• Manuelhelp_outline
    118 posts
    2 years ago

    I do that too, but I'm not looking for the perfect camera, I just want a better one.
    Everything became easier since I lowered my expectations. In 17 years I had 7 cameras (various brands and models), with all of them I took a lot of bad pictures and a few good ones.
    Of course the camera I have now is incomparably better than the first one, but I still take a lot of bad pictures. I think it's because I'm more demanding now. 😀

  • DonaldBpanorama_fish_eye
    2355 posts
    2 years ago

    practice contentment

  • NilesCranepanorama_fish_eye
    4 posts
    2 years ago

    Thanks for the responses. I should have clarified that the cameras I buy are new to me. They are actually used, or 'pre-loved' in current parlance. I prefer 'secondhand'!

  • TOShooterpanorama_fish_eye
    153 posts
    2 years ago

    So what are you shooting with?

  • HikePicspanorama_fish_eye
    54 posts
    2 years ago

    I've got plenty of competent gear I enjoy using. What I don't have is time to use them. That would make me happy. Maybe when I retire.

  • 1737 posts
    2 years ago

    I buy cameras to match projects. If the projects change, then so do the cameras. I'm not looking for the ideal camera -- it doesn't exist. I'm looking for the camera that fits my needs at the time.

  • DonaldBpanorama_fish_eye
    2355 posts
    2 years ago

    Im the same.

  • SoCalAnglerhelp_outline
    6 posts
    2 years ago

    I think the same way. Budget does come into play, which precludes some things I would like to do (but that applies to interests other than photography too), but I have plenty of other subjects and projects that I enjoy so I don't feel I'm missing out due to budget limitations.

    I'm still happy with my Nikon D40, which soldiers on after 15 years and and still suits some projects just fine. I do have newer cameras.

  • bastibepanorama_fish_eye
    60 posts
    2 years ago

    I recently realized that GAS is how my psyche expresses boredom.

    I was on a photo club meetup in a local park, and was getting a bit bored with the pretty flowers, and started thinking about gear. I asked myself, what would change, right now, if I had the Z6 I'd been lustig after recently? Is there a sort of shot this would allow me to take that my X-T3 can't? Is there an aspect of the pictures I took that the Z6 would markedly improve?

    The only thing the Z6 would change is the process. By being new, and unknown to me, it would add a challenge to the act of taking pictures, which I was presently getting a bit bored of.

    This realization, oddly, set me free. If I need more enjoyment out of photography, I'll need to upgrade myself, not my camera. I'll need to push myself to seek out compositions, think more deeply about the pictures and relations. Or not. Accept that now is not the time for art, and coast a little.

    That way lies happiness, not on ever more gear. Says the hypocrite who has bought/sold dozens and dozens of lenses and cameras to come to this realization.

  • 2 years ago

    Does it have something to do with this?

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ——

    David

  • NilesCranepanorama_fish_eye
    4 posts
    2 years ago

    error!

  • NilesCranepanorama_fish_eye
    4 posts
    2 years ago

    Various m43 stuff

  • Mackiesbackpanorama_fish_eye
    243 posts
    2 years ago

    I wouldn't mind of my Z6 had Z8 autofocus, and if one day they create that at a decent price, I will buy one used. Other than that, I don't need anything. I have more than I need as it is.

  • TonyBeachpanorama_fish_eye
    205 posts
    2 years ago

    I've been happy for a time with each camera I have bought. It's how long that lasts that is the question I need to answer. I think I would be happy enough with just my D500, it's the camera I yearned for even as I was replacing my D200 with a just released D300 -- the D500 has plenty of resolution, speed, AF performance, DR, etcetera. Truthfully, I may prefer my D850 95% of the time because of its larger format and greater resolution (almost always overkill), but I would miss my D500 more, and I'm finding the large D850 files noticeably slowing down my computer, so now I'm not happy with my computer.

  • fredkpanorama_fish_eye
    173 posts
    2 years ago

    It is the basic human condition to want that which is just beyond our horizon and not quite reachable ... or not.

    I think that some people are born basically happy and some are not. I know people who are (mostly) happy in whatever situation they find themselves and some that are always wanting something more.

    Living in a society where we are driven to consumption by the constant bombardment of advertising doesn't help.

    My biggest problem these days is finding the time to fully enjoy the stuff I have, not getting better stuff.

  • OpenCubehelp_outline
    861 posts
    2 years ago

    I'm a human who isn't winning the game of life. Even those who are, don't seem happy. Welcome to being human I guess.

  • bastibepanorama_fish_eye
    60 posts
    2 years ago

    That is so true. I know a few of those as well.

    GAS is an expression of discontent. It must be much harder to bear for glass-half-empty kinds of people than others.

  • TimoKpanorama_fish_eye
    300 posts
    2 years ago

    That's a great idea! I'll buy me a film camera! 😀 I'm becoming happy! 😍
    I'll buy a $1000 film camera and I'll be hundred times happier than those photographers in YT with their $10 cameras. 😇