Thoughts 05 Sep 2008 08:04 am
Hobbies and Reactions
I take pictures. I’m not an amateur photographer with delusions that I’ll become famous or who wants to put them on display for the public to ooh and ahhh over, nor I think that anyone besides me will ever care what I shoot, therefore what I consider what I do to be taking pictures.
Yet I spend time and money on this hobby. I’m always lusting after a new lens or driving around looking for the shot that everyone else missed.
The difficulty starts when I mention my latest acquisition to my lady. She doesn’t understand why I spend all that money on something she has no interest in.
However - and you guys know where this leads - when she spends money on something that makes her happy the absolutely worst comment I can get away with is something like “I didn’t know something like that would cost that much, but I’m glad you were able to find one.” –Which sounds ever so much better than “why the hell did you spend that kind of money on that crap?” Which is what I’m really thinking.
What brings this up is my recent purchase of a Nikkor 50mm AIS f/1.4 for $200 at Casey’s Cameras here in Las Vegas. I then went online and spent more money ordering a lens cap, a hood and some filters from B&H in NY. —Believe it or not, I didn’t have a fast 50mm and if you’re trying to get a shot in a dimly lit room without using a flash you need a fast lens.
She showed up just as I was trying out my latest toy, saw it and made a snide remark about how I was always wasting my money. Of course me being me I had to say she should be glad that I didn’t buy a 135mm f/2 that they had for about $800… That was an oops.
She didn’t yell, instead she spent the rest of the day doing the deep sigh bit combined with “that look” and saying things like, “if you’d save your money instead of spending it on things you don’t need you could buy a nicer car.” And the ever popular: “I’m not criticizing, but……”
If you ever find yourself dealing with someone like this, take my advice - Buy the lens. It’ll be around and making you happy long after she decided she can’t fix you and has moved on.
For what it’s worth a 50mm on a DX camera is equivalent to a 75mm on a full frame, which is close enough to the 85mm I used to carry for me to be comfortable.