GASoholics - what is your number??

summerkl

Veteran
Location
Vancouver, Canada
Name
Kevin
Out of curiousity, I reviewed my LR metadata to see how many digital cameras (not including cameraphones or videocameras) I've owned since I started this "hobby".

Holy cow ... 30!!!

To soften the blow of the raw number, let's wax nostalgic with details and context.

First digital camera: HP Photosmart 318 purchased 2001

Current camera(s): Sony A7 and RX100M2

Fondest camera: so many ways to look at this but I would say the Fuji S602Zoom. It was a unibody SLR Zoom similar to today's Sony RX10. I think I lost my bokeh virginity to this camera :dance4:

Most disappointing camera: Nikon E8800 .. it wasn't a bad camera but I was still learning and the Nikon didn't compensate for my lack of skill nearly enough :hiding:

What's next :doh:: never say never, but I think I'm pretty set with Sony A7 ... now I just have to work on my legacy lens addiction problem :)

So Loungers (or SeriousCompacters) what is your number?
 
Right now I am a bit more concerned with how many I've KEPT rather than owned.
There are a few that hold a rather silly keepsake, souvenir or memento status.
Some have a certain IQ so get kept as I'd have regrets if i sold them.
They are worsen the total number.
 
16 cameras since 2002 :)

Canon Powershot G3 (passed on to my dad)
Panasonic LX1 (sold)
Nikon D80 (sold)
Canon Powershot A640 (sold)
Sigma DP2 (in storage)
Sigma DP1s (in storage)
Nikon D5000 (passed on to my brother)
Fuji F30 (in storage)
Sigma SD14 (only camera to be thrown away :) )
Samsung NX100 (sold)
Olympus OM-D E-M5
Panasonic GF3 (sold)
Olympus OM-D E-M1
Pentax MX1 (sold)
Olympus E-PM2
Olympus E1

Biggest disappointment definitely the Samsung NX100 - the control wheel broke after a week and I didn't connect with the camera at all.
Closely followed by the Canon A640 - which I bought to try the CHDK camera hacks (which didn't work great at all for me).

Most fond of: the Sigma DP's (love&hate)... the Fuji F30 was a great little thing... the Nikons weren't bad... the PentaxMX1 had a great lens... and I seem to be piling up the Olympuses - so I guess I like those :-D
 
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It's too painful to think about the ones that are gone, even with more cameras than I need in the house. At the moment I have 4 digital cameras: The Olympus E-M5, The Fuji X-Pro 1, the Leica X-1, and the trusty little Fuji X-20. And lenses, of course, filters, etc. But those are the cameras, and I have numerous film cameras, all of which I still shoot from time to time, bringing the present camera count to 14, down two 35mm rangefinders from a couple of months ago, though I will certainly replace the Bessa. I think that's perfectly reasonable.
 
I got my first camera 2009, when I handled a dslr for the first time at school. The route has been like this:
Canon 550D (sold)
Canon 7D (sold)
Olympus E-PL3 (sold)
Olympus OM-D E-M5 (sold)
Ricoh GR (sold)
Sony RX100 III (sold)
Olympus E-P5 (sold)
Panasonic GM1 (sold)
Canon G7X
Sigma DP2 Merrill

That makes up 10 cameras during 6 years. Biggest disappointment was the RX100 which I just didn't feel at all. The photos were great though... I have a soft spot for the E-PL3 as it was the first small camera I had. Shooting with it was so care free after those large dslr's and the IQ was good enough for me. But in the end the GR is the camera I will miss the most. I had it for a year and shot about 30% of all of my photos during that time. I just had to let it go because after all the G7X felt more versatile.
 
