Have you ever bought any photography item and completely regretted it or just never used it, regardless of brand

spudhead

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As title post up anything any brand with any comments, add images if you wish all welcome

one for me was the first Sony a7, wow so disappointing, nice images but boy the focus was slow, and that was just one issue, I could not wait to get my hands on that camera and it was affordable at the time, I kept it and only ever put 700 clicks on before parting with it when the a7iii came out.
cars.jpg
  • ILCE-7
  • FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS
  • 70.0 mm
  • ƒ/4
  • 1/1250 sec
  • ISO 100
 
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Yep. The Canon EOS 10D which I promptly sold about 6 months later. Nothing wrong with the camera but I was hiking a lot at the time and it was just too big and heavy so I left it at home more often than not. Went back to using my trusty Canon G9. In hindsight I just didn't give the purchase enough thought.
 
Nikon z6ii the focus for birds was bad not locking on to the bird even against the sky and it it dropped to where trees were behind it focus went mad.
 
Not cameras, they have all been well researched and tested before hand, too expensive to make that error! but I bought a Hide Clamp, used it twice and it drove me nuts, so it got sold, and a gimbal head, which I hated, far too restrictive. How anyone shoots birds in flight on one is beyond me.
I had a cheap teleconverter for my old Sigma lenses on Pentax, that was rubbish (Kenko I think), so that went and I got the proper one, and I also bought macro tubes once, and that was a waste, far too shallow a DOF to be useful. That's about it though, lenses have always been decent.
 
If being honest there are have beeen a number of mistakes in either my anticipated use or just not liking the camera or whatever, fortunately not usually something that was too costly. although one was a big loss, my worst mistake was thinking I wanted to shoot more video and then needed to buy a camera better suited for this and bought a SonyA7SIII. I took it out of the box so that it worked. Since i was pretty busy at the time I put it back in the box until I had a chance to use it, well months later too late to return, I realized that I was never going to use it and sold it for a large loss. Hopefully that will be the last of those ideas.
 
Sony SLT-65 and the Sony 24-240.

I really wanted to love the 24-240. I wish Sony would step up their game on that lens, it would be an amazing superzoom.
The 24-240 lens is a terrible lens it never stacked up to me, I can see the attraction on paper should be great walkabout travel lens
 
Only purchase that I regret is my Manfrotto tripod. I did my research on it but I guess I just missed the fact it uses a different mount for the heads and how much of a pain that would be. Also even though I took care to clean it after trips it still has issues with the head knobs sticking and legs being difficult. Replaced it with a Benro that has now been used more and less well cared for and it gives me no problems.

Mostly I have a number of things that I would say are under used, I don't regret the purchases (generally not that pricey) as in most cases I wouldn't have been able to explore my ideas without them but I just haven't found other uses for them. The only item of the group that is of any cost is the Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD.
 
I feel pretty sure many of us have bought gear we, never use or regret, another one of mine is the number camera bags I have bought over the years and to be honest I still have not found one that really fits the comfort and space requirements for travel, or a decent rucksack for days out hence I have around 12 filling the loft one or two see the light of day sometimes.
 
In the beginning I went through a few camera bodies and around maybe 15-20 lenses all in around a year. I got everything for bargain prices and lost minimal money though, so I feel that experience was a very fast hands on teacher of knowledge for me and isn't really a regret at all. I now know very well where all camera gear stands in it's eco system and how well budget gear compares to higher end stuff.
 
I'm starting to think that the 1.4x teleconverter was a mistake. I have tried using it a few times, but just can't seem to get any decent photos with it, they all look soft and out of focus to me and when trying to sharpen in post they look unnatural. Don't know if I am doing something wrong, but I just don't think this is going to work out for me and will probably get rid of it soon.

Also went through several camera bags, but I think I have now found the right combination of bags for my needs.

And then, many, many years ago, my second ever digital camera, a Fuji Finepix S5000, which was a real disappointment in terms of image quality after my first digital experience with a Fuji Finepix 2800.
 
When peak design got going a mate was an importer for the range and he convinced me to buy pretty much every strap, clip, and item they made at the time apart from bags and yes the price was right and it is great gear I still almost always grab the black rapid strap and all the pd stuff is unused
 
I regret buying an R100 compact. Theory was that I might carry it at a time when I wouldn’t take a real camera. Never did. I think it might still be in a drawer somewhere.
 
I regret buying an R100 compact. Theory was that I might carry it at a time when I wouldn’t take a real camera. Never did. I think it might still be in a drawer somewhere.
Yep but it is a real camera I have the now old mk3 and it is decent , great for when you do not want to get noticed
 
Things I regret buying:
- Sigma 16mm f1.4
Now hear me out, its a fantastic lens, but I bought it for the wrong reason: I bought it to vlog with my a6400 but neither the camera nor lens are stabilized and the 24mm fullframe equivalent means it was too tight a FOV for my taste at arm's length. I didn't start using that lens properly until much later (when I gave up the youtubery nonsense).

