Gear Acquisition Syndrome: please help!!!

[tron]

Paolo, I do have both the Zeiss 21mm and the TS-E 24mm II  that's why I suggested them. I got first the Zeiss and one and a half year later the TS-E (about 2 months ago).
I can assure you that manual focus on the 21mm Zeiss is easy and enjoyable. It is very smooth, plus you have focus confirmation. And the depth of field can be forgiving in such a wide angle lens. Another good thing is that it is easy to focus at infinity (I have used it for astrophotography).
So, if you need an ultra wide lens mostly for landscapes you can't go wrong with Zeiss. 
On the other hand if you plan to shoot buildings then a TS-E lens is a much better choice (although still a manual focus one...).

[elflord]

I'm not a fan of renting a lens just to try it out - IMO, it's a waste of money that could otherwise be put toward purchase.  If I'm not sure about a choice, I buy used at a low enough price that I can re-sell with no loss.  That requires some patience, but that's fine - because that's only for 'wants', since if it's a need, you know what that is and you just buy it new.

When you buy and sell used, there are shipping costs, possibly transaction fees (e.g. paypal) and some risk associated with each transaction. Depending on where you list when you resell, there may be additional listing fees. Then there's the initial inconvenience of having to sell it.   A four day rental from lensrentals is in the same ballpark price wise as paypal transaction fees + shipping.

So renting actually makes quite a lot of sense at least from a cash flow perspective

[niccyboy]

I'm not a fan of renting a lens just to try it out - IMO, it's a waste of money that could otherwise be put toward purchase.  If I'm not sure about a choice, I buy used at a low enough price that I can re-sell with no loss.  That requires some patience, but that's fine - because that's only for 'wants', since if it's a need, you know what that is and you just buy it new.

When you buy and sell used, there are shipping costs, possibly transaction fees (e.g. paypal) and some risk associated with each transaction. Depending on where you list when you resell, there may be additional listing fees. Then there's the initial inconvenience of having to sell it.   A four day rental from lensrentals is in the same ballpark price wise as paypal transaction fees + shipping.

So renting actually makes quite a lot of sense at least from a cash flow perspective

But those costs are in the process of PURCHASING the lens that you then own. As opposed to renting where you will not own it. For a large prime i see the merit  in hiring. for anything less that 1500 i don't see the point

[JackSw1ss]

Zeiss sounds like a good prescription for my problems but I am concerned about manual focus. I could try switch off AF on what I have and see out it goes.


Otherwise, it seems that 85 1.2 is not the best for walkaround due to slow af. So, since i don't make money shooting  portraits (for what it matters, not even shooting anything else), it's probably not the best option for me. 85 1.8, maybe. 135 f2 could be a good....or, again, go wider with 16-35. eh....


Thank you all!

Ciao Paolo, (sono Giacomo che ti ha aggiunto qlc giorno fa in flickr)

LOL I feel your pain...there's too many stuff to buy around eheh.
For me this pathology is easy to cure because when I dunno what to buy camera-wise I just purchase something flash related for my strobes. But having studio strobes is easy because there's ton of accessories to buy for them LOL.

As far as your "problem" goes, I agree with some others who said "try to look at your most used FL's".
When last June I completed my "holy trinity" though every update from there now is based on upgrading the most used FL, which are already covered, getting the best lens around. So for instance, conssider the 50mm. It's already covered by the 24-70 (and 24-105 LOOOOL), so what's the next upgrade for it?
well, 50 1.4 or 50 1.2....which brand is up to you. I personally opted for the 50 1.4 because of pockability and I'm considering also the 1.2 for bokeh porn (yes I'm a freakin mentally instable for 50mm FL ahaha)

when the trinity was not completed yet, the problem was different, I tried to cover the common and large FL range the sooner possible. So last lens I bought (apart the 50 1.4) was the 16.35...My widest FL was 24mm so it was an obliged step to do. 17-40 or 16-35?!?I went with the heart and choose by feeling and now it's my most used lens, always on my camera.

Cheers and hope it doesn't brings even more confusion ehehe

[neuroanatomist]

I'm not a fan of renting a lens just to try it out - IMO, it's a waste of money that could otherwise be put toward purchase.  If I'm not sure about a choice, I buy used at a low enough price that I can re-sell with no loss.  That requires some patience, but that's fine - because that's only for 'wants', since if it's a need, you know what that is and you just buy it new.

