crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Here is a post that should trigger 10 pages of responses. I would like to assert that GAS, to some level, is appropriate. I have read numerous articles from pros who reflect on their career and warn against GAS....and as you peer into their bag, you find a 5D body, the holy trinity at 2.8, 3 sharp L primes and the odd Zeiss lens....as well as bags, modifiers, monolights etc.

...mm hmm...methinks thou dost protest too much

If they were so repentant...then why not sell the gear. Never saw ANY of these "pro's" shooting with a rebel, a 18-200 kit lens (covering the trinity/primes) range and some bare incandescent bulbs with some tinfoil reflectors....composition and vision still trumps...I will be the first to admit that...however

My experience in my short but intense journey from my first ever camera 70D 4+ yrs ago..to getting hooked on photography is that GEAR MATTERS....the difference between a kit lens and Zeiss is absolutely magical and can only be discerned by the viewer in the moment of "je ne sais quois". (Not DXOMark scores).... but that moment does exist.

(DISCLAIMER: GAS that drives you from Nikon to Canon to Fuji Mirrorless in my mind is real GAS but getting an 85mm 1.4 to replace your 18-200 is not GAS it is the acknowledgement of the magical art of photography.)

Now....let the Ansel Adams advocates of a box with a pinhole, SOOC, no post processing folks weigh in and let the discussion ensue... :-)

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

One needs to assess the requirements of a particular photographic project and deal with those requirements. People who are GAS susceptible just buy stuff to buy it. Over the years I've accumulated quite an assortment of cameras and lenses. Each was purchased for a particular task that none of the other equipment could sufficiently handle. Other pros are much the same. Years of various projects lead to accumulating an assortment of lenses, cameras, lights, strobes, etc. GAS is an entirely different situation, for which, fortunately, I seem to have an immunity.
--Bob

GalaxyCat Loc: Boston, MA

Here's the opposite of GAS: A Canon EOS 620 that only needed a new battery, after it sat on a shelf for 15 years. (And it had attached to it a Canon Zoom 100-300mm, 1:5.6)

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

The right tool for the job. There are many was to drive a nail but a hammer seems to work best.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

As far as I am concerned GAS is the business of the person experiencing it and no one else. Their money, their desires, their business. I don't know the financial situation of anyone else on the Hog so I am certainly not qualified to lecture them on the wisdom of their desire or purchase. Answering questions about a piece of gear a member is considering is one of the reasons why the Hog is here, but many members seem to feel that it is their duty to discourage anyone from buying anything, particularly if they don't have it themselves it seems.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If buying new and more expensive equipment starts a journey to learn, to practice and to improve an individual's skills and vision as a photographer, then yes, that new equipment is justified.

But, GAS as expressed in the majority of the discussions here on this site is the other form. The form associated with thinking that my photos will improve simply by buying new equipment or the newest camera model (or changing brands) where nothing about the photographer nor their images actually improves ..

And the choir singing the tune of buy the most expensive model of everything is the most annoying aspect ...

d3200prime

Well, well...........here we go AGAIN! Here's my two cents. GAS is akin to people you have heard of that are addicted to buying items off TV sales. When they pass you find tons of items in their home some still in the box and never used. Why do they do it? Marketers are very clever and sometimes deceitful in that they make weaker minds think that they need whatever the item is and they are expert in giving all the features, advantages and benefits of said item to influence the public to purchase the widget. We called this FAB for short when I was involved with sales decades ago. It's no different with photography gear. Want proof, just go to ebay and observe the number of cameras and lenses people thought was just what they needed at the time and now have either lost interest or want to sell to move up because some marketer makes them believe the next greatest and latest is what they must have. We are fickle or never satisfied always ready to take the bait of the camera and lens manufacturers who staff themselves with professional marketers to hawk their wares to those foolish enough to follow like sheep to the slaughter. It's like the drug addict that wants to quit but just can't or won't. This opinion is not directed at the pro who earns a living in photography and usually purchases out of need for their business but to novices, enthusiasts and such who keep the profit line of the manufacturers at a higher percent. This is just my brutally honest and educated explanation of GAS and definitely also applies to me. Now, lets see, what was that latest lens I was pondering about purchasing

Johannes Mac Loc: Greater Cincinnati Area

Love the topic. First, I'm not a professional photographer but an enthusiast. I've gone through a conversion process myself in which I went from a traditional DSLR (Nikon cropped sensor) to the mirrorless four-thirds system (Oly) to a traditional DSLR (Pentax cropped sensor) back to mirrorless, the Fuji X system. I now have a Fujifilm X-E2 and am a very happy camper with that. I use it with adapters and old film era lenses, I've got a series of M42 screwmount primes and an old Nikon F mount Prime. I bought the Nikon system new back in 2005 (D70) and used it until about 2012 when I sold the system to obtain the Oly Omd Em1. That I used until about mid 2016 then sold it off for a used Pentax K-3. Just recently I sold the K-3 to get into Fuji X because I missed the smaller form factor and the enhanced focusing ability of a mirrorless system. It hasn't been so much a GAS thing as a progression of learning what works best for me. I've gone through this journey of sorts in a way that is the most efficient in terms of economy. The only new systems I got into were the first and second transitions - since then it's been purchasing used equipment to arrive to where I am now. I believe that the Fuji X form factor is perfect for what I like doing. It combines a larger sensor size (versus the four thirds) with the compactness of the Fuji X and the lovely focusing system of the excellent EVF's on Fujifilm bodies which work so well with older adapted film era lenses. All that said some time in the future I fully intend to pick up a second Fujifilm body like the X-E3 and one of the versatile autofocus zooms like the 18-55mm or possibly the 18-135mm. Cheers!

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Well said.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

I just hope you like your photo's........or was that not the point!

Bill_de Loc: US

I agree. It cracks me up when someone says they are considering, for example, a 200-400 zoom or a 400 prime. One out of ten responses discuss the lenses, while the other nine are talking about saving money by getting used or refurbished. Nothing wrong with used or refurbished, but anyone on the Hog for a short time knows that many people here don't believe in buying anything new. No need to be reminded every time someone considers a purchase, at the exclusion of any information about the item under consideration.

--

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

GAS is a term I didn't know about until I became a member. With GAS, you say in most instances, I want it, rather than do I need it. Everyone's money is their money to spend as they please. Many can afford and not afford. As my father told me, when I became a young adult. "Manage your money well son, because if you don't, you'll run out sooner than later."

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

"Do as I say. Don't do as I do."

Sure you can get great pictures with a cheap camera, but you can get better pictures under worse conditions with a better camera.

Most people on UHH like the gear as much as they like photography. At least that describes me. Never apologize, except maybe to your better half, for buying new photo gear.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

By-the-way, lovin' that K-3!

And to think my purchase less than two months before that was a used K-1000 (original Japanese made Asahi) film body. No GAS here just obsession.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts