I should add that I NEVER buy anything unless I have the cash for it. My credit card is paid off every month. I do not have, nor have I ever had any debt. Unfortunately, there are those that are very irresponsible with financial mattters, and they end up spoiling it for the rest of us who do the right thing by using credit wisely, and living within our means.
So yes, I am still buying anything that I need from a photographic perspective. However, I have all the cash for it in my account. I hate to have anything hanging over my head. I don't like to owe people money --- so I don't.
The only reason I voted "cutting back" is because I'm saving up for the ZE mounted CZ lenses and bought CS3/LR2 in the last four months. Should've voted "what economic problems" now that EOSFun has wagged his fingers at us.
Perhaps I had been the problem until now because I refused to stimulate the economy through carefree spending. I carry no car payments, no credit card debits, no student loans (paid off years ago), bought my own health insurance, no AT&T U-verse plan, am trying to pay down a 30-year fixed in 18 years, and have twin two-year old toddlers in pre-school.
I will go for semi-pro and while my spending patterns haven't changed yet I am certainly more aware of my outgoings. I pay my credit cards off at the end of every month and the only loan I have is my mortgage. I am very happy with the gear I currently own and about the only thing I am interested in is whatever replaces the 1D Mark 3 next year.
I am a part time pro and shoot about 15-18 weddings a year ranging from $1250. to $2250. and there hasn't been any change in the flow of work coming in.. I am steadly booking for next year with slight increases in pricing in place...
I have recently purchased about $2500. in new gear with and had planned to buy more but with the lack luster offerings in the Glass department from Nikon I am on hold....
carlsbadbum wrote:
Bush signed $700B bailout program, now I can go get a loan to buy more Ls and a FF DSLR.
I'm going to get me a 5 year ARM to buy the empty large house on the hilltop to use as a photography studio. Nancy Pelosi is promising a mortgage and bankruptcy relief package to be paid for by Dubai.
I must admit my purches are on hold, I was considering either a Canon 100-400 or a Sigma 150-500 at Christmas, but with the Aussie dollar having dropped about 20% in the last few months it has been put on hold for the time being
Here! Here! I concur with the life of the debtfree. I pay cash for my gear as a business expense for end-of-year taxbreaks. Got the 70-200/2.8 VR and will cool my heels until 2009.
My D300/MB-D10 kit is fairly complete with the Sigma 10-20, 16-85 VR Nikkor, 70-200 VR, two SB-800s and an SU-800. Have some nice AI's and other gear but don't really need anything else... now that's rare!
eosfun wrote:
Those who voted NO or 'what economic problems" are part of the problem themselves I guess? You must be one of those who take advantage of this economic crisis if you don't take the economic event of the moment for serious. What's happening to the capitalism and banking system at the moment is not EOSfunny at all
Actually, economists and governments would probably like to see increased consumer spending (often considered necessary to avoid a slide into depression.)
If you are assuming the people who are still spending are doing so on credit, well then yes those people certainly represent the large part of the current problem. However, a lot of the people here seem to operate on the "I don't buy it if I don't have the money for it right now" policy.
I am the same way. I use credit cards for almost everything because I found a couple with excellent rewards programs, but I have never carried a balance and never will unless there is some major emergency that can't be covered by the cash I keep on hand. If people like me/us (on a large scale) break from our normal spending habits that would actually contribute to the economic downturn.
I am not telling anyone to go out and SPEND, but it's not fair to bash the people who had responsible spending habits to begin with and aren't changing them as a kneejerk reaction to the current economy.
I would love a 5D2, and could come up with the money if I wanted to, but I'm increasingly worried about 2009, and the need to keep some emergency money if the economy really takes a dive. I'm going to find it hard to look my wife in the eye and tell her I am proposing to blow £2300 on a 5D2. That's around $4000 I think.
I just don't have the confidence to go out and spend, spend, spend. In the UK we always pay far more than you guys in the US for our kit, but in this downturn with thousands already laid off over here, many Canon prices seem exorbitantly high.
My personal index of the economic crisis is the prices on the Buy and Sell board. So long as people can ask (and get) 90% of retail for used high end lenses I'm thinking the economy can't really be that bad.
Well I have no credit card debt and monthly income from 2 rentals houses that is more than my mortgage, but I'm still going to hold off 60 days on my next purchase to see what happens. I will be buying a 5D2 as soon as I feel comfortable with it, but as of today, I think things are looking a little scary.
"hey, but your health insurance is free in the UK, right ?"
yes, to an extent. Our (free) health service is often very good indeed, and often absolutely bloody dreadful, I won't bore you with the details! Health care in the Uk is like Russian roulette, most times you are fine, but a significant minority of patients get a bad deal. Also our government is spending so much on this financial crisis stuff (and will have to borrow zillions) that there's a good chance that health spending will be cut.
This morning I read that the stock markets have crashed again, in spite of all the government help. That 5D2 looks further away than it did yesterday.
I have a credit card that has 0% interest until March/April next year, so I've put a grand on it now so I'll have paid it off by the time it switches to charging interest. So in that case it's forced me to buy earlier!
Now it's only one week later, still not clear what economic problems? I maybe too funny or too silly for you, but I am sure that the reality of the troubles are more than clear enough now? I stay with my opinion that all this is not EOSfunny at all and even Canon and lot of other manufacturers are going to feel the pain of a dramatic recession in our economic systems. It's clear to me now that new cameras will come at a slower pace than we have been used to the last 5 years and we, photographers of EOSfun, will gonna feel the pain of less purchasing power for quite a while.
IN the interests of keeping a roof over my head, and my bed warm, all purchases are on long-term hold.
We have gone from being a manufacturing nation to a paper pushing nation. The only way we make money is selling stuff to each other. Now, to keep growth going, you have to lower your standards about who you sell on credit to. More and more credit cards going to high-risk people. More and more mortgages going to people who simply should not be getting a mortgage because they make minimum wage. Now the final bubble has burst, and the piper wants his due.
It's amazing that nobody could increase the minimum wage for 10 years because the republicans kept claiming it would hurt the economy. Now, pushing plastic and mortgages on those minimum wage earners to keep a bubble going is what got us into this huge mess.
vachss wrote:
My personal index of the economic crisis is the prices on the Buy and Sell board.
You're 100% right.
So long as people can ask (and get) 90% of retail for used high end lenses I'm thinking the economy can't really be that bad.
But not on your 2nd point.
I own more gear than almost any other photographer I know, especially for my age (low-mid 20's). This is only due to a couple shrewd purchases where I bought out entire studios, kept the pieces I needed, and sold the rest on the B&S. About 8 months ago, just before the Bear Stearns collapse, I did my last major sale. I managed to sell everything listed in a matter of hours, literally. Even esoteric, specialized studio equipment was snatched up overnight.
This week, it took nearly 6 days to sell an absolutely mint 16-35L Mark II, and I have several L-brackets that have been sitting for nearly 2 weeks. I don't need the money desperately and so I'm not really interested in dropping the price (they're already 35% off retail for piece of unbreakable steel) but the activity on the B&S has seriously slowed down.
A lot of people are nervous and keeping their wallets safely tucked away.
?
I maybe too funny or too silly for you, but I am sure that the reality of the troubles are more than clear enough now? I stay with my opinion that all this is not EOSfunny at all and even Canon and lot of other manufacturers are going to feel the pain of a dramatic recession in our economic systems. It's clear to me now that new cameras will come at a slower pace than we have been used to the last 5 years and we, photographers of EOSfun, will gonna feel the pain of less purchasing power for quite a while.