[tabl10s]

I’m not certain borrowing funds from is the right idea. All my life I’ve collected hobby gear over and above what I use day-to-day. The pursuit is the fun (and eBay is easier than hobby shops and newsletters).

I started trading cameras and lenses on eBay in 1999. Since about 2007 all the good stuff has already been put away or gotten crazy expensive. So - is this ‘borrowing’ funds from? Over the last five years I have:

• Sold all my Fly Fishing rods and reels and my antique Hardy Perfects
• Sold my brass HOn3 D&RG locomotives, finished rolling stock and models (+ associated signaling and detection)
• Sold my extensive collection of Scouting patches and memorabilia
• Sold my collection of Salmon Flies
• Sold my knife collection

Borrowing funds? Hmmmm. I guess you could look at it that way. (Thankfully I don’t do guitars). My wife collects W. Britain Toy Soldiers and model figures. That’s pretty extreme.

AFA Matchbox vs. Hot Wheels, my brother and I did Corgi Diecast vehicles. He has that collection.

Finished the guitar thing almost three years ago. Took a 17-year break and went hog-wild till I had 10 quality versions(six at one time)and have now scaled back five. I only play two of them as I want to will two acoustics and two electrics to my two girls. I took a 12-year break from Photography and went crazy to the point of buying the "Three Amigo's" three times till I had the colored bags.

I still have to finish the Audio system and dedicated room. Sigh.

[robgski]

I have a hobby budget, too. Slowly selling off things I no longer use or desitre to collect to fund the few things I do want to have. I am fortunate that I earn enough to indulge my hobbies, but I have also learned the discern needing versus wanting, as well as saving against rea needs.

Guitars and lenses are two good examples of having more than I really need. After spending 6 monthsaway from home, with only Two lenses and no guitars, I realize how few of each I realistically will use. UOf course, anythng I gain from selling off other hobby items will fund the purchase of a K-1.

[monochrome]

Finished the guitar thing almost three years ago. Took a 17-year break and went hog-wild till I had 10 quality versions(six at one time)and have now scaled back five. I only play two of them as I want to will two acoustics and two electrics to my two girls. I took a 12-year break from Photography and went crazy to the point of buying the "Three Amigo's" three times till I had the colored bags.

I still have to finish the Audio system and dedicated room. Sigh.

I’m afraid many people on here don’t understand us

My feeling about the Princesses is Shoot Them. Oddly, I don’t care about the bags, but I found FA43 Serial #0000831 without the bag, so I got that and need to sell the other one. I also have a lower Serial FA77 (#5464 - nothing really special except MIJ) ) with box and bag so I need to sell my AIV copy. There was once a complete set with the colored bags FS here that I looked at and passed, then I thought, “You idiot!” and went back, but they were gone. Was that you?

I have lots of lenses I should sell - they’re not important or special - but they’ve been fun to use. AFA the K lenses go, aside from an 18/3.5 I have what I want. I wouldn’t use the 15/3.5 or the 28 Shift and the zooms aren’t great. I don’t have to have everything.

I just refreshed some of my A/V gear (less $ invested than the new K-1 Super will likely cost) but I kept and reconditioned some of the audio components like a pair of AR-5’s and a Pioneer SX-1250 Receiver I’ve had since college. That’s part of the secret to being a user/collector - keeping and caring for stuff and fixing rather than trashing, and accumulating one piece at a time. Even good enthusiast (non-pro) video stuff is so inexpensive now it only took 3 months to put the money aside.

[zzeitg]

I'm still waiting for a hobby that would generate some money instead of consuming it.


(Well, my collector's tendencies also don't make it much easier...)

[Digitalis]

I’m not certain borrowing funds from is the right idea.

.....not for an asset that depreciates to a fraction of its value after five years.

[WPRESTO]

I have no need to finance for several reasons:
1) children are gone, no expenses there;
2) both of us are retired and have accumulated enough in retirement funds plus my Social Security to cover expenses and do pretty much anything we want;
3) several inheritance events gave us more cash;
4) long-held investments can now be tapped;
5) I sell off equipment I don't use, although sometimes in retrospect I've let go of some items I might use now (300mm Sigma APO Macro; Nikon 500mm f4p; etc).

No chance that I will outlive our financial resources. I'd have to survive to over 100 (at which point I'd only have nursing-home walls and vases with flowers to photograph) but SFAIK, only one of my ancestors lived past 80. So pretty much I can buy whatever I want, so I do, although I resist some long dreamed-of purchases (used Pentax 600mm f4) because I already own other equipment that serves as well and more conveniently.

