Argh. Why Is There So Much Camera Gear? Please Help Me!

There is a LOT of camera gear out there. Bodies, lenses, bags, tripods, filters, memory cards, drones, studio lights — and it can feel like you need to spend thousands of pounds before you've earned the right to call yourself a photographer. You don't. Not even close. In this episode I cut through all of it and tell you exactly what a beginner photographer actually needs, what can wait, and what you can safely ignore entirely. 📷

In this episode we cover:

●        📷 Tip 1 — The camera body: why it matters less than you think

●        🔭 Tip 2 — The lens: this is where your money should actually go

●        📐 Tip 3 — The tripod: do you actually need one, and when?

●        💾 Tip 4 — Memory cards: the unsung essential nobody talks about

●        🔋 Tip 5 — Batteries: no battery, no photos — it really is that simple

●        🔵 Tip 6 — Filters: mostly not for beginners (with one exception)

●        🔆 Tip 7 — Lens hoods: the most underrated bit of kit you own

●        🔵 Tip 8 — Lens caps: free, essential, and easily overlooked

●        🎒 Tip 9 — The camera bag: carry what you actually use, nothing else

●        🚫 Tip 10 — The gear you don't need yet: drones, studio lights, second bodies, super-zooms

📖 Full episode blog post and transcript:

Argh. Why Is There So Much Camera Gear? Please Help Me!

🎙️ Related episodes worth listening to:

Episode 236 — Why It Is 3 Times Harder to Choose a Camera Bag Than a Sandwich Bag — the full story behind what you heard today, and how to choose a bag that actually works.

Episode 237 — What — I Have to Clean My Camera Gear? Really? — because once you know what gear to own, you need to know how to look after it. [link to be added]

Episode 235 — Do I Really Need a Tripod? Really? Why Rick, Why? — the full tripod answer, in full.

Episode 152 — How My One Photo Rule Will Help You Take Better Photos — not gear related, but directly relevant to taking better photos.

🎧 Next episode — and this one will make you look at your kit lens in a completely different way 💝

Your kit lens has a little label on it that says something like 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. If you've ever looked at that and thought: what on earth does any of that mean — Episode 239 is your answer. Publishing Friday 14th August 2026 at 11am UK. Subscribe and you won't miss it.

📺 Find me on YouTube by searching Rick McEvoy — full episodes and Shorts every fortnight.

🌐 Everything else — courses, resources, weekly email and lots of other good stuff: rickmcevoyphotography.com

📚 My courses: rickmcevoyphotography.com/courses

🛠️ My resources page: rickmcevoyphotography.com/resources

And you can text me directly from the podcast feed — how utterly splendid. 💝

 My brand new course Photography for Beginners: Sunrise in Mexico, will teach you exactly how to get out at sunrise and come back with photos you love  all told in plain English. it includes real footage of me photographing an actual sunrise in Mexico with an entry level camera. Find out more at rickmcevoyphotography.com/courses.

 If you want to start taking stunning sunrise photos, and why wouldn't you,  check out my Photography for Beginners: Sunrise in Mexico course at rickmcevoyphotography.com/courses.

