Up dating equipment.
How often do you feel the need to update your camera? (Lenses are for me a one time purchase) Why do you feel the need to buy the newest upgrades? How old is your current camera?
If you buy what you need the first time, there is no need for an upgrade. Upgrades are corporate brainwashing in an attempt to get your money!
Only when a new camera body will produce a product that my old camera will not. I do not view more megapixels as a necessity, although I shoot low light more often than I did when i started out, so a camera with higher ISO tolerance was necessary. I also started shooting more action photography, so i needed a faster frame per second. The new d850 is tempting, but will not improve what my d750 and d500 will do for the shots i enjoy taking, so i will not upgrade simply because the camera is new.
As a hobbyist buying new equipment isn't about need. There is know business decision to make. I upgrade my woodworking tools (also a hobby) periodically because of a new feature. I often change from one type of tool to another. Same, in the past, with boats and fishing equipment. Today it is mostly photo 'stuff'.
Except for the boats, tools, fishing gear, and photo equipment that I no longer use is typically given to family, friends, or Habitat for Humanity. That way somebody besides me benefits when I indulge myself.
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canon Lee wrote:
How often do you feel the need to update your camera? (Lenses are for me a one time purchase) Why do you feel the need to buy the newest upgrades? How old is your current camera?
After the first upgrade from an entry level DSLR to a mid range DSLR only when the bodies show signs of failing, or there are major improvemnts in performance.
My current bodies were released, and purchased in the first half of 2015 (change of system).
canon Lee wrote:
How often do you feel the need to update your camera? (Lenses are for me a one time purchase) Why do you feel the need to buy the newest upgrades? How old is your current camera?
My newest lens bought around 2008. My current camera is 4 year old the day after Christmas this year and it was introduced a month before that. It is my first digital camera. I don't feel any need for new camera. I do feel I may want longer lenses than those I have.
canon Lee wrote:
How often do you feel the need to update your camera? (Lenses are for me a one time purchase) Why do you feel the need to buy the newest upgrades? How old is your current camera?
I update my camera when a newer model has capabilities or features that make it significantly easier or more efficient for me for me to take the photos I want under the environmental conditions I need to be in; and when I can afford the total cost associated with the update (including a different L-bracket and higher capacity or faster memory cards).
Peterff
Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.
canon Lee wrote:
How often do you feel the need to update your camera? (Lenses are for me a one time purchase) Why do you feel the need to buy the newest upgrades? How old is your current camera?
I wouldn't say that I date my equipment, I'm more married to it. However I don't rule out polygamy!
More seriously, I divorce my equipment when it ceases to function adequately. I have buried a few. Technology changes, but unlike some people I don't need the latest model or arm candy to be happy or to perform my work.
Technology changes at differing rates, and sometimes an upgrade is functionally useful. At other times it is merely a statement of fashion or conspicuous consumption.
I've recently acquired a new (refurbished) DSLR camera body, but it doesn't replace my older one. It is certainly a decent upgrade, and five years after acquiring the first one is not a bad time frame for electronic technology development to make an upgrade a worthwhile idea. On the other hand the oldest lenses I use on it date from the late 50's and 60's.
Perhaps it is worth thinking at a system level instead of just a camera level. Electronics have a very fast pace of development. Optics and other things less so.
I have a T1i... It works well for me.
I will upgrade when it dies or I get a windfall to get a full frame, as I will need new lenses for the full frame.
(I'll also keep my Sony H1 until it dies.)
I feel a need to upgrade about every five minutes, based on whatever ad or review I just finished reading. I don’t need to upgrade, you understand, but I feel compelled. The insiduous power of good advertising. My point is - don’t do it - wait a day or two. The feeling will go away and some new ultimate will take its place in your thoughts. You are an intelligent guy, Lee. Use your head to decide when a different camera fulfills some true need that your current gear does not.
I have a Nikon D750 and D7200 for my main travel set up. I have no plans to upgrade. If I were to do so, it would be for a faster frame rate for action--but my current set up works for me so I see no reason to do so--and I can share batteries and lenses. The photo quality is so good for prints up to 12 x 18 that I just do not see spending the money. And I know the ergonomics and menus of these two cameras very well.
For film, I have no plans to upgrade. And, frankly, have never done so (other than to acquire more m-mount cameras). Nikon F2. Leica M4-P, M6, film version of the Leica CL (not the new digital with the same name).
For my personal use, I probably never would have gone the digital route. However, air travel with film, requests to shoot events for friends, family and work, etc. led me to digital. I have come to appreciate digital for sports and wildlife--however, I do not feel very proficient with digital--or with color photography in general. At heart, I am a B&W film shooter still.
rjaywallace wrote:
I feel a need to upgrade about every five minutes, based on whatever ad or review I just finished reading. I don’t need to upgrade, you understand, but I feel compelled. The insiduous power of good advertising. My point is - don’t do it - wait a day or two. The feeling will go away and some new ultimate will take its place in your thoughts. You are an intelligent guy, Lee. Use your head to decide when a different camera fulfills some true need that your current gear does not.
I b feel /b a need to upgrade about every five... (
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Rj thanks for your comments... I do commercial photography in my own business ( mostly remote shoots), so equipment for me is a business decision. I replace equipment a lot, like umbrellas, lighting ( my assistances are really rough on my equipment), etc ( I recently upgraded my umbrellas to a 60" with an internal 180 degree deflector), BUT only when necessary. I buy equipment by the specs, not the bells and whistles. For me its all about having equipment that works, not because it is new on the market. I follow the specs closely in order to buy what I need and not to exceed my needs.
My question actually was about knowing what other photographers here think about upgrades. Most of the camera companies just add more bells and whistles, but occasionally engineer a meaningful upgrade, like the Canon 7d MKll, where it increased the frames per sec. If I were shooting sports I would up grade to that camera, but I do mostly studio work, (stills), and have no need for extra frames per sec.
I only upgrade when there's a new model.
canon Lee wrote:
Rj thanks for your comments... I do commercial photography in my own business ( mostly remote shoots), so equipment for me is a business decision. I replace equipment a lot, like umbrellas, lighting ( my assistances are really rough on my equipment), etc ( I recently upgraded my umbrellas to a 60" with an internal 180 degree deflector), BUT only when necessary. I buy equipment by the specs, not the bells and whistles. For me its all about having equipment that works, not because it is new on the market. I follow the specs closely in order to buy what I need and not to exceed my needs.
My question actually was about knowing what other photographers here think about upgrades. Most of the camera companies just add more bells and whistles, but occasionally engineer a meaningful upgrade, like the Canon 7d MKll, where it increased the frames per sec. If I were shooting sports I would up grade to that camera, but I do mostly studio work, (stills), and have no need for extra frames per sec.
Rj thanks for your comments... I do commercial pho... (
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You're a pro so updating or not is all about investment and return on investment. If you buy a new camera and get more clients that certainly the right thing to do even if the reason you get more clients is because they thought the new camera makes you a better photographer.
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