[monochrome]

.....not for an asset that depreciates to a fraction of its value after five years.

Correct. The more proper characterization is rent. Ergo, waiting to purchase a new release until the price drops is a false economy; by declining the ‘rent’ expense one has also spent equal value in lost opportunity to use the gear over time.

The fewer releases per year a hobbyist makes the more ‘expensive’ the effective rent is.

It is difficult to ascribe value to pure collecting or to the fun factor of using a fully depreciated camera such as a K10D or K-01, but they do exist.

[Madaboutpix]

Would have to transfer funds from my organic wine subscription, or abstain from picking up the occasional ebook, neither of which is going to happen. There's no express photo budget I can draw on. The likeliest scenarios for me getting new gear are tax returns materializing, or birthdays/Xmas, but anything 400+ euros will raise the Wife's eyebrows. For such projects, hire purchase can be an option, but only if no major holiday or household appliance replacement or car repair is foreseeable (which is rare).

How have I acquired the altogether decent kit that I use? Well, perseverance over years certainly helps, as do super deals that are just too good to pass them by (although more often than not I have to pass them buy), and sometimes I just get lucky adopting my most-heart-melting-faithful-doggy glance or whining long enough that this camera body or that lens would just make such a major difference ...

But seriously, I'm not the only one in the family, other people have needs as well, and bills need to be paid.

The upside is that I'm kinda forced to make the most of what I got, at least for considerable stretches of time, and that may have even helped me to become a better photographer.

[ivanvernon]

I do not actually borrow funds to finance my Pentax camera and lens collecting hobby/obsession. However, on occasion when I want to acquire an item and do not have all the funds needed, I will use PayPal 6-month same as cash program. That is how I financed the 645D, and that is how I will probably/eventually get the 645Z. Oops, I guess you could say that I am actually borrowing, but interest free.

[Saltwater Images]

I decided it was cheaper to return to shooting film than to invest in a full frame camera.

Your film camera is already full frame:-)

[bigted]

My funds are very limited. So when I make the decision to do something with my money I am always having to make the decision to do one thing at the expense of other interests. It affects all aspects of my life from the food I eat and the bills I have and the fun things I choose to do. Large expenses are budgeted for and always mean I won't be able to indulge my other interests while I save to pay for whatever item it is I am planning to buy.

[redrockcoulee]

My wife says I can spend whatever I want on photo gear as long as there is money to replace the 30+ year old roof, paint the house and renovate the kitchen which was last done probably in the early 1920s. Painting the house is beyond my abilities as its 2 1/2 story high

[AggieDad]

Little stuff slides past AggieMom, but the big stuff requires carefully planned campaigns to wear her down. On the other hand, maybe the boat and the motorhome are (I guess) valid reason why I don’t have carte blanche.

[PPPPPP42]

Once you eliminate collecting which is as much a mental disorder as hoarding, hobbies suddenly get much cheaper.
Consolidation of equipment from a pile of vintage and cheaper crap to higher end new stuff saves money in the long run as well.
Never sell from one hobby to fund another unless you are absolutely sure you are done with it forever, you almost always lose money if you get back into it later.

I am slowly cutting all my camera crap down to a K1 II and a few high end DFA zooms.

[Digitalis]

Correct. The more proper characterization is rent. Ergo, waiting to purchase a new release until the price drops is a false economy; by declining the ‘rent’ expense one has also spent equal value in lost opportunity to use the gear over time.

However Early adopters can get burnt by teething issues and shipping costs if there is a product recall, and left without the means by which they make income. Having said that: that many professionals have more than one camera - so if one is off for repairs/ refitting they aren't caught out. Also I have been in the fortunate position where my equipment has paid for itself. My 645D paid for itself in four months, My 645Z paid for itself in 5. The Leica S2 paid for itself in 11 months*

Never sell from one hobby to fund another unless you are absolutely sure you are done with it forever, you almost always lose money if you get back into it later.

I couldn't agree more. I would also reinforce the idea of getting the best you can afford. I got some good advice from my audiophile friends when I was buying some bookshelf speakers** last year : make a shortlist, audition them all with the same music, get the best you can afford - or even a pair you can't afford at the time, save up a little if you have to. Speakers, strictly speaking, do not hold their value well at all but if you find what satisfies your taste you will have them for a very long time.

* The Leica S2 costs nearly three times as much as the pentax digital 645 cameras, the lenses are also considerably more expensive especially the leave shutter variants [I'm including shutter service costs] .

** It was a battle between Klipsch,Jbl, Monitor audio and Kef. The Klipsch RP-160M speakers won.