As photographers we face a number of investment choices as we continue to build our skill level, and broaden the range of subject matter we photograph. If you’re like me these investment choices have been spread out over time. This makes having an overall game plan and some good evaluation criteria important.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge. Photographs have been added to serve as visual breaks.

Way back during my time in corporate life I used to hire professional  photographers to work on various advertising initiatives. After assignments were completed, I’d have a chance to chat with these pros about their camera gear and how they approached their business.

One of the topics that we’d chat about was the importance of camera gear, and specifically where pros would invest their money. And, how often camera gear would be replaced. This was back in the film days of course.

All of the pros that I dealt with back then always told me that their most important investments were with lenses. Camera bodies were seldom replaced… and typically only when they became too costly to repair. All of this made total sense with film photography.

If we fast forward to today with digital photography… and the rapid advancements in technology… investment decisions have become much more complex.

Over the years I’ve had a number of discussions with folks who were pondering how they should invest their available budget to further their photographic craft.

Common questions were… “Should I buy a new camera body?” “Should I buy new lenses?” “Is the updated version of that lens worth it?” “Should I change equipment brands?” “What camera format is best for my needs?”

All of these questions are important to ask ourselves. Unfortunately we sometimes ask these questions prematurely, and get ourselves in trouble as a result.

Something else that often gets us into trouble is asking other people what we should do when it comes to our photographic investment choices. When I look back on the mistakes I’ve made with gear, I can trace almost all of them back to listening to other people.

So, this article isn’t about making any recommendations. Instead it (hopefully) provides some considerations that may help readers make well-informed and productive photography investment choices.

Project forward.

Rather than focus on an immediate investment choice, it can be very beneficial to look into the future. Even projecting forward by three to five years can be very instructive… especially during periods of technological shifts like we are currently experiencing.

For example, if we are using a DSLR today, how confident are we that we’ll still be using that type of camera gear five years from now? How confident are we that the brand we are currently using will still be building that type of gear a few years down the road? How confident are we that we’ll still be able to have that gear serviced in 5 years?

If our level of confidence is below 65% does it make sense for us to invest in additional DSLR type camera gear over the next three to five years? Or, would it make more sense for us to hold on to our cash and plan for a more transformational investment choice a few years down the road? Another option may be to start to sell our current gear now while we can still get some decent money for it… and slowly transition into newer technology.

Define real, current needs and realistic plans for the future.

This is probably the biggest challenge that we face as photographers. What makes it so hard is that it is very easy to fall prey to all of the hype that is endemic in the photography market. How many times have we read that something is a ‘game changer’ or that ‘photography will never be the same’ because something has just been introduced. Much of this hype can originate from some of the photography websites that have a vested interest in their readers buying new camera gear since they get a ‘click through’ sales commission.

I suppose a good example of that situation is the current hype about the introduction of a global shutter for photography. Will a global shutter make a difference in specific photographic situations? The quick answer is yes it could.

Is it worth changing systems to get those differences? Should a photographer make significant investments to have this technology? I don’t know since I have no idea how other photographers will assess this technology. Based on my specific needs and how I see my future, the global shutter news elicited little more than an uninterested shrug from me. Other folks could be jumping for joy.

It is critical that individual photographers have a clear idea of their shooting style. How they intend to use their images now… and down the road in a few years. They also need to consider what genres of photography that they are focused on today, as well as where they logically think they will move to in the future. Failing to properly define our needs makes it easy for us to get enthralled with new technology and specifications that we may not actually need.

For example, Starry Sky autofocusing is very ‘cool’ technology. Some folks may call it a breakthrough for certain photographic situations. My wife’s OM-D E-M1 Mark III has this capability. Did we choose that model of camera for my wife because it had Starry Sky autofocusing? Nope. Never even considered that function to be relevant for our purchase decision.

My wife has been using her E-M1 Mark III for well over three years. Have either of us used Starry Sky even once? Nope. Are we likely to use it in the future? It seems unlikely… but not impossible.

The point here is that if we had allowed ourselves to become enthralled with that specific technology it could have morphed into a primary purchase criteria for us. In turn, that could have led us to making a poor investment choice if other aspects of the E-M1 Mark III didn’t meet our needs.

The importance of clearly defining our real, current needs and identifying our future plans cannot be understated. At the end of the day taking a broad and well-balanced approach to a photography investment choice is the best route.

Critically assess specifications and their real impact

There certainly is nothing wrong with reading gear reviews and comparing specifications. The danger is that we can put ourselves at risk of making a poor investment choice when we fail to critically assess specifications, and their real impact on the photography that we actually do.

