photography is so expensive

[KC10Chief]

If you think photography is expensive, try racing dirt bikes. THAT is an expensive hobby. The bike itself costs big bucks, and then there's parts, all the gear you need, race fees, fuel to drive all over the state, etc. If I spent as much on photography as I do on racing dirt bikes, I'd have all the best photo gear.

 

[monkeykoder]

Just like any other hobby you can start off cheap but if you want the best you have to spend. As a hobby you can easily get by with a tiny point and shoot and take hundreds of pictures a day. Better yet the most expensive parts of the hobby never need replaced (read lenses) while with most hobbies you will be spending EVERY time you want to enjoy it.

 

[cactus waltz]

I would lay good money on that they have already invested and sacrificed a great deal of time, networking, research, dedication and capital to be in the position to take those shots with a simple P&S.

Most hobbies demand those things, certainly an amount of time and dedication is needed if you want to improve your skills.

As for money... The only one who decides how much money the hobby is gonna cost is you. The cheapest ways into photography I can think f would be to use disposable cameras (which adds up) or a cheap P&S digital camera (which I assume requires access to a computer in some way or another). I assume that's an expense, but it's probably affordable for most.

But for taking the hobby into a professional, high-level technical standard... I think that's another question altogether, just the same as playing a guitar doesn't require you to get the best Fender on the market, though it certainly doesn't hurt.

 

[chente922]

jajaja everything is expensive these days...of course, and like everything it requires time and dedication

 

[usayit]

Photography is only as expensive as you make it.... you can be very creative with a $30 buck Holga or a $50 buck Canonette. It is not an expensive hobby (isn't all relative anyways).. but most of us.. <including me> make it expensive.

I'm a computer geek, craftsman, and like cars. Each of these hobbies can easily be more expensive... I've dropped a pretty penny on all my hobbies but photography takes center stage due to the priorities I have set.

As a kid, I used to think collecting coins and stamps was a cheap hobby. It is until you start getting into items that are considered rare and unique.

 

[jvgig]

The startup costs are relatively high compared to most other hobbies.

Personally, I ski, paint, swim, and play tennis. In order to paint, you can buy very good quality supplies, though not the best, for a relatively small amount of money and the startup costs are small, a few average brushes-$75, a starter set of paint-$100, and a canvas or 2--overall it might run you $200 to get started with a well above average painting kit that will not limit you in any way. For swimming you need a few suits, some goggles, and a membership with a local swim team--overall only a few hundred. Tennis is the same, a $1-200 racquet, a few balls, a nice pair of sneakers and you can be out playing at any local park for under $300. However, to continue these hobbies it gets expensive, as do any hobbies which you actively purse beyond the beginning stages, training is expensive for everything.

In photography, the startup costs, at least in the dslr range can be quite high. $500 for a body, $500-1000 for 2 or 3 lenses, $200 for a flash, $100 for a tripod... the applications are so broad that in order to just try everything in order to decide what you want to do, you can easily rack up thousands in expenses. Then once you decide what you want to do, the high-end gear is extremely expensive, $1000-$10,000 for a lens, $1-8000 for a body. Throw in a few flashes, filters, and other accessories and you can easily use $20,000 worth of equipment to take a single picture.

Skiing is currently my only hobby in which I shell out for top of the line gear, but even so, a pair of plug boots with custom lining and shell fit will only run you $800-1000, skis will run you about $600-1000 per pair, tuning supplies that give execellent performance are about $500, and a top-of-the-line clothing setup will only cost you $1-2000. I have top-of-the-line everything and have only spent about $4000, the cost of a single 300mm telephoto lens, on sale.

Sure, you could get a great P&S for about $500 and take good pictures, but the flexibility is just not there.

just my $.02

 

[dpolston]

I too think it's relative to what you want to use photography for. As a hobbyist, unless you have the pockets for the "big guns", it can be expencive. But again, as a hobbyist, why do you need the "big guns"? As a professional, I don't think a point and shoot in this day and age will do it for you. So, it's relative.

