Mistakes Were Made, A Tale of Spending

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by scapeinator1, Jul 5, 2019.

  1. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Better audio than photography. At lest with audio you only need one of everything: with photography there is a never-ending wish list of lenses etc.

    I don't like to add it up, but I'll probably soon have spent as much on photography in two years as I ever did on audio. I wasn't too bad on audio: mostly I got stuff that I liked and kept it for years. Upgrades, yes, but not too many.

    Now... next is the 85mm lens. Then I know I'm going to wanting the 135mm. And I think that crosses $1,000 :eek:. Will I buy it? Maybe next year. Heck, truth is I currently have disposable income so I might as well enjoy it. Right?
     
  2. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Hey, Robert Kiyosaki said... "debt is money". ;)

    Also, you should be glad your lens in "only" past $1000. I'd say in the world of photography, $1000 is like... entry level. In case you didn't know, Nikon and Sigma made the 105/1.4...

    But the thing is... whatever gets you out of bed in the morning, and motivates you to do good work, it's worth it.
     
  3. Dee Dubblya

    Dee Dubblya New

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    Elon, is that you??
     
  4. Ardacer

    Ardacer Friend

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    Pff, I wish. At this point, I think many people here would have invested that money much better than him.
    And I mean in a scientific/philantropic sense, not fiscal. Space-x and especially hyperloops are poised to become massive fails. Fine if you have money to burn, sure. Still, would have been better if he invested in something that's actually scientifically plausible, you know, like stuff you can't debunk with 3 equasions from wikipedia...

    Photography is a good example. I have a gh5s cause I wanted the ability to record and stream hevc 4k at the same time. This is still I believe the only device that's reasonable in price that can do this. At least it was a year ago. That stuff was quite expensive. Now, my other friends have some serious gear, burned money in lenses such that you could buy several cars.

    I spent aroud 200 usd in lenses total. Bought used, in 35mm equiv. I now have 24-130ish lens, a 130ish to 600 lens, and a 500mm telephoto for which I also have a 2x adapter that I got from spare parts from work for free, just had to mod it a bit. GH5s has a constant 2x crop, and you can also turn a 4x crop mode on too. In terms of audio, I guess this setup would be something like equivalent to a good stereo gaming headset. Relatively inexpensive and clear, something like hyperx cloud or beyers custom one or senns pc-series stuff. Works for me personally and I enjoy it. I won't commit as much of myself to photography to justify buying better stuff. For someone like me, a 10k lens is the same shit as a 100 usd good used one.
    If I was serious about it and really enjoyed it, and really wanted it, I'd make a simmilar plan of the best bang for buck minimum good enough gear or a bit better, constantly watch used markets and sales, and very slowly but surely get the shit I want. But once you do, enjoy your collection and achievment. The "upgrade bug" is the biggest issue that I see today, especially with smartphones and PC's, but you can see it elsewhere too.
     
  5. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I'll never be able to do that. It is as much as I could do to afford one car itself. But even the idea of spend more than one k $$$ on photography is something I never thought I'd do. And I guess I'm now touching 2 k.

    (And yes, my total spend so far would not buy even one of the more pricey cameras)

    My audio life is pretty much over, due to failing hearing. There is no point at all in spending money on it unless something dies. But I am happy that I got value out of the stuff that I have owned. By value, I don't mean bean-counting cost of ownership, I mean actually valuing and enjoying the stuff I bought for years.

    My headphone turnover has been faster than other audio components. But not that fast. Each of my three serious headphones has been enjoyed, individually, for a good period of time.

    Not intended to be preachy: certainly, if I had been rich, I would have bought audio gear just for fun and experience. It could very easily have been my expensive luxury and I'm certainly not here to tell other people what to do with their own money. But stopping to think about how we value stuff might slow down upgraditis. As well, of course, as the thing which many SBAFers recognise whether they own one or a hundred 'phones... it's the music that counts.
     

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