Thread: Why Buy a Camera?

???

It's not about the camera. It's about the photos.

The camera may be obsolete but you will still have the photos.

BTW You don't have to spend anywhere near $1k to take breathtaking photos.

old rule:
90% lighting
10% camera

I'm not trolling but how do you keep up with tech/pricing. Is it cost effective to invest in an SLR/Compact/Go Pro?

Originally Posted by 4xsama

I'm not trolling but how do you keep up with tech/pricing. Is it cost effective to invest in an SLR/Compact/Go Pro?

it depends what you want to do.

the lens is more important than megapixels imho

SLR/Compact/Go Pro all have very different uses.

I know it isn't always possible, but I like to think that the ideal solution to your dilemma is to buy the item today and use it so often that by the time it is obsolete it is worn out.

It's just one of those personal choices in life.... No NEED to buy a camera... lots of mobile phones now days take great pictures.

As VNX205 said, you certainly don't need to spend $1000 on a good camera - and the camera alone does not guarantee you good images anyway.

However it's also not purely about economics either.... I have lenses that cost many times that $1k....but it's one of my hobbies..it's what I do to relax

As long as I can afford them, I don't need to justify the expense of the equipment any more than my mate with a $2000 shotgun, or the one with 3 game fishing reels worth well over a grand each do.

If all you want is some happy snaps from trips you do.... you are right ,you don't need to buy a camera.

But others have different requirements.

Originally Posted by 4xsama

I'm not trolling but how do you keep up with tech/pricing. Is it cost effective to invest in an SLR/Compact/Go Pro?

4Xsama You can't look at buying a $1K camera as an investment... it's an expense.

For someone that gets into high end photographic gear.. good lenses can be an investment (Because they will have a far longer life - and outlive several bodies)... but otherwise camera gear is an expense , not an investment in my view.

That said... no one says you have to have the latest camera gear.... just because a new model is released - does NOT mean yours is now useless.

I know a couple for people that are taking beautiful photographs with Digital cameras that are now 6 -7 years old.

And I still regularly use one lens my dad gave me..that he bought new in 1972 !

I recently bought a Pentax DSLR, two reasons , the Canon EOS350 that I had used for nearly 10 years was getting a bit long in the tooth ( and I never liked the twin lens kit that came with it) and secondly I wanted to use the Sigma 70 - 300 lens that I had purchased for the previous SLR that I had.
The investment in lenses is usually recoverable and the reason that I bought a new DSLR was the same as the reason I bought the film one all those years ago - limitations in the capability of cheaper cameras to take the photos that I want to take.

Regards,
Tote