I have had the great fortune to work with some of the best photography equipment ever made. From Leica to Hasselblad to Pentax to Arca-Swiss to Rodentstock to Nikon to Canon to Zeiss to Schneider from large format to 35mm and even point and shoot. I’ve had great lenses and great cameras but after all of these years I realized that honestly, a great shot or great image comes down to content. Content is king. We all want to take as technically great a shot as we possibly can. We all, or at least most of us, want to use the best equipment that we can afford. But the subject/content of the image is by far the most important thing. You don’t need expensive equipment to take great content. You don’t need expensive equipment to learn how to compose and how to capture the moment. All you need is practice and an eye. Both can be developed and both can be learned. Enjoy your equipment but don’t ever think that “if only I had”. Make due with what you do have. Practice with what you do have. At the end of the day the image will be as good as the content. You will save a lot of money down the road if content becomes your goal, not equipment.
This is not to say that great or even good equipment doesn’t make a difference. If given the same subject/content I would always want to use the best equipment I could afford to get the shot. However, I don’t believe that equipment helps you “see” the shot nor does it help you compose the shot. Photography, as in art, is always subjective and in the eye of the beholder. And most of the “beholders” I have shown images to, whether mine or someone else, never comment on density, tonal range or even clarity. Only photographers comment on these things. What people see is content. What people relate to is content. Viewers connect to the content, not the equipment.
So for those of you that love your equipment, I understand. But for those of you that can’t afford the “best” equipment, don’t spend one second worrying about it. Instead, go out and shoot and give us images that make us look and make us think. Go out and shoot!