My cure for Gear Acquisition Syndrome

I own an A7 and an A7II. My only FE lenses are the kit zoom, a (bought used) FE 35mm f2.8, and an FE 50mm f1.8. Using manual adapters, I shot some 30+ year old Leica M mounts, some Canon FD and Nikon AiS and AF-D lenses. I added a 15mm Voigtlander Series III.

Then about a year ago, I bought a TechArt Pro adapter for my A7II. It changed my whole perspective toward photography. With Leicaist Nikon to M and FD to M adapters, suddenly, all my old lenses were AF.

I was stunned at how good those old lenses are. I began shooting family events, landscapes etc. with a new joy.

I knew something changed when I stopped lusting for new lenses. And new bodies.

There’s a new sense of joy and freedom that comes from rediscovering just how good those old lenses are when mated with the TechArt Pro. No, focus speed doesn’t match that of the fastest FE mounts…but even for shooting my active young grandsons, TechArt Pro focus works great.

I still had a 55-210 and Rokinon 8mm from my NEX-6 days…and when a low-shutter-count A6000 came up on KEH for $300, I bought it. Added a new Rokinon 12mm f2, $300. Then, a refurbished Sigma 19mm f2.8, $110.

Faced with steep climbs in the hills of Greece’s Peloponnesus, I left the A7 system in the car trunk, and reveled in my light A6000 kit. Now I split my shooting about evenly with the A6000 and A7II. Amazed at how good the A6000 images are, especially in good light. Screening images in Lightroom on a big Asus monitor after a recent Greece-Norway-Copenhagen trip, I had a hard time telling which nice images were shot with which body or lens.

But the best reward, beyond really nice images, is cure for Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I no longer wonder what Sony will bring out next, or worry it will render obsolescent what I already own.

Some day, I might buy a used A6500 and a second TechArt Pro for that. Or not.

Freedom from GAS is amazing. I highly recommend it.

Mordi

Sounds to me like you've still got plenty of gear acquisitions going on - it's just not the latest stuff. You've still got GAS, you're just getting off the couch and passing it in another room :-D

There's nothing wrong with enjoying gear, trying new things, etc. I think the negative connotation towards GAS is from those not in position to do the same - so they say hurtful things to make the GASsy folks feel bad.

My prediction is this is going to be a very temporary cure

I took A6000 to Morocco a few years ago, got some memorable photos. But I always wonder, how, with just a little extra effort, the technical quality (resolution, corner sharpness, dynamic range, shadow recovery and excessive noise) could have been so much more...

Jonathan Brady said:

Sounds to me like you've still got plenty of gear acquisitions going on - it's just not the latest stuff. You've still got GAS, you're just getting off the couch and passing it in another room :-D

There's nothing wrong with enjoying gear, trying new things, etc. I think the negative connotation towards GAS is from those not in position to do the same - so they say hurtful things to make the GASsy folks feel bad.

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Gas is good !? Well, depends on the kind of gas

You've got over 20 items in your gear list.

I have "only" 9 items, none listed. I don't spend time searching around for and lusting after vintage lenses. I guess I am "better cured" than you are. Not!

Mordi said:

Freedom from GAS is amazing. I highly recommend it.

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I feel horny reading the above. Did you feel high writing it?

Just clarify.

The Techart Pro adapter works for both A7ii and A6000?

I was under the impression that it does not work for the A6000.

Thanks.

Kaso said:

You've got over 20 items in your gear list.

I have "only" 9 items, none listed. I don't spend time searching around for and lusting after vintage lenses. I guess I am "better cured" than you are. Not!

Kaso said:

Freedom from GAS is amazing. I highly recommend it.

Click to expand...

I feel horny reading the above. Did you feel high writing it?

Click to expand...

