Great Article from DVXuser Member "puredrifting" (Dan)....!!!

Thanks for sharing. I as well as many others here do battle with GAS, with last year being the most I've ever spent in 20+ years.
This year, however, I plan to make it one of the least as I am now capable of nearly all I want to do. So far so good :)
 
What helps me is purchasing inexpensive items (at least for what they are).

I know that's not going to work for everyone, especially if you're trying to run a legit business, but it makes me feel better (and I can personally do that).

Like I don't want to be stuck with a $5K camera or lens or light or microphone, etc...but $1K and less is okay. Use them a bit - sell them - and onto the next. (Sometimes you only lose a few hundred and have "rented" the gear for a few months.)
 
As stated in Dan's article, waiting on a purchase is a really smart thing to do. If I'm still sure that I can't live without it after 48 hours, then maybe it's worth having. But yes, the struggle is real. And not always just on the big ticket items. There's always some cord/battery option/cheeseplate/monitor/filter holder mount etc. that's going to make your life easier, and that stuff adds up too.
 
To me one of the problems is products.. how they work .. and how they are reviewed. Basically many products are 'beta'

Take my FS7.
Reviewer.. 'LUTs' 'Scopes' bla..

Well the luts only work sometime, the scopes only work sometime..

Result.. throw away the stock viewfinder and spend $1000 on a small HD DP502

HDMI out??

Well turns out PSF sucks with some monitors.

Result spend $300 on a Redbyte to sort out the signal.

So ive Gassed $1500 on stuff I thought came with the camera! Scopes, LUts and HDMI out.


DJI Ronin? - reviewers say its a stabiliser.. well not if you are doing some G forces.. result.. flog it and buy a Movi.. another $8k Gassed

Baiscally I start a project.. be that 'ownership of decent S35 camera' or 'ownership of decent stabiliser platform'.. and the project just flies over budget with unforseen widgets.

My shotgun mic.. the first one I bought in 2009 (Sanken) I still have. It worked
My sticks head (miller arrow 25) the first one I bought in 2009 I still have. It worked
My lavalier mics.. the first one I bought in 2009 I still have. It worked

Billingham bags..? bought 1995.. still working and in service
NIkkor primes? manual, bought 1991 .. still working and in service
C stands? .. 2012 still working and in service

I dont think about ugrading my head, primes, c stands or mics. Ever.

I find when something actually works (usually the expensive established 'pro' version) the item kills GAS in that department.

Maybe we need to stop buying 'beta' or consumer cr_ap products!

S
 
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Also the bleeding edge..

Take 'small camera'
D90, 5d, 7d, Gh4
and I want a Gh5.

But the GH5 didnt exist when I bought my D90 and 5d2.. I should have shelved 'small camera' until the thing I wanted came off the bleeding edge?
 
guilty your honour.

- Just dropped $7k on the BMPCC4K and underwater housing - and I bet after a few uses, i will realise my current GH5 rig won't be a million miles away and I could still have $7k - hey ho.
 
Maybe I'm the only one or not, but I do feel the need to own every piece of equipment I use and on top of that two of everything (or something that can do the same thing). Just in case something breaks the night before a shoot. That equals a lot of equipment.
 
We all do or have done this. I think it is healthy for Dan to talk about this in the open as our industry is changing. Many cameras are "good enough" these days. That term has always represented not trying enough or settling but it is not true now. You can overkill your work with expensive equipment. Back in the SD to HD transition it was vitally important to upgrade your gear. Now it is more out of convenience. Which for one man bands, there is something to be said for lightening your load of things to think about.

For example, I have been using PX270's for 4-5 years. Great camera and money maker but I am looking at the new CX-350. Why? The main reason is if it can give an extra clean stop of sensitivity I can mostly stop using Neat Video for conference, dimly lit concerts and nighttime football games. Massive post time saver. Buying gear is not bad but tying the purchase to good reasons helps the value proposition. Great stuff as usual from Dan!
 