I got the Kodak DC260 (1.5 mp) in 1998, and upgraded to the DC290 (2 mp but interpolated up) in 1999. In January 2002 I traded my Leica M6 for the Minolta DImage7 (5 mp, 200 mm eff. zoom). I bought a couple of first-edition Casio pocket cameras circa 2006-2007 (ZX1000 and 1200) which were excellent quality with ceramic lenses, but the second generation of these were much worse. Also in the period of 2004 to 2007 I bought a couple of new Nikon bridge cameras, then got the Panasonic FZ50. Later I got the Panasonic G1 (the first 4/3) with the 100-300 lens. I've had lots of pocket cameras - Canon SX230/280/700, Nikon 9100/9300/9500, Panasonic TZ3/5, ZS40/50, LX3/LX7, LX100, LF1 (and Leica C), Canon G3x, Leica D-Lux and D-Lux6, Monochrom/Noctilux, Q, T, X Vario, X1, Nikon Coolpix A, Panasonic GM1 (12-32 kit lens), and maybe some I forgot.

Of all these, probably the best ever pocket camera was/is the Panasonic ZS50 with a 720 mm eff. zoom, best ever bridge camera the Canon G3x (waaaaay best), most enjoyable to use (with great image quality) the Panasonic GM1 and Leica X Vario, and least enjoyable the Monochrom and Leica T. I'm currently using the Leica Q and Nikon Coolpix A, and while the Q is easy and fun to use and has awesome image quality, it has a fixed 28 mm lens. The Coolpix A OTOH has the same fixed focal length but a f2.8 instead of f1.7 lens, shoots bursts much slower, and certain options are either not there or hard to get to. But the Nikon is incredibly small and light compared to the Leica, and it has excellent image quality, and I'm as happy with it as I am with the Q.
 
I seem to be more of a packrat than most - I've actually kept most of my acquistions so far. In the past, this happened mostly because I bought cheap stuff that wasn't worth anything anymore the moment I went on, so instead of chucking it out, I just stored it. Because of that, I have some real digital dinosaurs that are still in pretty good working order, but only if you accept their age ... I'll not plague you with the film stuff, that'd make the whole thing seem even more disproportionate ... ;)

Since my first attempts to get started, with digital, I have acquired:
  1. Nikon Coolpix 600 (yes, the one with whooping 0.8MP from 1999 - stored, but could be revived!)
  2. Kyocera(!) Finecam S3 (stored - battery dead)
  3. Nikon Coolpix 2200 (given to a godson)
  4. Nikon Coolpix P50 (ready to use)
  5. Nikon D90 (in use again - I rediscovered it only after finding my way back into photography via the PEN)
  6. Canon PowerShot S95 (in use - still the most pocketable serious camera I have)
  7. Olympus PEN E-PM1 (my re-entry ticket into photography after a near-terminal hiatus of almost four years - broken, unfortunately)
  8. Ricoh GR (in use - best compact camera IMO, in spite of the LX100 which is also great)
  9. Olympus OM-D E-M10 (in use - my most used camera, together with the fantastic 12-40mm zoom)
  10. Olympus Stylus VG-170 (the first one in the "cheap camera" experiment, broken)
  11. Canon IXUS 132 (the second one in the "cheap camera" experiment, still in use, but rarely, it's in the compact camera bag to provide reach in a pinch - in fact, it's already a replacement after the first one collected dust on the sensor within two weeks)
  12. Nikon 1 V1 (in use - I only have one lens for it, the 18.5mm f/1.8)
  13. Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF1 (the first one, in use)
  14. Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100 (in use - best compact zoom I've ever used)
  15. Nikon D750 (in use - I couldn't resist the lure of FF in this very compelling package)
  16. Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF1 (the second one, in use)
  17. Olympus PEN E-PL7 (in use - the replacement for the E-PM1 after it broke; my travel camera, together with the 14-150mm II; the rest of the time, I use it with the 17mm f/1.8 as a walkabout and street camera)
The "cheap camera" experiment was an attempt to develop a format for a "casual photography" course - a way to lure people away from smartphone photography into camera photography via simple cameras. But it ended early when I couldn't convince myself to find the images I got with those cameras worthwhile. Cheap as they were, they are/were also very flimsy - the Olympus VG-170 took a single fall from the bed onto the carpet and broke, the first Canon IXUS 132 sucked up pocket lint in no time at all (don't ask me how ...). I still like the idea, but sub-$100 cameras aren't the way to go ...

