I am not wrong . If you have a manual focus camera/lens you get a lot less keepers if shooting moving object using wide open aperture. If you buy more expensive gear that does AF, your keeper rate goes up. If you get a mirrorless like the A1 R5 Z9 your keeper rate goes up and you have more better pictures.

If you deny this you lie to yourself. It is true that better gear will not make you a better photographer, but it can produce better results just like in the case I just mentioned above.

New technology is coming out that will us AI to analyze and make better white balance decisions in automatic mode. If you buy that new tech you will have less white balance issues in say a concert where the lights change from second to second.

So I have a different perspective. While everyone say, use what you got. I don't buy into it.

If you are a big company, do you send your workers out with a hammer? No you send them with a nail gun and compresser.
You may teach them with a hammer or you hand them over to a mentor that might teach them how to use a hammer, but eventually they get a nail gun. This makes them more efficient and faster.

So gear are tools. I have no problem buying whatever gear I need, want, and can afford.

Is this foolish? No. It is only foolish if you buy the gear/tool and do not use it. Or you buy the gear when you should have spent it on food for your family or the house payment. Buying gear I cannot afford is foolish .

If you are smart, you buy used and if you only use the gear once, then sell it before it becomes obsolete and worthless and don't lose a lot of money selling it, then again, I do not think this is foolish.

I have every piece of gear I could want, but not necessarily the latest and greatest. And if I am not using it, I force myself to use it by creating self imposed constraints. If I don't use it at all. I sell it. It the value has gone way down, then I keep it.

There is an old saying, the best camera is the one you have with you. So now I take my old worthless unused camera and lenses and pack them in the car and in the truck without worry if someone steals them because they are not worth much anyway, but it because the camera that is with me and they are better than the cell phone because of the lenses. I always look on craigslist for used gear and garage sales. I want a Canon 100mm 2.8 L macro with IS. But I have the non L version and the camera has Ibis. I will not spend the money for a new lens so it is unlikely I will be getting the L version. I find lenses hold their value longer and don't become obsolete as fast.

If I want new gear and can afford it. I buy it. But I mostly buy used gear and it is great. Sometimes that means I have to wait until the price comes down. That requires patience.

Do I have new gear? Yep, Canon R5 is the latest new gear. So gear up if you can afford it and if you are going to use it I say.

If you think new gear will make you a better photographer, no, but if it makes you get out there and take pictures, yes, that will make you a better photographer, whether it is new gear, used gear, or your old gear. Just make sure you use it.