Photography - Should You Get the Best Equipment?

There are a lot of variables in photography leading up to the final image.  And as my photography professor said, "Eliminate the variables."  At least eliminate those you can, and adjust those you can't.  Your equipment is one of the variables you can adjust.  So although great equipment won't make you a great photographer, it will help you capture better quality images with a lower chance of equipment failure (which would give you no images).  Also keep in mind that although better equipment may cost more initially, over time it may well be less expensive.  For example, one camera that costs less may only be good for 50,000 shutter releases before failure, while another may cost twice the price, but last for 150,000 shutter releases, plus give you other added benefits such as better quality in low light situations, may be more weather proof, and give you better quality images.  It won't make you a better photographer, but all else being equal, it will give you better results.  For example, below are two photos shot with two different cameras and lenses.  The first was from the less expensive one.  The lighting was about the same - at night with on camera flash.

The top photo was taken with a less expensive camera which works great with lots of light, but the image starts to degrade under low light conditions.  The second was taken with a better camera yielding better results.  As always, clicking on the photo will show a larger size image.

This is just one example to illustrate one possible variable.  In a future post I will try to list all the variables.

Have a great day and week.