The only cameras that are really redundant and only there for the fun of having them are the two GF1s (and maybe the Nikon V1 ... but I actually use that for street photography quite often). The first GF1 I won at an auction - it was cheap, in okay condition and gave me the bug after I tried it with the Panasonic 20mm I had formerly shot mostly on the E-PM1. The second one was sold used in pristine condition with a new Panasonic 14-42mm II (a lens I had been eyeing as a replacement for the Olympus IIR lens that got little love from my side - even though my beloved little 12-32mm had disintegrated ...) and the EVF for a reasonable price, so I bought it. I now shoot the Panasonic 20mm mostly on the second GF1 where it is extremely well behaved, and I also use the EVF. I've said above that the E-PM1 brought me back into photography - had I gone for the GF1, it would have been an even faster process ...

Behind all the rest, starting with mFT, there's a quite coherent story, if not a rationale: The E-PM1 gave me back the love for photography (I had been an avid photographer for about 15 years when I was younger, still using film), the GR showed me what was possible beyond mFT, the E-M10 reminded me of the joy of having an integrated viewfinder; after that had become clear, when using the D90 again which I had kept around in the hope that it would somehow open up digital photography for me, I remembered how really engaging (D)SLR photography can be - and all of that finally led to the acquistion of the D750. The LX100 was the rangefinder style camera I had always wanted (and that the E-PM1 wasn't - in spite of all its merits), and the E-PL7 is just compact enough to be a good second body for mFT while being an obvious decendant of the smaller PEN line I have learned to love so much.

The only thing that might be "missing" (i.e. that I'd like to try at some point in time) is a good superzoom camera ... and of course, something along the lines of the Leica Q (if they make one with a slightly longer lens, I won't be able to resist - everything up to 50mm will definitely lure me in).

Sorry for the lengthy list and post - you asked ...

M.
 
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After reading these posts, I feel my resolve weakening ... I'd forgotten about the IBIS feature of micro43, ... the LX100 is intriguing ... a Leica has always been on the dream list ... :crying: help me ...
 
I first used a Casio QV-10 at work in about 1996 or 7. My first personal digital camera was an Agfa 1280 in 1997. The image quality for its time was fantastic! I bought my son an Agfa CL30 (I think it was) and it was a giant turd. From there I have to cheat and look at my Flickr files. So here's the continuation of the list: Coolpix 880, Sony DSC-V1(though it may have been my son's), Sony DSC-P52, Canon Powershot A-10, Sony Cybershot U, Fuji Finepix S7000, Canon 30D, Fuji Finepix F550EXR (had terrible focus problems and was returned to B&H promptly), Canon G9, Canon G10, Canon G12, Canon 60D, Fuji X-100s, Fuji X-T1. And various film cameras that I keep around...

Edited to add: Somewhere in the mix I had an Oly Pen E-P1 so maybe in 2000?
Edited again: Also had a Leica VLux 20 that I passed on to my son who said the low light capability was crummy. And I grabbed a Leica Digilux 1 off ebay a few years ago but returned it to the seller because he didn't included cables etc that were for a completely different electronic.
 
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Amin wins!

So, let me see if I can remember the ones that got a way, some of them because I didn't care for them, some because I needed to free up some funds. Just the digital:

Olympus E-300
Olympus E-510
Olympus C5050Z
Olympus C8080Z
Olympus E-PM1
Olympus E-PM2 (two of them)
Olympus XZ-1
Olympus XZ-2
Leica D-Lux 4
Panasonic XS-5
Olympus D-550
Panasonic 1 MP something or other ages ago
Fuji X10 - 2 of them
Fuji X100
Sigma DP2 Merrill (and I want another one!)
Olympus E-P1
Olympus E-P2 (I loved my E-P2 and it was my main shooter until I got the E-M5)
Panasonic LX100 (which I got when I really shouldn't have)

That's most of it, digital cameras only, not lenses. I may have forgotten one or two, I tried so many looking for a perfect point and shoot. The X20 seems to fit the bill for me.
 
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Well, I guess I am just not trying hard enough. I have purchased, and still own:

Olympus D550 -- still works and hundreds of pictures (in concert with my stories, I can't say that I have ever been paid solely for photography) taken with this camera have been published for pay in magazines and on the web.

Canon G12 -- still works and my son uses it.

