The ultimate upgrade?

[Maisiemouse]

As a confirmed music & hi-fi nut, I'm aware of a lot of 'essential' products on the market, all designed to give the ultimate listening experience. I've fallen for some of these gadgets & gizmos over the years and have been annoyed at having fallen for sales-talk and pseudo-scientific data. Oh, how I laugh when I remember the days of keeping my CD's in the fridge (re-aligns the delicate molecules in the structure of the disc, therefore giving the laser an easier time - obvious really). Now, I've got a degree in polymer science and I fell for that horses**t.

So it got me thinking - are there any photographic products that you've bought (ever) that either don't do what they claim to, or on reflection are just completely unnecessary? Obvious ones that spring to mind are cheap x-ray shields for film (never seem to work) & hot-shoe spirit levels (use your eyes!). I remember my late father buying a 60 foot long cable release so he could take candid bird shots in the back garden. No real problem there, except that he only had a manual-wind camera. Pointless? I think so.

So come on - anyone prepared to admit to being taken in by junk? Is there anything on the market today that you've bought and want to warn the world about? Ever felt gullible when your new gadget didn't work?

By the way - 'gullible' isn't in the dictionary. Have a look....

Sean

[robinp]

& hot-shoe spirit levels (use your eyes!).
Sean
I wish my eyes were that reliable! - even with the on demand gridlines in the S2 viewfinder I still have to straighten lots of shots in PSP. I've got a hotshoe spirit level in my bag but always forget its there so have never used it!


By the way - 'gullible' isn't in the dictionary. Have a look....

Sean
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=gullible

I used to read the Hi-Fi press avidly and designed & built my own amplifiers & speakers - proud to say I never went for any of the trendy "discoveries" until someone came up with a rational explanation.

I think you need disposable income to be dangerously gullible ;)

Cheers, Robin

[S_Leeper]

It's in my 25 year old Random house dictionary, right after gullet... easily deceived or cheated.

Won't say that they are entirely worthless, but...
- Kenko 3x teleconverter...
- 500mm f8 lens (only $100).

The kenko is supposed to autofocus & it does drive the lens back & forth, but it will never find focus (in my limited experience). With nikkor 180mm (tc is designed for 200mm+) very difficult to focus manually. On Sigma 70-200mm much easier to focus through out focal range.

The 500mm hard to focus & not very sharp...

Bought both for my wife, who loves to watch the birds at the feeder & wanted to take some photos while she stayed at home this summer. I did warn her that real solution would cost a lot more...

I won't go into the non-photo cons I fell for... would take too long.

[robinp]

Won't say that they are entirely worthless, but...
- Kenko 3x teleconverter...
- 500mm f8 lens (only $100).


I know teleconverters are for optimists so I only got a x1.5 - it works moderately well.
I will confess to falling for a mirror lens a few months ago, tried it once and sold it (for a profit!).

Cheers, Robin

[Tom V]

In no particular order:

1) I bought an underwater camera for my sister. Her husband used it underwater quite a bit, until he changed film underwater. For some reason, it stopped working. What the heck? It was returned to RITZ Camera, and exchanged for a new one (that unconditional warranty works great!)

2) I bought the largest shoulder bag Tamrac makes. I thought I would be clever, and never leave anything behind. Need a particular filter? - I'd have it with me. Need that right-angle finder? - I'd have it with me. Need that 4th shoe-mount strobe - I'd have that too. I could carry every charger, filter, accessory, lens, body, flash, cord, adapter, part, etc. that I own. I would have the studio on my shoulder. I put it all in the bag, put it on my shoulder, carried it for 10 minutes, and vowed never to carry that much crap again. It is the last thing in the world anyone would want to put on their shoulder. It needs wheels or a winch. The bag is for sale.

3) I bought into the Bogen Hexagon "Quick Release" plate concept. It was not quicker because I constantly was screwing on and screwing off (watch it!) the plates. Leaving the plates on the camera would cause jabbing sensations in the chest if hung from a neck strap. All my plates were slightly different sizes, so the "Quick Release" lever was either way in or way out, where it was always in danger of snagging and opening. I got rid of it, and never missed that flawed system. The tripod and head are for sale.

4) I bought a used, cheapo, flash meter (Quantum?) that wasted more film than simple guessing would have. A cheapo meter is worse than guessing. Invest in a good one, or learn to do without. Tossed in garbage.

5) I bought a Honeywell Strobonar potato masher flash back in High School. That blasted thing would only work for about a month before I had to send it in for repairs. I had to have it fixed about 6 times. Sometimes it would only work for one evening. It was so expensive, I couldn't NOT believe it should work better. Trashed.

6) I bought a Sunpack 411 flash that never seemed as strong as the specs indicated, and it got weaker and weaker every time I used it. It also flipped and spun, and adjusted every which way, and eventually fell apart every which way. Trashed.

7) I bought a matching Sunpack Flash Slave. It was so unreliable, it was useless. I can't believe I had it for 20 years before I finally trashed it.

8) The Fuji S2's TTL flash system doesn't work as expected. I can live with it.

9) My brain often doesn't work as expected. I would return it and get a new one, but I don't think I would like to go through diaper training, grade school, etc. again. Thankfully, it didn't cost much. For sale, barely used.

[arista]

Before I went digital, I had an F-80 (N-80) I used with my SB-28. I bought the flash second hand, and get the manual from the net. But I came accross a "Cheat Sheet" on E Bay for AUS $10.

The fastest and most useless $10 I ever spent on photography.

Cheers

Tony

[frankgh]

Still for sale? Cheap?

In no particular order:


2) I bought the largest shoulder bag Tamrac makes. I thought I would be clever, and never leave anything behind. Need a particular filter? - I'd have it with me. Need that right-angle finder? - I'd have it with me. Need that 4th shoe-mount strobe - I'd have that too. I could carry every charger, filter, accessory, lens, body, flash, cord, adapter, part, etc. that I own. I would have the studio on my shoulder. I put it all in the bag, put it on my shoulder, carried it for 10 minutes, and vowed never to carry that much crap again. It is the last thing in the world anyone would want to put on their shoulder. It needs wheels or a winch. The bag is for sale.