Samuel Bradley

Before I answer this, I’m going to explain something, please allow me to generalise a little.

It DOES matter what camera equipment you have, no matter how romantically people go on about the one you have with you is the best or any camera can take a good picture. Instagram is not a real camera and cheap digital point and shoots are mostly terrible. Photography is not a cheap hobby and it is always better to save up. You will notice most of the people telling you it doesn’t matter what camera you have own very expensive gear. If you want to cultivate a portfolio of snapshot photography then by all means look for a cheap 35mm point and shoot and go nuts. However if you want to learn photography in and out, and I mean lighting, colour management and post processing, then you’ll have to spend considerable time and money doing it.

HOWEVER, there is a balance, and you don’t need to break the bank, you just need to do your research. There is plenty available online. It is not about having the best gear, but you do need to consider what variety of gear you need and what will help you achieve your goals. People that go straight out and spend £1700 on a top of the range DSLR have not thought things through. If you’re loaded up with cash then buy whatever the hell you want, but it won’t give you much of an advantage. For less than £500 you can get a digital set up and I mean including a lens that will allow you to take industry standard photographs and beyond. More expensive gear will only help you when you know how to use it.

I currently use

A Mamiya RZ67 Pro II (the best bit of gear I own and it cost me £500 with a lens, film is not that expensive either)

Mamiya 65mm f/4

Mamiya 110mm 2.8

A canon 5d Mk II

Canon 50mm 1.4

Canon 24-70mm 2.8

Bowens lighting

A few 35mm cameras I picked up for free or at less than £50.

I develop all of my film myself at university and scan it all on an epson v700, sometimes I use IMACON scanners at uni.

I would like to add that if I hadn’t won a photography magazine competition in 2010 I would have considerably cheaper stuff. I got lucky.