How do you justify the cost to yourself...and your partner?!

[danielrivers]

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I've been following the forum for a while, have drooled and lusted and even at one point touched one. Now I find myself fantasizing. I need to tell my wife of my desires, but would she understand? Surely, she'd be revolted and appalled. And so would I. That sick guilty pleasure...but oh the pleasure...(I am talking about buying an M8, incase you wondered! )

 

...come on guys, I need help. I need one, I want one, I can't afford one, but I sure as hell will find a way to buy one.

 

So how did you justify the cost to yourself? (Given this camera is not like other Leica's and may well depreciate quickly)

 

How did you justify it to your partner?

 

How did you feel when you saw your credit card bill/bank statement?

 

Has it been worth the financial heart-ache?

 

And most importantly for me, do you think $4795 price tag will drop significantly in the next 3 - 4 months?

 

Cheers,

 

Dan.

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[lct]

...I am talking about buying an M8... how did you justify the cost to your partner...

I didn't as i haven't bought the M8 yet, as for lenses...

 

[egibaud]

step 1:

 

Show your partner how beautiful the pictures you take are

 

step 2:

 

Show your partner all the small thing that make these beautiful picture not as good as they could be

 

step 3:

 

Show your partner pictures from Pro made with an M8 (don't tell here they are pro and with any camera they'd take incredible pics anyway

 

Step 4:

 

Budget... explain that it is just matter of investing in a body + 1 lens... the second hand market is huge for getting extra lenses, CV, Zeiss

 

Step 5:

 

Every night when going to sleep dream you have an M8, visualize it

 

Step 6:

 

Place an order with a deposit

 

Step 7:

 

Wait from 1 day to 3 months

 

Step 8:

 

As you have stopped drinking coffee, beers, etc. you have saved up half the M8 price :-) you can now walk into the shop and buy it

 

Conclusion:

 

Except if you are a PRO, nothing can justify the purshase of a camera or of any product for any hobby. You love it, you want it, you can pay for it, you buy it. If any of this point falls short, then no M8 for you.

[biglouis]

You mean, you are supposed to tell your partner? Wow! I never thought of that :-)

 

LouisB

[eudemian]

Be honest, explain how you are hooked on the quality and promise of real hand held shooting, if she loves you she will understand, then it is just a matter of economics.

 

If you sell other stuff to help in the purchase, voila you are on the road to an M8, this was my entrance into rangefinders.

 

Of course do not think too hard about all those other lenses, bits and bobs.

 

All the best

 

Tom

[Eoin]

My advice FWIW if you can't afford it don't, you'll be on the slippery slope after the purchase of the body with a desire to purchase some nice lenses to complement the M8.

 

There is no justification needed for a M8 in one sense if your an existing M user wishing to move to a digital platform. There are many reasons why the M system remains in this day and age and perhaps the most important reason is quality, both build and image quality.

 

My justification was I wanted to get back to my roots, back to the basics of photography where I was in control of a relatively simple straight forward camera that was not the size and weight of todays modern pro SLR's. Gone are the crutches of AF, auto this and that, spot this and partial that. I'm now left with a M8 and 4 superb lenses that I can toss into a small bag, toss that over my shoulder and hardly know it's there.

The joy of photography is back, lenses should hold their value if you bought them at sensible prices 2nd hand, as for the body, I can't see any reason to be a slave to C.U.S (constant update syndrome) the M8 produces superb images of such quality it will be a long time (if ever) before I'll have a need or outgrow this cameras abilities.

 

Expensive, heck yes, rational, hell no, justification, one life.....live it....it's too easy to say no!.

[DaveEP]

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Buying in to a completely new system is always going to be a tough one. The cost is not just the M8, no where near it. The glass far out weighs the M8 in terms of potential cost. If you already have Leica M glass, then the advantages of digital with your current glass should be enough to convince them. Otherwise you may have a large hill (nay - mountain) to climb. Fortunately, e-bay can make buying some really good Leica glass a less expensive experience - even if it's not the latest ASPH model, it's still damn good glass. Then, you can upgrade each one to ASPH/APO as you figure out which focal lengths you use the most (or need to upgrade the most).

