Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

Generally speaking, knowing ones gear is knowing the tools' full capability, limitations and the skills/imagination to use them appropriately.

Buying a new gear, camera, lens etc. everytime a new one is advertised, may improve one's happiness and pride but do not improve the photographer, unless he/she knows that he is buying the solution to solve a shortcoming he/she has encountered and failed to solve with his old equipment.
Who knows, maybe the right purchase is a seminar of techniques?

Although it seems natural to seek the cumulative advise of the community when a one is going to face newgrounds, many fail to ask the right question about circumstances that may be present. Instead they only ask what gear to bring, because they have yet to know what each tool can achieve.

Choosing a gear to full fill what can be expected to happen, following the saying;"The right tool for the job" is more productive than bringing a gear (because of someone's recommendation which may be from a different experience) and expecting it to answer all challenges, which goes with;"If all you got is a hammer, everything is a nail".

One can only effectively choose, if they know their tools.

Having knowledge of possible circumstances, do not assure they will happen nor prevent other situations to unfold.
Even then, having the gear for those meant the best images possible for that expected moment.
And in knowing what those gear can and cannot do, then it is easier to choose a secondary/supplementary gear for other eventualities.

Cellphones' have now been really great for general documentation and would readily fill the spot of secondary/supplementary gear. Some may even choose them as their main gear for the matter.

The main gist is knowing what one wants, what one expects and what one can do to get the desired result.

It's a big world to explore; may you have the best light, beautiful moments & happy smiles!

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

In the last few years several of my photographic friends and acquaintances have changed their gear, some investing heavily. None have shown me pics of better quality than they were producing before they changed. Some are not as good. It's almost certainly down to knowing how to get the best out of what you already have. It's all about learning curves. Once you know it, keep it and relax and enjoy - why start all over? - which can take months of mistakes and frustratingly crap pics.

bart11

Dr, I have a large GAS for a new camera under $800. It seems that they stopped manufacturing any kind or any price, except a couple of exeptions, since 2020 due to lack of chips in the market. They probably now using these chips to manufacture smart weapons. But I have a problem, what do you suggest?

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Let me tell you that I am 100% in agreement with your statements. A new camera does not make a better photographer. If your images were not acceptable to you with the old camera the new one will not change that.
I know of two reasons to buy a new camera; GAS and buying new technologies that will improve a photographic style, like buying a camera with a better AF for wildlife photography. To satisfy GAS money is all that is needed. Buying a camera to improve on what the old camera cannot do is a wise investment in my opinion.

For the landscape photographer who does not crop often and I am in that group, 17 Mp offers enough resolution to make a beautiful 20x30 inches enlargement. Make it 24 Mp if one feels more megapixels is the answer. When I was using the Nikon D2X with its 4 Mp. I was perfectly happy with my 13x18 inch enlargements. I once tried a larger print and all the details were there. Modern cameras do much better with the wider dynamic range and better resolution.

I still use a D7000 and a D610, both are Nikon bodies. Both cameras are old but they satisfy my needs. My two Olympus bodies have 17 Mp. and my 12x18 inches enlargements are beautiful and full of details satisfying me entirely.
My recommendation is to buy what you need assuming your present camera is not satisfying your needs.

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

So true

There was a time i asked for guidance in buying a long lens. Not because of GAS but to get others opinion on which long lenses was the best option.
I knew i had to buy one, because my other lenses were limiting my imagination. The only question was which one offers the best bang for the buck.
Learning the new lens and the gear needed to make it work on my terms was a tight curve. As expected it was used very infrequently and did not really made me a better shooter. Rather, it expanded my horizon by allowing shots i could not do before, possible.
It was still growth in my point of view so i was willing to bite the bullet and it turned out to be a wise decision.

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

As previously discussed, GAS makes us smile and be proud, but aiming to solve a problem is what makes us step up the ladder of improvement.
Thoroughly knowing ones tool and personal capability is the first step to identify weaknesses where improvement can be done.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

There is nothing deep down inside us that can't be fixed by a new camera.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

What camera is being replaced? What features do you desire in a new camera? If you could buy a new model without regard to price, what model are you looking at? These details are necessary for anyone to give helpful advice on candidate used models that seek balance price to capability, based on your expressed functional needs.

anotherview Loc: California

Photography functions as a craft that may rise to art in the right hands. Years ago, the photographer Minor White said that learning photography takes ten years. But today, with digital means of photography available, the learning period may shorten. The skills and knowledge necessary to produce worthy photographs, however, still develop from diligent practice of the craft of photography.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

Now your encouraging me to think labels, but I will resist this sort of GAS and relax with a smile and stick with my Panny M4/3 and simply acknowledge the virtues of Leica.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

The title says it all in a nutshell.

Know how your gear works, and what it is and is not capable of doing.

Then one would not have to ask "What <piece of equipment> should I use for <task>?" because one knows how their equipment works, when to use what. If you don't know right now, experiment and learn what it does under varying circumstances.

bart11

Μy two prerequisites is to cost under $800 and to be new. NOTHING ELSE. But they do not make new cameras anymore. 3 years now only a couple of high spec cameras were made. They stopped making lower cost cameras.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

'New' is mostly irrelevant, in terms of digital cameras. Granted, you won't have warranty support. Nor, the latest brag rights on UHH. And, the older the model, the less likely of a repair option. But, modern cameras, say anything from 2015 onward, are luxury goods. Few 'need' can interchangeable lens camera. Lower-end models compete with $1000 phones, so who needs a $1000 camera-phone and another $800 camera-camera? As luxury goods, this equipment is built for the long-haul, where 'used' is typically indistinguishable from new in the equipment's long-term useful-life-expectancy.

Since you refused to provide the requested details to give focused answers, consider the Canon Powershot models, that are all 'new', 'digital' and 'sub $800'. I shoot with an older Canon G9X-II, a 20MP model, where Canon and Sony have standardized on this pixel resolution and cropped sensor for their multiple models in this pocket-sized model. Sony's version are 'Cybershot'.

For interchangeable lens cameras, you just have to consider your options. A widely popular model like the Canon EOS 5DIII now has a glut of used models in the resale market. They're appearing lightly used in the $600 range, for a 22MP full-frame camera with many of the features of Canon's top 1DX-II model from the same 2012 time period. Any 20MP to 24MP model is much the same as another, whether new or 10+ years old. Worrying about 'new' is your own self-limiting decision, and worrying about sub $1000 is unrealistic for 2023 -- probably forever more.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

This is so painfully obvious with UHH as an example.
Well put.

bart11

I never refused to give info, it is your opinion. I said very clearly that since 2020 manufacturers do not produce cameras and I have a GAS for a new camera and surely not for 2015 models. And also I said, I do not care for anything else than to be not only completely new but also under $800. More specific I could not be.