[MD Optofonik]

10 Tips on How to Cure Yourself of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

[skyclad666]

Thanks for this nice article about LBA or the more general GAS syndrome. What is fun is that the writer is trying to convince himself. So its preaching becomes acceptable and even touching. Discussing and exchanging with non-photographer friends also helps to realize how unsane and greedy LBA can make us. Cheers!

[CristiC]

You are one week too late. Good article, though.

[btnapa]

10 Tips on How to Cure Yourself of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

I have been pondering this issue a lot in the past few months.

Thank you so much for the link. It was educational and inspirational. I had heard of Eric Kim but never really followed him.

As much as I am guilty of chasing the next best thing, at least in photography gear, I try to make the gear pay for themselves. Other than my first ever purchase, a Pentax MX, which was for personal use, all my gear purchases since then have been for paid work. If you are doing it just for fun and not for pay, then your discretionary income determines how far you can take the "hobby."

So that it works for me, and I do not go to the poorhouse over my obsession with photo gear, I follow two rules:
1. Purchase the gear I need to get the job done right
2. Make the gear pay for itself

[monochrome]

There's nothing new here. Everyone knows all these things at least implicitly. The problem always comes down to telling oneself, "No."

[Rupert]

Just wondering...how many times does some lens or other equipment end up disappointing you...or fails to realize your expectations?

I have bought a lot of gear before I finally learned that only a small portion is regularly used....and the rest sits idle most of the time. When this happens, it can slow down your buying pretty fast.

Regards!

[MadMathMind]

I get what he is saying, but I think there's a few caveats here.

1) He seems to focus on street photography only. Different lenses do different things. He's right that getting the A35 f/2.8 lens when they already have the FA35 f/2, the K mount versions of those lenses, and a couple of 28's floating around--oh, and a FA43 limited--is a waste. But if you want to expand into different kinds of shooting, sticking to the same gear you already have may not do it. That 24mm f/1.4 prime is bonkers for street shooting, but if you want to do portraits or sports? Yeah, it's not going to get it done.

In all these "Stop GAS!" articles, the concept that different pieces of gear have different purposes seems to be lost. I guess the focus of the pros is very much one of tunnel vision: they focus on being the best at one particular kind of shooting and forget that some of us just want to capture the variety of life's moments. It's not possible to master them all, but I'd personally prefer the ability to get very good shots in any situation to perfect shots in one only kind.

2) If you can shoot every day or have infinite time to practice, then a limited equipment kit works. It's a bit like realizing that your vacation shots of Yellowstone can never compete with the pro landscapers. It's not even a question of talent so much as opportunity. You go to a site and you get whatever the weather is that day at that time. A pro will have the chance to go to that same spot at 9 am...and 10am...and 12pm...and.... and then come back others days to do the same thing. He will take 500 shots and keep one or two; you'll take 10 and move on. In this respect, if the pro's gear isn't ideal for one of those moments, it's no biggie. He gets to come back until it is. You don't have that luxury. You need enough flexibility in what you have to pull the shots you want out of less than ideal conditions.

3) Related to the above, it's a matter of practicality. Can you get great shots inside a crowded museum with the kit lens? Sure, if you can catch the museum at a not crowded time and can set up a tripod to cover the long exposure time you will need. Or you just take 50 shots and then overlay them in post processing in a way that removes all the undesired stuff from them. The time and patience you need to overcome major limitations of gear is just not feasible for most amateurs.

Those are my thoughts. I try not to get carried away with buying too much stuff. Eric's advice of sticking with one lens and camera is good. In addition to learning what your stuff can do, it teaches you what it cannot. That lets you figure out what holes you have and whether something is going to fill them--maybe that lens people drool over on the forums won't do what you need it to do after all.

I suppose it also comes down to how you want to construct your artistic vision. Do you want it to be constrained to what you can do or what you want to do? There is something to be said about working within what you can do. You can really pull some awesome results out of that. Maybe it's my scientist mentality, but I don't like to be limited by what I can do already. I like to push the bounds of what I can do farther each time.

[btnapa]

I get what he is saying, but I think there's a few caveats here.

1) He seems to focus on street photography only. Different lenses do different things. He's right that getting the A35 f/2.8 lens when they already have the FA35 f/2, the K mount versions of those lenses, and a couple of 28's floating around--oh, and a FA43 limited--is a waste. But if you want to expand into different kinds of shooting, sticking to the same gear you already have may not do it. That 24mm f/1.4 prime is bonkers for street shooting, but if you want to do portraits or sports? Yeah, it's not going to get it done.

In all these "Stop GAS!" articles, the concept that different pieces of gear have different purposes seems to be lost. I guess the focus of the pros is very much one of tunnel vision: they focus on being the best at one particular kind of shooting and forget that some of us just want to capture the variety of life's moments. It's not possible to master them all, but I'd personally prefer the ability to get very good shots in any situation to perfect shots in one only kind.

2) If you can shoot every day or have infinite time to practice, then a limited equipment kit works. It's a bit like realizing that your vacation shots of Yellowstone can never compete with the pro landscapers. It's not even a question of talent so much as opportunity. You go to a site and you get whatever the weather is that day at that time. A pro will have the chance to go to that same spot at 9 am...and 10am...and 12pm...and.... and then come back others days to do the same thing. He will take 500 shots and keep one or two; you'll take 10 and move on. In this respect, if the pro's gear isn't ideal for one of those moments, it's no biggie. He gets to come back until it is. You don't have that luxury. You need enough flexibility in what you have to pull the shots you want out of less than ideal conditions.

3) Related to the above, it's a matter of practicality. Can you get great shots inside a crowded museum with the kit lens? Sure, if you can catch the museum at a not crowded time and can set up a tripod to cover the long exposure time you will need. Or you just take 50 shots and then overlay them in post processing in a way that removes all the undesired stuff from them. The time and patience you need to overcome major limitations of gear is just not feasible for most amateurs.

Those are my thoughts. I try not to get carried away with buying too much stuff. Eric's advice of sticking with one lens and camera is good. In addition to learning what your stuff can do, it teaches you what it cannot. That lets you figure out what holes you have and whether something is going to fill them--maybe that lens people drool over on the forums won't do what you need it to do after all.

I suppose it also comes down to how you want to construct your artistic vision. Do you want it to be constrained to what you can do or what you want to do? There is something to be said about working within what you can do. You can really pull some awesome results out of that. Maybe it's my scientist mentality, but I don't like to be limited by what I can do already. I like to push the bounds of what I can do farther each time.

I agree with you completely. Pros in different photography fields need more than just a 35mm lens. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I get what I need to get the job done and RESIST going over board with gear that I WANT not NEED. It is hard, very hard.

Eric's advice is right on for street photography. Like most photographers, I always dreamt of being a Cartier Bresson with a K1000 and a 50mmf1.7 lens. As a matter of fact that is how I got started. I borrowed the camera from the photography department of the college I was attending because I could not afford a camera. I probably did some of my best work then. But as a paid photographer, I need a lot more than just a 35mm lens to get the job done.

I agree with Eric too in his minimalist approach. Sometimes I feel like I am in a rat race between updating camera and computer gear, the latest tablet and phone, 4k TV... and the list is endless. I guess his point is to stop the madness, stop along the road and smell the roses so to speak.

[EddyP]

Love the article