Toment Loc: FL, IL

Unfortunately that happens occasionally...

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

5K would be about 1/2 or my annual take-home pay, so.....NO

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

There would have to be a good reason to spend that much on a camera (body with lens?) ...

Collectible?
Tax write off?
For business?

For enthusiast purposes, it's a bit on the fringe of my spending limit. Right now I am contemplating $3300 for the D850, but might wait a bit for refurbs and lower new prices maybe next year.

Good quality lenses are the biggest expense, by far.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

If it was one I wanted after researching and had the $, I'd blink more than twice, but would do it.
Mark

IBM

It all depends on the person , if it was my hobby and I was really into it ,of course I would, if you were crazy about golfing , or trap
Shooting , or snow boarding , or any other hobby you lived for , would you show up on the golf course with a golf bag full of clubs
You bought at wall mart , for $150 , or at the trap shoot with a $150 single shot Moss burg from sears @roebuck , it's only human nature
Other wise it would not even be a issue, we would be blind to such a disession, we would buy what works and the cheapest price not
Caring about the make is a lot like a dog choosing a dish of hot dogs or a plate of prime beef stakes.

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

It has nothing to do about being rich Chris. If you are a pro photographer and you need a 5 grand camera, then you buy it and don't think twice about it. If it is needed to do your job better than the gear you have, you buy it, end of story.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Why not?

Oh, I suppose this makes you an amateur.

You spend and buy whatever it takes to please your client. I've owned Hasselblads, Leicas (my favorite), Sinar and Linhof 4x5 which, when adjusted for inflation, were considerably more costly than a $5000 digital camera. If you've never shot with a Nikon D3. D4 or D5, or a Canon 1D X Mk II or similar, or anything digital and medium format, I can understand your point of view and your silly question.

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

You buy one for the same reason you buy a Lamborghini or Ferrari if you can afford it. Not because you need it but because you can.

Vince68 Loc: Wappingers Falls, NY

Think you are right... just reading the title's of his 28 posts and the topics all seem to be as ridiculous as this one is.

papakatz45 Loc: South Florida-West Palm Beach

Sometimes it has nothing to do with do you need it or is it a tool for your professional work. Sometimes it simply is, "I can afford it, I want it, so I buy it." Big-boy toys.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Why is it silly, Gene?

Neither my 4x5 nor any of my medium format cameras were anywhere NEAR that amount ....

pendennis

A part of the reason is that "little voice" that says "why take a chance on something that may not work?" I've done the same with cameras as well as tools. Why buy the K-Mart "special", when you can buy the Skil, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Delta, etc. for just a couple bucks more? I'm not a professional carpenter, electrician, or plumber; but I buy the best I can afford. My dad was an journeyman electrician, and bought only Channellock and Klein hand tools. My grandfather was a carpenter and only bought Disston saws and Plumb hammers. If they worked for them, who was I to question. That's all I've ever bought. I still have a lot of their hand tools handed down to me, as well as what I've bought.

Now, where the best deals come is from the amateur who bought "up", didn't utilize the camera fully, tired of it, and I could get it for a pretty decent price. That's how I came about buying an F3 and an extra F5.

I had a brother-in-law who owned a custom cabinet shop. He had nothing but Delta power tools. He could do a great job with non-Delta power tools, but the Delta's just gave him an edge over his competitors.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

28 is it, now? ... I shall have put up a few more, to round it out to three dozen ....

Vince, just because YOU think they're ridiculous, it doesn't mean everyone else does ....

I think many of them may be quite helpful, to others considering new purchases ...

Have you ever actually READ all 28 ... and looked at all the responses?

I think not ....

Mary Kate Loc: NYC

Are you sure his skill level didn't have something to do with it? Not so much the tool.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Do not allow your bigotry, your intolerance and your hatred to be your guiding light.