Very often we see posts from people who want advice on what gear they should get, but with absolutely minimal detail. Now, much of that missing material could be because they do not yet comprehend the significance of outlining the type of photography and the conditions under which they will shoot, and what their aspirations are: be it casual social, to student, enthusiast or someone with professional aspirations. That may be understandable, but the one element they can clearly express is how much they have to spend and that must be considered in the context of advice to them as responsible references. By budget I mean a number, not just 'not much money' or 'limited funding'.
We all want to see someone get the best gear for their purposes, but we should never steer them to gear they cannot afford to leave them with buyers' remorse or a serious debt problem. On the other end of the scale, we may have folks with very deep pockets who want the best of everything and can easily afford to pay for it, so we can expand our considerations accordingly.
To me, the budget is the maximum amount of money one can afford to invest in an activity, device or service. That is an absolute and fundamental criterion in business and personal financing in any endeavour. In all my years of working, that is one of the first questions that came up with a client or investor: whether it was for photography, engineering, IT and, on a domestic level, buying a house.
There is no point is recommending something that one simply cannot afford at that time. If the budget does not meet the aspiration, then something has to change: be it the item, or the budget value - which could mean going into debt waiting and saving, or selling other assets. Unless someone buys a special limited edition Leica, most people realize that the value of a camera and gear plummets when the box is opened - the value is in what one does with it.
So, essentially this is more basic than photography, it's personal or business financial discipline. When one works for a business there are normally checks to be made to ensure that is considered, but for personal finance that demands some self-discipline to avoid over-spend and going into debt, which I never encourage.
Also, if buying a camera from scratch, a lot of folks don't give due consideration in their finances to the optics, which are often as expensive (if not more so) than the camera body and arguably represent the longer-term investment. I would rather have a modest camera with a great lens than the reverse. Then, that budget figure needs to consider other items: cards, batteries, etc. that will be necessary for the purpose at hand. Those other items can add up to have profound impacts on how the money is spent.
I bet many, like me, have seen students be prepared to go into debt because they feel that to learn the basics of photography they need to buy the latest gear - certainly media and social pressure will encourage one to spend and spend. I had one student come to me, when I was a mentor for a institution, who was in financial distress from being up-sold on gear she could not possibly afford and was facing a major situation with her bank in meeting her payments. She could not return the gear and it had now decreased in value. Missing payments to the lender can impact one's credit rating and come back to haunt that person in the future, and she was seriously distressed and was going to impact her personal relationships.
I could not, in good conscious, ever recommend gear unless I know it was going to be affordable.
cheers, TREVOR
The mark of good photographer is less what they hold in their hand, it's more what they hold in their head;
"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow", Leo Tolstoy;
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase" Percy W. Harris
