Are you contented with what you have now?


tehzeh

New Member
Aug 7, 2009
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Thomas More's Vision
I have been thinking of an upgrade for my equipments... something that could last me... because I feel quite limited by it now... but after knowing that there are people who need to skip meals to get a camera, I am having second thoughts...

How about you? Are you contented with what you have now?
 

who is haha? i can say i can shoot well with my current kit. but i'll always be thinking, maybe a7d can be nicer.

heck. work harder and save up. ur camrea is ur reward.
 

are you limited or crippled by your current equipment? if you are crippled, then go buy...hope you get the diff I'm driving at...
 

who is haha? i can say i can shoot well with my current kit. but i'll always be thinking, maybe a7d can be nicer.

heck. work harder and save up. ur camrea is ur reward.

some people are... lol.

are you limited or crippled by your current equipment? if you are crippled, then go buy...hope you get the diff I'm driving at...

I got it.. lol.
 

are you limited or crippled by your current equipment? if you are crippled, then go buy...hope you get the diff I'm driving at...

LOL. crippled by equipment.:bsmilie:
 

most of the people here are crippled by equipments anw. or else they wun be using point and shoot or DSLRs already.

as in seriously. crippled by equipment or limited?

cripppled as in cannot take photo unless u have equipment.

limited means could do a lil better, or much better.

u sure u wanna say crippled?
 

Am I content with what I have.... NO.

Do I have the $$$$$ to upgrade.... NO.

Therefore I have no choice but to be content.... YES.


Moral of the story..... No Money No Talk.... :bsmilie:
 

as in seriously. crippled by equipment or limited?

cripppled as in cannot take photo unless u have equipment.

limited means could do a lil better, or much better.

u sure u wanna say crippled?

ok sorry. but I did say I felt limited in my first post. lol.
 

I have been thinking of an upgrade for my equipments... something that could last me... because I feel quite limited by it now... but after knowing that there are people who need to skip meals to get a camera, I am having second thoughts...

How about you? Are you contented with what you have now?

i am happy with my current gear. it allows me to shoot what i like to shoot - rocks, buildings, cats, and koala.

in fact, i am constantly thinking if i should trim it.
 

Know the show "money no enough"
Ya .. if u hang around CS long enough
"Gear No Enough"
 

are you limited or crippled by your current equipment? if you are crippled, then go buy...hope you get the diff I'm driving at...

everyone will be limited in one way or another, at one point in time. that is a fact of life.

when i see a pretty bird that stands out more than the usual pigeons, i want to shoot it, but i have max 300mm and the bird is unreachable with that focal length, i am limited.

when i am in a dark room and i think a 30mm perspective is great, but i only have a slow lens to capture it and everything comes out blur, i wish for a 30mm f1/4.

i think what's important is that we ask ourselves - do we use the equipment enough? do we have enough spare cash to make that buy? will that buy bring more good than bad? can we justify this?

i have often quoted roger hicks' article at the back of a magazine that struck chords in me when i read it, i quote it again:

Equipment snobs are lamentably familiar in photography. They unquestioningly buy the latest and best of everything, even if they never actually take a picture. Equipment anti-snobs are even more common. They protest that their Zorki is every bit the equal of a Leica, that their Seagull will do all a Rolliflex will do and that a Gandolfi is a waste of money.

Though anti-snobs seem to despise the latest and the best, they often make up for quality with quantity. Instead of one Leica, they have 3 Zorkis, a Fed and half a dozen fixed-lens rangefinder cameras. Instead of one Summilux, they have a dozen Russian screw-mount lenses. Instead of one Gandolfi with a Super-Symmar, they have 3 MPP Mk VIs with old Xenars, Lustrars and Angulons.

Until recently I had put both kinds of snobbery down to the undobuted seductiveness of new cameras, lenses and the like. There is always the implied promise they will, via some sort of sympathetic magic, give us better pictures.

But twice recently I have come across an assertion that I had enver encountered before, at least in such a plain and unvarnished form. It is that possessions and wealth in themselves are less important than having more possessions and wealth than the next man - or of course, woman.

This is the exact opposite of what I have always felt - namely, a certain discomfort that I should have so much when so many others have so little. I don't feel uncomfortable enough to give away all my possessions and live the life of a mendicant monk, not least because I am very happily married, but I am acutely aware that there are plenty of people in the world without a roof over their heads, or enough to eat, or even clean water to drink. Nearer home, there are hapless wage slaves toiling for meagre reward. In such a world it strikes me as the worst possible taste to flaunt your wealth and devote yourself to acquiring vastly more than you need, just because you can.

But by being brought face-to-face with this admission of naked grief and arrogance, I was able to understand for the first time the assertion, often made by the obscenely well-paid, that vast salaries and huge bonuses are not necessarily important in themselves, they are merely a way of keeping score, of showing who is best. This reinforced my conviction that such people have a very warped understanding of 'best', but at least I could begin to see what they were talking about.

Another reason I had never before considered their world picture is a sort of secular version of the Gospel According to St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse 24: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

Although I am not convinced of the literal existence of a kingdom of God, I am convinced it is uncommonly easy to be trapped by possessions. Not just by earning the money to acquire them, which can by itself occupy an altogether disproportionate amount of time, but also by the money and effort needed to maintain them, such as keeping the roof watertight or changing the oil in the car.

