Three cameras I regret selling

I have sold too much gear. Every time it seemed sensible — rent was due, or the bag was too heavy, or the new camera promised to be better. Almost always, the thing I sold was the one I reached for later.

1. The long lens I never carried

It was heavy and sharp and I sold it because I was lazy. Now the wildlife photos I want are out of reach. Laziness is expensive.

2. The 50mm everyone told me to keep

Everyone told me to keep it. I sold it to help pay for a trip. On that trip I used my phone, and the phone photos are worse and I am still a little angry about it.

3. The weird camera I got a deal on

Some kind of half-frame plastic thing with a stuck light meter. It produced grainy, wrong-exposed, wonderful photographs. I sold it to a friend who still uses it, so it lives on. That one is more bittersweet than a regret.

The lesson

Gear is not the photograph. But the right gear is the difference between a photograph and a maybe. Keep the camera that makes you want to go out.