Why are we never happy?

No. I am not much afflicted with gear lust, I doubt I even know all the tricks hidden in my four year old m43 camera. I haven't bought a lens in years but there is a lens I'd like to have so I don't rule out that I might buy another. I'm more interested in seeing what I can find to do with what I have that I haven't thought of before. I'd also rather spend discretionary money on travel than gear.

Photography is a hobby than encompasses several sub hobbies. There are those whose primary interest is the equipment, those whose primary interest is the activity of shooting (kinda like hunting), those who are primarily interested in the final image, those who are interested in what they can do with the pixels they gather in post. Most of us have a bit of mix of these interests but we lean towards one or two. Whichever sub hobby we most relate to will determine what our frustrations and unhappinesses derive from. Mine comes from lack of creative ideas, and snazzy new cameras and lenses wouldn't solve that.

I do that too, but I'm not looking for the perfect camera, I just want a better one.
Everything became easier since I lowered my expectations. In 17 years I had 7 cameras (various brands and models), with all of them I took a lot of bad pictures and a few good ones.
Of course the camera I have now is incomparably better than the first one, but I still take a lot of bad pictures. I think it's because I'm more demanding now. 😀

practice contentment

Thanks for the responses. I should have clarified that the cameras I buy are new to me. They are actually used, or 'pre-loved' in current parlance. I prefer 'secondhand'!

So what are you shooting with?

I've got plenty of competent gear I enjoy using. What I don't have is time to use them. That would make me happy. Maybe when I retire.

I buy cameras to match projects. If the projects change, then so do the cameras. I'm not looking for the ideal camera -- it doesn't exist. I'm looking for the camera that fits my needs at the time.

Im the same.

I think the same way. Budget does come into play, which precludes some things I would like to do (but that applies to interests other than photography too), but I have plenty of other subjects and projects that I enjoy so I don't feel I'm missing out due to budget limitations.

I'm still happy with my Nikon D40, which soldiers on after 15 years and and still suits some projects just fine. I do have newer cameras.

I recently realized that GAS is how my psyche expresses boredom.

I was on a photo club meetup in a local park, and was getting a bit bored with the pretty flowers, and started thinking about gear. I asked myself, what would change, right now, if I had the Z6 I'd been lustig after recently? Is there a sort of shot this would allow me to take that my X-T3 can't? Is there an aspect of the pictures I took that the Z6 would markedly improve?

The only thing the Z6 would change is the process. By being new, and unknown to me, it would add a challenge to the act of taking pictures, which I was presently getting a bit bored of.

This realization, oddly, set me free. If I need more enjoyment out of photography, I'll need to upgrade myself, not my camera. I'll need to push myself to seek out compositions, think more deeply about the pictures and relations. Or not. Accept that now is not the time for art, and coast a little.

That way lies happiness, not on ever more gear. Says the hypocrite who has bought/sold dozens and dozens of lenses and cameras to come to this realization.

error!

Various m43 stuff

I wouldn't mind of my Z6 had Z8 autofocus, and if one day they create that at a decent price, I will buy one used. Other than that, I don't need anything. I have more than I need as it is.

I've been happy for a time with each camera I have bought. It's how long that lasts that is the question I need to answer. I think I would be happy enough with just my D500, it's the camera I yearned for even as I was replacing my D200 with a just released D300 -- the D500 has plenty of resolution, speed, AF performance, DR, etcetera. Truthfully, I may prefer my D850 95% of the time because of its larger format and greater resolution (almost always overkill), but I would miss my D500 more, and I'm finding the large D850 files noticeably slowing down my computer, so now I'm not happy with my computer.

It is the basic human condition to want that which is just beyond our horizon and not quite reachable ... or not.

I think that some people are born basically happy and some are not. I know people who are (mostly) happy in whatever situation they find themselves and some that are always wanting something more.

Living in a society where we are driven to consumption by the constant bombardment of advertising doesn't help.

My biggest problem these days is finding the time to fully enjoy the stuff I have, not getting better stuff.

I'm a human who isn't winning the game of life. Even those who are, don't seem happy. Welcome to being human I guess.

That is so true. I know a few of those as well.

GAS is an expression of discontent. It must be much harder to bear for glass-half-empty kinds of people than others.