The balance sheet

CabanSail

.... or "How much has Photography cost you this year"


I have been pondering just how much this hobby has cost this year.

For me my Balance Sheet is well in the Red.

My 18 -200 VR & Filters put me back about €600
The Sigma 10-20 & Filters + the SB600 & Remote Cable about another €700
Then I upgraded to the D300 which was yet another €1200
Printing materials (inks, paper, mounts, etc) plus odds & sods (memory cards, diffusers, batteries) would be about another €300

So about €2800 for the year so far.

On the plus side I will have earned about €1100 by the end of the year & got a trip to Italy.

Still about €1700 in the Red.

It's quite a lot when you think about it .... and I am sure I have left stuff out too :eek:

How have you fared?

pete4130

About €8000 in the red and the spending never stops.

TelePaul

Just think how much annual membership to a semi-decent golf club would set ya back each year. Then it doesn't seem so bad.

Dodgykeeper

This year i have Bought

Nikon d300
300mm 2.8
50mm 1.8
Sb800
MB-D10
Aquatech Sports Cover
Epson Printer

Total Cost: €6000

Have earned approx €4500 with another €500 owed so hopefully will break even bt the end of the year, and then start all over again with the d700.

BanzaiBk

Bought a 40D, Sigma 8mm used and ball head this year, so about $1500. I've earned a fair bit more than I've spent, 5D replacement will probably put me back in the red though:o

smelltheglove

I think it may have cost hubbie a few bob;)

I did though receive my first proper payment today. The hardest payment I have ever had to earn, but I can't go out spending just yet, I have to set up a company now for the money to be ligit.

Fajitas!

In the black.

Think my only big purchases this year were my 70-200 2.8 IS, 135 f/2 and 15 f/2.8

Other smaller purchases too. Depending on getting the thumbs up from another job, I'll br buying the 35 1.4 soon too.

Freddie59

Eos €50D (bought in April) €810
Speedlite 430EX €223
50mm 1.4 Lens €253
55-200 Sigma €110
12-24 Tokina €400
Bits & bobs €100
Total €1,896

Sold kit Lens for €150
Bought 17-85 (2nd hand) €260

Net Total €2004

Hope I've added/subtracted right.:o Originally only was going to spend €800. Ah feck it! As someone said look at what Golf cost.:eek: Only have a sociable drink and don't smoke.

Was at a debs last night and the dress cost €600......so photography isn't really that expensive after all.....or so I told the wife!:)

whyulittle

Freddie59 wrote: »

Was at a debs last night and the dress cost €600......so photography isn't really that expensive after all.....or so I told the wife!:)

Once you looked well, that's the main thing.

AnimalRights

In the Red
Bought
Canon 400D +18-55 €500
50mm 1.8 €50
Canon 400D (2nd) €650
50mm 1.4 €380
70-200L f.4 €640
100mm 2.8 €330
Sigma 28-200 €100
70-200L IS 2.8 €1200
24-105L IS €750
450D + 18-55IS €780
40D €550 (+trade in)
1.4 Extender €270
Speedlite EX II €300
Monopod €40

Outlay €6540


Sold
Canon 400D lost
50mm 1.8 lost
Canon 450D €450 trade in
400D (2nd) €250
70-200L f.4 €400
Sigma 28-200 €80
18-55 €40

In €1220

Net loss
€5350

Future purchases b4 the end of the year
50D
Canon 10-22

Stephen

Totally in the red, since I don't make any money from photography - purely an interesting hobby for me.

