Staying on Brand ???

In thinking about another piece of kit, software etc, my experience leads me to drawing up a cost-benefit like table of factors. The “weighting” of each factor is personal and usually implicit.

Cost, weight, filling a known requirement, frequency of use are all relevant. I have a table for potential replacements for the aging Zuiko 50-200 SWD, to guard against an ill-considered purchase when it fails.

One challenge is to decide what value to place on something that extends my photography, for example an anamorphic lens or the Sony 100mm STF. Tilt-Shift made the cut, those two didn’t. It’s hard to value the unknown.

You also have to decide what penalty function to apply for the learning curve, especially software. I might decide that the learning experience is positive or a chore, up to me.

Then you have life’s eternal questions - would a better tripod and head be more useful than a body with HHHiRes? What new technologies and functions might be coming that would alter the answers? Might new requirements emerge, for example different holidays now I’m retired. How much might buying older technology used save me, if I just wait?

On the whole, just waiting is looking more and more attractive, not least because you can learn a lot from the extended experience of others. Seems like a good moment to thank MEDISN for his work on HHhiRes and jalywol for her cross-platform examples of flowers.

Andrew