Do You Need Expensive Photography Gear?

Learn the basics of photography gear, and the answer to three of the most commons questions.

Prefer to watch this tutorial in video format? 😏

Introduction

In this tutorial I'm going to be going to go over the three most popular questions that come up when it comes to gear. Does photography gear matter, should you “study” it, and what type of gear you should start with.

Now, I’m going to say up front that photography gear can be intimidating. When I first got into photography, I looked at all the lenses and camera bodies and couldn’t help but feel like I absolutely had no idea what I was looking at. There's so many statistics and numbers and measurements going on, that it felt like I was back in college math class. And when you look at the prices, you realize that you really don’t want to buy the wrong thing.

Therefore, in this course, I'm going to teach you all the essentials of gear. What type of gear you specifically need, for what type of situations. I’m not going to be diving deep into the engineering of cameras, and I’m also not going to promote any brands or products in particular. You’re simply going to learn what is needed to get out in the field shooting as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

If you want to see a list of the gear I am currently shooting with, you can click here. Let’s dive in!

This is one of the first photos I ever took in Boulder, Colorado, using only a smartphone.

Does Photography Gear Matter?

This is the first question that always comes up when approached by a newbie. Does the gear you have actually make a difference in the field? And the answer to this question is yes, but it depends... You’ll often hear rhetoric online that gear doesn’t matter, and that if you’re good enough you can get solid photos in any situation.

While this is true to some degree, the level of gear you have simply dictates the types of photos you can get. More gear = more possibilities for photography. Let me give you a few examples. If you're shooting with a lens that is, say, 24mm, you're only going to be able to shoot wide scenes. However, if you have a lens that's 200-600mm, you're going to be able to get much more zoom, and be able to shoot things like birds, animals, or far away mountain ranges.

There's simply photos you can't get if you don't have the right type of gear. Another great example is the concept of Dynamic Range. We're going to get into this in much more detail later, but let me give you a brief description of what it is. Dynamic range is essentially the range of light and darkness within a photo. If you have a camera with a sensor that has a big dynamic range, this means you're going to be able to shoot in more low-light situations, and end up with a higher quality photo. For example, if you're shooting at twilight when the sun's gone, you're going to be able to get a photo that has significantly more detail and color range than a camera with a poor dynamic range.

Filters are yet another example of gear that unlocks new possibilities. For example, if you don't have an ND filter, you won’t be able to get that surreal water blur in waterfalls in bright situations.

The important distinction to note here is that gear price isn't always important. Camera companies and YouTube review channels will give you the illusion that higher priced items can give you higher quality photos. This is not always true.

I shoot with Sony for example, and you will notice that in the Sony world, there are luxury lenses branded with “G” or “G-Master” logos. And if you read enough reviews, you’ll learn that many of these lenses have equivalents in Tamron or Sigma brands that are roughly half the price, with almost the same level of quality. 

Always look at the prices and reviews in correlation because you can find a lot of extremely high quality gear that's much cheaper there on the market that unlocks all the same types of shots these lenses offer.

Now does the brand of your photography gear matter? 

The easy answer is no, as long as you’re working with well known camera companies. And by well-known camera brands I mean companies like Sony, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Fuji, Lumix, Pentax, and Leica. Names you’ve heard tossed around your whole life.

Personally, I shoot with Sony, but only because I grew up playing Playstation as a kid, so it seemed like the most logical choice. My best advice would be to pick a camera brand you like from the start and stick with it.

Once you start investing in Lenses, you’re not going to want to have multiple brands because the lenses will only fit on your brand. And sure, you can buy lens converters, but most of the time these reduce the quality of the lens, disable autofocus features, and are just another thing to manage in your camera bag.

The great thing about lenses is that they will last for the next 15-20 years if you take care of them properly. Lens technology “upgrades” are hardly worth a new investment, and you’ll find that plenty of people prefer shooting with older lenses because of their look and feel. The more lenses you work with, the more you’ll begin to notice certain qualities that you enjoy, like bokeh or autofocus capabilities. 