This year's big purchases:
Nikon D90 with 18-105VR kit - US $1300
Used Nikkor 80-200 f2.8 - about €500

That's it I think. I might claw back a few hundred when I let my D50 go.

soccerc

In the black

Purchased:

Nikon D3
Nikon 14-24mm
Nikon 1.7 TC
Pocket Wizards
Dedicated Laptop
Adobe CS3/Lightroom
Miscellaneous bits and pieces

melekalikimaka

in green comfortably

l pearse

Started spending in June 08

Starter camera D60/memory card...E700
Macro 55-300mm + tripod...E250
Accessories....E50

Spent E1000 In three months!!!!
That golf club is lookin' cheap.

bradnailer

AnimalRights wrote: »

In the Red
Bought
Canon 400D +18-55 €500
50mm 1.8 €50
Canon 400D (2nd) €650
50mm 1.4 €380
70-200L f.4 €640
100mm 2.8 €330
Sigma 28-200 €100
70-200L IS 2.8 €1200
24-105L IS €750
450D + 18-55IS €780
40D €550 (+trade in)
1.4 Extender €270
Speedlite EX II €300
Monopod €40

Outlay €6540


Sold
Canon 400D lost
50mm 1.8 lost
Canon 450D €450 trade in
400D (2nd) €250
70-200L f.4 €400
Sigma 28-200 €80
18-55 €40

In €1220

Net loss
€5350

Future purchases b4 the end of the year
50D
Canon 10-22

And you were slagging me about havin a load of gear Quote "then again my Memory has kicked in you were one of the guys with billions of Cam gear!!"
I think not

AnimalRights

bradnailer wrote: »

And you were slagging me about havin a load of gear Quote "then again my Memory has kicked in you were one of the guys with billions of Cam gear!!"
I think not

Yeah but I brought very little with me to the Storehouse didn't I?

Looking at The Tokina 11-16 over the Canon 10-22 now btw.

Ricky91t

Erm
this year from photography iv made around €130 still have a few people to chase up if i ever catch up to them
Bought
Sigma 20-40 f/2.8 €100
Hardrive for laptop(for mainly photography) €50
Sold
Canon 28-105 and kodak 80-200 for around €100
So all in all im in the black

bradnailer

AnimalRights wrote: »

Yeah but I brought very little with me to the Storehouse didn't I?

Looking at The Tokina 11-16 over the Canon 10-22 now btw.

No good to ya sitting at home in a bag:p

RoryW

Its a hobby and have no intention of making money from it (but open to offers!)

Due to this post I have just spent 30 minutes totting everything up since I got back into photography on 30 Aug 07.

Filters
Camera Bags
Tripods & Heads
Printer
Software (CS3 + LR +LR 2.0 upgrade)
Memory
Flash
Camera
Lenses
Monitor
Books

No overall figures mentioned but definetely in the red !
Works out at less than €20 a day !

Just sold my D80 + 18/135 Kit so that was the only inflow of money

The biggest surprise is the amount of money I have spent on various books and the overall total when I added everything up. :eek::eek::eek:

At the risk of this post being quoted back to me, I have only one or two things left to get which are on the list for the next year or two (70-200 f/2.8 VRII, 1.7 convertor and maybe a fisheye). That will be it. Honest. Really. I mean it. Why dont you believe me? I can control this itch. I can. I can. Kind of

0utpost31

Does in the red mean in debt?

Stephen

Not so much in debt as to have made a financial loss.

0utpost31

I wouldn't call it a financial loss. What are you supposed to do with money? Smoke it?

40d
canon 70-300mm is usm
sigma 17-70mm
sigma 10-20mm
canon 50mm 1.8
Cheap Ching-Po battery grip

CraggyIslander

I've behaved myself so far this year, only bought the manfrotto tripod and the sigma ring flash for the macro


Could still be an expensive year as am itching for some L glass and that 5D mkII is definately on the wish list. :eek:

All in all deffo in the red as its a hobby for my enjoyment and I dont expect to sell anything :pac:

Freddie59

whyulittle wrote: »

Once you looked well, that's the main thing.

:D

Wow everyone! That is some amount of gear bought in 8 months. All I've bought this year:

Cheap Flimsy Tripod €30
Canon 70-200 F/4 €420
Sigma 10-20 €420

So €870 down It's all worth it in the end though

whyulittle

Actually, it would be interesting to see how much the total comes to in the end.

