tg

Thank you -rmorrison1116 well said!

ronaldwrightdallas

you clearly need a bigger table. you do not have near enough stuff. i could not even get my primary computer and laptop on that table..

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Find a cure for GAS!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I have equipment dating back to 1965 (orange safelight 7.5 watt bulb that still works, plus three 5x7 Yankee trays, plus a 4x5 contact print frame, a 16 Oz. graduate, and a stirring paddle, all from a Sears kid's darkroom set I got for Christmas that year).

I still have most of the film-related equipment I used in high school and until 2005. The most bizarre items are a ferrotype plating print dryer from Spiratone, and a Honeywell Strobonar 65D flash with 510-Volt dry cell battery pack. My kids are going to say, "WTF???" when they go through it. I also have all the slides and negatives from the 1960s forward, and two CDs of all the digital files from 2004 forward, backed up on hard drives, as well.

So with all the other stuff, including digital gear, I have tubs, stacks and piles of it. BUT, they are all well-organized. I've repurposed plenty of it for various strange uses over the years. The safelight bulb was a, (ahem!) "mood light" in my college dorm room during my junior and senior years. Depending on how the date or party was going, I might have used it...

I've used bits and pieces of camera brackets and accessory shoes and tripod mounts to make audio recording aids (boom poles). I built a slide/negative duplicator/digitizer rig from similar parts, plus enlarger negative carriers.

My best advice is to store it well, organized by system and usage, in dry containers that do not deteriorate or "outgas". Keep it all indoors, in climate-controlled conditions. Avoid the basement and the attic (mold, dampness, and heat). If you use it, have a bag for it. I keep the stuff I use in a camera bag I've had since the early 1980s. It's my "grab and go" kit. I can record a documentary or make still photos with the items from that one bag that fits under an airline seat. (I'll add other items as needed.)

Another bit of advice is to simplify! Pare down the items in your kit to just those you need most often. Often, having less gear makes it easier to produce better images, because you think about the scene/product/event/person rather than how to use some gadget. If you're on foot, that strategy lightens the load, too, which can reduce fatigue and make the outing more fun or productive.

SteveLoker Loc: Fort Worth, TX

show off! I feel ya my friend.

TJFlame

Haven't enjoyed such a string in a long time. Going through same conflict now. Not only can I not rid myself even of my (pretty much useless) fisheye from the 80s, but I see a few things on your table I don't have in which I might be interested! Devine lunacy...

Don's Leica Loc: Asheville, NC

Spouse and I can't put all our electronics on one table, because we have about 5 computers and not even one TV; I have about 5 cameras, altho iPhones are doing most of our photography now. In our 80's, she does better with users guides than I. My digital camera guides and Photoshop books are too complicated for me. In my childhood I loved learning how things worked, built an amateur radio station in which I knew the function of each component in the circuit diagrams. When solid state electronics came out, I failed to gain that understanding, altho I had a career in computer programming and a master's in math. Those skills have long gone into the now distant past.

Don's Leica Loc: Asheville, NC

Spouse and I can't put all our electronics on one table, because we have about 5 computers and not even one TV; I have about 5 cameras, altho iPhones are doing most of our photography now. In our 80's, she does better with users guides than I. My digital camera guides and Photoshop books are too complicated for me. In my childhood I loved learning how things worked, built an amateur radio station in which I knew the function of each component in the circuit diagrams. When solid state electronics came out, I failed to gain that understanding, altho I had a career in computer programming and a master's in math. Those skills have long gone into the now distant past.

BudsOwl Loc: Upstate NY and New England

I want one of those. 😂
Bud

BudsOwl Loc: Upstate NY and New England

Don, when I got my Amateur Radio License I had to know how everything worked in the circuitry. Now 56 years later I just turn the transceiver on and work the world.
Bud. WF2B

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

This is a great post "Sony." Many of use buy stuff that may be good. I was still making some money up until the virus. So I had an excuse. Most of my work was run and gun video at sporting events and some advertising and creative video for myself. I have had cameras mostly Nikons all my life. The video thing (Sony has been my hero in this) is move the camera and look like a movie for docs etc. What I found in doing a Triathlon and the events that good hand helded and movement was the answer. Their jibs and the motion
devices that work somewhat depends on what you shoot. My stills are just me and a monopod sometimes
with a Sony a7sII the RX10 24 600 bridge camera. The Sony 6300. The RX100 4 and PWX X70 10 bit Video camera. I must have 25 things to mount balance the camera etc. Their seems to be a movement in the photo
forums in my news list that are pushing the small camera and (maybe a leica or like a high quality
mirrorless or SLR of some of the fan favorites. I think what many of us do is experiment.
Korea makes Rokinon cine lens which are cheap and pretty good. Never would have had a
set without the Asian gear that is good.
I think your gear is just fine.
That said tech is so out-of-control that it is a nightmare. Good things it can do have been replaced
by obsession. Good luck put your stuff in a nice closed closet with shelves and move on.

rmmason

And let me tell you about all the bags and backpacks I have to carry my photo gear...time to weed out some barely-used bags.

cdayton

One of us will win and die with the most toys. GAS onward!

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

"Onward Acquisition Soldiers?"

10MPlayer Loc: California

With me it's musical instruments. I have a tenor sax, 4 alto saxes, one plays 3 in various conditions of disrepair, 3 clarinets, 1 flute, two guitars, an 88 key keyboard. And if that's not enough I just bought a baritone sax and an antique clarinet in C from the early 1800s. Needless to say the wife complains about how much space and money it consumes. I may have to thin the herd here pretty soon. I'm not even that good of a player I just like tinkering around with them, though I do usually play every day.