 

We each know our own partners better than any one else, and while we can all say how 'we' did it, in the end only you know what buttons to push and where the limits are. If you have enough resources to buy it and not worry too much, it's often a lot easier. If you are sharing a tight budget, and she wants a new kitchen, bathroom, windows, carpets, curtains - in fact anything domestic, you have a much harder job on your hands.

 

Perhaps you could start cutting out all the M8/Leica advertising you see in magazines, and print out some reviews and leave them casually laying around where she can get used to the idea of them.... never let them think it's a spur of the moment idea. Make them think it's a well thought out strategy, and you have been thinking about it over several months.

 

My wife took a lot of talking round in to the Leica brand. She had heard of it in my ancient history (M3), but everything I had at that point was Canon. To her, Leica was (and still is!) an old man's camera, and she was initially embarrassed to walk around with me & my M8! The "shot" that gave it some 'respectability' in her mind was not a shot taken 'with' a Leica (as far as I know), but was in fact a shot of "HRH the Queen" using a Leica M (film), and shown on the BBC web site. That soon brought her around Thanks Ma'am

 

Fortunately (or unfortunately !), my wife also like nice things, and at the moment we just negotiated (actually she suggested and I simply agreed!) that she can have another (!!) Louis Vuitton hand bag (why does she need another? ), and I get a 'new' Leica lens. She didn't ask how much the lens was, she just wanted her new hand bag! Negotiations like this make it much easier

 

Oh, and your final question - I don't see the price diving any time soon..... sorry!

[Eoin]

Dave,

 

LOL, ahhh the Louis Vuitton trade off! . While I've never had a problem with other half, she actually encourages me, she is the one with the LV fetish. I watch her browse the LV website and I know another "addition" is on the cards. Thankfully most if the bags cost less than the lenses and for the life of me I can't see what others see in LV other than I know it cost lots of €'s. She is actually delighted I've dumped the large 1D series in favor of something less obtrusive and has noticed the better resolution. Ahhh! peace and quiet, at the cost of a Louis Vuitton bag or 2, 3, 4, I've lost count! but I can tell when there is a new addition even if it's the same colour.

[DaveEP]

Dave,

 

LOL, ahhh the Louis Vuitton trade off! .

 

I think we have enough LV (hand bags & travel bags, purses, credit card holders etc) that we could set up shop. It's good stuff, but why does she need 'so many' ? Same colour, different colour.... oh well, like you say, the generally cost less than a lens

[Sandokan]

Dear Dan (or Desperate Dan?),

 

Are you mad? Why oh why do you want to tell her how much it costs? Did you ever ask her how much she paid for her shoes, LV bag (as above), etc. etc. My partner came home with a pair of very nice boots and I didnt ask ... then as LFI was finished, I started looking in one of her magazines - and I saw the boots and price! Same price as a summicron second hand!!!! She just gave out about 2 sacks of clothes to the charity shops as she needed to clear space in her cupboards (most of my clothes have already gone). I told her this was NOT an excuse to go shopping and buy new clothes and she "said" she wouldnt ( I take it as one of those Japanese "No's"). Sales are on soon, so let us see how many days she can go without buying "the right colour" tops and jeans...

 

My plan is very simple. I have asked her to carry my camera bag (R9 & DMR & lenses) whilst I get the baby in the buggy on and off trams - soon she will start to complain about the weight. Then she will ask me how I carry something so heavy and why? Then I start to complain about shoulder aches and that I have trouble bathing the baby. Then she tells me how stupid I am for carrying the heavy camera. THEN I tell her I would like a little light weight camera and she says "GO AHEAD AND STOP COMPLAINING". Then I come home with a M8 with 35 summicron and all is well

I use my work credit card and pay it off from my hidden Scottish account.

[telyt]

I show her the pictures. Result: she demands that I use only Leica.