This photo was taken at Ausable Canyon in upstate New York, with a ultra-wide, 12mm lens.

This photo was taken at King’s Bluff in Arkansas, with a telephoto lens set at 200mm.

Should I “Study” Photography Gear?

The second question that almost always comes is “should I spend time studying gear?” By this I mean watching YouTube videos, reading reviews, and keeping up-to-date with the latest technology.

My answer to this question is no, don’t get sucked into this subculture within the photography community. For the most part it is a waste of time, and it’s just going to suck money out of your pocket because you’ll always feel like you need the best gear.

These YouTube channels and companies are masters at making you feel like the equipment you just bought last year is completely worthless and that you’re not going to get a good photo unless you upgrade.

The only time you should be watching YouTube reviews is at the very beginning of your photography career or later on once you feel like the gear you do own is significantly holding you back. 

Socially, talking about photography gear can also be a bit of a buzz kill. There’s nothing worse than meeting another photographer and the first question is “what type of gear do you have?” Not everyone has the same budget, so it can often turn into a bragging competition that breeds resentment instead of friendship.

I much prefer to start conversations with “Did you get any good photos today?”, “How are the conditions out there?”, or “How did you get into photography?”. Then, you can actually get to know the photographer, get some good advice, or see some amazing shots. 

This photo was taken at The Morgan Library in NYC. You can spent your time studying photography gear in the library, or spend your time shooting the library.

What Photography Gear Should I Start With?

My personal recommendation is to go through three different phases of gear acquisition. 

The first stage is easy, and you probably already have half of it. It’s simply a smartphone and a small, flexible tripod. That’s it. This is the setup that I used for the first 9 months of my photography career, and it will get you much further than you could imagine.

The catch about this setup is that you’re going to be stuck at 1-3 focal lengths (we’ll cover what this means in the Lenses tutorial) but it essentially means that, depending on your phone model,  you won’t be able to zoom in or out far without losing quality. It also means that your options regarding technical shots (i.e. long exposure, night, distance, etc.) will be severely limited.

But… it will give you sufficient time to realize if photography is a hobby that you truly want to pursue. Once you feel confident in your phone photography, and you feel that the setup is legitimately limiting your creative potential, it’s time to upgrade.

That leads us to stage two- investing in a crop-sensor (APS-C) camera with a kit lens. I’ll be going over what a crop sensor (APS-C) camera is in more detail in the Cameras tutorial of this course, but essentially it’s an entry-level camera in the $1,000 - $2,000 USD range. A kit lens is an entry level lens that usually has a wide focal length that allows you to experiment with both wide and zoomed shots. 

This setup will allow you to begin to learn the logistics of photography from a more technical standpoint, without getting too into the weeds with excessive gear. You’ll learn how to expose properly, how focus works, and how to use various camera settings to your advantage. You’ll also be able to get much more advanced shots, like long-exposures, quick shutter shots, and night photos, and be able to print your photos with a solid resolution. 

From here, the third stage of acquisition involves getting a full-frame mirrorless or DSLR camera, and a wide assortment of lenses. Which lenses you decide to invest in will depend entirely on your personal preferences, and what you want to shoot. 

The reason I hesitate to recommend jumping to the third stage right off the bat is because this stuff is expensive. Professional camera bodies are generally $3,000+ USD, with individual lenses varying from $750-$3,000 each. It’s quite an investment, and you really want to make sure you’re getting gear that you’re actually going to use.

It’s also worth noting that by the time you get to this stage you’re probably going to want a backup camera anyways, which is where the crop sensor (APS-C) camera will come in handy. 

This photo was taken at Sol Duc Falls in Olympic National Park. It was taken using long exposure features and an ND filter.

In Summary

Overall, the moral of the story here is to not get too caught up in gear, and to ease into your setup slowly. It’ll pay off in the long run to be informed about what type of gear you own, but once the purchasing is all said and done, it’s not worth your time to dwell on newly released gear and technology. 

Instead, spend your time learning new techniques, looking at other artist’s photos, and reading stories about photography.

Let’s jump into the next tutorial, which is everything you need to know about picking a killer camera!