Episode 3: WHEN GEAR MATTERS | Unscripted Saturdays 

Another great post.

Very well related. I had a Canon 50D and it would not focus on BIF with anything resembling consistency. My friends had Nikon d300's. I had some old Nikon lenses so I bought a D300s. I also bought a Nikon 300f4. For what I wanted to do, simply it worked. Unfortunately, this created within me a grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. But I have calmed down somewhat. Still, looking at the newest gear with some of the capabilities can be tempting!!!

I take a great deal of photos to show my friends the beauty of the world around them, as their eyes seem to miss all this. Recently I photographed holly berries in their snow-covered tree, and discovered that while my friends walked past it every day, they had not noticed it was there. These are published online, and are mostly viewed on their phones. So, what sort of camera is needed to produce a good photo about 6 cm wide? Photography enthusiasts see all sorts of imperfections and spend thousands on improvements, but most other people don't see any difference at all. I can take the same photo with my 40 mp X-H2, my 21 mp 5DII, or my 6 mp Nikon D40. Viewed on a friends phone, they are all the same. I justify some of my kit with photos of autumn gentians, butterwort, pollen beetles and the tiny female flowers that eventually turn into hazelnuts, but for most photos a basic knowledge of what aperture and shutter speed do will let any camera produce photos you can admire. Plus walking about with your eyes open.

Good topic. I want to add: You must be wise about the money you're spending while committing to buying gear to understand your needs. It's foolish to spend $4K on a 1200d because you've heard the brighter the light, the better, only to discover a year later, though powerful, it's too big and inconvenient for your small corporate productions. The challenge is finding the balance by judging products thoroughly, as described in this video. What gear can you afford that you know you need? Can you rent it first? Oh, renting isn't an option. Can you find a used option? Sometimes you don't know what you need until you've spent some dough and the gear is in your hand. I just encourage you to try to minimize the financial risks of the process because it can get costly.

This is one of photography's paradoxes: when you just start out you really do not know what gear you need because you do not know the genre or genres that you like. But the only way to explore photography is to have some gear to explore one or more genres. If I was going to go back in the past about 5 years when my journey started I would say this to myself: find 2-3 photographers that are into different kinds of photography and have different gear (brands, systems). Hang around these people a while and talk with them. Observe. Listen to those who ask you what do you want to take pictures of, what are you interested in? Don’t listen to the photographer who says you must have brand X and lenses Y and Z etc. Then make you preliminary decision with used gear. But....that was not my journey....

Yeah, it sometimes does take buying and returning. I jumped from a zve10 to a GH5ii for my POV channel, and while I loved the image quality and stabilization on the GH, autofocus was a total mess. I returned it and bought the FX3 and 14mm gm. Because for my creative process it was the necessary article. It's all about finding stuff that is fit for purpose. It's the reason I have my lunch in a ten dollar Walmart cooler and drive a small displacement car. Fit for purpose.