I'm trying to set some upgrade criteria for myself.
I have now come to a point where I have only 1 single upgrade criteria for any photographic equipment that I now own and use:
The old piece of equipment no longer works.
That's it :angel:
Let me explain.
I have all the gear I need (probably ever more than that). That gear is doing for me what I want from it and I am more than pleased with the results. Even though most of the gear was bought used and none of it is top of the line or latest and greatest I am more than happy with it. In the last couple of months (roughly since May 2013) I realized that my photography hasn't improved due to new photographic gear (since I didn't buy anything new) but it has improved due to (in my opinion) these factors (in no particular order):
1. being familiar with the gear I own and love; I think you need to be in love with your camera and lenses and strobes and ... if you want to produce great results; to me this is like being married: at first it is love at first sight, followed by a lot of work and adjusting to each other, followed by improving skills and techniques and knowing each other better and deeper;
2. improving my photographic thinking and my visual eye / brain through studying photo books of photographers that inspire me and that I admire; namely (in no particular order): Sally Mann (The Immediate Family, At Twelve, Still Time), Rankin (Beautyfull, Caroline Saulnier, Ten Times Rosie, Breeding), Peter Lindbergh (Images of Women), Platon (Power), Albert Watson (Cyclops, Maroc), David Bailey (If We Shadows), JeanLoup Sieff, Paolo Roversi.
3. other intangible and/or non descriptive factors; like having a good day, being inspired, ...
So, I have always bought just the gear that was love at first sight, sold the pieces that didn't work out and stayed with the ones I love. So now I would buy another piece of gear, especially a camera or a lens, just in the case the old mistress died / stopped working. Adding another one to the existing harem of 4 cameras / 7 lenses would just not be appropriate.
As to the age thing (new cameras / old cameras). I just saw this movie "Before Midnight" in which Julie Delpy says to her long time lover / partner played by Ethan Hawke as a remark to him stating he is 41 years old: Oh, my God, you are the oldest man I have ever slept with / made love to. See the point? You can choose and have a short term relationships with your camera in which case she will be always 3 years or younger or you can build your relationship long term and still be in love when she is 10 years old and working.
Of course, all the above is relevant only if you know a few facts about who I am. I am 40 years old, a husband to a beautifull wife since 2006 and father of 2 great kids (born in 2010 and 2011). Photography is my hobby that I enjoy. As a matter of fact I enjoy it so much that I have turned one of our spare rooms into a small portrait studio and another one into a gear storage area. After a mid term relationship with Canon that ended in a peacefull divorce I fell in love with Mamiya at the end of 2011. It was after going back to film because the Canon Eos 3 and 35 mm film just couldn't cut it size wise. The 645 AFD, 80 AF 2.8 and 45 AF 2.8 were bought first, followed a few months later by the 645 AFD II, 80 AFD 2.8 and 150 AFD IF 2.8. My reasoning was I needed / wanted also the 150 mm lens and the 150 AFD IF supersedes the 150 AF 3.5 therefore I needed the II body because the I body is not compatible with the D lenses. Finally I traded my two L Canon primes for the 645 AFD III and 45 AFD 2.8 and bought also the 80 1.9 N. It was hard to sell those L primes for a good price so I made that trade when the opportunity arose. In April 2013 I added the Leaf Aptus 22 to the setup with the primary reason being I needed a long term cheaper alternative to the fujiroids for when working with strobes. I have 4 Profoto AcuteB2 600 Airs with Plume Wafers, Molas and Profotos. For travel and vacation photos I use exclusively the Fuji GA645 with a fixed 60mm f/4 lens.
So, in the spirit of my new non GAS philosophy my last photography related purchase was a return plane ticket to London for two persons, including hotel, a fine restaurant and gallery tickets. I am taking my beautifull wife to see two exibitions on 6 February 2014, the
National Portrait Gallery - Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize and the
Bailey
At the end of this lenghty post I must admit I have a wish list too. So, even though my statement that I will only upgrade to new equipment if the old piece of equipment no longer work holds true, I have one single gear related wish. It was just
announced but it has been a secret wish for a few years now and it is the only reason I am still holding to 645 AFD and the AF (non D) lenses. Me and my family all love the sea and I want to capture those moments also slightly from below water. Fortunately the new
sport housing is much cheaper than the previous
underwater housing.
Also, I had a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II D and a Mamiya HX701 on my wish list for some time but now decided I do not need yet another camera (for reasoning please see above).