Technology evolves rapidly. I often catch myself trying to find an excuse to aquire the "latest and greatest." Assuming I'm not alone, here’s some advice.
Our entire lives, we are conditioned by advertising to justify and rationalise upgrading perfectly good items. Phones, lenses, cameras, software, and any other technology. This is the marketing strategy of the big global brands at work. It used to be that razor blades were one of the few items that constantly needed replacing. They're considered a work of marketing genius! A product that people continuously need to replace forever. Then it became cars. And over the past decade this concept has been adopted by the tech companies, blurring the lines for the consumer between wanting something, and needing something.
Smartphones are not offering significant improvements from one product to the next. Slight upgrades to cameras, memory and power. but they still do the same job they've done for years. Cameras too. The myth of the megapixel is well known. The resolution race is unnecessary. And if you look at how great some of the images are that photographers and cinematographers have produced in the past, and still produce today with equipment from 5, 10, 20 years ago, why do we need to keep upgrading?
HD video was mind blowing a decade ago... now we are speeding past 4K and heading into 8K resolution territory. Why?! At what point do we ask ourselves "Do I really need that?" Just FYI, digital cinemas project in 2K!
You may not agree with my views, but these days I'm more likely to rent cameras than buy them, depending on the project pipeline I'm working on of course. I can go a month and have 5 commercial clients all wanting to shoot their projects on 5 different cameras. And with how rapidly these items are considered outdated, why buy before you have to? Or why buy at all!?!
Here are a few tips:
Do your research.
Save your money... Spend it elsewhere!
You decide when to spend your money, not when you are being sold the idea it's time to upgrade.
Don’t be dictated to by the corporations that sell the products.
Having said all that, I've got to go and update my editing software!
Stay well.