Thoie

Looking at the amounts people spend, would it be worth trying to negotiate a group discount with a shop somewhere? What kind of discount would encourage you to buy in a real shop in Ireland? I'm not trying to start an argument, just a genuine 10,20,30 percent. If someone says they'd need a 50% discount, then so be it - we all know it's unlikely to happen.

I'm about €200 in the red this year, but that's cos I lost my job and have to keep an eye on the pennies

irishcrazyhorse

Ok so this year I picked up a few bits and pieces.

24-70mm 2.8
50mm 1.8
50mm 1.4
60mm 2.8
Few filters for those
Manfrotto tripod
Manfrotto head
(tripod alone was just under 400)
Adobe cs3(my version 7 just wasnt doing the trick anymore)
Adobe Lightroom
Couple of flashes

Full Elinchrom lighting rig(just under a grand)
Receivers and transmitters for that as well(another 140 or so)
Picking up a different book at least every 2 weeks if not every week.

Probly forgetting a couple of things but that is enough I say
Dont want to tot it all up either,Looks scary enough as it is.

Ive made just under a 1,500 thats all i know and I'm afraid that just about covered my golf fees so all the rest is in the red

O well, least I'm having fun

*Edit* Also planning on picking up a 200mm 2.8 Friday week(second hand though )

elven

Just €30 for my holga lens

Been paid a few hundred quid this year too so things are looking good so far...!

Dragan

Spent 300 quid on my Bridge for my birthday. That's it!!!

Next year is looking costly. Will need to get a new laptop as my old one is struggling at the moment and will need to get a dSLR as well.

Still looking at that fixed lens beast from Fuji so guessing the first 3 months of next year will set me back about 2000 to 2500.

decsramble

These are off the top of my head so may be wrong
Canon 40D - 999
Battery Grip - 199
2 spare batteries - 90
Memory cards - 90
Sigma flash - 150
New bag - 120
Rolleicord camera - 100
Small bag for Rolleicord 20
Darkroom Printing Course 225
Printing mounting and misc 150
400D for my girlfriend 500

So approx 2643

Jaysis, I'm taking up Golf

squareballoon

€100 on camera bag
€320 speedlight flash
€1000 70-200mm L lens
€300 macro lens
total: €1,720

earned €850 on photography assignments
total: €850

so €870 in the red

City-Exile

Only bought a Storm Case, a 580EX II & a monopod this year.
Made a few thousand, so in the black.

dakar

I wish I hadn't started looking now but in the last 12 months:

Outgoings:
Manfrotto 190 magfibre tripod
Manfrotto 222 head
Manfrotto 234 head for monopod
Crumpler bag (too small - hardly ever use)
Sb600 Speedlight
Nikon 18-200 VR
Sigma 18-50 f2.8 macro
Epson R2400
Nikon D300
A stack of filters, holders, lens hoods, memory, paper and ink.

Incomings:
Zip, other than the pleasure that I've gotten from taking photos, and the prints of my kids on the wall, and the thanks from family members for prints I've done for them etc....

I'll just have to console myself with the Mastercard tagline, priceless!

cooligPhoto

Only ventured into Digital SLR last July (was all film before then)...

Nikon D80 + 18-135 kit lens = 1300
80-200mm f/2.8 = 700
28-70mm f/2.8 = 250
Epson R1900 printer = 700
Inks & Paper for above = 200 (so far)
External hard drive for photos = 70
Flash gun = 100
Tripod = 80
Extra bits for D80 (remote release etc) = 100
Studio lighting kit = 200
Nikon D2X (ebay) = 800
Memory cards = 100

Total outlay so far (I'm sure I've forgotten stuff) = €4600

Income estimated at around €2500 this year.

Had my eye on a 300mm f/2 on ebay last week at €14k (hmm heaven).

