I have a Nikon D80 and a Nikkor 18-135mm lens. Its a pretty good setup for amateur-enthusiast photography, and yet often I find myself researching the Nikon D300 or the new D700. Sometimes even the old D200 strikes my fancy and before I realize I am drooling all over my iMac. Then there are lenses. I fancy a Nikkor 70-300 mm VR and wish I could afford a 80-200mm f2.8. I go through this torment of oggling at the camera/lenses - features, quality, the kind of photographs I could take and then the budgeting. This is just the camera.
Then there are other interests: Sports cars (BMW M3 E92, rather an E46 for me pls., or Mercedez SL65 AMG Black-edition) or a Media system: perhaps a custom built: recevier, subwoofer, speakers etc. Bose Companion 5* just doesn't cut it, Computers: has to be a Mac and then sometimes I want to build my own monster with Nvidia SLI twin graphics cards 512 MB RAM each, 7.1 surround sound, 1Ghz FSB Motherboard, a RAID configured HD stack 7200rpm, a Blue Ray disc player, a liquid cooled cooling system, Phones: Nokia n series, a Blacberry Storm, or the ubiquitous Apple iphone*.
Well, the intention behind this particular blog is not to rant about the poor me not affording the pleasures of driving a Mercedez Benz SL65 AMG Black edition ($150K) a V12, 600 hp & 700 lb-ft torque, not snapping pictures with the shweet D700 ($2K) full frame at 5 fps, talking on the iphone, with my ears still numb from listening to the custom built Denon+Velodyne+NHT Home Theater System ($8K), and perhaps gone blind double checking if I am getting any resolution benefits using a Blue-ray disc on 42" 1080p plasma screen ($3K).
Nor is it to offer excuses and beleiving in the fable of sour grapes. The humble intention of this blog is to dissect the human urge behind possessing these wonderful material things. Before you roll your eyes and assume this is another of the Zen arts of living boringly, let me please goad you to read on.
I wish I had all these gadgets and more. I strongly believe in being Happy, no matter what it takes. (Pls. insert here your own sense of ethics, personal integrity in acquiring the means and the uncompromisable character for avoiding excessive indulgence).
Hinduism & Buddhism tell us otherwise. Material needs and material goods can only fill this void superficially making us more empty and definitely broke (No Chapter 11, bankruptcy claims here!).
But we are only human; with dreams and desires. I just want to insist on clarity in actions and reactions. Action being the purchase & the reaction being what I get having acquired the object of my drool (yikes!). Moving on..
Camera: I like my camera, Nikon D80, and as many wise professional photographers have said its not the camera that takes the photograph its the person behind it. But I still want a D300, there is a desire to possess something this awesome (& now affordable $1450).
And I don't fight this. I just ask myself..Why?
I guess its not the camera that I want. Because, I am not thinking of the photographs that I can take with the new one. Nor the passion of photography. Having an active d-lighting and magnesium alloy body is not going to change my pictures.
What is my passion for cameras?
I want to take good pictures and the thrill of capturing light, just the way I see it, or a perspective or a vision of something not so obvious; an exaggeration of the mundane.
So, "To buy or not to buy"?
Its just the passion of photography or my need for speed, exquisite car handling, the thrill of cornering a turn on a track at 90 mph or a need for loosing sense of the surroundings & life itself into the music & the movies made by some of the most brilliant and imaginative artists of this day.
Just identify the real passion and the real outcome of what you are investing in. Possessing a material object does not grant the possessor the same pride and satisfaction of the creator and obviously not the profits of the sale.
P.S: *
I am never going to buy a Bose. They are pretty good speakers, but they create an illusion of perfect sound by offering good bass and treble and not much of the mid range frequencies. Do I care? Illusions are just fine too! But heck, they are expensive for being "Bose". So here I have some budgetary concerns along with some pride for being taken for a false ride.
I don't want to buy an Apple iphone. Why? It seems, now that it has become seemingly affordable at $200 & $79 a month AT&T 2 yr contract, everybody has it. Nope! I will not be among everybody.
Now here we have pride and ego. Too bad Apple will not make one and only one just for me. If they did I would not afford it anyway. I also have this resent in becoming an iChimp. I bought an ipod and instantly became one. It gained spiritual importance as if it defined me. I guess a lot of Apple product owners feel such a spiritual upliftment by possesing an ipod, Macbook Pro or the invisibly thin MacBook Air. As if the device projects their own personal value! Hah! Talk about low self esteem! Having said this, I own two ipods 30 GB, 60 GB 5th genration, a powerbook since '05 & the new iMac laucned in '07. I often break down in tears looking at the new all solid aluminum MacBook Pro or the devine Mac Pro with a Cinema Display. Hmm!
