CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You are what your tools say you are ...

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I wholly agree with you. However, there is a caveat. It depends on what one is doing. For his work, and I've done similar, one camera body with one lens. A woodworker uses many tools to create what they do. There is a video regarding Ansel Adams and shows him getting ready for a trip. The amount of equipment being packed into his car would supply a photo store for months. However, the person who chases a good photograph by constantly thinking a different camera is going to make them a better photographer is wasting their time.
--Bob

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

[quote=SteveR]You can't really apply that to a D7000 vs. a D850. It's like, you couldn't shoot film noir in color. Wouldn't work.[/quote

Why not? Film noir does not refer to the B&W (cheaper in those days) that most of the ones the name was first applied were shot in, but to the mood etc.

Oxford Dictionary
film noir
/ˌfilm ˈnwär/
noun
a style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. The term was originally applied (by a group of French critics) to American thriller or detective films made in the period 1944–54 and to the work of directors such as Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder.
a film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace.
plural noun: films noirs

Merriam-Webster
film noir-noun
\ -ˈnwär \
plural film noirs\ -​ˈnwär(z) \ or films noir or films noirs\ -​ˈnwär \
Definition of film noir
: a type of crime film featuring cynical malevolent characters in a sleazy setting and an ominous atmosphere that is conveyed by shadowy photography and foreboding background music
also : a film of this type

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Ansel knew his gear well enough to make quick decisions about what to pull from his car. He had a lot, but used what was needed.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

I think I have a better cure for Gear Acquisition Syndrome. My wife!

We went into my favorite photography store in New York City. My wife and I liked the way we were greeted. She was impressed how well organized the store was. We were impressed by the knowledgeable staff. She loved the abundance of glass bowls filled with candies. All of this I knew beforehand. I thought if my wife knew what is my interest I thought I got my wife hooked. We went upstairs where a Hasselblad was on display. She asked me about it. I did my best to enlighten her is layman's terms. She saw how I was fondling it. She too held it in her hands. She knew I loved it and would want that as a Birthday Present. So she asked how much it cost. When she heard the price her eyes winced in pain. She was heard saying, "Put that damn camera down, step away from the F$@#king counter and no one gets hurt!" Sure it cured my GAS even though I missed out on a Hassie. Never again!

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Out of curiosity I skimmed main forum pages to see what was popular discussion back in UHH's first year. From 2011 I found Let us be photographers, not equipment and gadget buffs. Boy howdy

Discussions on specifics of how to create impact (light, composition, depth of field, angle of view/perspective, how to draw someone into a scene and keep their attention) are very rare in UHH's main discussion.

Bill, I suspect that those who are motivated to improve and learn are doing so in other sections of this site - and maybe connecting with a mentor via private message - or have discovered other resources, whether online or books or classroom. In other words, most of those reading this thread are not interested in a cure

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

It's deja vu all over again ....

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Spouses who are not photographers are often like that...

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Sadly, I agree. New toys and shiny things have a weird appeal.

If we first learn to do a lot with very little, we’ll be prepared to do almost anything with something.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Why do people worry so much about GAS? Especially other people's GAS? Who cares? I don't care how much anyone else spends on gear. I don't care if they need it or have a use for it or even have a clue how to use it. It's not my duty to hold their hand and lead them through life. If they spend too much and get into a financial bind then they are not too smart, IMO, and people who are not too smart don't tend to take advice too well in my experience.
As far as your own GAS, what's the big deal? If you want it and can afford it then do what makes you feel good, whether that means buying something or deciding not to. At least with toys and tools, such as camera gear, you can sell it and get some of your money back. That's a heck of a lot better then people I know or have worked with who spend hundreds on beer and cigarettes every month and then complain that they can't pay the electric bill.
I just bought a new lens. Do I need it? Nope! Do I fully understand how to get the best out of it? Not yet. Will I even have a use for it in six months? Who knows. Call that GAS if you want, but I call it a hobby, and I have certainly had more expensive hobbies.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

But some are obviously crying for help, or they wouldn't be bringing it up over and over again that they have GAS.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

And posting here about it will do what? They'll get as many replies telling them to go for it as they will questions about what their current gear is not doing for them. In the end they still have to make the decision. Most of those queries about GAS are merely looking for justification for a decision they have already made. Besides, an awful lot of the postings I have seen about GAS are not about why or why not should the poster make a purchase but about why others should not be spending money on gear, as if those posters have some special insight into everyone else's financial situation, needs, and interests.
My advice to anyone: Buy what you feel is right for you. If you don't have the sense to control your financial situation then no advice I can give you is going to help.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Dear Abby, Ann Landers, Dr. Laura, etc. prove that many ordinary people sometimes need someone to tell them that, yes, they are full of $#!t and need a figurative whack on the sides of their heads. They instinctively know it; they just want clarity and/or punishment.

I see lots of folks on UHH seeking strangers’ approval to buy this or that. I’m reminded of an executive who called an IT consultant to his office in 1995 and asked, “I need a web page. What the hell is that?”

Ready? FIRE! Aim? Whadda hell’s ‘aim’?

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

I watched the video, and Daniel makes a good point for the reasons he discusses. I don’t have even close to the experience that Daniel (or you have); but what he suggests for me is simply not always applicable.
I had the same thought a couple of years ago, and on a trip for a special family event knowing that I would be making what would be expected to be memorizing images, decided to take only one body and one 50mm lens. I thought one lens would make me think creatively. I did alright, but I won’t do that again. I will try to keep things simple, but I won’t put myself in that position again. I could have used a few other lenses, as well as the 50, to do a better job. Perhaps if I were a better photographer the 50 would have been enough; but with my experience, I needed more.
Again, the point is well-taken, and something to consider with some flexibility.

As for GAS, my wife was more than wonderful for a long time. Lately, she has been less wonderful, and doesn’t quite understand my need for upgrades. She is right; I don’t need every new body and lens, but I want them despite logic. That is the nature of the beast—as long as Nikon continues to produce new models, I will be looking at them.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

If you feel qualified to provide approval or disapproval to some stranger about a purchase, more power to you. Based on the little that I actually know about anyone on here I certainly don't.
You're right, a lot of people go to columnists and such for advice. Ever wonder what percentage actually follow the advice, even when they say they will? How many times do you think the advice has turned out to be the wrong advice simply because it's strangers advising strangers?
I just bought a new lens a couple of days ago. An RF 85mm f/1.2 L. It wasn't cheap. I spent 2 weeks going back and forth in my head as to whether or not to buy it. My mind was already made up in reality. I just needed a bit of time to dispel a few remaining doubts. I could have asked the advice of you or anyone else on here and no doubt gotten the standard lecture about GAS because of its cost and because I really have no need for the lens, only the desire.