Fred Widall wrote: > The discussion regarding who would buy the new D645 made me > wonder how much you folk spend on your career/hobby/addiction. > > I consider photography my main hobby, but being on the fugual > side of miserly, I calculate that my total expenditure for > equipment over the past twenty years is approx. US$4000. > Take away my two digital cameras (*istDS & Optio 33LF) and > its closer to US$2500. Of course I don't make my living at > this, nor do I consider myself an expert photographer, but I > do have fun with the equipment I have. > > I think I can confidently say that I will not be buying a D645 !! > > Just curious.........
The PDML can be a dangerous place for enablement or at least I have found so in the last five years or so, but it has been fun. I went from two 35mm cameras to three formats and fourteen bodies from 2000 to late 2003. Then we had a long string here on how often the cameras/equipment were used and I began to wonder if I had become a collector or was I a hobby photographer. I put a six month rule on all equipment (except prime lenses) and if it wasn't used regularly enough, it was sold. A lot has gone and not one of the purchases I made I regret, as it has given me the opportunity to try things out. Can't say that much of a financial loss in doing so was involved either, which is more than can be said for many hobbies. It did establish the fact that every time I went out I wanted an LX to take with me, so why keep the other cameras? In 1999 I had two cameras and my wife had one. As of now, we have two each. Most of my equipment is used at least weekly, the cameras are used nearly every other day and any new purchase really has to pass the 'I need that' test, before I buy it. I'm happier now than at any time with my photography and my equipment - it's taken a few years, but I know what I want to do and what I really need to go and do it with. I also know what I don't need now, but if I hadn't had the chance to buy and use some of these cameras, I would always have been left with an element of doubt. How much have I spent? I really haven't kept a tally, but I suspect it's much the same overall as it was a couple of years ago. Some of my photographs/slides/jpegs are priceless though and I'll happily bet yours are too. Malcolm
