Save Money by Buying Smart: 4 Things I Wish I Did with Gear

In photography, there's so much gear out there thrown in our faces, it gets difficult trying to figure out what to buy and what not. There are so many different tripods, lens, bags, etc on the market, it gets difficult to choose which product to go with. or worse, we end up buying multiple. With any product, you'll want to do your research as they're made for certain groups of people and for the items I will talk about in this video, I just didn't fit into that group of consumers. It doesn't mean the products are bad. They just weren't for me. I hope my opinion along with other opinions you see will help you make a decision. With that said, I will go over things I wish I would've done with certain gear.

1) Manfrotto Tripod -> Sirui Tripod

• Before my Sirui Tripod, I had bought the Manfrotto Advanced Travel Tripod. I was looking for a lightweight travel tripod that didn't break the bank and that was my first mistake. In my opinion, you definitely should not cheap out on your tripod. The Manfrotto Travel tripod definitely sacrifices quality to sell at it's price point and for me, I would rather just pay extra for better quality and that's what I feel my current tripod, the Sirui ST-125, is. The tripod head, the legs, and not to mention the lightweight and sturdiness of the carbon fiber legs let me put my trust in it to carry my camera and for me, that's all I really wanted in a tripod. Also, one extra thing to point out, with tripods, there are options to have lever locks or the twisted locks. If you ever have any plans on bringing your tripod to the beach which I occasionally do at the beaches in LA, 100% go with twisted locks. Sand will be your worst enemy if you get lever locks.

2) Gorilla Tripod

• During my search for a lightweight small tripod, I ran into a lot of people recommending the Gorilla Tripod so I decided to try it for myself. I can see why people would like it as it can be moved into different positions so it's versatile depending on the situation, but for me, I just don't see a need for this in my kit. As mentioned in my video talking about tips for long exposures, I have another small tripod that I can use to get the same results for the type of shots I take for street photography and honestly for basically any type of photography where I may find myself needing a small tripod. That small tripod is not only smaller, but cheaper so that pretty much makes the gorilla tripod irreverent for me.

3) ND Filters

• The only filters I use are ND filters, but this is really for any type of filter you find yourself using. Like tripods, you definitely don't want to cheap out on your filters. Putting something cheap in front of your expensive glass is taking a step back in terms of your image quality or weird color casting. You should definitely do your research with filters and see which one is best for you to avoid wasting money buying filters that you might not need. With that being said, before being set on my current set up for filters which are from Haida, I went with Breakthrough filters. They aren't bad at all, they are actually really good, but shooting with Haida filters for a good while now, the quality is practically the same at a lower cost. Also, the magnetic filters are a game changer for me. I hated changing and twisting filters off, but with these, they just save so much time on the field.

4) Camera Bags

• Currently, I have about 3 bags and 1 sling when in reality, I really only need 1 sling for photowalks and 1 bag for when I need to carry a bit more for photowalks and use for travel. For my 3 bags, I have the Peak Design Everyday Backpack 20L and the Peak Design Travel Backpacks, both the 30L and the 45L. With my sling, I have the 6L Peak Design sling. I have no issues with my sling as it's been great all around. I've never felt the need to either upgrade to the 10L or downsize to the 3L. It's been a pretty good middleground. With my bags though, again, there's just no need for 3. I found the Peak Design 30L travel backpack works the best for everyday walks whenever I need to bring a bit more like my tripod or a couple lenses. My issue with my other bags are that the 45L Travel Backpack is just too big. By itself, it's bulky and heavy. I bought it as a replacement for a carry on luggage suitcase, but I found it a nuisance as it was so much weight on my back, which can especially be felt when traveling (which is the point of the backpack lol) and at that point, I'd rather use a carry on suitcase which costs way cheaper. With the Everyday backpack, it's alright, but with the way I found myself being able to use the 30L Travel Backpack as basically an everyday backpack, the actual Everyday Backpack is pretty much rendered obsolete. And I haven't even mentioned the price because the Peak Design backpacks are pricey so you definitely don't want to be buying too many if you don't need them and for 99% of us, you probably don't need them.

Everyone can save so much money simply by not buying all these items that are being advertised as something a photographer "needs". Instead of buying 10 bags or 7 tripods, I would rather use the money to travel while using the gear I NEED to get the shots I WANT. At the end of the day, that's the reason I got into photography. I want to spend as much of my time traveling and enjoying photography.