The camera you use doesn’t matter? I actually think it does… but I’d still never buy a $7K Leica

I have no shame admitting that I’m tight when it comes to buying camera kit, often picking up pre-loved second-hand gear and on the rare occasion that I do buy new, I wait until there’s a sale or cashback offer on.

I’d love to say that camera kit doesn’t matter, I truly believe that it does, but only up to a certain point, and I’m certainly not going to splash out on a premium brand simply to show off.

My point was proved perfectly when I upgraded from my Canon EOS R to the newer Canon EOS R5 which yes, was more expensive, but was well worth it in my opinion for its incredible face detection that has improved my hit rate for sharp street shots and portraits by an order of magnitude.

There are certain genres within photography that don’t require much expensive equipment at all, in fact my setup when I went travelling around South East Asia a decade ago back in 2016 consisted mostly of a beat up Nikon D800, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lens which I picked up for around $50 which I was able to capture some of my favorite and tack-sharp travel shots with during that time.

Don’t get me wrong, newer and more expensive kit can of course help, but for genres like this it’s not the be all and end all. However, this isn’t the case for other photographic professions such as wildlife and sports. Here, having the very latest cameras and lenses making use of the newest technology can mean the difference between you getting the shot or not, and ultimately whether you get paid – or the person standing next to you with the newer camera does, instead.

One new lens using the latest state-of-the-art technology, manufacturing processes and optical design that I was lucky to get hold of was Canon’s RF 100-300mm F2.8L IS USM (above) and it has honestly blown me away with what Canon’s engineers have been able to achieve with this lens. It has a price of $10,599 and I actually think it’s worth the money considering it can replace and do the job of multiple expensive fast f/2.8 primes. It also remains superbly sharp when used with Canon’s teleconverters such as the 2x extender, which make it an even more versatile and lightweight lens.

On the flipside, I’m less sure I’d be willing to part with thousands of dollars for a premium camera such as a Leica. Yes, they are absolutely a thing of beauty to behold and I fully understand they’re made from top quality parts and the glass is hand polished by skilled technicians in Germany and all the rest of it. But I do also think a large portion of the price that comes with them is down to that coveted red logo on the front that has that tells other people that you’ve spent a serious amount of money on it and is likely to cause some serious gear envy amongst your peers and for some that will be well worth the high ticket price to be part of the exclusive red-dot club.

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