In an earlier article I outlined why the new OM-1 camera didn’t make any sense for me or my business. That’s not to say that the OM-1 is an inferior piece of kit… far from it. By most accounts it is a wonderful camera that is doing a great job for many photographers.

I couldn’t justify the investment since I had assessed that the differences in specifications between the OM-1 and my E-M1X were incremental for my specific needs. These incremental differences were significantly overshadowed by the handling, ergonomic and comfort advantages of my E-M1X.

Getting totally immersed in specifications and comparisons between cameras is a trap in which it is very easy to fall.  For example, many of us focus on sensor size/performance, especially dynamic range, when evaluating cameras. In the past, DxOMark assessed that a difference of 0.5 EV in dynamic range was needed before it began to be noticeable for most photographers.

From a practical standpoint that guideline would indicate that there is no discernable difference in dynamic range performance between a Nikon 1 J5 (12 EV) and a Canon 6D Mark II (11.9 EV). Nor would there be a discernable difference between an Olympus OM-1 E-M1 Mark II (12.8 EV) and a Canon 5DS (12.4 EV), and only a slightly noticeable difference in favour of the E-M1 Mark II over a Nikon D5 (12.3 EV).

On the surface it may appear totally ridiculous to compare dynamic range test scores between small sensor cameras like a Nikon 1 J5 or an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II with some full frame models from Canon and Nikon.

The point here is that the dynamic range test results done by DxOMark are what they are. They don’t have any bias to feed. In these specific DxOMark match-ups the smaller sensor cameras compared very favourably with the selected full frame cameras.

This helps to illustrate that if a photographer puts too much weight only on sensor dynamic range test scores, or any other specification,  they could make a poor investment choice given the totality of their photographic needs.

There are many paths to improvement.

Becoming fixated on a particular piece of kit may blind us to other photography investment options that have the potential to provide meaningful improvements to our work.

It wasn’t that long ago that many photographers almost automatically updated their cameras to the latest model. Or, in some cases, they would skip one model update, then buy the next one. This led to purchasing a new camera body every two or three years. The specification differences between models tended to be incremental at best.

Given the increasing costs of camera gear over the past number of years it has become increasingly difficult to justify investments that only result in very modest sensor performance improvements. Often cameras are heavily promoted based on their sensor size and resolution.

When reviewing test data, we sometimes discover that the newest sensors do not always result in improved dynamic range, colour depth and/or low light performance. It is prudent to investigate independent test scores to try to assess the performance value of new sensors.

I had a quick look at the  DxOMark website as I was writing this article. It is instructive to note the the Nikon D850 (launched in August 2017 ) and the Nikon D810 (launched in June 2014) still hold the top spots in terms of dynamic range scores for Nikon full frame cameras on the DxOMark website. And, rank ahead of any of the Canon full frame cameras listed. The D850 and D810 are also equal to, or greater than, any of the Sony full frame cameras listed in terms of dynamic range scores.

Investing in a new camera body can make a lot of sense when the camera actually delivers new technology that expands photographic potential. The caveat, of course, is whether a photographer will actually take the time to learn those new technologies, and how to best utilize them.

We need to be brutally honest with ourselves when assessing new technology, or we run the risk of wasting our hard earned money on technology we won’t use.

During the almost 20 years that I’ve owned digital cameras I’ve never had the need to print anything larger than 24″ x 36″ (~61 x 91.5 cm)  trim size. In fact, the vast majority of my image enlargements were no larger than 16″ x 24″ (~40.6 x 61 cm) with the majority being 12″ x 18″ (~30.5 x 45.7 cm).

Buying a 61 MP high resolution, full frame camera to help facilitate the production of super large prints would make absolutely no sense for me. Based on the priorities of other photographers, going the full frame, high resolution route could be an excellent decision.

I appreciate that some folks buy high resolution full frame cameras because they intend to do a lot of cropping in post. This can be important to them if they intend to use shorter focal length telephoto lenses to help reduce the overall weight and cost of their set-up.

At first blush, going from a 20MP M4/3 sensor to a 61MP full frame sensor appears to provide a 300% increase. If we compare pixel counts on horizontal and vertical axes the actual increase in cropping potential is more modest. Going from 5184 pixels to 9504 provides about 45% more cropping width. Moving from 3888 pixels to 6336 pixels delivers about 39% more cropping height.

For some photographers this additional cropping range could be important, while other people may decide to keep a smaller sensor camera and use teleconverters to get more pixels on their subjects.