After looking at all I've accumulated in the last 20+ years and how much I've spent I had some thoughts.
My GAS tends to fall into the below categories:

1. The gear doesn't meet expectations and/or do what I need.
For instance, I own a bunch of cameras. I do a huge variety of work (corporate, events, tv, documentary, music videos, automotive, special effects, etc).
No single camera can do it all so I need different cameras for different purposes. On top of that each of them has some glaring deficiency to work around which means adding more gear to the camera or another camera.
I bought a Panasonic AG UX180 because I wanted internal 4K 60P for several reasons. But the LCD screen has delay, enormous reflection, poor resolution, No peaking in auto mode, etc so it really needs an add-on monitor...more gear.
We all could tell stories of how what we bought is lacking or sometimes plain doesn’t deliver reliably or at all.
As Morgan_moore said, I also have discovered that once I find something that does what I want it basically kills GAS in that area and I stick with it. Examples have been some microphones, stands, tripods. All of my computers were built to spec and serve for 5-10+ years.
I bought another quadcopter because my other one wasn't good enough in the photo department or allowed enough cropping in when shooting landscapes. Plus I needed a backup. The new one solved it all and now I have no further interest in another quadcopter until one breaks or 8K becomes needed.

2. I want to expand capabilities / gain an edge.
Competition is huge so I decided to branch out more.
Part of last year’s expense was adding a photo booth service and live switching and streaming = more gear.
I also am working on a car rig which means yet more gear. So I bought a Ronin for part of the setup, later to find out it’s probably not so good for that. So now I have a new Ronin when I should have probably spent more on a Movi.

3. Trying to simplify work / make life easier.
I really have to watch this one because the quest to make work easier/lighter/faster can add up to hundreds of little parts and things.

4. It’s a bargain.
Some super sale happens and it’s hard to pass up. I’ve found the solution to this is just wait. I usually don’t need it. Results of not waiting have resulted in a bunch of things that I had big hopes for but often never get around to actually implementing.

---------------
I think Dan did a good job on that article. He and others have had several discussions on this forum through the years about GAS, as probably most of us struggle with it.

The fact that I can’t test any of this stuff in person means I have to rely on reviews and forums to make decisions, of which I am grateful for.
I've wondered if I lived close to B&H how great it would be to be able to hands-on some of this stuff. But then I wonder how great the temptation would be surrounded by all that gear to buy even more! :)
 
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TheTrickster said:
guilty your honour.

- Just dropped $7k on the BMPCC4K and underwater housing - and I bet after a few uses, i will realise my current GH5 rig won't be a million miles away and I could still have $7k - hey ho.
Click to expand...

Doctors are standing by... :grin:

1-800-GOT-BAD-GASS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome Symptoms)
 
I think forums are responsible for a lot of the "kit fever" people suffer from,
I see a lot of generated hype around new products - getting people whipped into a buying frenzy,
often seems to create a belief that "THIS is the piece of kit that will help me become the film maker I always dreamed of becoming"
seems to happen with sensor sizes, Log and Raw related stuff especially
 
YouTube is hype central!

It depends on what you like.

I will never buy another microphone or light again, but I would be interested in a new camera even with a small sensor and no LOG and no RAW if it has 4K/120p or 6K/8K 24p/60p with industry-changing auto-focus.

While someone else may not even click the link to look at it.
 
I totally agree with Morgan. I've never thought of myself as having GAS until the last 10 years with cameras, in large part because it's been a high period of transition moving from SD to HD to 4K, from small CCD to Large CMOS, and so on so forth. I remember going HD and suddenly low light wasn't good enough. Then the DSLR revolution and video-look was out. Then the DSLRs were constantly crippled and it's been a slow road of building back up.

