[Jay Hawk]

Every 3 years for me, at least that's the plan. I'd rather spend money on good glass.

[Douglas Film]

Not replace but add another camera, with film cameras I purchased my last Pentax in the mid 80's SF1, digital I have the *istDs (2004) and K20D (2008) . I have decided my next purchase will be a Full Frame camera, most likely Canon unless Pentax introduces one in the next few years.
Having worked in a photo hobby shop years ago I can say it is the photographer and not the camera that makes a great shot. The folks with the old beat up well used cameras always had better shots than those with the ones in fancy bags in pristine condition.
Douglas Film

[RioRico]

Miserere: I didn't click your poll buttons because my answers wouldn't pertain.

My K20D is under a year old; I chose it so I *wouldn't* be tempted to upgrade or replace it anytime soon. It's my 'main' camera in that I have zillions of lenses for it, crushing my poor spine, but several old PNS's are still 'main' cameras for different applications, and they're always in my pockets: 5mp Sony V1 for casual shooting and P10 for casual video; 5mp Minolta F300 (modified) for IR shoots; 8mp Olympus 770-SW for going down to 10 meters underwater.

As in my film days, no cam is replaced, just supplemented: Kodak Retina (1934), Canon Dial-35, Olympus PenFT system, Yashicamat 124G, Graflex 6x9. Well, OK, maybe the Yashicamat replaced a Brownie. And I guess in digital, the K20D replaced a 1mp Sony P20, with its B&W mode, which I used mainly for stitching panoramas - with the DA 10-17, panos are simpler. But I still use the P20 in high-contrast (litho) mode, which none of the other cams can match.

So I'll often have three PNS's in my pockets, two more and some Pentax lenses in my teardrop shoulder bag, and the K20D around my neck. Are they ever replaced? No, not really.

[wtlwdwgn]

The only camera I ever replaced was the Pentax SV I bought in 1964. Since then I've kept them all.

[rfortson]

I think I'm slowing down some. For several years, I couldn't bring myself to own more than one camera. I mean, who needs more than one camera???!!!

I finally broke through (so to speak) when I bought a Digital Elph at the same time I owned a Nikon Coolpix. Crazy, I know! Then, after a couple of years, I bought a Kodak P850, but shortly there after I sold it and bought a Pentax *ist DL (my first SLR). I kept it for 6 weeks until the K100D came out, so I sold the DL and bought the K100D. Kept that for about 18 months until the K10D started to bottom out in price. Bought the K10D and sold (reluctantly) the K100D. I mean, who needs two dSLRs???!!??

However, I was disappointed in the high ISO performance of the K10D so when the K20D came out 3 months later, I traded my K10D in for a K20D. The K20D has given me pretty much everything I want in a camera, and I really haven't felt the urge to move.

Just recently, I was wanting a nice P&S with raw capabilty to take places where my dSLR wasn't allowed (like shows/concerts). I found the Canon G9 at Circuit City for a bankruptcy price and joined that crowd. Now I had two nice cameras. Just a couple of weeks later, I saw the Wolf Camera deal for the Pentax *istDL kit on clearance (for about what I paid for the G9). This time, I jumped and bought one. I'd forgetten how nice of a little camera it is, so now I have a K20D, backed up by either a *ist DL or a Canon G9.

And in the immortal words of Steve Martin in "The JerK", "that's all I need..."

[chhayanat]

MX chrome 1981 stolen 1995
MX black 1985
MX black 2004
K200D 2008
Except for the one which was stolen, the others are in use.

[jct us101]

Canon Rebel - May 2008
Canon Rebel XT - July 2008
Canon 20D - August 2008
Canon 30D - October 2008
Canon Rebel XTi - January 2009
Pentax *ist DS - February 2009
Pentax K100D Super - March 2009

[xjjohnno]

I change cameras when I consider there's been enough change to warrant a new camera and the R+D costs don't make the next buy prohibitably expensive. I'm using a K20D so unless something that works well with 25 megapixel + hits the market at a price similar to what I paid for the K20D turns up I'll stick with it till it dies.
My previous DSLR was an Olympus E20 which retailed at double the price of the K20D and is probably best described as a bridging camera these days as it had the fixed lens and stupidly expensive adapter fixtures to perk up the lens performance.I think I had that for about 5 years before the bug for a better DSLR bit me and the tech development justified pensioning it off.

[8540tomg]

Not often.

MX 1981
K2 (used) 1992
K10 2007

Tom G

[lesmore49]

I replace my cameras , but never get rid of them. I still have my first 'good' camera , my 1968 (bought new) in '68 ..a Pentax S1a...still works.

I replaced that with a '74 Pentax ES 11 (bought new in '74). I replaced the ES 11 with my wife's Pentax K1000 ('82). I then bought a used Leica 11f rangefinder ('82), a Mamiya 220 Pro F TLR (medium format) ('85), a Pentax P+ S ('89), an Olympus clamshell 35 mm ('96)....a Pansonix Lumix DMC8 (first digital -2004), finally my current camera , a Pentax K10D ('07) and a plethora of new lenses for it.

I am thinking of getting a Pentax KM as a general carry around and second body to the K10D, possibly in another month (2009).

[enoxatnep]

Bought a Canon Elan IIE SLR in 1996.
Sold and replaced with Fuji S602Z in 2002. (Wanted to wait for DSLR prices to drop and features like MP to improve.)
Replaced with K20D in 2008.

I'm averaging 6 years at this point with the first two cameras, and hopefully at least that long with the K20D (14.6 MP is more than enough for my needs at this point!). I will only buy sooner if my income significantly increases and/or I become ambitious and start making $ with my photos to self-support the hobby.

[benjikan]

When ever I got sponsored...

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

When I get tired of it I change to another one, or if I want to go from digital to BW film to color negative film, or a smaller body instead of a bigger or vice verse, or to one with A contacts if I want to use some A-lens in program mode or...

Oh, sorry, did I missunderstand the questiont?

[RiceHigh]

In film era, I believe we replaced our SLR bodies less frequently.

In digital era, we have been replacing our SLR bodies as well as lenses very frequently! :-( Promoting economy? ;-)

My body replacement in the last ten years:-

MZ-30 (1999) -> MZ-S (2001) -> *ist D (2004) -> *ist DS (2005) -> K100 (2006) -> 5D (2007) -> ?

I needed not to replace my body since the 5D as it finally fully meets my requirements. I may get a new K-m to supplement, though, as it has a flash and is smaller/lighter. Afterall, the K-m will replace the K100 (if bought), but not the 5D.

I guess I shall have 7 models bought within ten years, finally.

Hi everyone,

I'm running a poll on my blog to find out how often people upgrade their cameras. It's an idea I have for an article, and I thought it would be better to get hard numbers than use suppositions.

How Often Do You Replace Your Camera? Enticing the Light

It will take you all of 10s to vote

If you could e-mail the poll to any of your non-Pentax photographer friends (no need to admit to it publicly) I would appreciate it. As with all polls, the larger the number of respondents the more likely the results are of significance.

Cheers!

--M.


.

[glanglois]

Let's see, now. I went from, ummm, an Asahi Spotmatic purchased in Yokosuka in 1969 to a K10D purchased from Circuit City (RIP) in 2007.

I expect that the next camera will use Higgs bosons in some fashion. Lenses will have been replaced by direct photon manipulation. Probably a few years out, I fear.

How does that average work?