When you are a hobbyist, you can enjoy buying gear however you want so long as you can afford it, but when you are a professional, you have to really change your philosophy to camera, lens, and lighting purchases. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced commercial photographer discussing his approach to buying gear and how he fulfills his needs without breaking the bank.
Coming to you from Scott Choucino of Tin House Studio, this insightful video looks at his approach to buying gear as a professional photographer. As you will hear, Choucino takes a very frugal approach to the gear he needs, opting for gear that fulfills his needs in a reliable manner without the need for all the latest bells and whistles or extreme features, which means he often chooses secondhand gear with a reputation for durability. I think his most important point is challenging the idea that more expensive equipment will lead to increased image quality and more jobs. In fact, as Choucino's rates have grown over time, he has largely kept the same kit. It is arguably better to keep gear you know well and trust, rather than constantly risk issues from upgrading to newer gear that you do not know as well or that does not have established reliability. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Choucino.
Every time I see a video from this guy, I can't help but feel he comes off like "The angry photographer" going on about how his $13 lens from a swap meet back in 1984 is better than the Canon RF 85mm 1.2
Every single video seems to be about how you don't need new gear and old stuff works fine?
And it does! If you're shooting still-life on a table, a Canon rebel XT with an adapted lens and some lights that used to cost $80,000 back in the mid-70s.. it works fine.
But a lot of the newer cameras have quality of life improvements. For anything outside of taking pictures of an egg on a table.. doing actual event work where you need a faster FPS, a faster refresh rate, battery powered strobes that don't require a 120LB generator, you'll appreciate the quality of life improvements! Bigger, better raw files, cleaner ISO levels, swivel screens.
You don't need to upgrade to every model coming out.. but upgrade once in a while to take yourself seriously?
One of those softbox umbrellas that collapses in 4 seconds versus one you're putting the ribs in? Both will work, but that $150 you spend on a newer one will make your job easier. You don't need to buy every one they make or upgrade every year.. but just how you can get confused learning a new camera or lighting system.. what if you get a job that doesn't use your 36 year old lighting pack? Or if you need to travel? Or if it breaks and you can't replace it?
Sorry for the rant. The dude gets posted here all the time and after watching one video he's been in my YouTube recommended videos with a different rant every day about how he's a professional photographer and you're stupid because you don't do things his way..