They say that having a child changes your life. Having Calvin really changed the way I do photography. Two years ago, I had professional lenses and photographic equipments. I carried 10-15 pounds of equipments on my body everywhere I went. Today, my family is upgraded, and likewise I finally upgraded to the world's best camera. You may be wondering what it is. The world's best camera is the one that you have on your hand. That's it. Here they are, my beloved Canon S90 and iPhone4:
"WHATTTT???" you may be wondering. Well, when you have a 20+ pound kid you need to carry who constantly needs attention, food, diaper change, you basically have no need for a camera. In addition, you're already carrying an extra 5-10 pounds of support system that includes water, bottle, formula, towels, baby seat, baby seat stroller, umbrella stroller, toys toys toys, diapers diapers diapers. When you have so much stuff to carry and you're going from one taxi to another taxi, taking escalators, going from one street to another street, you simply don't have more room [and energy] to carry unnecessary things like bulky professional grade SLR equipments + professional grade (read: 5 pound) lenses + flash + umbrella + bouncer.
With a kid there is very little time for unnecessary hobbies like photo editing, photography, and blogging. These couple of weeks I finally allocated time to sell stuff I don't need anymore: Canon XSI, Canon 18-55mm, Canon 55-250mm, Canon MP-E 65mm, Canon 10-24mm, Nikkor 14-24mm, Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D, Lensbaby Composer, Leica M3 SS and 50mm Summicron, Leica M6 and Voigtlander 45mm. Typically, you lose a lot of money when you sell used equipments. In the case of photography, if you're smart about purchasing (buy from desperate CL sellers, or auto-buy on eBay on Wednesday at 3AM) and selling (sell on Sat/Sun night), then you can actually make money!
- Canon XSI + 18-55 and 55-250mm. Bought new (B&H) for $750. Sold for $450. -$300.
- Canon 10-24mm. Bought used (eBay) for $550. Gave it away as a gift.
- Lensbaby Composer. Bought used (eBay) for $230. Sold for $140. -$90.
- Canon MP-E 65mm. Bought almost new (Craigslist) for $600. Sold for $850. +$250.
- Nikkor 14-24mm. Bought almost new (eBay) for $1500. Sold for $1600. +$100.
- Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D. Bought used (eBay) for $850. Sold for $900. +$50.
- Leica M3 + Summicron. Bought used (eBay) for $850. Sold for $1300. +$450.
- Leica M6 + Voigtlangder 45mm. Bought used (Craigslist) for $1100. Sold for $1600. +$500.
They say that professional glass (lenses) hold values and that the value of bodies drop like a rock. Well, my data-points illustrates this. For example the Canon XSI is a plasticy consumer grade equipment, and like all computers, it doesn't hold up values very well. One of the reasons is that the body is basically a computer where a new model comes out every few years. Now, in the case of my Canon 10-24mm, I could have resold it on eBay for $600, but I decided that it's a pretty good gift (and the recipient can still convert it to cash for $600 on eBay). Another big loss is the Lensbaby Composer. It is just a plastic toy lens that is over-hyped via marketing where new models come out every once in a while. All the other lenses (Nikkor and MP-E 65mm) I mentioned are professional grade thus they've held up their values very well. In the case of the Leicas, well, I actually bought them beat up, fixed them up, and resold them back on the market at a much much higher price. If done right, this is a hobby that you can actually make a little bit of money!
So, that's it. Having a child changes everything. The best camera is the one that you have on your hand. Happy shooting!