Tripods, Mics, Lights, Bags, Cases, DooDads, etc. - minimal. Boring. One and done. It just works. More gear slows you down. It's a PIA to haul, transport, insure, store, setup, tear down, etc. And most gimmicky things are gimmicks, really. I find I do the same sorts of stuff over and over and the basic hardware that hasn't changed forever is solid. Edelkrone makes cool stuff and I got excited about it, but most of it goes unused, even though it's handy like 5-10% of the time.

I also don't even LIKE switching cameras. I just am perpetually dissapointed in them and I really just want ONE THING that is elusive for me: a GH5S like camera, not so digitally processed, with internal, high bitrate, 4K 60p with VFR modes for 36, 42, 48. Ok, so the Pocket 4K has this but it's not Panasonic reliable with all the other features that make it travel to the jungle well and reliably. The S1 almost had this, but doesn't internally. FF is an afterthought for me, its just the IBIS + lowlight + less processed look. The EVA1 finally does with the 3.0 firmware, but not with IBIS, and not in a smaller form factor and I find the GHx/S1 interface way quicker and easier for my OMB docu style work and the EVA1 interface clunky by comparison.

Point is, I'm buying the cameras because the GH4 doesn't cut it today. The GH5 does, but not in lowlight, enter the GH5s. But that doesn't have IBIS. The EVA1 makes me not look like an amateur so I can actually afford more gear and to live, and offers some critical features the Lumix don't, but for me is harder to work with and lacks some other critical features. I would be done buying for YEARS if the S1 had 400mbps HEVC 4k 60p 10-bit 422 internal with VFR and, ideally, a built in electronic VND. Game. Over.

That was a long way of saying, Morgan nailed it. I think a lot of GAS today comes from new tech that is game changing but gets launched in beta at a breakneck pace, we need it today to stay competitive and relevant but we have a love hate relationship with it because it's half broken or incomplete and drives us crazy. I'm mostly buying any new stuff right now to solve problems I am regretfully living with, not for the sake of a "ooohh... cool new feature!". My stuff that just works never gets upgraded until it breaks beyond repair.
 
Thanks all, much appreciated. A lot of the thoughts expressed in the article came from our discussions here over the past few years. I think I finally have my own GAS under control but time will prove that.

I can say that last year I paid off two credit cards that had embarrassingly high balances, a Home Depot account for carpet and some new bathroom floors, and I have been contributing more than ever into my 401k, although still not nearly as much as I should be.
My only consumer debt are a mortgage on the house I live in and two rentals I own (both houses have positive cash flow) and I owe $8k on my cheap car. Having close to no consumer debt has made me feel better than I have in years and GAS was a large part of that.

Take it from someone who has been there, stop buying gear stupidly and buy it thoughtfully, only if you have to, with a justifiable business case. Without that, you are simply frittering away money on gear needlessly and since most
of our gear is practically disposable, in that it has little resale value after a few months, its simply a waste of resources that you WILL regret if you don't already.

Best of luck in getting your GAS under control.
 
My wife helped me get my GAS under control. That and having a more targeted focus on the type of jobs I do. I definitely second think any of my purchase impulses. That being said, there have been a few peices of gear that I've bought which have really changed my business. The Sony FS7 being one of them. I was shooting on my 5D II almost exclusively for about 6 years prior so I really wondered if purchasing a real camera was going to actually get me more business. I had to revamp my support gear, however, it totally changed the way I shoot, the quality of my work, and the way my clients percieved me. I was able to feel confident in charging more, which lead to different type of business/clients and ultimatly doubled and some years tripled my yearly earning potential. What can I say, my wife doesn't like my GAS, but my clients appreciate it ;)
 
@filmguy123 - Surprised you find the GH's easier to operate than the EVA1, I love the UI and functionality of the EVA,
what do you find clumsy/lacking - curious to hear how others get on with it. Other than the joke monitor, lack of assignable black balance shortcut - theres not much i feel missing since the update
(apologies to OP for going on tangent here)
 
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