- Peak Design Tripod (aluminum)
I simply could not afford the Carbon Fiber version, and therein lies half the problem. I am happy to have a compact tripod, but I didn't like the ball head design and at the time I thought compact automatically meant lightweight regardless of materials (shame on me). Now I don't even fly with this tripod, which was the main reason I got it in the first place. Eventually, I plan to buy a real CF tripod which suites my needs more.

Minor regret:
- a6400 :eek:
I only regret it because they came out with the a6600 3 months after I purchased the a6400, and I would have preferred the model with IBIS and larger battery.
 
- Peak Design Tripod (aluminum)
I so much wanted to like that tripod but the head just kills it. I took a gamble on the Heipi 3-in-1 when it was in kickstarter and am super happy with it. Basically it is what you want the PD to be.
 
lots of stuff i think i could of waited and got something better ,but hindsight is great thing ,i spent a lot of time in m43 world that did not always serve well, expensive at first for mediocre stuff as well ,although some of my sony stuff would superceded by better gear now ,and i probably paid over the price costs ,but you learn eventually research and buy once ,mostly this is costly approach but occasionally a gem turns up good price ,my viltrox 16mm is one those such purchases ,my tamrons on the otherhand are just filling a gap nothing wrong with them but niether are they value or really exciting , in the ideal world i would just stick to gm lenses but there are a few oddities out that catch my eye ,bodies just stick to what to you know most sonys hold up well to abuse and wear. first peak design straps where crap and they replaced mine ,the peak design bag was also not waterproof
 
The more and more I think about it and now that my RX1RII is clean again, maybe I should cancel my order for the A7CR, and wait and see if they bring out a RX1RIII to compete with the Q3, even though I know that is a real long shot
 
Did it last month - with the well-liked Lumix G9. Most fell in love with it, but a few said to hold it first as it's mighty large for a µ43 body.. well most any body in fact! They were quite correct: it's large, very talented - but set up Canon style with the front dial behind the shutter not in front. First time I used it I powered it off reaching forward - a most inauspicious start. I got a bit better but it wasn't the right fit for me.

Thankfully I found a very similar deal on the eM5.iii, with similar talents within but a much more compact body - so the pain was mostly mental. 🤯
 
I so much wanted to like that tripod but the head just kills it. I took a gamble on the Heipi 3-in-1 when it was in kickstarter and am super happy with it. Basically it is what you want the PD to be.
I'm in the market for a new travel tripod. Currently, and the last 3-4 years I use the Promaster SP528CF, and w the ballhead it's about 6 lbs total. I didn;t realize there are so many better options out there now.

I REALLY like the look of that Heipi 3 in 1. You still happy with it?
 
I'm in the market for a new travel tripod. Currently, and the last 3-4 years I use the Promaster SP528CF, and w the ballhead it's about 6 lbs total. I didn;t realize there are so many better options out there now.

I REALLY like the look of that Heipi 3 in 1. You still happy with it?
Very. Of the 4 tripods that I have it is used the most. It is the only one I actually travel with. The only times I do not use it is when I use my motorized head or if I am expecting to be in a windy area.
 
My eyes are very sensitive to digital displays. Sensitive enough that I stayed with a CRT for a long time until there were high enough resolution LCDs to appease my eyes. I would have an allergy effect with the lower refresh resolution screens, red itchy watery eyes.
Twice I tried to enjoy using this camera and twice did I get rid of it. 😕

The A7iii - my eyes could not adjust to that EVF. :(
 
For me it was the Canon 90D. All due respect to anyone who loved that camera, but I knew almost immediately I wasn't going to get along with it. More generally, I try and remember as my wallet permits, to get what I really want rather than settle. I've gotten some gear knowing I wanted the more expensive item, and ended up selling / trading.
 
For me it is the 70-200mm. Since I bought the A7Riv just a few months after that, it only collects dust.
 
Actually, yes, and today I remedied that situation by trading the item in on a new lens which will serve me much better....

Back last spring I impulsively bought the Sony A7C, thinking that I would be using it both around home and for traveling.....As it turned out, that anticipated traveling never happened and I fairly early-on realized that this camera and I just never were going to quite "gel." While I liked its small size and overall dimensions and the fact that it was a FF body with the ability to change out lenses, there were just too many things which didn't work for me. I missed having a front dial, I missed having two memory card slots, I missed having a joy stick, and I absolutely hated the EVF, which was in a position which felt all wrong and awkward to me and its resolution was significantly different than the EVFs on my other cameras. For a while I kept trying to just "get used to" the camera but I just wasn't happy with it and eventually the A7C was spending all of its time in the storage cabinet rather than out-and-about with me with a lens attached.

Eventually I realized that it was foolish to just have the thing sitting in the cabinet unused. So today I traded in that camera body and purchased the 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II, which I think will be a much more satisfactory purchase over the long run.
 
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