When you buy and sell used, there are shipping costs, possibly transaction fees (e.g. paypal) and some risk associated with each transaction. Depending on where you list when you resell, there may be additional listing fees. Then there's the initial inconvenience of having to sell it.   A four day rental from lensrentals is in the same ballpark price wise as paypal transaction fees + shipping.

So renting actually makes quite a lot of sense at least from a cash flow perspective

Not for me. I buy and sell only on Craigslist. When selling, it's just a 5-min walk to a Starbucks near work (although maybe I should count the grande mocha as a transaction fee?).  Transactions are cash, and the lens/etc. can be tested before purchase. 

The most 'loss' associated with any of my purchases was about $15 in gas on a not-so-local lens purchase. That was for a pristine 300mm f/4L IS for $700.  Incidentally, when I sold that lens, I ended up with enough net profit to have paid for renting it for more than a month. Seem pretty sensible from a cash flow perspective?

[elflord]

Not for me. I buy and sell only on Craigslist. When selling, it's just a 5-min walk to a Starbucks near work (although maybe I should count the grande mocha as a transaction fee?).  Transactions are cash, and the lens/etc. can be tested before purchase. 

Sounds great, but depending on where you live, it might be some time before the item you want is available and when it is, there is no guarantee that the list price will be reasonable. That could be OK if you're prepared to haggle, but otherwise it isn't.  It won't work very well if you're trying to compare 5 or so lenses and choose one of them.

I also had very little luck trying to sell on craigslist -- nearly all the responses were from scammers, except that there was also one low-baller.

Between dealing with scammers, low ballers, no-shows and other time wasters, craigslist transactions are only free if your time has no value.

[neuroanatomist]

I buy and sell only on Craigslist.

Between dealing with scammers, low ballers, no-shows and other time wasters, craigslist transactions are only free if your time has no value.

Thanks, what a nice thing to say about the value of my time.  I could counter that by saying that someone with reasonable intellgence can easily circumvent those problems which you seem to find with Craigslist (does it really take you that long to read and delete an email?).  Regardless, I'm quite glad that those who actually do pay me for my time have a vastly different opinion of its value.

[elflord]

Between dealing with scammers, low ballers, no-shows and other time wasters, craigslist transactions are only free if your time has no value.

Thanks, what a nice thing to say about the value of my time.

You misinterpreted my comment. I am pointing out that if you do transactions on craigslist, there is a cost in time and inconvenience. If your time is valuable, this is not free. Also, I was discussing this in context of my experience using craigslist, which is the reason why renting makes sense for me. Craigslist varies greatly by locale, some areas have more active markets for camera gear than others. The inconvenience of going via CL will vary considerably by locale.

I expressed no opinion in my post about the value of your time -- that was your interpretation, and it turns out, not the correct one.

I could counter that by saying that someone with reasonable intellgence can easily circumvent those problems which you seem to find with Craigslist (does it really take you that long to read and delete an email?).

It has nothing to do with "intelligence". Some emails do merit a response (e.g. offers). Sometimes a prospective buyer might send emails back and forth and either no-show, or just not be interested in negotiating a fair price.

I suppose with some experience it may be possible to get a little faster at determining who is a time waster and who is worth responding to.  But again, acquiring that experience has a cost (in time).

[Paolo]

A quick update: today I "had" to pass by B&H and I made I few shots with 85 1.2, 135 and 16-35. I know that what i did is very far from a real test but....
1. I found true that the 85 1.2 is slow to focus. For my needs (travel and street photography) I am afraid that it would be too slow (risk of missing good shots).
2. 135: nice, fast and sharp. Sooner or later this will come to complement (or replace?) my 70-200 f4.
3. 16-35: loved it!!!


In short: i believe i found my (temporary) medicine in option 3. Going back to the original purpose of my first post, however, I am sure this cure will only last for a while...


Cheers.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/paolofontana/

[wickidwombat]

Yeah I think i definately have this syndrome too, L glass is like crack for photographers i think once you are on it its impossible to stop

[Halfrack]

Since you're semi-anti-flash, check out the 35mm f1.4 or the 24mm F1.4 II.  Either that or move up your 70-200 from F4 to F2.8 IS.  The 135mmL is an amazing lens, most people I know shooting FF use it more than they expected.