Panasonic FZ150 -- now my wife's camera.

Panasonic FZ200 -- my main carry camera. There's no such thing as too much reach!

Panasonic LX100 -- my see-on-the-dark, sunset/sunrise/nightsky camera.

In addition, I have purchased and returned:

A couple of entry-level Nikon DSLRs.

A couple of Canon entry-level DSLRs.

An Olympus OMD-M5

A Canon G1X.

Basically, all of these suffered from a lack of lens speed and/or reach.

Cheers, Jock
 
I sell stuff I'm not using to pay for new stuff. When I first buy something new, I feel excited. When I later sell it to buy something else new, I feel responsible. I am the master of auto-psychology.
 
Polaroid Swinger - 1st camera
Canon AE 1 - Same time frame, someone died, don't know whom, and their family gave me a Pentax K1000
Mamiya ZE 2 - wish I had kept it, loved that camera
Transitioned eventually to Canon Digital Rebel Series
Current: Oly EM 5, Fuji XE 2, Canon SL1 and 5D Mk II
Next: ??
 
My all-time list isn't that long...

- Kodak Ektralite 110: Bought it in about 3rd or 4th grade, 5th grade tops, from a yard sale in the neighborhood with my allowance money. I still have plenty of those prints in an album. Taught me to use my exposures carefully, because I only got so many.

- Minolta X-370: Was mom's camera when she put herself through Journalism School college when I was in junior high. They had to learn to take photos, because that was a mandatory part of reportage. It sat afterwards, until I started Graphic Arts class in high school. hello, dark room and unlimited b&w film! I lost it in college, then got another from ebay. That one Delta lost flying back from New Zealand (+ al my film) and the less said about it the better. Still angry.

- Nikon Coolpix 4300: a 4MP little "serious compact" of the early 2000's. And actually those files were pretty damned good. It lasted maybe 3 or 4 years. memory cost an arm and a leg. I went to Fiji for my honeymoon and was limited to less than 50 pictures, period. A 32Meg card was something like $60.

- Some awful $99 Nikon Coolpix: It was blue. I was broke and jonesing for a camera. It took awful pictures, and the lcd broke in weeks. The battery door fell off, and was held on by rubber bands. It was a dark time for me. Looking at those files now makes me ill, they look so rubbish. Far inferior to film.

- Nikon Coolpix L100: A compact 10MP superzoom! This was a new thing for me. It felt capable, powerful, and decent in low light. It certainly zoomed way in. It had a good grip, but it was a little big for me. I crammed it into a lens carrying pouch. My daughter (5, almost 6) now uses it. I like her using that one because it offers so much grip. The files are pretty bad, in retrospect. But it felt "serious."

- Canon Powershot SD1400: Better files than the Nikon, faster aperture (I think), TINY tiny tiny, went into a little pouch on the back of my belt. It served me well, really. Still have it, never use it. Its video was probably better than the Fuji X series due to the tiny sensor.

- Fuji X100: The wife surprised me with this for father's day 2010, I think? I opened the box, took it out, and tried to figure out how to remove the lens. When I discovered it was permanent, I said "This awesome, thank you, I love it, but.... I have some googling to do." That googling led me here. Confusion gave way to intrigue. Intrigue became a work ethic. That led to competence, and then the camera became more than a device - it became an accomplice. It rarely left my grip. It went to Peru and hiked 5 days to Macchu Pichu, where it shone. It allowed me to experiment and learn, to take control, to think critically about images. It helped me when I made stupid mistakes, and yet it let me break rules to great effect when I was determined to do so. It stills sees some use, sometimes. It will never be sold.

- 1979 Minolta XD-5: Just for kicks, and to learn. This and a few lenses have been a lot of fun.

- 1960-ish Mamiya A: A 6x6 twin lens reflex that my brother in law bought at a yard sale for peanuts, because it's cool looking. I've been "borrowing" it for something like a year and a half, maybe more. Holy Huge Negatives!

- Fuji X-T1: The current obsession. Always with me, always a pleasure to use, and it continually delights me with its results. Our results, I guess. I'd like a backup body of some sort, so I could toss the 18-55 or the 27 f2.8 onto something, and then have the 35 or the 56 on the other one.
 