To put it in the most secular and contemporary terms, I simply can't be bothered to do all this. But I know full well that if I don't look after my possessions, they may quite quickly go to rack and ruin, and I'll have to replace them, or spend more on repairs than I would have had to spend on maintenance in the first place.

It therefore seems to me to make sense to buy the best I can afford, so it will last as long as possible and require the minimum of maintenance, to buy the minimum of it, so I don't have to spend all my time looking after it; and then look after it carefully so I don't have to replace it any more often than necessary.

As a result, if someone feels he is some way better than I am because he has more possessions, I tend to suspect the exact opposite. Indeed, I feel sorry for him, because he is trapped by his possessions. We are all constrained in our lives, but the difference between constraint and a trap is often a matter of choice.
 

To a very poor person, if he can afford a simple PnS, that itself is already a luxury. And probably he would feel contended... Then he sees the images from another using a high-end DSLR, he suddenly begins to wonder whether what he has is actually enough... Discontentment arises... the hunger craves.

The issue of contentment is subjective from person to person... It results from the wanting to have more... Where does one actually draw the line?

This is a soul searching question for the individual, not a question for the masses. As the latter would only draw inconclusive ideas, more confusion to the already confusing matter.

Chey! .... so serious for what??? :bsmilie: BUYBUYBUY!!!!!
 

Everything is good to have.

For me, of course I wish to have all the top of the range equipment, but it is not possible, so try to work within your "limitation".
 

everyone will be limited in one way or another, at one point in time. that is a fact of life.

when i see a pretty bird that stands out more than the usual pigeons, i want to shoot it, but i have max 300mm and the bird is unreachable with that focal length, i am limited.

when i am in a dark room and i think a 30mm perspective is great, but i only have a slow lens to capture it and everything comes out blur, i wish for a 30mm f1/4.

i think what's important is that we ask ourselves - do we use the equipment enough? do we have enough spare cash to make that buy? will that buy bring more good than bad? can we justify this?

i have often quoted roger hicks' article at the back of a magazine that struck chords in me when i read it, i quote it again:

Hey thanks for the link. :)
 

To a very poor person, if he can afford a simple PnS, that itself is already a luxury. And probably he would feel contended... Then he sees the images from another using a high-end DSLR, he suddenly begins to wonder whether what he has is actually enough... Discontentment arises... the hunger craves.

The issue of contentment is subjective from person to person... It results from the wanting to have more... Where does one actually draw the line?

This is a soul searching question for the individual, not a question for the masses. As the latter would only draw inconclusive ideas, more confusion to the already confusing matter.

Chey! .... so serious for what??? :bsmilie: BUYBUYBUY!!!!!

very true lah. if i could be as shuang kuai as you...

Everything is good to have.

For me, of course I wish to have all the top of the range equipment, but it is not possible, so try to work within your "limitation".

I see... okay...
 

我不知道我要的是什么.

我也不太了解我真正要的是什么。。。:(
 

as in seriously. crippled by equipment or limited?

cripppled as in cannot take photo unless u have equipment.

limited means could do a lil better, or much better.

u sure u wanna say crippled?

some people just feel like they are limited unless they get the xxx lens...what i mean is if your creativity/skill has been restricted...(thus crippled by the lack of equipment) then go get it...but if u tink you will improve on your shooting if you get xxx lens...then it's juz a hypothesis...

If you know what you need(not want)...then go get it...make sure you utilize it...
 

I think one should be contented, you get what what you can afford.

For 8 years in this field, I have save up for whichever equipment I need. At the beginning, I used to rent DSLRs for assignments to my first DSLR - EOS 300D. Then when I worked FT at my present company, I started to own a pre-owned 5D and 1Dmk2. All these are discontinued models which in turn have some technology lag. But they produced marvellous work - cos they fall into the right hands (hahaha) - despite the lack of fast digi processors and MPs.

Lenses wise, started from the 18-55 kit lens and 75-300 telezoom. Slowly and steady, from student into FT worker, it is changed from that to 16-35 f2.8 L & 70-200 f2.8 L. Now I own the once glorious 100mm f2.8 Macro, which is just as good as new.

From on camera flash to studio flash, I also went through saving, but not to the brink of straving myself, is thru financial planning and the need to own it or not. Since I am in this field, i need, therefore I buy - within my needs and specifications. Now with all these equipment, I am sufficient for any type of jobs I taken. If really possible, I would like to own a MF Digital back too, but thats too high...hahaha

There are times when I need to produce big works for my clients, then I will rent MF, otherwise I am contented with my setup cos every single piece of equipment are bought by my hard earn money. A lot of friends often ask me why not sell to get new ones, I will reply I will use until the day my equipment cant work anymore, then I will upgrade.

Now when I look back at the times when I was a student, want an equipment for jobs had to run to places to rent, till now, I owned a mini-studio setup, I felt that I been through a lot, so I make extra care to my precious equipment, and utilise them to the fullest - that is what they are made for.

Happy Shooting :)
 

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