[PPPPPP42]

It starts simple and innocent, maybe you have a camera phone and think "hey this is kinda fun" or you have a Point and shoot and decide you want better photos, or maybe you found that old K1000 your parents tossed in a box and want to take it out and use it.

With your first SLR you get whatever comes on it, maybe its a new variable aperture kit zoom, maybe its an old M50 F2, you go out and take a few pics, realize how fun it is.

But then things start to go downhill, you realize, "Drat, I can't quite fit that all into the shot" so you buy a bit wider lens. And then its "drat I scared that bird away" so you buy a longer lens, and then its too dark and along comes a faster lens. Then you read about the amazing image quality on this or that lens, or the wonderful rendering/color/bokeh/whatever and buy a few more. Then you get bored and browse Ebay one day and all hell breaks loose. Pretty soon you have lenses both good and terrible coming from all corners of the globe, many in brands you have never even heard of simply because they are an amazing deal and you want to see what sort of pictures they produce.
By this point whether or not you are willing to admit it, you have a scientifically diagnosable condition known as lens buying addiction.

But wait, there's more.

While on ebay you spy another camera body, its so cheap, and it even takes the same lenses you already have so you buy it.
But then you hear about this TOTALLY amazing other body that everyone has to try out at least once. So you buy one of those, but it takes different lenses so now you need to start buying those lenses too. Eventually you pick up a few more used cameras you found at garage sales to see how they work, and by this point you have the second horn of the devil in you, Camera buying addiction.

How can you avoid this fate, well for most of you its too late, might as well just get a second job and get divorced, you can only hide the steady stream of packages and the fact that you are on a first name basis with the post man the fedex guy and the UPS guy for so long, and your spouse wont believe you were out late "just getting some long exposures and night shots" forever. Eventually they will wonder why your camera was brown yesterday and suddenly turned black today even though you "only bought just the one".

We won't even discuss darkrooms and film costs and digital processing equipment.

For those lucky few that haven't yet fallen into this abyss there is one chance, pick your camera and lens category and never stray. Commit to it as if you were married to it.
For me it is Pentax only, this prevented me from coming home yesterday with a Kodak camera that was so old it may have taken a picture of Moses. Of those Pentax it is K mount only, that eliminates all the seductive Asahi Pentax and Spotmatics from my lineup and prevents any sort of M42 lens buying mischief. I also only buy full frame lenses with aperture rings so everything I have will work with everything else. This has saved me literally thousands in lens buying costs as the entire DA line is off the list and most of the FA's can be found used if I want newer at some point. I also can never own a lens of a type or length that I already have covered in another lens. And always I must buy the fastest version I can afford/find. Other than a few missing (and expensive) faster primes, my lens selection is already nearly complete. Eventually Pentax will gift the world with a digital FF and my bodies will be complete, at least until the next model digital comes down in price. And some day an LX may fall in my lap cheap and I wouldn't say no, but otherwise my film cameras need no additions.

You have been warned and my conscience is clear, what you do now is up to you.

[SpecialK]

That's right - it all seems like fun and games until someone gets hurt. You'll put your eye out!

[twilhelm]

A well put bit of advise.
I've reached the point of addiction I'm picking up old cheap lenses with the intention of modifying them to fit one of the 11 bodies I've picked up cheap.
We should have a support group...

[blackcloudbrew]

All too true, I know from personal experience.

[PPPPPP42]

I thought with my limits and rules I was above LBA and CBA but then I found myself lying about what I paid for a recent lens purchase by -50% and convincing someone that my K1000 SE when it arrived was just a $10 parts camera to fix my Super Program when it was $120 shipped or so (I have mentally blanked it out) because it was already refurbished and adjusted.

Ah well.

[Giklab]

From my experience parents are a good cure/preventive to LBA/CBA. At least till you can control your money by yourself.

[RioRico]

You're looking at it all wrong. The A in LBA stands for Adrenaline. Yes, that's right, it's LENS-BUYING ADRENALINE, the rush we experience when new/old lenses move into our clutches. This isn't a mental disease needing therapy and support, but an EMPOWERMENT, a gift of vision, that should be calmly cherished and encouraged. LBA means never having to say, "Hmmm, I wonder what focal length to use now?"

[Jools]

From my experience parents are a good cure/preventive to LBA/CBA. At least till you can control your money by yourself.

While that may be a good restraint for the youngens', trust me once you are on your own, and with some income, it only gets worse when you start a family.
The wife or your partner (who are not into photography as much as you) may, can and will be as restrictive as you thought your parents were. You then have to learn how to maneuver through the financial data, rushing to the mailbox so no one sees you with the delivered photo equipment or finally coming clean and somehow explaining off your newest purchase.
In the end, it is well worth it.

