How to Decide What Gear to Buy: What You Need or What You Want

When it's time to buy a new camera or some related accessory, sometimes you get information overload. It's tough to know how to decide what gear to buy. With so many options on the market, it's easy to overthink your decision. Trust me, I do.

Another extreme is buying something because it's the flagship product. Maybe it's because some of your mentors use a particular piece of gear. There is a lot of groupthink in purchase decisions, particularly in photography.

We want what others have, because we think it will help us get the photos that others get.

Outside of extreme cases of action or event photography, it's surprising just how much all of that top end gear doesn't really matter. The truth is that we can take really nice photos with something as simple as a camera phone. In fact, we've already seen a magazine cover now that was shot with an iPhone.

So how do you decide what gear to buy?

Budget vs. Best

There's an old saying.

On the surface, that seems like good advice. There's just one problem with it. If you can't afford to buy the gear that will last you a long time, then you aren't getting any benefit now. You have to decide what's more important. Having the best at some point in the future, or having something now that will do the job until you can afford to move up.

Mind you, flagship product isn't always what's best for you.

If you need something light, portable or small, then you don't want to get the flagship camera from Canon or Nikon. They're great cameras, but they are not light or small. Sometimes lugging a beast around isn't “best” for you.

Get the best you can afford for your purpose, and get it now. By the time tomorrow comes around, your “best” piece of equipment may not longer be the best for you. In the meantime, you can get to work doing what you love with the gear you can afford.

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Transcript

 

TH PHOTO FLUNKY SHOW:  Episode 73

 

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