Transcript

Argh. Why Is There So Much Camera Gear? Please Help Me!
There's a car park in Dorset where I finally stopped kidding myself
about camera gear. This episode is what I learned.
In Episode 238 of the Photography Explained Podcast, I cut through the
overwhelming world of camera gear and help you work out what a beginner
photographer actually needs, what can wait, and what you can ignore
entirely.
I'm Rick McEvoy, a professionally qualified photographer based in
England, and in this episode I circle back to a story I first told in
Episode 236 — the day I stood in a car park in Delph Woods in Poole with
a bag I could barely lift, and finally had a very honest conversation
with myself about gear.
🎒 The Bag. The Car Park. The Realisation.
On 30th December 2016 at 15:37, I was in the car park at Delph Woods in
Poole, loading gear into the biggest camera bag I owned. It had
waterproof zips — ideal for a boat trip I had never taken. It had room
for a week's worth of snacks. It had enough camera gear for a National
Geographic expedition.
I was going for a walk in the woods.
And then I tried to lift it.
Standing there with that thing pressing down on my shoulders, I went
through everything in the bag and tried to remember the last time I'd
actually used each item. Not owned it. Used it. The remote shutter
release? Months. The filters? Can't remember. The second body I'd
brought as a backup? Never.
All of it was in the bag. None of it was getting used. I had bought into
the idea that more gear equals better photography. The camera industry
is very good at selling that idea. It's also completely wrong.
Tip 1 — 📷 The Camera Body: It Matters, But It Matters Less Than You
Think
Every camera body made in the last ten years — even entry-level ones —
is capable of producing a brilliant photograph.
The camera body is not what's holding your photography back. Your eye
is. Your understanding of light is.
Start with what you have. Upgrade when you've genuinely outgrown it —
not when the new one looks shiny on a YouTube review.
I have been using full-frame Canon camera bodies for years, but this
year joined the entry-level/beginner market with the Canon R100. I have
been impressed with the results I have got — and this is not down to me
being amazing, it is down to this entry-level camera being very capable.
Tip 2 — 🔭 The Lens: This Is Where Your Money Should Actually Go
The lens controls how light enters your camera — and lens quality
directly affects sharpness, colour, bokeh, and overall image character.
Your kit lens is not rubbish. Use it. Learn on it. Don't rush to replace
it. But when you invest in a second lens, invest well.
💡 A high-quality lens — prime or zoom — will help you take your photos
to the next level, because it's better optics giving you better images.
Lenses also hold their value in a way bodies don't. A good lens lasts
decades. And if you want to take better photos, upgrading your lens will
give you a bigger lift than upgrading your camera body.
Tip 3 — 📐 The Tripod: Do You Actually Need One, and When?
You need a tripod for low light. You need one for long exposures —
waterfalls, light trails, anything where the shutter is open for more
than a fraction of a second. And for landscapes at dawn or dusk, when
the light is beautiful but the shutter speed drops, a tripod is not
optional.
But you don't need one before you know what kind of photography you want
to do. Shoot hand-held first. Get comfortable. If you find yourself
needing to photograph in low light or do long exposures, that's when you
buy a tripod.
And if you don't want a tripod, then fine. But you will need to be aware
of the limitations this places on you.
The full answer is in Episode 235 — Do I Really Need a Tripod? Really?
Why Rick, Why? — well worth a listen.
Tip 4 — 💾 Memory Cards: The Unsung Essential
Memory cards are where every photo you take is stored — and losing one
means losing those photos forever.
Buy multiple smaller memory cards — not one big one. If a card
    fails, you lose less.
Format your cards in the camera before every shoot.
Back up your photos. Every time. Always.
Tip 5 — 🔋 Batteries: No Battery, No Photos
Your spare battery is the one item in your camera bag that will save you
when nothing else can.
Buy an extra battery. Full stop. You will run out of battery power at
the worst possible moment — and an extra battery might not be cheap, but
it can save an enormous amount of suffering.
Think about it. No battery, no photos. End of.
Tip 6 — 🔵 Filters: Mostly Not for Beginners
Filters are accessories that screw onto the front of your lens, or are
held by a filter-holding system. Polarising, neutral density, graduated
ND — long list, real expense. My honest advice: don't worry about
filters yet. The one exception is a UV filter on the front of your lens
to protect it from dust and scratches. That's worth having. Everything
else can wait.
Tip 7 — 🔆 Lens Hoods: The Most Underrated Bit of Kit
Use a lens hood. You should get one with the lens. Lens hoods stop stray
light affecting your photos. And they protect that precious front lens
element from knocks and stuff.
Tip 8 — 🔵 Lens Caps: The Free But Essential Bit of Kit
Your lens comes with a front lens cap and a rear lens cap. Take the rear
one off when you put a lens on your camera. When you take a lens off
your camera, put the rear lens cap back on. Take the front lens cap off
when you take a photo. And then put it back on.
Tip 9 — 🎒 The Camera Bag: Carry What You Actually Use
The gear you carry is gear you have to carry. Every extra kilo on your
back slows you down, tires you out, and eventually stays in the car or
at home.
Buy a bag that fits the gear you actually use. Not the gear you imagine
you might use someday.
If that's one camera body and one lens, buy a bag for one camera body
and one lens. The full bag story is in Episode 236 — Why It Is 3 Times
Harder to Choose a Camera Bag Than a Sandwich Bag.
Tip 10 — 🚫 The Gear You Don't Need Yet
Lighting equipment — studio strobes, ring lights, reflectors,
    external flash. Not yet.
A drone — requires a licence in the UK. Learn to make great
    photographs on the ground first.
A second camera body — not yet.
Super-zoom telephoto lenses — unless you're specifically shooting
    wildlife or sports.
A collection of everything — never. More gear does not equal better
    photography. There is a car park in Dorset that proves it.
⚡ Quick Recap
Tip 1 — Camera body: matters less than you think. Your eye matters
    more.
Tip 2 — The lens: matters more than the body. Invest in quality when
    you're ready. Better lens = bigger lift than a better body.
Tip 3 — Tripod: buy it when you need it. Episode 235 has the full
    answer.
Tip 4 — Memory cards: multiple smaller ones, format in camera, back
    up everything.
Tip 5 — Batteries: always carry a spare. No battery, no photos.
Tip 6 — Filters can wait. UV filter on your lens is the only
    exception.
Tip 7 — Lens hood: use it. It came with the lens for a reason.
Tip 8 — Lens caps: front cap off to shoot, back cap on when the lens
    is off the camera.
Tip 9 — Carry what you actually use. Nothing more.
Tip 10 — Lighting, drones, second bodies, super-zooms: not right
    now.
📱 What If I Use a Phone to Take My Photos?
Your phone is your camera body, lens, and memory card in one. Modern
smartphones take genuinely brilliant photos. The gear doesn't make you a
photographer — the seeing does.
When you're ready to move to a camera, start simple. One body. One lens.
Learn those properly before you add a single other thing. That's exactly
what the gear industry doesn't want you to do. It's also exactly the
right answer.
What Do I Do?
I used to use loads of gear. Not any more.
And I recently bought a Canon R100 and kit lens. And to go with that. A
tripod. A circular polarising filter. A neutral density filter. A wrist
strap. A spare battery and some memory cards that I already had.
That is what I took to Mexico. No more. And you can see the results on
my website where I have published a portfolio of photos taken using the
Canon R100 and kit lens.
I used to have that massive bag full of everything that I never used. I
thought that I needed loads of gear to become a proper photographer.
Turns out I was wrong. Turns out what I need to do to be a proper
photographer is this.
Look and think.
Yes really. This is what I need to do to take better photos. There is
much more to this, but this is the bottom line — there is loads of gear
out there, but you probably don't need it.
I buy gear if:
Something I use is broken
Gear will help me to take better photos
Gear will help me get a photo I can't get with what I have
Those are my criteria, which I recommend you adopt.
🎯 Here's Something for You to Do, Dear Listener
Go through your camera gear. Write down every item. Next to each one,
write down the last time you actually used it on a shoot.
Anything unused in six months — ask yourself honestly whether you need
it. Anything you're thinking of buying — ask whether you'd use it more
than what you already have.
It's a short exercise. It's uncomfortable. And it might just save you
from ending up in a car park in Dorset, unable to lift your own bag.
Text me from the podcast feed and tell me what you found.
🎙️ Related Episodes
Episode 236 — Why It Is 3 Times Harder to Choose a Camera Bag Than a
Sandwich Bag
[Link to be added on publication]
Episode 237 — What — I Have to Clean My Camera Gear? Really?
[Link to be added on publication]
Episode 235 — Do I Really Need a Tripod? Really? Why Rick, Why?
rickmcevoyphotography.com/blog/do-i-need-a-tripod
Episode 152 — How My One Photo Rule Will Help You Take Better Photos
rickmcevoyphotography.com/blog/how-my-one-photo-rule-will-help-you-take-better-photos/
🎧 Next Episode
Episode 239 — Your Kit Lens Says 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 — What on Earth Does
Any of That Mean? — Publishing Friday 14th August 2026.
If you've ever looked at the label on your kit lens and had absolutely
no idea what any of those numbers mean — that episode is entirely for
you.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Photography
Explained Podcast. 🤝 I do hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. If
you have any questions 💁 or suggestions for a future episode, please
let me know. 🙂 And if you did love this episode why not subscribe so
you get every new episode straight to your listening device of choice.
And if could tell one person all about my splendid podcast that would be
greatly appreciated. For everything else — courses, resources, my weekly
email and lots of other good stuff check out RickMcEvoyPhotography.com.
And you can find me on YouTube by searching Rick McEvoy. And text me
from the podcast feed – how utterly splendid. This episode was brought
to you by a cheese and pickle sandwich, consumed before settling into my
homemade, acoustically cushioned recording emporium. I've been RICK
MCEVOY. Thanks again very much for listening to my small but perfectly
formed podcast, and for giving me 27-ish minutes of your valuable time.
I reckon this episode will be about 23 minutes long after editing out
the mistakes and other bad stuff. Thanks for listening. Take care. Stay
safe. Cheers from me, Rick!
Want to go further with your photography?
I have two courses at rickmcevoyphotography.com/courses. If you want to
turn your photography into a business, my real estate photography course
takes you through everything — from the kit you actually need to
delivering work clients will pay for, based on my 20 years of doing
exactly that. And if you're at the beginning of your photography
journey, my beginner course was filmed on location in Mexico — real
places, real light, real results. Not a studio. Not a grey background.
The actual thing.
My resources page at rickmcevoyphotography.com/resources is worth a look
too. I've pulled together the gear, software, and tools I actually use
and recommend — and some of them will save you a lot of money compared
to what most people assume they need to buy.