[Pontax]

Getting ready for my next fix. Stumbled over this ad $330 for the lot are any of these lenses interesting?.

Here is the description the seller provides.

1 optik - 35 mm f 2.8 – bajonet

1 optik – 135 mm f 2.8 – bajonet

1 optik – 55 mm f 1.8 – gevind (m42)

1 optik - 50 mm f 1.8 – gevind

1 optik 135 mm f 2.8 – bajonet

1 optik 135 mm f 2.8 – bajonet

1 optik 28 mm f 2.8 – gevind

1 optik 28 mm f 2.8 - gevind

1 optik 135 mm f 2.8 gevind

1 optik 200 mm f 1.4 bajonet

Picture:

[AOShep]

Wive's can be that way. My wife tried to curb my LBA. She said if I want an i-Pad I can't by any more camera stuff (that's her words). I said I would rather get the new lens and forget the i-Pad. I didn't mention the battery grip or how many lenses are on my list.

[Giklab]

Wive's can be that way. My wife tried to curb my LBA. She said if I want an i-Pad I can't by any more camera stuff (that's her words). I said I would rather get the new lens and forget the i-Pad. I didn't mention the battery grip or how many lenses are on my list.

Ahhh, but "Now I have to tell you the whole truth" comes to mind

[RioRico]

Getting ready for my next fix. Stumbled over this ad $330 for the lot are any of these lenses interesting?.

Here is the description the seller provides.

1 optik - 35 mm f 2.8 – bajonet

1 optik – 135 mm f 2.8 – bajonet

1 optik – 55 mm f 1.8 – gevind (m42)

1 optik - 50 mm f 1.8 – gevind

1 optik 135 mm f 2.8 – bajonet

1 optik 135 mm f 2.8 – bajonet

1 optik 28 mm f 2.8 – gevind

1 optik 28 mm f 2.8 - gevind

1 optik 135 mm f 2.8 gevind

1 optik 200 mm f 1.4 bajonet

Oh no, you don't want those. They aren't worth anything. Ummm, just where did you say you saw this offer?

[Giklab]

Rico, where do you store all this stuff?

[JFN]

"I just want a decent camera setup in order to be able to take nice family/friends get together pictures, I have no intention to develop a photography hobby".

That was December last year, I got me a bundle, a K-r with the 18-55 kit lens, a bag, a 4 gb memory card.

Less than half a year later:

Bodies:
K-r
MZ-6
2x MZ-7 (hey they were cheap as chips!)

Lenses (In addition to the kit lens, that I now never use)
FA 28-90mm (that I got with the MZ-6, it's up for grabs on the local ad pages here)
F 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5
FA 100-300mm f/4.7-5.8
A 50mm f/2
Cosina 24mm f/2.8 Macro MC
DA 35mm 2,4

Development
1 Paterson 2 reel tank
1 Paterson 3 reel tank
1 AP 2 reel tank
12x2 Clip hangers for drying film
A box full of items needed for B/W develoment + chemicals

Digital Development
Epson v500
Epson Stylus Photo 1400 (to be filled up with MIS UltraTone UT-14)
~100 EUR worth of ink jet photo paper (mostly ILFORD)
And on "investigation" yet another Epson (A4 though) for Color prints, and a Spyder Colormeter

Software
Apple Aperture
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom + Elements
DxO Filmpack
Nik Software Color Efex, Silver Efex, Sharpener and Viveza


Less than six months... and I am constantly looking at medium format film cameras, probably a 6x7 will find it's new home early summer, and oh, I need a flash, and a flash handle, and a monopod, and a... and a...

Luckily the missus is all in, one of the MZ-7s is her's, and the 100-300mm was for her (she likes details, ornaments on building, churches etc.).

!

[magkelly]

A few years back one of the people I worked for once asked me jokingly "Her camera or her man which one would win if she absolutely had to decide?" I have to admit if asked that same question today my answer might be a lot different. Back then I had a point and shoot and a pretty decent guy in my life, but now? No way there's a man on the planet I'd ever give up photography completely for and for the record I thoroughly enjoy men just because they are men. I tend to like them as friends. I definitely lust after them both professionally and personally. Nothing I love more than getting a really hot guy in front of my lens, seriously. It's a major thing with me, photographing people, but I really love photographing guys. Men are awesome creatures and I am sincerely glad that I wasn't born into a world without them, but you know what? I do think I love my photography more. Only a very stupid man would ever ask me to choose actually. A truly smart man wouldn't hand me diamonds if he wanted to impress me, that's for sure. Diamond's aren't a girl's best friend, not mine anyhow. Top line GEAR, that's where it's at, laugh.