Am I being an enabler at my office?

Today my office needs a video camera, only one they have is a potato. I brought a better one from home. Another guy in the IT department actually got pissed at this and says that if I offer that up for use, I'll be enabling our office's cheapskate behavior/dumb purchasing decisions (we're leasing a big copier machine that hardly gets used for 4 digits a month just because a higher-up wants it) and they'll want me to keep bringing my camera in the future. I asked another guy's opinion and he thought it was no big deal and I should use it. What do you think?

Let 'em pop for a new one or compensate you for its use. I hate company cheapskate behavior at work.

The guy has a point, but not one that I see as important as getting the job done (you and the other guy).

If you want to partially placate him, rent the camera to your company.

Otherwise, just get the job done.

I can see doing that once in a while. If it becomes the norm, that's an issue. Now, at that point you risk looking like a DB if you've been bringing in your camera for a while and all of the sudden say you won't.
We had a similar situation at a company that I used to work for. They had an inadequate server. It couldn't host the projects I was building. My programmer hosted it on his home server. The company figured all was well because the job was getting done. Well, the programmer sent them a bill for almost a 18 months of server rental, and another for the next 6 months. They had a new server within weeks.
Do it once, fine. Do it twice and tell the bossman/woman that the company needs to spring for a new camera.

I tend to agree with your coworker. Being a hero and covering for dumb decisions just hides or delays the consequences of dumb decisions. No consequences = no chance at behavior change.

It can also mean you become the go to guy to cover for others mistakes or incompetence. I am sure I am not the only here who has had that experience.

Totally agree with your co-worker. The only thing people will learn from/react to is pain. If they don't feel the pain of not having adequate equipment because you solve that pain for them at your own cost, they don't have a problem and they don't need a new video camera. If, on the other hand, project X cannot meet the deadline because the company does not own the correct widget to be able to complete the project the business is now required to make a choice: Is it worth the opportunity cost of not completing project X in order to save X amount of dollars on the purchase of the widget.

Why would the company bother to get necessary equipment if you keep providing it to them for free?

foxtrapper wrote: Why would the company bother to get necessary equipment if you keep providing it to them for free?

Precisely.

Don't do it. I made that mistake once and I pretty much had to state "I will no longer use my personal equipment for corporate profit." When the photos and videos stopped appearing on our site my boss finally let me spend money to buy a camera. This was a gigantic billion dollar corporation who wouldn't turn loose $300 for a micro 4/3 camera.

Your boss will get a bonus for keeping his expenses down while you get more work.

Use your camera, make sure that your boss and others above you know that you used your camera. Don’t be a braggart, but let them know that you are someone that is invested in your company, that you can overcome obstacles and that you are willing to make small personal sacrifices in order to get your project done. Then suggest that they pony up and buy a company camera if it is going to be needed again in the future. That is what managers look for when they promote, not whiny Dbags. It isn’t like there is going to be any significant wear and tear on your camera. In the future I you don’t want to let them use your camera, tell them so or lie and tell them that you broke/sold/lost it.

Use your camera this time, and then use the results as the justification that the company needs to purchase one.

Think of it as giving them a test drive of what can be done efficiently with the proper equipment.

If they don't think the results warrant buying one for the company then it is out of your hands. But you were the good guy for trying to help move them forward.

I don't know if it's that big a deal. I use my own digital camera all the time for work, simply because it's easier than signing one out.

Depends. Is this a one-time use thing? If so, bring yours in. But if they need a video camera more than once or twice a year, they can buy their own.

What Foxtrapper and Sky both said. I'll bring something if it makes my day easier or maybe from time-to-time, but I'm not going to bring my E36 M3 in all the time.

There's a good opportunity to show them how much better things could be with better equipment, though.. The big heads may not realize the value of getting you the better equipment. If it were once or twice, I'd probably roll my own, and then snap a few pics with the company one to show them "it could look like this if you don't get us." A lot of times people aren't necessarily being a cheapskate, they just don't see the value.

Well my camera's going to be used as the primary today with the office potato as the backup (since one will probably run out of battery or storage). This is the first time I've ever brought any equipment from home to help out. The other IT guys including the manager know this camera is mine and that we need a new one.

One discharge cycle on my camera's battery is miniscule compared to how many times more than me the consultant whose responsibilites I took over was making! And that's just a fraction of what I do.