No, because I spent more than 40 years assembling the lenses I own, mostly in the time window when rangefinder lens prices collapsed in the early-mid 1980s when SLRs came in, and again when that newfangled AF came in. Example: I was able to buy a used 1981 Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux in 1983 for $325 (I bought my demo M4P with a 50mm f2 for $900 in 1982). I bought a mint Canon FD 135mm f2.8 for $25 when Canon went EOS mount. My pristine 85mm f2 AiS cost me $50 on Craig's List eight years ago.

So if you spend time slowly acquiring the good stuff that the guys with GAS for the latest are willing to dump at a song, over 40 years, you'd be surprised at how cheaply you can purchase really great stuff that's not bleeding edge.

My point was, for full frame, it all stopped with the TechArt Pro. And thanks to great, inexpensive lenses like the Rokinon 12mm f2 and Sigma 19mm f2.8, the now-surpassed A6000 can get fine results.

jandu said:

Just clarify.

The Techart Pro adapter works for both A7ii and A6000?

I was under the impression that it does not work for the A6000.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

No, it doesn't work with the A6000 - just those A6XXX with phase detection AF. That's why, when the A6700 or whatever comes out, and people begin dumping their A6500s, I just might buy one.

But since the majority of my shooting is wide with the Sigma 19mm and Rokinon 12mm, I don't feel much desire for a TechArt there.

Mordi said:

Kaso said:

You've got over 20 items in your gear list.

I have "only" 9 items, none listed. I don't spend time searching around for and lusting after vintage lenses. I guess I am "better cured" than you are. Not!

Mordi said:

Freedom from GAS is amazing. I highly recommend it.

Click to expand...

I feel horny reading the above. Did you feel high writing it?

Click to expand...

No, because I spent more than 40 years assembling the lenses I own, mostly in the time window when rangefinder lens prices collapsed in the early-mid 1980s when SLRs came in, and again when that newfangled AF came in. Example: I was able to buy a used 1981 Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux in 1983 for $325 (I bought my demo M4P with a 50mm f2 for $900 in 1982). I bought a mint Canon FD 135mm f2.8 for $25 when Canon went EOS mount. My pristine 85mm f2 AiS cost me $50 on Craig's List eight years ago.

So if you spend time slowly acquiring the good stuff that the guys with GAS for the latest are willing to dump at a song, over 40 years, you'd be surprised at how cheaply you can purchase really great stuff that's not bleeding edge.

My point was, for full frame, it all stopped with the TechArt Pro. And thanks to great, inexpensive lenses like the Rokinon 12mm f2 and Sigma 19mm f2.8, the now-surpassed A6000 can get fine results.

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O, great savior, I feel more horny now.

Jonathan Brady said:

Sounds to me like you've still got plenty of gear acquisitions going on - it's just not the latest stuff. You've still got GAS, you're just getting off the couch and passing it in another room :-D

There's nothing wrong with enjoying gear, trying new things, etc. I think the negative connotation towards GAS is from those not in position to do the same - so they say hurtful things to make the GASsy folks feel bad.

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"I think the negative connotation towards GAS is from those not in position to do the same - so they say hurtful things to make the GASsy folks feel bad."

If you can afford to buy an A9 and a clutch of GM lenses, I doubt many of the GASsy folks care much about what anyone thinks. I find a stunning number do have to sell whatever they currently own to be able to afford to buy new gear - which is just fine, if that's what floats your boat.

Thank God, I've done well enough to be able to afford to buy anything Sony offers today or in the foreseeable future. The point I was making - and clearly, failed - was that once paid about $380 for the TechArt Pro, I could stop thinking about getting new AF/OSS lenses. I never make enlargements more than a meter wide. And so, the A7II and TechArt and my old MF lenses let me spend my money on travel to great places to take photos, rather than gear - and thanks to Airbnb, not have to rough it to do so.

[ATTACH alt="Meteora, Greece - Canon FD 135mm f2.8 on TechArt (ignore EXIF - "Sony DT" is an artifact, and the TechArt won't AF a lens if you tell it you've got a 135mm - you need to say it's a 90mm)"]1757603[/ATTACH]
Meteora, Greece - Canon FD 135mm f2.8 on TechArt (ignore EXIF - "Sony DT" is an artifact, and the TechArt won't AF a lens if you tell it you've got a 135mm - you need to say it's a 90mm)


Sognefjord, Norway - Voigtlander 15mm Series III, processed Lightroom for iPad

Thanks, for the quick response. Just not sure if it(Techart) had made progress to actually work on an A6000.

