Too much camera junk...Which to get rid...Collecting obsessions getting out of hand!

buglebum

Ex Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
1,814
Reaction score
167
Points
403
How do there,

Right I've got a fair bit of camera kit, most of which hardly ever gets used. I'm no pro by any stretch, but I do enjoy taking a camera round with me to the odd city on cheap flights and having access to a zoom lens and a camera/lens combo that is also compact.

I also have a strange thing inside me that feels the need to own a full size camera like a Canon 600D, which I have no real need for at all other than the warm feeling of owning it and a nice big flash gun attached etc.

I am clearly mad.

I have just recently gone and purchased a Sony NEX-7...Things have a gone too far and I'm looking for a little guidance on what I should keept, get rid and channel my buying or using towards.

Here is what I have...

Cameras

Olympus OMD-EM5
Canon 600D
Sony NEX-7

Lenses...

M4/3

20mm Panasonic
14mm Panasonic
14-140mm Panasonic "old" version
14-140mm Panasonic "new" version
100-300mm Panasonic
14-42mm Panasonic PZ Power Zoom
Various filters etc.

Canon

18-55mm IS II
EF 40mm STM Panacake

Sony E-Mount

18-55mm
55-210mm

Then a Canon 430 EXII Flash

Also have an assortment of bags in an ottoman that I know I don't need from lowepro and that sort of thing.



Right, even by my standards of owning needless junk, I don't need any of this stuff really. Except for what I outlined in the 1st paragraph.
I only got the full size SLR because of an unmissable promotion, and the deep desire to have one...part of me knows that the low light ability of even the OMD is basically pants, well I reckon it is anyway to an amateur out the box.

Then this NEX-7....by all accounts it is the ideal camera to have....but the "E-Mount" thing sits badly with me...

I dunno...what should I do? What am I doing? Why do I have all this stuff and walk past the shelf with the 20mm panasonic m43 lens on for example and have a guilty feeling, someone please help and tell me how to approach this, what to keep, what to sell (if anything).

I know for example getting the 600D was a complete waste of time...it's specs for image quality are awful as is the low light handling, "I just had to have one".

Help!!!!

(Thanks) :)
 
I'm sure some will disagree but for me the Nex and OMD are filling a very similar gap for me, i.e. a camera with a large sensor providing good image quality, but without the bulk of a DSLR. In which case I'd personally choose the Nex due to the larger sensor and get rid of the OMD. As for the e-mount lenses, what is it you don't like? Haven't they recently announced a few new 'pro' e-mount lenses since the launch of the A7? Whilst mentioning this, you could always sell all the cameras and lenses and just get the A7 or A7r. This way you get a full frame camera with the compact size :devil:

Also, if you have a load of old gear that you don't use there's no point keeping it is there? Especially having 2 of the same lenses, albeit it an old an new version.

Disclaimer: Obviously the decision has to be yours and I accept no responsibility for any choices you make ;)
 
There's a duplicate thread running for this which I replied to (and the Forum had a blip and posted 6 times!);

What do you find terrible about the low light handling of any of the 3 cameras? They're all more that capable of delivering quality results at high ISO unless you're shooting in complete pitch black in which case no camera will deliver what your eyes can see. The canon kit lens won't be great in low light with its narrow aperture but the 40mm should be ok.

Also, the first question would be which camera do you like the feel of most? Both the OMD and Nex use electronic viewfinders whereas the 600D has a 'traditional' optical viewfinder so they will feel different in use in low light. With regards to what kit you should keep, that's really down to you although looking at the kit list versus actual use you've obviously got a bit of an obsession with GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) so I'd suggest looking at all of your images in Lightroom and using metadata I filter them by the camera/lens used to get an idea of your favourite kit then sell the rest before going out and actually taking photos rather than buying more!

From reading your post, it looks like you're blaming the camera specs of all 3 rather than looking at using them 'properly'. If you take a look at Flickr and sites like SteveHuff.com you will see that any camera, especially those three, can deliver great results when used properly.

Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks Steve, that's a good reply and a good analysis of myself (GAS...lol, but true!)
I'm not really blaming the camera, deep down I know it's basically that I haven't invested enough time in each to really know what I'm doing.

I suppose, I just needed to be told that!
 
I'm sure some will disagree but for me the Nex and OMD are filling a very similar gap for me, i.e. a camera with a large sensor providing good image quality, but without the bulk of a DSLR. In which case I'd personally choose the Nex due to the larger sensor and get rid of the OMD. As for the e-mount lenses, what is it you don't like? Haven't they recently announced a few new 'pro' e-mount lenses since the launch of the A7? Whilst mentioning this, you could always sell all the cameras and lenses and just get the A7 or A7r. This way you get a full frame camera with the compact size :devil:

Also, if you have a load of old gear that you don't use there's no point keeping it is there? Especially having 2 of the same lenses, albeit it an old an new version.

Disclaimer: Obviously the decision has to be yours and I accept no responsibility for any choices you make ;)

Thanks, also a good concise post. I appreciate it, think this camera collecting lark is a sign of me not really doing the work to actually enjoy it. It's all well and good taking a few snaps and getting some nice shots of "easy" scenes in cities and the like, but taking things further...hmmm, well.

Agree with you on the NEX/OMD, personally feel the NEX is a level up, although since I have so much M43 lenses...bit of a hard thing to let go of.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom