When do you upgrade gear? There are a lot of options out there and it can be kind of a blur to try to decipher it all. Let me show you the pieces I’ve moved through, why I chose them and why I chose to upgrade.

Like a lot of people I started out with a Rebel. A Canon Rebel Xsi which I quickly paired with a 50mm f/1.8. This was a surprisingly impressive pairing all things considered and began my obsession with shooting wide and learning how to handle nailing focus.

Not long after I also purchased a 35mm f/2.0. This allowed me to have some more variations with my shots. On a crop sensor a 50mm is closer to an 85mm and a 35mm is closer to a 50mm. A 50mm viewpoint is fairly even with what one’s natural eyesight is showing them.

Not until 2.5 years after my Xsi purchase did I bother upgrading to a new body. I had two main interests – higher ISO capabilities and the option to do video. I purchased a Canon t2i The increased ISO really allowed me to push further on my indoor images, and have to worry less about “perfect” exposure and scenes knowing that I had more wiggle room in post production.

Allow us to pause for a moment of silence. The t2i met an untimely death due to a rogue sippy cup.  For it’s replacement I purchased a 60D and around the same time I also purchased a 24mm f/2.8, looking for a way to incorporate more scene while still using a cropped frame camera.

This past October I finally took the plunge and jumped into a full frame camera, a Canon 6D. The ability to shoot full frame and have my lenses be “true”, the way it’s able to handle increased ISO and noise, were features I really needed and yearned for now – nearly 5 years after my photography gear purchases started.

It’s said often – but the best camera really is the one you have. Learn how to fully take control of whatever gear you have and use it to its fullest potential. But, also realize when it’s time to step back and see that maybe your work could be improved by having some more flexibility in your gear.