Today I checked to see what my remaining camera gear is worth using the online price estimator from KEH. It made for some very depressing reading. Basically the cameras have plummeted so much in value from new that they're now barely worth the gas to take them to the store to sell. The lenses are worth a tiny fraction of what I paid. All combined, if I sold it all then I wouldn't even be able to afford a new camera.
I can see exactly why camera companies are struggling. They're selling flashy trash that costs thousands of dollars that after a couple of years is utterly valueless. People are sick of the technology scam. Now that many phone companies are unbundling their overpriced smartphones from their phone service, people are upgrading smartphones less often.
All this reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend who's in Canada - apparently now that planning laws have changed, people are applying to build houses with no connection to the electrical grid. It seems we have an appreciable proportion of the population that rejects the overabundance of electrical gizmos.
In terms of where do I go from here, this leaves me with a quandary. Do I abandon my desire to do night sky photos? Do I buy a lens and pray that it works just right. Do I buy a camera with super high iso that'll make my existing lenses work better? Do I sell it all and turn my back on cameras and stick with my phone camera? Do I keep on holding onto the remains of a DSLR setup that's still plummeting in price and holds dubious memories? Do I sell everything and buy the mirrorless system I think might be right for me? Whichever way I go, it just doesn't look that satisfactory. Then there's my desire to do wonderful colorful fall vegetation photos - what about those?
I am reminded of what a nymphomaniac, chain-smoking, hard-drinking lecherous bank manager once told me. She listened to me talk about my photography business and commented that I seemed to have no passion for the business and that I should just get out of it. That made sense and after probably a further 8 months of trying to sell snow to the Eskimos, I closed the business.
People love my photos but they don't love to part with money for them. I'm going to say that is probably partly or mostly due to the collapse of the economy and its effect on luxuries. Despite all the claims to the contrary, the economy is not improving. Indeed only the other day it was revealed 43% of Americans pay no tax. This is because they earn less than the $10,000 needed in order to pay tax. That's not a healthy economy nor a recovering economy!
Thinking more on the camera stuff, perhaps the solution now I know how much it'd get from a dealer would be to try selling via eBay even though I despise their charges. Worst case scenario, it goes for less than it'd sell for to a dealer so I tell them no dice, get a bad rating and sell to a dealer. Might be worth even setting up a new eBay account to sell it all!
I can see exactly why camera companies are struggling. They're selling flashy trash that costs thousands of dollars that after a couple of years is utterly valueless. People are sick of the technology scam. Now that many phone companies are unbundling their overpriced smartphones from their phone service, people are upgrading smartphones less often.
All this reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend who's in Canada - apparently now that planning laws have changed, people are applying to build houses with no connection to the electrical grid. It seems we have an appreciable proportion of the population that rejects the overabundance of electrical gizmos.
In terms of where do I go from here, this leaves me with a quandary. Do I abandon my desire to do night sky photos? Do I buy a lens and pray that it works just right. Do I buy a camera with super high iso that'll make my existing lenses work better? Do I sell it all and turn my back on cameras and stick with my phone camera? Do I keep on holding onto the remains of a DSLR setup that's still plummeting in price and holds dubious memories? Do I sell everything and buy the mirrorless system I think might be right for me? Whichever way I go, it just doesn't look that satisfactory. Then there's my desire to do wonderful colorful fall vegetation photos - what about those?
I am reminded of what a nymphomaniac, chain-smoking, hard-drinking lecherous bank manager once told me. She listened to me talk about my photography business and commented that I seemed to have no passion for the business and that I should just get out of it. That made sense and after probably a further 8 months of trying to sell snow to the Eskimos, I closed the business.
People love my photos but they don't love to part with money for them. I'm going to say that is probably partly or mostly due to the collapse of the economy and its effect on luxuries. Despite all the claims to the contrary, the economy is not improving. Indeed only the other day it was revealed 43% of Americans pay no tax. This is because they earn less than the $10,000 needed in order to pay tax. That's not a healthy economy nor a recovering economy!
Thinking more on the camera stuff, perhaps the solution now I know how much it'd get from a dealer would be to try selling via eBay even though I despise their charges. Worst case scenario, it goes for less than it'd sell for to a dealer so I tell them no dice, get a bad rating and sell to a dealer. Might be worth even setting up a new eBay account to sell it all!
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