How often do you go through a body? Why do you upgrade?

[michaelm]

I still have camera bodies from 10 years ago that I use. I don't really upgrade, I purchase tools and equipment based on ROI. 

With ROI in mind I make more careful decisions and focus on camera bodies that can be upgraded, or that are high-end enough to produce for years. My last new camera body was two years ago, I'm unlikely to buy a new one for another year. I'd be more inclined to add lights, grip (light stands, soft boxes , etc.), lenses, upgrade software, color management and spend on marketing on a regular basis. Camera bodies are upgraded every few years or if I add a new photographer.

Can I make money on this is my first question, followed by "how long before this new camera, printer, lens is turning a profit?"

If it still is earning its keep and returning income it continues to be used. When something wears out, or stops being financially productive then I sell it or donate it.

It does not matter if it's a printer, camera, light, computer or other tool, it's got to earn its keep.

[wickidwombat]

But how difficult it was to sell everything. Expect for 2 lenses, the rest was a PIA really. I ended up givin away the D60 almost as a gift LOL

really? When I sold all my Nikon gear it all sold in about a week and i got pretty reasonable prices for it all too

[funkboy]

Still on my 40D, which was an upgrade from the 10D that got me into DSLR photography in the first place.

Very tempted by the 7D, but I'm still really happy with the 40D & can't really justify the upgrade.  It'll have to be something pretty revolutionary (& affordable) to get me to move.  I get a new lens every year or two & leave it at that.  New glass certainly gets me out shooting a lot more than a new body did.

Compact cameras, however, are a different story.  Had a Pana LX3 for a year or two (loved it), traded it on the LX5 shortly after it came out (even better), and now a Fuji X10 is on the way (to be continued)...

[Jettatore]

A sad reality is that a lot of this stuff ends up as junk, polluting our wildlife.  Or to put it another way, our habits are certainly not contributing to a healthy environment.  It concerns me because I am very interested in nature, wildlife and insect photography and pollution and massive garbage piles and ruined oceans are not useful for my desired compositions.  I'm already a bit ticked off, living on the East Coast of the US that light pollution seriously detracts from amateur astro-photography which I feel I would be quite interested/active in if I had access to clearer skies (Jealous of all my friends who live in NZ and Aus).

[dr croubie]

(Jealous of all my friends who live in NZ and Aus).

I shall be awaiting your telescope and camera bodies in the mail... 

I've had 4 bodies in my life:
- a Kodak point and shoot Instamatic X15F, nothing more than a plastic lens and 2-blade leaf shutter. It took 126 Cartridge film, anyone remember (or even heard of) that? I took a prize-winning photo on it when I was only 8 or so. I found it a few years ago, still had half a roll of undeveloped film in, from when I was in Thailand when I was 10. (Thankfully kodak still processed it, and the photos were only half-fogged).
- 35mm Nikon One-touch 100, just a wide angle lens point and shoot. Not bad for what it was, it went on a lot of holidays with me when I was a teenager.
- Olympus mju820, bought end of 2007 just before I went overseas backpacking for a year (which turned into 3). Bought it mostly because it was "weatherproof", and better lens/zoom than the properly submersible types. Turns out it was not dunk-in-beer proof, nor Czech-river-drunken-rafting-falling-in proof. Technically this should be counted as 2 bodies because the first died. Between the two bodies I kept about 12,000 photos.
- 7D, had it just over a year, about 16,000 shutter-shots.

Next?:
- I've got a lot of Pentacon Six and Kiev 88 glass, I do have a Pentacon Six body that was doa when i got it. One day i'll get a proper film body for all my glass, either a P6 or a Kiev 88CM / Hartblei 1006 (but then i'll be tempted to get a digital hassy back for it).
- Maybe maybe maybe i'll find a cheap Eos 3 or 1V for film and using my canon glass. I might even use IR film and/or find an IR-converted digital body, if it's cheap enough (i'm not destroying my 7D).
- FF Digital eventually. Maybe not 5D3. Maybe 5D2 if i get a good price on a 2nd-hand one once the 5D3 hits. Maybe 1D3/4 or 1Ds2/3 if they come low enough in a few years.
- But i'm not ditching my 7D until the shutter falls off from overuse (ie, maybe next week). I won't replace it for an aps-c high-fps body for at least 5-6 years, my next digital body will be FF for portraits and landscapes only...

[funkboy]

I'm already a bit ticked off, living on the East Coast of the US that light pollution seriously detracts from amateur astro-photography which I feel I would be quite interested/active in if I had access to clearer skies (Jealous of all my friends who live in NZ and Aus).

Check this out.

Sounds like you need some light pollution filters, or if you're ready to dedicate a camera to it, replace the low-pass filter to reject artificial wavelengths.

