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Writer's pictureStephen Lang

Why We Photographers Are Compelled to Buy the Next Camera (Even Though We Don’t Use Half the Features on the One We Have)

Marketing people might just be a little bit evil


There comes a time in every photographer’s life when they look at their current camera—the one they lovingly called “the best camera I’ve ever owned” and poured their life savings into—and think, “You’re rubbish now, I need an upgrade.” It doesn’t matter that we’ve barely used the manual mode, let alone any of the hundreds of features packed into this so-called “perfect machine.” That new camera? It’s calling us. Whispering. Seducing. And we fall for it. Every. Single. Time.


Let’s face it, we photographers are a little… odd. We’ll gladly drop £3,000 on the latest camera body that can shoot in conditions that would make Bear Grylls shiver, but then we still default to auto-focus because, honestly, who’s got time to fiddle with settings? And we tell ourselves, this time, I’ll use every single feature. I’ll read the manual. Maybe even learn what ISO is! (Spoiler alert: We won’t. The manual stays sealed like a cursed scroll, buried forever at the bottom of the box.)


The Illusion of Mastery (or How We Lie to Ourselves)


Oh, the delusion. When we first get our shiny new camera, we feel like we’ve unlocked a new level of photography genius. We spend the first week watching YouTube videos on how to use the insane 16-way customisable autofocus point tracking that can detect a cat behind a brick wall. We convince ourselves that we’ll shoot a gallery exhibition next month and win Photographer of the Year. But after the honeymoon phase ends, we’re back to shooting family holidays and overexposed sunsets on the beach—on “Program Mode.”


Me in the camera shop:

“Oh, the new model has a quadruple-pixel-stabilised flux capacitor with a rotating gimbal shutter that can capture the soul of a hummingbird at night?! I definitely need that for my macro shots of my lunch.”


Also me, six months later:

”What’s the button with the little lightning bolt do again?”


The “Next Camera Syndrome”


But here’s the kicker: The second you’ve got your hands on that shiny new gear, you’re already eyeing the next one. The rumours start to swirl—“Did you hear? The Mark VI can shoot through walls and make you tea in the morning!” Suddenly, your current model feels old. Outdated. Your self-esteem plummets. You don’t even feel like a real photographer anymore because how could you with this stone-age piece of junk?


Of course, no one else knows what camera you’re using. Half the people still think you’re rocking a Kodak disposable with the way they react when you explain how many megapixels your current camera has. “But can it print good pictures? Like on paper?” they ask, confirming their total lack of understanding.


The Marketing Trap: “Your Current Camera is Rubbish”


Camera companies are marketing geniuses, though. They know our weakness. They’ve spent decades perfecting the art of making us feel like we’re just one more camera away from greatness. They’ll hit you with those ads showing a bloke on a mountain, shooting a perfect photo of a falcon mid-dive, with a tagline like, “Capture the impossible… with the XZ-FuturePro Ultra-10.” Meanwhile, I’m over here taking 14 blurry shots of my cat licking its paw, wondering if maybe I should trade in for that falcon-capable model.


Real Talk: Will This Cycle Ever End?


No, it will not. We are photographers. We live for the thrill of buying new gear and then immediately ignoring 90% of it. It’s in our DNA. We might as well embrace it. The next time you’re scrolling through your camera settings and spot something you haven’t used—like that fancy bracketing mode—you might feel a tiny twinge of guilt. But that’s okay. That’s what the next camera is for.


In conclusion, dear fellow camera addicts, the sooner we accept that no matter how many cameras we buy, we’ll always want the next one, the happier we’ll be. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some research to do on that new model. It’s got 14 stops of dynamic range and can shoot 12K video underwater while syncing your photos to the cloud. Finally, the one I need.


(Side note: Has anyone actually figured out what the ‘depth of field preview’ button does? Asking for a friend.)


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