Nice pictures and thank you for sharing your GAS story. I do believe it is more imprtant on who is behind camera rather on somebody behind what camera. I just used a vintage point-and-shoot on recent solar eclipse with decent results.

I have A6000 A7M2 A7R2 ... not to mention several SLTs including A99 etc. I mostly use A7R2 while my A7M2 is left collecting dust ... Wanna go A7R2 ? I need shut up. lol

All the best my GAS friends, peace!

Enjoy what you wish while you can!

However, I'm concerned that Techart Pro doesn't seem to be developing this further. Is this the end of the road or will updates be forthcoming? That has stopped me from trying them out.

coase said:

Enjoy what you wish while you can!

However, I'm concerned that Techart Pro doesn't seem to be developing this further. Is this the end of the road or will updates be forthcoming? That has stopped me from trying them out.

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That is commonly the case for that kind of tech. My solution has always been to purchase spares.

I suspect that, like Sony and others, they are working on a next-generation, more sophisticated/expensive second generation product.

So your GAS was cured by having a huge set of high quality lenses and multiple bodies...

;-)

ahaslett said:

So your GAS was cured by having a huge set of high quality lenses and multiple bodies...

;-)

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Well, they have been wisely collected (not acquired, mind you) and economically paid for, so they do not contribute to the illness called Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

My way of doing it is noble, above your mundane and wasteful way of doing it. And I am totally "free," while you're still trapped in your prison of big dollars.

You get it? Get it!?!?

Jonathan Brady said:

There's nothing wrong with enjoying gear, trying new things, etc. I think the negative connotation towards GAS is from those not in position to do the same - so they say hurtful things to make the GASsy folks feel bad.

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I think there's different types of GAS, and the type many here suffer from is the lesser evil. You can have GAS because you love playing with and trying new gear, and you can have GAS because you think you need the latest and greatest to make a compelling photo. If your GAS leads you down the road of old adapted lenses, it's probably safe to say you're just enjoying the photographic journey, not chasing a hardware fix.

Related, it's funny (to me) seeing older photographers that are retired pros or have been seriously into it a long time. More often than not they seem to be doing the slightly odd stuff that most others don't get too. One retired PJ I know spends at least some time shooting small wildlife with adapted 16mm lenses on m4/3 bodies, type of lenses with fixed focus at about 3". It's not an age thing, just they've spent the decades shooting all manner of stuff, so they're on the fringe on what's left to try.

Kaso said:

ahaslett said:

So your GAS was cured by having a huge set of high quality lenses and multiple bodies...

;-)

Click to expand...

Well, they have been wisely collected (not acquired, mind you) and economically paid for, so they do not contribute to the illness called Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

My way of doing it is noble, above your mundane and wasteful way of doing it. And I am totally "free," while you're still trapped in your prison of big dollars.

You get it? Get it!?!?

Click to expand...

I seem to be in remission but thank you.

Andrew

Mordi said:

Thank God, I've done well enough to be able to afford to buy anything Sony offers today or in the foreseeable future. The point I was making - and clearly, failed - was that once paid about $380 for the TechArt Pro, I could stop thinking about getting new AF/OSS lenses. I never make enlargements more than a meter wide.

Click to expand...

I've made several posters 80x120 and 100x150 cm using various legacy (and sometimes quite old) lenses and have no complaints at all. In no case do I wish I'd used a different or more modern lens to take the photo...

Mordi said:

And so, the A7II and TechArt and my old MF lenses let me spend my money on travel to great places to take photos, rather than gear - and thanks to Airbnb, not have to rough it to do so.

Click to expand...

+ 1

Hard not to start over again, though!