Canon® EOS Digital Photography Photo Workshop

11.1. GEARING UP

Every photographer gets excited about equipment, and relishes the time spent behind the viewfinder. Today, with computer technology so deeply integrated with photography, equipment issues extend far beyond cameras, lenses, and lights to the unending choices and innovations you'll want to consider in your digital studio.

In the context of this book, it's important to consider whether your camera gear is right for you in terms of what you want to create, produce, and present. This may have to do with the quality of lenses you buy, or the types of features or accessories you want with a particular camera. Perhaps you are keenly interested in macro photography, and you need a flash specifically designed for the work. Or maybe you're shooting sports, and you need a camera and lens fast enough to catch that one perfect moment in time.

11.1.1. WHEN SHOULD YOU UPGRADE GEAR?

You've probably asked yourself this question already, and I'm sure it will come up again as your photography career continues. With new equipment being introduced every year at the very least, you could spend all your time and money investigating new equipment. But you need to do what makes the most sense for your resources and needs, and for producing the very best photos.

Here's one situation when I addressed this problem based on my needs: I began shooting international fencing championships in 2003 with a fast Canon EOS film camera along with a 10D dSLR. With the Olympic Games coming the next ...