As a professional photographer I have been in the shoes of being on a budget and not having the latest and greatest of everything… actually I still have aged equipment because I love my gear, care for it, and it is in perfect working order so I do not need the latest and the greatest— but I digress.

New photographers entering the field are primed by all the latest and greatest out there and the idea that newest gear makes the best images. Gear envy, is a great trap of the industry. Mastery of your equipment leads to great images not great equipment.

There is a great article from Feature Shoot on Photography on a Budget that you should check out if you are wanting to build a kit with more affordable used equipment.

I myself started with just a body and kit lens and would slowly add a new lenses as I had the money. I wouldn’t add a new body until I won a competition that gave it to me as a prize and then it was years before I got a new body that was more inline with my skills and needs.

To this day I shoot with older bodies, my current system is going on 8 years old. I prioritize lens over everything else follow closely by off body lighting. I like all photographers want new gear, I want a new body, but I do not need it. And that is the mantra I have to chant when I want to spend money I do not need to on sparkly new gear.