Investment in your photographic equipment and other expenses

[dxqcanada]

After looking through this forum for a while ... I am surprised at the amount of equipment is being purchased.

I understand that those of you that make money (Professional) through photography would naturally be upgrading or obtaining new equipment to increase your business ... but I am wondering about those that do not make money from it.

How much have your spent on your photographic hobby ?
Is purchasing a 400mm f/2.8 justified ?
I see many threads about purchasing Canon L, Sony G, Zeiss, or Nikkor ED or saving up for those ...

Is that how much people are spending these days ?

Over the past 20+ years I have spent much money on this hobby of mine ... though I have never spent more than $2000.00 on a single item (Bronica SQ-A, back + 80mm lens).

 

[NateWagner]

meh, it's justified if the person wants it to be. Look at it like anything else. People who become deeply involved in any sort of hobby inevitably spend a great deal of money on it (there are perhaps exceptions, but in general I think this is the truth). Is it worth it? well, to the person who does the purchasing, probably.

 

[PatrickHMS]

I am kinda surprised there isn't more in terms of someone being able to lease this kind of equipment, especially in terms of a business lease where you can write it off as business expenses.

 

[usayit]

Not including professional photographers working for media outlets... Most amateurs have better equipment than professionals.

Honestly... you can't justify any expense on any hobby. A hobby by its very nature is neither an investment nor justified. Its pure enjoyment.

Me.... I don't treat myself to nice things across the board but pick and choose my vices very carefully. Cameras being at the top.

 

[Insanity]

Not including professional photographers working for media outlets... Most amateurs have better equipment than professionals.

Honestly... you can't justify any expense on any hobby. A hobby by its very nature is neither an investment nor justified. Its pure enjoyment.

Me.... I don't treat myself to nice things across the board but pick and choose my vices very carefully. Cameras being at the top.

Wouldn't enjoyment be justification enough?

 

[Derrel]

Hobbyists are what drive the photo equipment industry's big sales numbers--there are far,far,far more wealthy hobbyists than there are professional photographers. Hobbyists are what helps the big camera companies make and sell so many expensive lenses.

The growth of the photography hobby in the 2000's has helped Nikon go from a smaller assembler of relatively higher-end camera goods to a mass producer selling boatloads of cameras, lenses,and flash units. Nikon sold more D40 d-slr cameras than any other SLR model they had made in the prior 48 years!!! Even considering that the F3 was in continuous production for over 20 years, the D40 was an almost instant top-seller that got many people into photography. Without a huge sales segment that hobbyists contribute to the camera makers, top-grade lenses would probably be 30-40 percent more expensive than they are today.

As far as 400/2.8 lenses--that lens is not that popular, but if one wants a long,fast telephoto with top image quality, that is the best choice. Unfortunately, there really isn't much offered in the way of quality lenses between the very-top Canon L-series or Nikon ED-VR telephotos and the consumer-class lenses which cost around $1,000. For people who want to photograph birds and wildlife, it's difficult to get a *GOOD*, long lens without spending a pretty fair amount of money.

 

[usayit]

Wouldn't enjoyment be justification enough?

For me.. nope... you are lying to yourself if enjoyment is all you need for justification. For some of my friends/acquaintances it is enough and that's why they are broke or in huge debt. They justify the latest and greatest equipment each and every year....

Justification for me is food, shelter, transportation (to work), health, investment for future, etc...

I don't justify my purchases... I do it because I simply want to. I shudder at how much I've spent... even then.. no where close to the value I have seen in some camera bags.

 

[dxqcanada]

It might be the sign of the times ... back in my youth the cost of equipment was a lot cheaper and a person's earning was also lower ... so maybe it is balanced in this time for higher avg. wages ?

Though I still balk at the thought of spending $1800.00 on a Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G lens ... or $1300.00 on a Carl Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 ... though I dream about it.

 

[kundalini]

I have spent a significant amount of money on gear and ancillaries with no ROI. HOWEVER, I've spent due diligence with research on my purchases AND it was not a hardship NOR were other obligations absconded. All purchases were either cash or credit card and I have a zero balance on my cards at the end of every month.

 

[dl4449]

+1 on what Kundalini said .
I have not deprived my family of any thing. No balance on the credit card. I enjoy good equipment it is like any other hobby Expensive
(anything worth doing is worth overdoing)
Troy

 

[chip]

Hobbyists are what drive the photo equipment industry's big sales numbers--there are far,far,far more wealthy hobbyists than there are professional photographers. Hobbyists are what helps the big camera companies make and sell so many expensive lenses.

I think that is right - the hobbyists are the major buyers, not the professionals. The professionals want to maximize the ROI and hence their cameras are beat up and well used. The hobbyists look at camera equipment as toys. So as soon as a new model comes out, they are in line to buy it. The hobbyists' cameras are in tip top condition and many are hardly used.

 

[kundalini]

<snip>... The hobbyists look at camera equipment as toys... <snip>

Oh really? So in your opinion, a hobbyist isn't concerned with trying to get the best image? Is it all down to the largest cache?

Don't kid yourself for a minute. Hobbyist can be just as brutal as professionals when it comes down to where final results are concerned. Just because a hobbyist isn't concerened with profit margin doesn't mean they are lacking in trying to get the best image quality possible.

 

[giorgio]

I'm single and I own a small web design company.
I do have enough to buy a Mark and some lenses..., but I found myself ridiculous by even thinking spending that much in something that actually do not need, specially when I'm a beginner and nothing to do with Photo business(can't say it won't at some point). BUT I want it, that's my weakness, I like to have the best stuff.
Maybe because I have not had any other hobby this expensive, makes me conservative about it.

So, for now is just a hobby, to which I'm just starting to practice, but, with all the stuff I have read and checked..., it really looks tempting to spend some $$$$ on a better ISO performance body.

For now, I have to cool down my head and check business pryorities.

Enjoyment, is justification, unless once spending too much on it doesn't let you enjoy it ha, seems recyprocal

 

[giorgio]

<snip>... The hobbyists look at camera equipment as toys... <snip>

Oh really? So in your opinion, a hobbyist isn't concerned with trying to get the best image? Is it all down to the largest cache?

Don't kid yourself for a minute. Hobbyist can be just as brutal as professionals when it comes down to where final results are concerned. Just because a hobbyist isn't concerened with profit margin doesn't mean they are lacking in trying to get the best image quality possible.

I think he meant actually that, that hobbyists tend to look for having the best "toys"(besides skills) in order to achieve the best image quality.
He called the equipment toys because they cause some satisfaction by owning them, like a Harley Davidson, or a sport car.

I think.

 

[Antithesis]

I think a lot of spending comes through marketing hype, telling the consumer that X will take better pictures than Y because X has some random new feature. I still see images on flickr made by cameras like the D70 or D80 that I find incredibly pleasing, and the D70 is what many would consider "obsolete".

Sure, the D3S will give you a different and, in most opinions, better aesthetic than these cameras in very specific situations. But is it worth the enormous extra expense (literally 15 times the cost), or the extra weight? For what I want to shoot, absolutely not. But then again, I don't have option of throwing an extra $5,000 into what is right now a hobby for me.