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How To Not Buy New Camera Gear

Canon camera equipment on a table

Photography is a tech-heavy job. Camera companies do a great job of hyping upwards new gear and creating a fearfulness of missing out. Nevertheless, very few professionals that I know actually become and splurge on the latest and greatest equipment.

A loftier-end food photographer I know uses 90s flash generators daily. Another style photographer I know uses a camera from 2012 on most commercial jobs. So why exercise many pros choose not to own the latest and greatest gear?

Professional Use and Corruption

Let'south get-go consider how professional photographers use their gear. Wildlife photographers, for case, may travel to some of the most remote locations on this planet to capture what can just be described as scenic photos of our wonderful earth. Their cameras and lenses stop up in the snow, dirt, and rocks.

Speaking of lenses, a proper wildlife lens carries a proper toll. A wild animals photographer may buy a primary telephoto lens only a small number of times throughout their whole career. That lens may exist used until it breaks or the photographer makes an unreasonably expensive switch from one brand to some other.

Every bit for camera bodies, the story is a little different considering of the fact that a new photographic camera may be significantly better than the previous model, and therefore the lensman may choose to upgrade. That said, there are wildlife photographers out there all the same using gear from over a decade ago and creating incredible work.

A profoto professional photography studio flash
This very light blew up in Baronial.

The same applies to sports photographers. Sure, many in this niche likely employ the latest tech, such as the Canon R3 or the 1D 10 Mark III, simply they are nonetheless in a pool of many others using older cameras.

A prime number example where photography really hasn't inverse since 2009 is way and nevertheless life. My own portfolio has images shot on the Canon 5D Marker Two, Canon 5D Mark Four, Canon 5DS, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and Kodak 35mm film. Viewers generally tin can't tell the difference betwixt a expert 5D Mark 2 file and a good 5DS file. The just times you can is when I crop the 5D Marking II or have actually bad light on the 5Ds.

A portrait of a woman

In terms of withal life photography, the difference is even less apparent. Take for example old and new medium format cameras. In that location are enough of yet-life photographers working with erstwhile Stage 1 P+ backs (released in 2008) or even P (released in 2005). Engineering-wise, the older backs are relatively terrible, only that's not a big problem for some full-fourth dimension photographers who continue to produce high-end work with somewhat dated gear.

So the first reason pros don't own the latest and greatest gear is because the price of upgrading often is not necessary and considering their erstwhile gear is still holding up well despite being beaten upwards through use.

Upgrading Photographic camera Gear. When and Why?

So when practise professional photographers upgrade gear? What causes someone to switch systems or purchase a new camera? What I noticed is that photographers frequently buy two or more identical camera bodies so employ them till the shutter mechanisms die. If at that place is cipher better on the market to upgrade to, the lensman has the shutter gets replaced for a fraction of what it would toll to buy a new photographic camera, and the repaired camera continues to serve equally a workhorse.

This cycle can pretty much go along indefinitely — in certain photography niches, at to the lowest degree — until information technology makes more financial sense to invest in a new system.

For many, the cost of upgrading is directly associated with the question of "will information technology brand me more money?" For example, I would never buy a Profoto C1 Plus studio light for smartphone photography. But when I won one, I concluded up using it every day. I love it, but I would probably never spend money on it.

Information technology'due south the same for why I personally haven't upgraded my DSLR gear to mirrorless equipment yet. It is great tech, I don't doubt that some photographs need that tech. Many, withal, don't, and that includes me.

Film camera equipment on a table

So the second reason some professional photographers may not own the latest and greatest camera gear is therefore that in that location's no good fiscal justification for an upgrade when their existing gear is still doing the job well.

Old Gear Is Non Bad Gear

Photographic camera technology has reached a bespeak where sensors are not improving as dramatically with each new generation as they did back in the early on years of digital photography. Back in the twenty-four hour period, the clients were pushing for more than resolution, but the megapixel wars take since somewhat died down.

The mediums for which photographers are producing images have not changed. In digital. information technology'southward all mobile or online use. For print, the billboard is still pretty much the largest employ effectually. There hasn't been a novel technological advancement requiring working photographers to create images in a new style. At that place is only diversification of the online and print media that exist. For that reason, there oasis't really been "bad" cameras for over a decade at present. No matter the brand, they are generally all capable of producing loftier-end, quality, commercial piece of work.

Then if that's the case, why do I use a 5D Mark IV and a 5Ds? Well, I employ the 5D Marker Four for the ISO range also equally autofocus; it tends to come out on location and general-purpose shooting. Every bit for the 5DS, I use it mainly in a studio or when I know I might need to crop. I adopt shooting with the 5DS, honestly. There is something most information technology that forces me to slow down, think, and arroyo epitome-making more than advisedly.

The back of a Profoto B2 studio flash product

Depreciation

The cost of owning a camera consists of many factors. Ane of them is the depreciation charge per unit. For example, the moment you buy a new camera and pay for it, a proficient chunk of that cost is burned in depreciation, just like when a new car rolls off the lot. The moment you open that box and take the camera out, yous burn down a little more of its resale value.

By and large, buying the same product used volition cost half equally much and be equally as good. The longer y'all own a camera, the more it depreciates, but tech tends to dramatically lose value in the first few years from release (and even more when the tech becomes outdated with newer features and specs).

Suppose a professional bought a new camera each time 1 is released. Many photographers may only utilise their cameras once or twice a calendar week (this may vary depending on their niche, of course), then upgrading to a new torso every ii or three years after using a camera 100 or 200 times would likely not make skilful fiscal sense.

A table covered with $100 bills

In summary, professional person photographers tend to ain equipment that makes financial sense to own. That equipment should exist sufficient to not limit the creativity of the creative person or the quality of the delivered product, only every bit long equally it does not, the photographer would likely benefit from focusing more on upgrading their product rather than upgrading their tools.

Source: https://petapixel.com/2022/01/15/photographers-its-ok-to-not-own-the-latest-camera-gear/

Posted by: huberdoperelpland.blogspot.com

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