We’ve most likely said it here in the past – you have to make up your mind regarding what you will be. Will you be a camera collector or will you be a shooter? Actually, you really can be both and if you are, then you’re the envy of a lot of people. Why make this distinction? If you’re a camera collector, then it stands to reason that you look around for bargains so that you can add to your growing number of cameras. Nothing really wrong with that. Some people collect stamps, others paper clips (if you’re anything like Sesame Street’s Bert), still others action figures while there are those who collect, err, lady friends or boy toys, depending on the preference.

If you’re a collector though is that you can really go through life without really shooting much. You can buy, buy and buy and then, when the shelf is about to give way to gravity and you can’t afford another shelf because of a lack of space, money or the spouse’s patience, that may be the time to start letting go regardless of how tearful that may be. There’s this story of a person with shelf upon shelf of Nikon stuff, all pristine and never been used. There were cameras, lenses, flash units, accessories that would make so many people cry but alas, they were all behind glass. The guy would buy stuff, get home, open the glass door and put in the newest addition. Does the guy shoot? Not much, really. He’s a collector of camera stuff and having them is his thing.

What about shooters? Does that mean that they don’t have burgeoning collections? Not at all. Chances are, a person like that may even have a few bodies of different makes and models but the difference here is, the collection gets at least some use. Let’s face it, if a person has a lot of camera stuff, there’s a big chance that some of them will not get used much. Every person does have a favorite thing to use and though people will see the merits of one or another item, a person’s hand normally reaches for something regularly and leave others behind.

If your closet is getting a wee bit too full, do consider letting something go. We talked about taking a look at your stuff and determining whether some of them don’t get used at all. If some of them don’t, there is surely somebody out there who can make good use of them.

It can really be amusing sometimes how a person can have something like two kit lenses – the same focal length, same model even. Those who own something like, say, the Canon 500D and the 1000D can actually opt to get just the body but some end up getting both cameras with their kit lenses. Nice to have a backup, of course, but is it something you really need? It might have been better to forego one kit lens and the money going into a fund for a much better lens, a 17-40 f/4L, for example. Pretty much the same focal length range as the usual (and much maligned) kit lens, the 18-55 Ef-S but with much better construction, weather sealing and auto focus speed though it is heavier.

Perhaps after shooting for quite some time, it is now time to reassess just what you really do shoot. When people start out, they are normally advised to determine what they would want to shoot so that their purchases can serve that want. Eventually, however, things do change and some people find out that what they had originally planned to be their bread and butter subject matter is about as exciting as watching a rug twitch. When that happens, some realizations take place: Oh, this camera body isn’t suited for what I like to shoot. People start saying: “It’s AF is too slow (maybe in shooting sports)"; “It’s too heavy (maybe a body without a battery grip or an entry-level body may suffice instead)"; “It’s not robust enough (that’s a concern if you like shooting near the mouth of an active volcano or in a war zone)." Whatever the gripe is, it may be time to shift gears and buy some new gear. Maybe.

Let’s take things slowly. If a person has a Nikon D40, almost all the bases are covered. That’s a very formidable camera after all and it’s tiny enough to be carried almost anywhere without breaking one’s back. On the secondhand market, it can also be dirt cheap. So maybe that’s enough. But you say you like shooting sports. So did a lot of people when the frame advance rate was a mere one frame per second or maybe two. There were techniques people did like pre-focusing so that there wasn’t too much reliance on AF speed. (Have any of you ever tried the auto focus on the first few AF SLRs? Those things are really, really slow and could really frustrate you and force you to focus by hand.)
Put it this way: If you sell some stuff, you may have enough money to get something else. It’s a really good deal to let go of some consumer grade lenses to finally experience the sharpness of a professional lens – assuming you’re willing to lift the heft. Think about it, another person can get the start in photography because you were willing to let go of something. Maybe the 28-105 in your closet or camera bag isn’t getting much use anymore because you want to concentrate on some prime lenses. On the other hand, the big ass L, ED or Carl Zeiss lenses you once craved have done very little for you aside from the porma factor and have given you the beginnings of chronic tendonitis (which I have). As Sean Connery’s Henry Jones said to Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones: “Let it go, Indy.”

Photoworld is now ever closer. Are you ready?