[JeffWright]

I've been following the forum for a while, have drooled and lusted and even at one point touched one. Now I find myself fantasizing. I need to tell my wife of my desires, but would she understand? Surely, she'd be revolted and appalled. And so would I. That sick guilty pleasure...but oh the pleasure...(I am talking about buying an M8, incase you wondered! )

 

...come on guys, I need help. I need one, I want one, I can't afford one, but I sure as hell will find a way to buy one.

 

So how did you justify the cost to yourself? (Given this camera is not like other Leica's and may well depreciate quickly)

 

How did you justify it to your partner?

 

How did you feel when you saw your credit card bill/bank statement?

 

Has it been worth the financial heart-ache?

 

And most importantly for me, do you think $4795 price tag will drop significantly in the next 3 - 4 months?

 

Cheers,

 

Dan.

 

When I was shooting film, in a typical 6 month period, I would shoot 200 rolls of film--as little as 10, as many as 1000, but more or less on average, 400 rolls a year.

 

Cost of 200 rolls of slide film $1100

Cost for processing 200 rolls of slide film (A&I) $1800

 

Total cost for what I shoot in an average year $5800

 

No brainer.

[RSL]

If you can afford it, just do it!

[mwalker649]

Buy one, and tell her you lost 10K on the the riverboat or Vegas. If your marriage can survive that....... your home free!

Also telling her you have mad cow disease works too.

[george +]

You asked five questions; for Easter I try to answer them:

 

1.)So how did you justify the cost to yourself? (Given this camera is not like other Leica's and may well depreciate quickly)

 

I have waited for this camera since I bought the M5 in 1971. I did not think the M6, the TTL or the 7 offered any advantages over the M5. This one did.

 

2.)How did you justify it to your partner?

 

We have been married 52 years. She was happy I got something that I wanted.

 

3.)How did you feel when you saw your credit card bill/bank statement?

 

I paid it.

 

4.)Has it been worth the financial heart-ache?

 

Yes!

 

5.)And most importantly for me, do you think $4795 price tag will drop significantly in the next 3 - 4 months?

 

No.

 

Hope this answers your questions. Go, get one, you might like it too.

[sm23221]

Guaranteed to work: First buy her something real nice and use the leftover money to buy the M8. If you can't do that now, wait until it can happen. Just my opinion...

[Gilles L.]

Dan, you must be going through a tough time right now... sounds to me that you are just about to get a M8! The camera is great, that is for sure, but it is an expensive system beyond this. I don't know if you have lenses, but you will want to get more lenses. I was satisfied with my lens selection until... I got the M8. VC lenses is a great alternative because they are much more affordable and the quality is quite good, but will this suffice? I wish you all the best of luck...

[Guest guy_mancuso]

How do you justify the cost to yourself...and your partner?!

 

 

I don't , I just do it. Than worry about it later:D :D

 

Flowers,BMW's,Shoes and Diamonds go real far. LOL

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Hallo,

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[Ben Marks]

Sigh. It can't really be justified, unless you are a professional who can use the equipment to generate income. However it _can_ be rationalized. I have been buying and selling cameras as an adjunct to picture-making since 1985. Many tens of thousands (in today's dollars) spent over the last twenty years. Particularly true when you take darkroom kit and supplies and computers, printers and inks into account. On the other hand, I don't gamble, womanize, drink to excess, sail, drive fancy cars, own a second home, golf or pursue any other expensive hobbies (this is part of my rationalization -- strike those that don't apply to you). And I make pictures that I, my wife, friends, family, acquaintances love. So some existing equipment will go on the chopping block (Wisner 5x7 traditional, with reducing back and additional bag bellows anyone?) and some cash will be spent and some bag lunches will be packed . . . and the beat goes on.

[Bill W]

I had a brother in-law who bought a Harley Fatboy on ebay and had it delivered to his house before his wife knew about it. His comment was that it was easier to beg for forgiveness that ask for permission. The Fatboy cost $18,500 by the way. It almost got him a divorce by the way. So using that as a starting point, look at the small price of the M8. Promise to sell a lot of stuff like the rest of us do.