The Story of How I Acquired and Defeated Gear Acquisition Syndrome

This is the story of how I fell in love with photography and how I acquired and defeated gear-acquisition-syndrome.

At about the end of 2010, I was finishing up my last year of high school, was studying design, and was absolutely loving it. However, for the work I was doing, images from Google wouldn’t cut it. I decided to borrow my uncle’s DSLR, an old Canon 350D.

I shot everything in Auto mode because I didn’t know any better, and I fell in love with the results that I then used for my project. From memory, it was to document a space and use the images as reference material for an assignment.

After I got an A for that assignment, I then badgered by parents to buy me a DSLR as I wound up missing the feel of the DSLR when using a point and shoot. They eventually succumbed and we bought a second hand Canon 450D with kit lenses. I loved this thing to bits, I took photos of every damned thing I could.

I taught myself all I could with it and it became permanently attached to me. I was photographing everything and I quickly became known in my groups of friends as ‘the photographer’.

Then I started reading websites and following photography blogs. Boy, was that a mistake.

I “realized” the pictures I was taking were under-exposed at night time, and that the ‘bokeh’ wasn’t blurry enough for my liking, and that in order to achieve the results I wanted, I’d have to buy different things and upgrade my gear.

About 8 months later, I bought a Canon 60D after convincing myself that it was a worthwhile spend. It was to some degree, as it allowed me to shoot video and to take photos using the swivel screen. It had a nicer sensor and a much faster shutter than the 450D. It also had more actuations per second than my previous camera, something that I thought I’d use a lot.

I then discovered one of my all time favourite photographers, Rick Nunn, and became addicted to prime lenses. Aside from being fantastic, they are also expensive. I bought a Canon 50mm f/1.4 and a 28mm f/1.8, and then got rid of my old kit lenses. I then thought, “Well, these can shoot awesome at low light, but I can’t shoot nightclub photography without a flash!”

Cue $800 on a 580EX II and a new battery grip. I bought the grip because I thought it made my camera look more “professional”. I then wanted to invest in a good zoom lens, because primes can’t cover all focal lengths! Another $1500 on a new lens, a Canon 17-40mm f/4L.

I then caught the Strobist bug, which I still love and is an absolutely awesomely fun way too shoot. However, it is expensive to begin with. I spent another $500 on manual flashes and triggers and lightstands and umbrellas etc…

Then it hit me.

I wasn’t actually enjoying my photography anymore — it had become such a large part of my life, and I had become consumed with the ideal of “buy better = shoot better”.

After losing my job in a call center, I was forced to sell my gear to fund living, which led to a bout of depression (a number of factors influenced this as well). This was in early 2012. I also lost many of my images from computers due to hard-drive crashes and poor backups.

After a full year without a camera, I decided to get back into the game.

I bought something I had always wanted, and loved: a Fujifilm X100. Getting it was like getting my first camera. I’ve been shooting loads every other day, while balancing with my studies and have become such a photography nerd again.

I am starting to feel the gear-acquisition-syndrome coming back again, but I am successfully fighting it! I’ve had the camera for one month and have not bought a single thing for it yet, even though I’ve had many urges to.

I think I’ll be getting a UV filter at some point, simply because the New Zealand sun isn’t fantastic for camera sensors.

So here’s a word of caution for all you other young whippersnappers and beginning photographers out there: don’t get too involved in buying things — just get out there and shoot! It’s all about the image and how you feel taking it. If you’re in a positive mindset, your photography reflects this!

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