We have all heard the old adage: buy cheap and buy twice. Here are five things you shouldn’t skimp on.
Photography can quickly become an expensive game. Cameras can be a major investment, so it is easy to try to cut corners elsewhere. Certain items can certainly be bought cheap and work just as well as their more expensive counterparts. These items should certainly not be skimped on.
Lenses
When I started out, I purchased a few cheap lenses. The optics were poor, the build was poor, and I eventually either broke them or sold them at a loss to buy better optics. If you have the budget, spring for some pro-level glass; it will easily last you a decade of heavy use, if not more.
Light Stands
If its holding onto an expensive item, don’t skimp. The first light stand that I purchased was from Manfrotto, and it was the only one I could find. At the time, it seemed extortionate for what was basically a metal stick, but I still have it today; it only holds flags and reflectors now, but by cost per use, it has been ace. About six years in, I started to invest in really heavy duty stands and century stands. These bad boys may cost a lot more, but I expect them to outlast me.
Tripods
Like light stands, tripods shouldn't be skimped on. You have the choice of cheap, light, or strong. You can only have two of those qualities. If it is cheap and light, it certainly wont be strong. I ended up buying some very strong tripods for the work I do; one of them was a 10-year-old Manfrotto Salon Stand and the other was brand new. I put a few grand into my tripods, and I wont be buying anymore in my career, barring any major incidents. The ones I purchased at the start that cost £150 or less all disintegrated or ended up being too flimsy for the job.
Hard Drives and Memory Cards
This sounds obvious, but I fell victim to Kingston memory cards when I started out as they were so affordable. I shot a festival one weekend and lost 2x 16 GB cards of data in a corruption. I was gutted. Since then, I have only used premium cards and when I order them online, I have them validated by the company to make sure that they are legitimate cards so that I know that the will work 100 percent of the time.
Bags
Six or seven years ago (my memory is hazy), I purchased a Think Tank Airport Security for what I thought was a ludicrous sum of money. I still have it today; I also purchased a Billingham shoulder satchel at the same time that I have used pretty much every day since. The cost per use of these items is amazingly cheap. Other photographers I know purchased cheaper bags and have replaced them several times over.
What are your items that you would never skimp on in photography?
Nice succinct article but your links are fairly useless. I would add filters to your list. You do NOT want to use cheap filters!
Thanks :)
What isn't working with the link?
If you don't know which lenses are pro-level or which memory cards are legitimate, the links won't tell you and if you do, you don't need the links. The other links only point to specific products which, while good, won't necessarily fit everyone's needs. I think it would be better to point to articles discussing what qualities define a good lens, tripod, light stand, bag and memory card/hard drive.
Ah I see. Will look into that on future articles.
Thanks
yeah I bought some cheap filters. huge waste of money.
I know the article is focusing on spending the cash for top tier or near top tier stuff when you need it, but one thing that I see people overlook are sandbags for their light stands. If buying light stands for the first time, yes, don't skimp, but also include sandbags as part of the purchase price.
Yeah sandbags are ace.
Isn't a sandbag actually one product that you could easily make yourself on the cheap?
I made my own but ones you can easily fill on-site are really nice.
Yes. The point being to not overlook them. When purchasing stands for the first time, consider them as part of the initial purchase of a stand.
Buy cheap buy twice.. or may be three times.
Re the memory cards how did you validate them? Was that just registering them with the manufacture?
If that's the case it will take me a while... I have a lot of CF cards.
you go to the website and go into live chat and type in the serial numbers.
YES to high-end hard drives!
I learned this one the hard way,
invest more in knowledge such as books, classes, and experience by shoot more.. you'll know what gear suits you well (it may not be the top-tier) and it can save some good money :)
Education is the most important aspect.
So what can you skimp on? Cameras and lighting gear? ;)
You don't need a camera with two memory cards! LOL
Stuff like flags or flats can be done DIY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk5IMmEDWH4
Definitely camera.
Thats a pretty useful video. Thanks for sharing
2 external HD for backup, or 2
Yeah I use 2 drives and a cloud. I then have a 3rd drive that I write to during the shoot that is kind of my second card slot in the camera... but not...
This Billingham you recommend is one ugly satchel !!!
haha, I guess it comes down to taste. I am really fond of them. They are about as British a camera bag as I think one could find.
Camera straps!! I hate the strap that comes with your camera, so I found one on Amazon, it had good reviews and looked good. So I got it and sure enough used it 2x and it started ripping, thankfully I realized it before my gear fell. I now use the holdfast money maker and also the spider holster, while they are a bit more expensive you can easily tell the quality and I feel safe and not paranoid that my expensive gear is going to drop. Guess this fits into your "anything that is going to hold you expensive gear" piece.
I have always stuck with what ever came on the cameras, but when ever I have used someone else nicer straps I have had a bit of envy.
lol. I have had 2 neck surgeries and 1 brain surgery, so I don't really have a choice, The ones that come with the cameras are just too painful. Get yourself a nicer one!
for tldr: dont skimp on anything
this is a useless article basically gluing affiliate links together.
Sorry you don't like the article. The links are put in after writing, rather than at the point of creation. All of my articles are original content, so when ever I mention a product I link to it.
its not about the link, its about the affiliate link.
this is an informative link
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/320208-REG/Matthews_B756040_Holly...
this is an affiliate link
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/320208-REG/Matthews_B756040_Holly...
notice the "/BI/6857/KBID/7410" behind the normal link. each and every item mentioned in your "informative" article you put in Bhphoto aff link in, not from any other store or even better from the manufacturer but from Bhphoto.
as i understand US law states that you have to be clear that those links are in fact affiliate links and not informative links. when you are not clear on this you devalue your article. simply because you want to earn money. sole focus is earning money, nothing wrong with that just be clear about it. just be clear and put a note below it, "this is not an informative article but a commercial article using affiliate links"
I am not sure about US law as I am UK based.
Probably something worth bringing up with the Fstoppers guys if you believe something is incorrect.
Calling a camera stand a “tripod” is more than a little strange.
Yes you are correct. I went for the term tripod as I thought the majority of people wouldn't be familiar with camera stands.
on a photography website holding articles about photography where photographers come to read about photography? here's one to help you, its not a monopod but a camera stand up stick.
I think your remarks on tripods "You have the choice of cheap, light, or strong" is the core set of factors any logical decision is built upon. In the logic of commercial photography (other fields too) you can reduce the core factors to 3, a triad of cost, quality, and time - we can only control 2 factors, which ones are our choice. A tripod that is cheap+light is NOT strong; cheap+strong is NOT light; light+strong is NOT cheap. In commercial photography, where time and quality is of prime importance, which makes a cheap camera body or lens violate the factor of time (quick turn around=delivery) - the higher quality lens and camera body provides a higher potential in productivity - taking less time to produce quality results. Sure, I could use an old Nikon F (film) camera, but the time it takes to develop and scan the film just creates an intolerable time lag in delivery of the finished digital images to the client. Selecting a "cheap" piece of gear only makes sense when the item has no real effect on the factors of time or the quality of the final image. Here's another example: I use post-it notes in my CRM workflow in the hardcopy files and on a wall covered with white dry erase panels (so I can see a lot of CRM/project material at a glance). Why pay for a genuine Post-It Note when the generic product works just as well? Here's another example: why pay about $15 for gaffer tape when I can pay half as much at Spenser's for bondage tape that works even better (the latter only adheres to itself)? (The latter is makes for some amusing conversations.)