How much
No matter how I try, I cannot justify the expense of a $9,000 camera. The more $$$ the better image? At that point I would estimate that the photographer is the limiting factor. I’m just not good enough for the equipment. I’m lazy. My composition is poor. And, my hands would shake. I drive around with a camera sitting on the dashboard and take shots thru the windshield while the car is moving at speed. Yeah, this is all lost on me. All that detail in the lovely lens, is lost on me with the shaking moving car. I’m not the next – (name someone famous). Far from it, are my images worthy? They are fun. Night or day, small or large, macro or landscape, I have no specialty or particular need. Don’t speak of autofocus points or noise. The bottom line – image. I guess my kids have it right – iPhone. It gets you where you want to go, Dad? Meanwhile, I am very happy within my price range $. It’s a game – bang for your buck. At a certain point $9,000 is well spent on something else than a single camera. There are those for whom status is the key. Mercedes and Porsche bank on it. My need is to get from point A to B safely and reliably. And within reason, I like to drive more than a VW ‘bug.’ Like my kids’ iPhone, in a pinch, a screw driver can be a hammer.
I like eating out in restaurants. I have eaten in McD and I have eaten in white cloth restaurants. Would you spend $1,000 for a single meal? $5? We all have our personal price point. Yours?
photobackstory 
Yep, I totally agree with you on this one.
I liked playing with the high-end gear when I was gainfully employed and could afford to do so. But now that I’m retired… cheaper isn’t just better, it’s required! However, with the cratering of the full-sized camera market, I expect that the cost of new bodies and lenses will continue to rise, simply due to sales collapsing. Camera manufacturers will have to makeup the cost of development and production with fewer and fewer customers, which means the unit cost will increase.
Another factor for me is that digital photography has really leveled the playing field for people that are interested in taking beautiful photographs… it’s very hard to take a bad photograph now, no matter whether it’s will a full-sized camera or a smartphone. With the instant results of digital, one can see if they have a good composition, good focus, good exposure, etc. With film, none of that was known until the negatives or slides were processed – which was never an instant result like digital, and could be days, weeks, months, or even years later.
I suspect that all of my future camera body purchases will be used gear, like my current Sony a7 III – which I bought lightly used via eBay for about half the price of new. Additionally, I’ll be trying to stretch my current camera body to last as long as I can, however long that may end up being.
July 30, 2021 at 10:21 am
The Nikon Z5 was the latest splurge purchase. Full frame mirrorless was the draw. I pretty much shoot twice on every image that matters. A selfie with Colleen can be several. Digital memory is cheap. I still have misses. With so many images, one or two misses is not a big deal. It’s not a critical sports moment. Instant feedback by instant review almost insures success. And, still there are days when nothing was quite right. After all you can’t review every single image. I have not used or pursued much used gear. It sounds as though you have been lucky acquiring bargains. I have dipped into eBay on occasion but not for cameras. Most recently I scanned thousands of old slides and had to acquire a Nikon scanner. The old one I had gave out. That purchase worked out brilliantly. It was more the exception than any habit. For the most part I choose to stick with the Nikon line. I am invested in their lenses. Nikon’s FTZ adapter allows me to use the old lenses I have. That is a plus for me.
July 30, 2021 at 10:07 pm