I think we need to separate photography enthusiasts and gear lovers.
I remember being a schoolboy, probably 11 or 12 years, I saved some little money on my school meals and bought a light meter. I did not need it, it was of no use at all, because I did not even have a camera.
But it looked extremely cool, hard black plastic with a leather holder, it had some buttons and a dial with numbers. I still remember it. It was the coolest gadget I could find for the money. And it could measure light. Just possessing such a thing, holding it in your hands, pressing the button and watching it measuring the light felt good. Holding it was very comforting, soothing and reassuring. But only for a short time, because the light meter was useless.
There is a lot of gear heads that remind me of myself at 11 or 12. They buy stuff, love it, read about it, compare it, add accessories, photograph things, but the images are not as precious for them as their gear. They usually say they are "more interested in the technical side of photography". In fact they are interested in possessing gear. Or to be more precise, whey need the feeling of possessing gear.
Since gear does not bring them real satisfaction in the shape of images, this feeling does not last long, and they need to buy more gear, upgrade, change brands etc. to get this feeling of progression. You buy a new camera, you feel that your photography is progressing. If you have switched to FF, you have made a jump! Each time you change brands, you make a jump! It is a new life! How satisfying, isn't' it?
I think buying gear has great therapeutic effect. We need some confirmation that we are progressing in one field or another. If nothing changes, if we are not getting better at anything, we worry. Even if we do not realise it, we worry. Buying a new gear is a quick and effective fix. But it has a short term effect.
So these people will always look for something newer, better, bigger, shinier, faster etc. they will compare numbers, features, specs, study graphs and think about ways to progress further. It has very little or even nothing to do with photography. For most of those guys it is just the wrong hobby. It is not even a hobby, it is just a fix.
Have you noticed that there are very, very few female gear heads? That is because they have lots of their little fixes. They can go and buy a pair of shoes, a new dress, a new perfume. Or, as they say, a new scent. They can go and get a new haircut, a new colour, only to stare at themselves in the mirror for two days and go back to have another. After all they have kids.
It does not work with men. We need gear. Not just some boxes with buttons and stuff, but some gear with impressive numbers and specs and features and a price tag. A new camera (a watch, a gun, an amplifier, a laptop, a bike, a motorbike, a car, a yacht, a football club) and a shot of vodka (tequila, bourbon, brandy, rum, Abstinthe, whiskey, moonshine) and the man is happy. He is a 12 y.o. again.
So do not judge these guys, life universally sucks, and even if everything looks super hunky-dory, all of a sudden you find yourself looking for a fix. You start browsing Dpreview.