[unruled]

I still have camera bodies from 10 years ago that I use. I don't really upgrade, I purchase tools and equipment based on ROI. 

With ROI in mind I make more careful decisions and focus on camera bodies that can be upgraded, or that are high-end enough to produce for years. My last new camera body was two years ago, I'm unlikely to buy a new one for another year. I'd be more inclined to add lights, grip (light stands, soft boxes , etc.), lenses, upgrade software, color management and spend on marketing on a regular basis. Camera bodies are upgraded every few years or if I add a new photographer.

Can I make money on this is my first question, followed by "how long before this new camera, printer, lens is turning a profit?"

If it still is earning its keep and returning income it continues to be used. When something wears out, or stops being financially productive then I sell it or donate it.

It does not matter if it's a printer, camera, light, computer or other tool, it's got to earn its keep.

I'm glad to hear your take onit. I feel weird when I hear a prof. With working 5d ii saying they will get a 1dx. You can give all sorts of beautuful rationalisations for upgrading but if you can't back it up with figures (roi), it means you sre doing it for the wrong reasons I think. A new body either needs to let you charge more for your images, or you need to be able to sell tangibly more images..otherwise its just indulgement, isn't it?

[dr croubie]

otherwise its just indulgement, isn't it?

That's probably the best distinction between professional and prosumer. Professionals have to justify all their expenditure for expected return (be it 550D, 1DX, or IQ180). Prosumers (even if they do sell some shots) can buy any body they like, because "fun" gets taken into the return-on-investment calculations...

[Jettatore]

Check this out.

Sounds like you need some light pollution filters, or if you're ready to dedicate a camera to it, replace the low-pass filter to reject artificial wavelengths.

Thanks funkboy.  I'll look into it but I suspect there is no filter strong enough to cancel out the massive night-time light pollution effects from NYC and the other nearby cities combined.    From what I understand, it's so bad that it now affects even large scale planetariums.  Really, it's hopeless until we can get behavior changed.  God I wish I could just get a filter, that would be so much fun... 

[lol]

Thanks funkboy.  I'll look into it but I suspect there is no filter strong enough to cancel out the massive night-time light pollution effects from NYC and the other nearby cities combined.    From what I understand, it's so bad that it now affects even large scale planetariums.  Really, it's hopeless until we can get behavior changed.  God I wish I could just get a filter, that would be so much fun...

If you're willing to accept giving up on broad spectrum objects, you can go to narrowband imaging of the right kinds of deep sky objects. Light pollution might not be quite as bad for me, but it still is rather bad. I recently got my first 6nm H-alpha filter so still somewhat on the learning curve for getting the best out of the system. The 6nm bandwidth is a rather budget affair, and you can get narrower bandwidth versions are higher cost to cut out even more unwanted light. Only snag is if you want a false colour image you need two other different ones too...

[funkboy]

Aha, this was another French astrophotography site I was trying to find, a colleague of Christian Buil's (from the previos site)...

Thierry Legault's solar silhouettes like this one are nothing short of amazing.

[Otter]

2005 - Canon 20D
2012 - Canon 5d MkIII

I am probably on the extreme end of things, but I don't find it necessary, if you are not a professional photographer, or just have money to burn, to upgrade every second year.  Mind you that's just me.  My 20D has seen a ton of use over the last 6 or so years, but still works like it is brand new.  When the MKIII comes out, I will most likely pick one up, unless it is ridiculously expensive and I will grab a MKII instead.

[Harry Muff]

Bought a EOS 1N in 1996, a EOS 30D in 2006 and recently bought a G12 (not as a replacement for the 30D though; needed something more portable).

I'm currently nursing a semi for the 5D MKII.

[jrista]

I upgrade either when I reach the limits of my current gear (i.e. I need better ISO performance or higher resolution or better AF), or my old gear breaks. Generally speaking, I keep my gear (for whatever) in good condition, and the most common reason to upgrade is when I've hit the limits of whatever I have currently. This was recently the case with my 450D...terrible noise above ISO 800, horrid AF, small & dim viewfinder, terrible LCD screen resolution that made checking photos in-camera frustrating, low battery capacity, limited features, too small physically for my hands, etc. etc.

I'm using a 7D from a friend now, and intend to pull the trigger on one of my own assuming it doesn't come as a gift for Christmas. I don't foresee needing something better than the 7D (at least from a cropped-frame perspective) for a long time, and hope it will last me for years. Its fantastic for birds and wildlife, and I have zero issues whatsoever regarding its IQ. Depending on how the rumors about the 5D III turn out, I may pick up a 5D II for its 21.1mp sensor to fulfill my landscape and macro photography needs, as it has a capability neither the 450D or 7D have: full-frame.

[rpt]

I change the body as soon as it stops working.

+1

Same here except I'd use the words "some time after".