Last weekend I started selling off photo gear to make way for a new Sony A7. For some reason selling cameras is difficult for me. They are orphan tools sitting in a bag as backup equipment but still hard to part with. It’s stupid to invest emotional capitol in tools. Just the same I’ve been a tool user and maker all my life. I can visualize how things work. Not just mechanical things but pretty much anything. In software development that translated into a practical ability to build products. Code was my tool of choice then just as cameras are my tools of choice today.
The act of selling online is an immense pain. I use EBay to get rid of most of my stuff. It would be better to sell face-to-face but there aren’t many camera obsessed people in my neighborhood. Those that are generally have the good sense to use camera phones. You have to have a bit of arrogance to own a big black camera these days. Camera phones are just about as good and way more convenient. At least I don’t use 8×10 view cameras. Using those things really is obsessive, I tell myself.
The process taking photos of equipment and posting items online for sale continues. They could be mug shots, left profile, right profile, full face, on to the next item. With any luck a new camera will materialize on my coffee table soon. I can tell you right now that when the time comes it will be hard to part with that one too.