I am in the construction business (I own a remodeling company) and I don't think twice about spending big money for tools ($700.00 for a miter saw, $45.00 for a Japanese Pull Saw, $150.00 for an electric planer. Heck the hammers I use are $28.00 a piece and I haven't bought a paint brush for under $10.00 in years). But, I spend that money because I need good tools to do my job. If I bought cheap tools, I'd have to replace them more often. The last cheap tool I bought was years ago and it was a circular saw I found for around 50 bucks. After around 5 months or so, it caught fire while I was using it. Fire... in my hands!

I have been lately trying to turn my passion [photography] into a business and even though those "tools" are expencive too, I feel that I need to invest the money there too. I just have to do it by using a methodical game plan. I have just signed a contract for a commercial job that has budgeted my services into their monthly expenses and this project will be an ongoing, probably indefinite, monthly gig. I have already made my mind up to save every dime of that to invest back into my photography business. In 9 months time, I will have my D3 and the 17-55 2.8 I have my eye on.

Gosh yes, it's expencive but (and I have to steal this from a friend of mine) "It's not an expense... it's an investment".

 

[usayit]

photography as a hobby doesn't have to be expensive

BUT

photography as a business... mucho bucks. (but there's nothing cheap about starting a business anyways)

 

[ChickenFriedRyce]

Yes I know this hobby is an expensive one BUT you have to stop and think.

Are you one of those people who go onto the internet and see a $300+ pair of Jordans and say, "OH DUDE I NEED THOSE!!"?
Or, do you look at pictures of places around the world and say, "I must go there before I die."
OR, are you the person that looks at those pictures and say, "I am going to be taking these photos one day."

WE ((As in the Photography community)) are doing this because it's what comes out in the end. This hobby can eventually lead to making us our living with only a day's work just sitting there and pushing our camera's buttons. (I know it's a bit more complicated but you get my point!)

As said before me, "You have to spend money to make money." Completly true. Are you going to start a business by leaving your wallet at home?? Or are you going to drive across the United States with an empty tank of gas?? Or are you going on a three hour hike on an empty stomanch?? I think not.

What you love to do is worth every penny to yourself and you should know it. If you are serious about what you love to do, every cent and more will hop back into your pocket somehow!

 

[Big Bully]

photography as a hobby doesn't have to be expensive

BUT

photography as a business... mucho bucks. (but there's nothing cheap about starting a business anyways)

Oooh very well said. Many times over.

My husband owns a diesel performance business, do you want to talk expensive! Also he is big into diesel sled pulling, now that is an expensive hobby! $10-20,000+ for a truck, $3000 for a decent turbo, and all the other diesel performance stuff you have to have, now that is expensive. I think my husband has over $15000 into his truck, not including the price of the truck, that is just into the engine alone. But it is also a business, so the expense is justified.
I take most of my pictures at sled pulls, and finding the right camera has been hard. But hopefully one day I will get it right. But like my husband I am not in this for just a hobby, I plan on doing photography as a career. I love it! It's fun, and relaxing.
I went to school for photography and so I hope to do it for a long time. I am also an art major, I paint and draw so I can appreciate the expense of that field too. Talk about expensive.
But if you are doing what you love, what is the problem with spending the money?
I have a harder time dropping $200 at Walmart for groceries than I do dropping $3000 on a turbo or on a camera.
Just my .02

 

[Anorien]

Expense is relative. I can't think of any hobby (that you get 'serious' about) that is cheap. It's all about what you want to do and/or accomplish in that hobby. If you want to take great snaps, then you can do it fairly inexpensively.

Before you invest any big bucks, you should take the time to perfect (or better) your skills. Over time, that'll help you decide just where to invest your $$ when on a limited budget. You'll know more about what you want to accomplish, what are the shots you want to make.

Then it is about what choices and sacrifices you are willing to make? I saved 6 months for my Tamaron SP AF-200-500mm, gave up going out to dinner once a week in order to get that. That was my choice (and one I don't regret ).

Made the purchase just a little sweeter for me as it involved some sacrifice on my part.

Joyce
(gawd now I sound like an old fart... oh wait. I am )