Well in the red but I really don't care. Do it for the personal satisfaction:)

Phototoxin

im always in the red as its my hobby =p

Dvlin

First Post

Over 2 months:
Nikon D700
Billingham 445 bag
Nikkor 20mm
Nikon SB800 flashgun
Sigma 150-500mm OS

~€4050.

Ouch.

sineadw

About 2,500 in the red. And worth every penny.

Stephen

D700? Very nice bit of kit

ThOnda

About 60 rolls of film per €6.00 plus €10.00 for processing and scanning. And one DVD by Guy Gowan.
I am deeply in trouble, ehm, red numbers

Dvlin

Cheers. Meant to be getting out with it this weekend, but the bike needs attention after 8 months laid up. If the bike is in trouble, my camera debt will be the least of my worries!

Dev.

whyulittle

Thread is running at over 45,000, and that's being conservative. A lot of people only listed what they got, without any prices.

Covey

whyulittle wrote: »

Thread is running at over 45,000, and that's being conservative. A lot of people only listed what they got, without any prices.

Which brings me to something I've been thinking for ages, namely a Boards Discount. Should be definitely feasible?

T.

Paulw

This year alone? I guess I've spent 10k. My income from photography isn't worth mentioning, since it hasn't reached 1k yet (almost).

Bought 16-35mm f/2.8 L II from B&H a few weeks ago. That is about all I plan to buy in gear for a while to come.

whyulittle

Good man Paul, it's now running at 55,000! :pac:

PaulieC

Paulw wrote: »

My income from photography isn't worth mentioning, since it hasn't reached 1k yet (almost).

what do you do with all your sports images? I was under the impression that you were doing these on demand...

jackdaw

Stephen wrote: »

Totally in the red, since I don't make any money from photography - purely an interesting hobby for me.

This year's big purchases:
Nikon D90 with 18-105VR kit - US $1300
Used Nikkor 80-200 f2.8 - about €500

That's it I think. I might claw back a few hundred when I let my D50 go.

yep all Red for me too .. I tried Stock photography but couldn't take the
criticism tbh .. (it was all bollix.. i can take my photos being rejected but not for the bollix reasons they gave me)

This year I got
Canon EF 70-300 f4-5.6 €425
Canon EF 50 f1.8 €100
Tamron 17-50 f2.8 €365
Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 IS L €1,200
Canon EF 24-70 f2.8 L €880

remote control shutter release - €20
extra battery -- can't remember cost..
extra 4GB card --can't remember cost..


**** .. thats at least €3k ..

damn .. to much .. and im planning to get a 50D soon ..

kensutz

In the past 12 months spent about €6000 with another €4000 waiting to be blown in the next 3-4 weeks.

Paulw

cambo_gueno wrote: »

what do you do with all your sports images? I was under the impression that you were doing these on demand...

It really depends.

The rugby stuff I mostly do out of pure enjoyment. Some images have been sold though.

Most of the football stuff gets paid for, but it's not a whole lot.

I also do a small bit for the papers, but I don't post these images on FlickR nor my website.

Actually, when I really start to add up what income has come in, it's a bit more than I thought .... but I still spend way more on camera gear. Thankfully I've a great day job that pays very well.

By and large, I am not doing photography for money. It wouldn't bother me to not earn a cent from it. I don't give away images for free though. Overall, I do photography because I enjoy it, and it gives me a challenge. It also gets me out of the apt.

jackdaw

Recession !! who said recession !!!


see proof that it's all made up !!

BanzaiBk

BanzaiBk wrote: »

Bought a 40D, Sigma 8mm used and ball head this year, so about $1500. I've earned a fair bit more than I've spent, 5D replacement will probably put me back in the red though:o

Bought a 85mm 1.2L USM last week:o I've been doing a lot of work though so it only really put me €400 out of pocket. When I convert it all into Euros I estimate about €1400 spent, €8,670 in. The 5DMkII in a few weeks will cost a chunk alright.