the price of camera equipment any more than I'd know the price of women's clothing.
 
kennysarmy said:
I am always honest, could nt not tell her if I bought something....something wrong in your relationship I think if you have to hide your purchases....

:)
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agree, find it quite sad that some people have to lie/cover up what they buy :thinking:
 
Dman said:
I don't tell mine, if she sees a nice new lens or piece of kit, I tell her it was about £80. She wouldn't know the price of camera equipment any more than I'd know the price of women's clothing.
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& on the flipside, you ask her how much that dress was, she says £80- yet it's really 20x that :lol:
 
My wife is just pleased that I stopped buying cars!! This is cheap. :D


Kev.
 
Well in the last 4 years my hobby has cost me about £15.00 a week which I don't consider excessive.

And when I take into account the fact that I no longer pay for actually taking the pictures (no film, processing etc) then it is an extremely cheap hobby for me.

The only two things I want now are a Canon 100mm Macro lens and a 50D camera.

The lens I hope to find on here at a good price and the 50D I will probably buy next year (new).
 
I'm just starting out and I've already spent £2000 so I can see this is going to be an expensive ride. Although unlike previous hobbies I can at least be happy that any lenses I purchase will retain their value and become assets.

At the moment I'm just enjoying learning the learning curve...

Once I know what I'm doing I'm sure my eyes will start spending what my wallet doesn;t have, lol
 
i feel sorry for the majority of photographers who have to go out and work (preferably men) at a job they hate only to come back with the other half sitting around then moaning when you buy a £50 camera bag.

makes you think "i do all this work and come back to get moaned at for using my own hard earned cash"
 
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