All images - Nikon D800E 28-300mm VR lens
Its that time of year. Tax returns for the self-employed due by the 31st. of this month. Out come the calculators, and the pile of invoices thrown in a corner demand sorting. My accountant basically cancels her life until February 1st. since I in common with all her other clients have repeatedly ignored the "Lets get it done earlier this year and avoid the rush" emails and are about to bombard her with half completed forms and pleas of "Can you sort this out?"
I finally got round to firing up my calculator a few days ago for my tax year ending April 5th, 2012 and was greeted by the worrying fact that my turnover (amount coming in) was down 25%. I really should check this more often! Still a healthy figure, and good to see the picture library sales still holding up, but some of my other ways of generating income seem less recession proof than I thought.
A panic call to and a meeting with my beleaguered financial guru concluded with those scary words. "Things have to change!" And basically what has to change is having large numbers of cameras and lenses sitting on my shelf, slowly gathering dust and loosing money. So the days of keeping a camera because I like the look of it and popping out to use it every now and then are, unfortunately, over.
In order to get me into the best possible position for this financial year, which I fear might be worse than the last, virtually everything has to go. Not out of some kind of guilt about owning too many cameras, because if I don't I will loose some serious money. So, on April 5th. of this year it has been decided that I will be down to two cameras. (yes TWO!!!!)
Choosing which two to keep took all of a second. The best of course. Sigma DP2 Merrill and Nikon D800E. Best image quality I've ever seen, and in my opinion the best picture taking device ever built. Whats to think about? Those who have made some attempt to keep tabs on what I've actually got at the moment will realise that this means 6 m4/3 cameras and 2 NEX cameras are heading for ebay. So basically all my CSC / Mirrorless / E.V.I.L cameras. I am of course hoping that either Apple ring me up with a ludicrous offer for one of my pictures as a screen saver or those lottery numbers will finally prove their worth. However if they don't, thats it, all the pocket rockets have to go.
Its complicated, but it means that if I sell the cameras in the year I bought them I can get a lower tax bill, if I don't it rises dramatically. So needs must unfortunately. I am however planning to do this slowly and something along the lines of first in first out. I will also attempt to finish off all the reviews and comparison tests I have planned.
I'm hoping that after the cull there will be some room to try out new cameras that seem interesting, but if this does happen it will have to be one at time and with a fairly prompt selling on. One of the problems I'm currently encountering is that in the past I could hang on to a camera for a few months and still sell it for a decent price. However manufacturers are now discounting prices so much and so fast, that the price I would normally expect to get for my S/H camera now buys you a new one, so I have to drop my price even lower to sell it. Consequently buying cameras because I like the look of them and can write about them in my "reviews" has to stop. And yes, I do make some money from the blog, but not enough to be able to keep doing what I've been doing.
To be honest I've had a good run, and I'm a long way from posting an address to which you can all send food parcels, but there comes a time when its prudent to say enough is enough. In fact I doubt whether anyone will notice the difference for a while, but this has to be done. To a certain extent I could in previous years justify what I've been doing financially, but now its become apparent that I can't any more.
So if any kind manufacturers out there would like to send me cameras to review, then I'd be happy to oblige. I will be nice and talk about the good points, I promise. Really. No, I will. You know thinking about it that Canon EOS-M looks really good in red.
So there it is. Get ready for more tales of photographic endeavour and less about the miniscule differences between pretty similar cameras. Its goodbye to silver and chrome and hello to functional black. Bit sad really, but it is the pictures that count really, isn't it?
N.B. to see more on the cameras and lenses featured in this post click on the relevant labels (tags and keywords) below.
All original material on this blog is © Soundimageplus
To allow me to keep buying equipment for review, there are two things you can do to help.
1. Click on the Google ads that are within the post. You just have to click on them, you don't have to buy anything, and I get a small royalty.
2. There is a paypal donate button below. You can enter any amount you like and that will help me to cover the losses from buying and selling equipment.
Please note - no equipment is sent to me by manufacturers or retail outlets. All equipment is bought by myself and sold after a period of time on ebay, at a loss. If you enjoy what I write about the gear I use and find it useful, then you might consider either of the above options. Any help that you do feel able to offer is greatly appreciated. I should mention at this point that I don't drink, smoke, gamble, have a weakness for fast cars or fast women or use recreational drugs. I am also happily married. My only vice is my inability to resist the latest cameras and lenses, try them out and write about them. If you feel this is a vice worth supporting then I thank you for your support in advance.
David
Join the Soundimageplus Blog Readers Group at Google+
All original material on this blog is © Soundimageplus
To allow me to keep buying equipment for review, there are two things you can do to help.
1. Click on the Google ads that are within the post. You just have to click on them, you don't have to buy anything, and I get a small royalty.
2. There is a paypal donate button below. You can enter any amount you like and that will help me to cover the losses from buying and selling equipment.
Please note - no equipment is sent to me by manufacturers or retail outlets. All equipment is bought by myself and sold after a period of time on ebay, at a loss. If you enjoy what I write about the gear I use and find it useful, then you might consider either of the above options. Any help that you do feel able to offer is greatly appreciated. I should mention at this point that I don't drink, smoke, gamble, have a weakness for fast cars or fast women or use recreational drugs. I am also happily married. My only vice is my inability to resist the latest cameras and lenses, try them out and write about them. If you feel this is a vice worth supporting then I thank you for your support in advance.
David
Join the Soundimageplus Blog Readers Group at Google+
For comment and discussion - join me over at Google+