Thanks for the responses. Feel slightly better now. I just came back from a wedding banquet shoot and saw all those ladies with branded bags, yeah i definitely saw a Hermes Burkin, if i am not wrong it's about S$13k locally. So yeah..... heh. :) Chanel would be ~ 5k at least.....
Flashpilot, i spent more in Hifi and DIY audio but that's the problem, it's a "higher-end" hobby and you can see the stuff. When people see a flashlight collection, it's not as substantial. I think I have blown 5k on photography before started to earn money from it. Seems like more "worth it".
I guess the issue is "budget lights", they just seem so affordable and low in cost, so you just buy and buy. I have the Ultrafire C3, iTP A1, Tank 737, Romisen as the cheapest stuff, Solarforces + $9-15 drop-ins, Yezls and yes they are quite low in cost and affordable. But when you add them all up, it becomes WOAH. Don't believe me? Just add up all your cheapest lights, best case scenario is that you only spent $150 if you have a small collection, worst case is at least $800.
I have sold 2 lights, but it's not easy because the local flashaholic fraternity is very small. As you'd know, budget lights don't fetch a good resale price as well. If i sell internationally, the local postage price is not very high but it's not low as well. I believe below 800g it starts from usd15 or so.
Johnnymac, yeah i purchased a lot. But i guess for the majority of us here we can "afford it" as we spend within our means. Just that, even as a flashaholic it's still somewhat "absurd". That XM-L and XP-G can still be used in 2-3 year's time but it will be somewhat old-tech already. It is like photography, or computers. They will be shelf queens then, because you will need to buy new. HiFi and Astronomy is very resilient in this sense.
Flashpilot, well the good thing about astronomy in my case is that i have 2 sky gardens, one at the roof and the other in the middle, the top one is very dark now (they cut most of the decorative lights due to high maintainence costs) and it's not so bad for the zenith plus with O-III and UHC narrowband filters, they do make nebulaes pretty visible by cutting the HPS and mecury vapor lights. So it's not too bad. I think key is to having as much a chance to observe as possible, so for my site it's pretty good. When i am up there at the roof garden 50th storey, most of the lights are below me, it's not perfect but it's already better than nothing.
Well i am feeling a bit better now, I guess it's sticker shock at first..... i just tell myself "LIFE IS SHORT, just enjoy it". Don't forget to give to charity this Xmas season and do more good for the new 2012! Happy New Year!
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sticker shock |
4941 up, 1179 down |
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May 21, 2010 Urban Word of the Day
A condition resulting from seeing the total price of a bunch of items and realizing the damage is much greater than you originally expected. May cause a person to have second thoughts about the purchase.
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