The number is: 3.

My last analog camera was the Nikon F801. I took the first steps in the digital era with a Fuji Finepix 4700. A fun little camera. Kept it for years but eventually threw it away. After that: Nikon D200 (sold), Fuji x10 (gone), Fuji X20, Fuji X-Pro1 (sold), Fuji X-T1 (sold), Fuji X100T and Nikon D750. That's not bad, is it? I am not counting the cameras that my wife used.
Most money was lost in buying and selling Fuji lenses.

Right now I use the Fuji X100T with TCL and WCL as well as a Nikon D750 with 20mm, 58mm, 70-200mm, and 300mm lenses. 24mm will arrive in September.
 
Amin wins!

Oh yeah... he most certainly does. Lemme see if I can even pull up all of the digital cameras I have owned without overloading.

Casio Exilim EX-Z4 (4mp - gifted to brother in law)
Canon S3 IS (6mp - gifted to first niece)
Pentax K200D (gifted to first niece)
Canon SD1000 (gifted to son of friend)
Panasonic G1 (gifted to second niece)
Olympus E-PL1 (stolen)
Panasonic G3 (gifted to second niece)
Panasonic LX3 (gifted to first niece)
Pentax K-5 (still own)
Olympus E-PM1 (gifted to third niece)
Olympus E-PM2 (gifted to third niece)
Panasonic GX1 (sold)
Panasonic LX7 (sold)
Panasonic G5 (sold)
Panasonic GX7 (sold)
Canon SX230 HS (gifted to son of friend)
Pentax Q (sold)
Pentax MX-1 (sold)
Pentax K-30 (gifted to first niece)
Pentax K-01 (sold)
Pentax K-5 IIs (still own)
Olympus Stylus 1 (still own)
Fuji X10 (sold)
Fuji X-E1 (sold)
Fuji XF1 (still own)
Ricoh GR (still own)
Olympus E-M5 (still own)
Olympus TG-820 (sold)
Fuji X-A1 (still own)
Pentax Q-S1 (still own)
Olympus E-M10 (still own)
Panasonic LX100 (still own)
Panasonic ZS50/TZ70 (still own)
Fuji X100T (still own)
Fuji XT-10 (still own)
Olympus Air A-01 (still own)

For me, the fairly rapid trade-ups and gifting was happening early on because the state of the art for digital cameras was advancing rapidly in the first decade of the 21st century. Later, once my relatives were set for photography, the search was on for cameras that met all of my functional, feature and ergonomic requirements even though image quality was now beyond what I needed. Some cameras came maddenly close.

So that's 36 digital cameras that I've owned (not necessarily in perfect order) and 13 still in my possession. A couple are likely to be sold off or gifted (not even considering my Pentax DSLR kit which I still use but am probably really hanging onto for sentimental reasons). But I actually think I'm good in terms of purchases for quite a while. I seem to have finally found some cameras that are everything I want and need. And I also seem to be growing out of my acquisition phase of life.

The best part is that most of the cameras listed above were purchased at steep discount on closeout or refurbished. So they were sold at pretty much the price I paid for them. No way I could have managed that list at MSRP. It pays to be patient. :)
 
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Digital Only?

If anyone bought a DCS100 when new, they have me beat for store-bought Digital cameras. Before the DCS200ir: Two-Color Digital Infrared Sensor, 1981 and second generation Two-color Infrared Sensor: 1984. I did the digital data acquisition system and the image processing software for them.

Ones that were "not cheap"
Kodak DCS200ir (1993, $12,400 for the body, spent $17K with lenses and accessories)
Kodak DCS200c
Kodak DC50
Kodak DC120
Kodak DCS420c
Nikon E3 (An early DSLR, "full-frame" using reduction optics)
Nikon D1
Nikon D1x
Leica M8
Olympus EP2
Olympus EP2 full-spectrum modified
Leica M9
Olympus EPL1
Leica M Monochrom
Olympus EPM1
Nikon Df

Little P&S cameras
Kodak C810(? 8MPixel P&S)
Ricoh CX-1
Nikon Coolpix L10
 
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