I have no room to talk - I picked up a body, 3 flashes and a lens in the last 72 hours 

[neuroanatomist]

I know of only one way to stave off GAS.  WILLPOWER.  This past April, I purchased a decent home studio setup (a second 430EX II, an Einstein monolight, a set of PocketWizards to trigger them all, an assortment of softboxes, grids, etc., light stands, a background support and several backdrops). But since then, nothing (ok, not counting the S100).  Willpower. I've simply told myself, over and over, that enough is enough. Rebate on the 70-300 L? No. Really want a 24-70/2.8 for shallower DoF in the general purpose range? Nope. Willpower.  Now, thanks to my staunch will and resistance to GAS, I've got $7K saved up - in cash.

So c'mon, B&H - open up the damn preorders for the 1D X already!!  This willpower crap is for the birds - birds I want to take pictures of at 12 fps on the new flagship body!!

 

[JR]

I know of only one way to stave off GAS.  WILLPOWER.  This past April, I purchased a decent home studio setup (a second 430EX II, an Einstein monolight, a set of PocketWizards to trigger them all, an assortment of softboxes, grids, etc., light stands, a background support and several backdrops). But since then, nothing (ok, not counting the S100).  Willpower. I've simply told myself, over and over, that enough is enough. Rebate on the 70-300 L? No. Really want a 24-70/2.8 for shallower DoF in the general purpose range? Nope. Willpower.  Now, thanks to my staunch will and resistance to GAS, I've got $7K saved up - in cash.

So c'mon, B&H - open up the damn preorders for the 1D X already!!  This willpower crap is for the birds - birds I want to take pictures of at 12 fps on the new flagship body!!

 

+1 on the WILL POWER ... or lack thereoff for the 1DX when B&H allow pre-orders...   

[Jettatore]

There is a cure if you really want one.  I found it after a lot of studying lenses, and I continue to heavily study the equipment that is available.

I decided to build a minimal kit, that has as little as possible and some variations inherent.  So when I leave the house I can pick 1 body and 1 lens out of a pool of 2 or 3.  Go out with 2 bodies and 2 lenses, or go out with 2 bodies, 3 lenses with the third in a minimal bag.  It becomes an even neater way of doing things if the one body is a crop, and the other is a FF and you can switch which lens goes on which body for a slightly different effect.

Now, while you build your 2 body and 2 or 3 lens kit, you thinking what/how you want to be shooting.  You cannot cover every possible situation without owning a ton more stuff, but you can figure out what you do most, and what is meant for a special occasion.  Now you can either supplement some extra stuff for those occasions where it would make sense, or just rent for those days which is altogether more affordable.  This means, you always own a very good base, that suits your style and you are never limiting yourself because you have full access to everything else that could be useful on a rental basis.  If your style/needs change, then switch around your base kit.

You might choose to only have 1 body, I'm just eluding to the kit I'm working on.  You could do a 1 body with 3 or 4 lens kit and save days you might want to go out with 2 bodies, to rent the 2nd body.  This is all personal decisions that you have to make to suit you.  I really would spend your time figuring what you want to shoot most, and what setup would work for those scenarios, paying careful attention to what you are going to bring with you in the situation and how you plan to carry it all and effectively use it.  It's important to be realistic and come up with a plan that doesn't have you switching lenses in the field all day and lugging around a massive backpack.  So look into carrying/harness gear as well and figure out what you think will work best for you.

Now this will not stop you from studying equipment, I love that, it's a fun distraction.  But knowing that you have a full permanent base kit that covers you're main uses in photography, and can easily be supplement by a 3-day or longer rental at affordable prices, and all of a sudden you no longer feel the need to buy it all, you just want to know it all and have access to it.

Remember, at the end of the day, even if you have 1 of everything Canon makes, that you can't just bring it all with you and use it effectively in any given situation.  Making important decisions before you leave the house preparing in advance to be versatile, mobile/nimble and well prepared for the situation you are going into.

[briansquibb]

I have ended up with 4 bodies and a load of L lens.

For a days shooting  I usually go out with 2 bodies hanging on the Black Rapid twin straps and a small bag with a couple of spare lens. Probably more lens in the truck 'in case' along with the tripod (which I dont use much)

I have 2x7D, 5DII and 1D4 all of which have their strengths and weaknesses. Same with the lens too. However the number of combinations available usually means I am OK (I sometimes end up with the 17-40 as a kit lens on the 1D4 or the 400 f/2.8 on the 5DII for pooch portraits)

When buying maximise the number of options from your kit and you will be surprised how little you need (as opposed to want)