Leveraging new technologies like Pro Capture, Live ND, in-camera focus stacking, Handheld Hi Res, in-camera HDR, Keystone Compensation and Bird Detection AI have expanded my photographic potential significantly more than having a larger format, high density sensor camera could ever have done for the work that I do.

Being able to use a camera in a wider range of harsh conditions also expands photographic potential. Features like weathersealing, IBIS performance, and dust reduction all increase shooting flexibility. We need to remember that photographic improvement can come from a wide range of camera features and functionality, not just sensor related issues.

The key takeaway here is that there is much more to consider when purchasing a camera than just sensor size and resolution. As the camera industry continues to evolve I think it is reasonable to assume that computational photography capabilities will become increasingly important purchase criteria when considering various mirrorless camera models from a range of manufacturers.

The value of investing in AI software

There may be times when we invest in new lenses even though we haven’t explored ways to maximize the performance of our current gear. It is important to consider that there have been significant advances in photographic software that utilizes AI technologies during the past number of years. These advancements can be leveraged to get more performance from our existing lenses.

Many of us only think about buying a new camera body or lens when we contemplate improving our photographic outcomes. In many instances it can be far more cost effective and impactful to invest in some of the new photographic software that utilizes AI technologies rather than buying new equipment.

For example, my wife uses an M.Zuiko 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II zoom lens. This lens gets some criticism in terms of its sharpness at longer focal lengths. I’ve used my wife’s 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II on a number of occasions and have no hesitation to shoot it wide open when fully extended. I’ve found that doing a bit of work in post with RAW files created with this lens produces quite good, and very useable results.

Are those photos at the same quality level of those produced with an M.Zuiko PRO 300mm f/4 or PRO 150-400 f/4.5 IS zoom? Obviously not. No one should expect a $750 CDN lens to perform identically to lenses that cost $3,800 CDN or $10,000 CDN.

From a pragmatic standpoint, a photographer may find that spending $200 on some photographic AI software may deliver a sufficient improvement to their images that more than meets their needs. A fundamental question then arises. Why spend significantly more money on a new lens that we may not actually need given our photographic priorities and image use… when AI software may be a better and more cost effective solution?

Computational photography technology compatibility

I think it is also reasonable to assume that as computational photography technology continues to evolve and becomes integral to brand marketing and positioning, camera manufacturers will limit its compatibility to their higher end, higher priced lenses.

Third party lens compatibility with these new computational photography technologies may also be restricted through firmware updates.

Even compatibility with ‘open’ platforms like M4/3 may be restricted. Not being able to fully utilize the capability of the technology resident in a particular camera body unless specific lenses are used could have a major impact on the buying behaviour of many photographers.

Burning holes in pockets.

On occasion some people are flush with cash. The emotional high that comes with buying new camera equipment can be very difficult to resist.

When cash flow is burning a hole in our pockets we can convince ourselves to buy just about anything. Even when we are well-served by our existing kit we can feel the pressure to add some new gear, or make a change with our kit.

Change for change sake is rarely cause for celebration. We can also burn through a lot of cash needlessly.

The value of experiences.

In situations where our photographic needs are being met by our current equipment, it can be interesting to consider a unique photographic adventure, or plan a photography tour. These experiences can be of significant value in terms of advancing our photographic skill level, and create a legacy of wonderful memories.

My wife and I have planned a number of photography tours over the past number of years… and we’ve enjoyed all of those experiences immensely. We’ve found that planning a photography tour takes vacation/holiday planning to a different and more intense level. We are able to visualize the trip with more colour and emotion. It also adds more anticipation to the trip.

As part of our planning process we enjoy investigating a sample route in detail by simultaneously using Google Maps and Google Images. My office computer utilizes a pair of 27″ monitors so I can have the two  programs open at the same time on different screens.

We typically enlarge the Google Maps route so we can identify individual beaches, bays, and other geographic points of interest. If a location seems to have some potential, I can then enter that location on Google Images.

With one click of my mouse I can then see numerous images that other photographers have created when they’ve visited that location. This simple exercise has helped us identify all kinds of locations that we would have otherwise completely missed experiencing.

As human beings we often categorize investment choices as having a monetary value only. Should I spend my money on a new camera body, or that lens that I’ve been considering?  When we get stuck on that binary path that is financial in nature, we fail to recognize the value of life experiences.

Technical Note

Photographs were captured handheld. Images were produced from RAW  files or out-of-camera jpegs using my standard process. This is the 1,347 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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