Upgrade your camera or lens?

[jasonvong]

With the holiday season coming up, I know I'm itching to grab some new gear for the new year but before that I always have to ask myself...should I upgrade my camera or lens first?

If you’re doing strictly photography, upgrade your lens. While photo tech has changed a lot over the last few years, photo quality actually hasn’t improved all that much. It has always been exceedingly good especially if you have invested in a DSLR or mirrorless camera in the last decade. 

A new lens, esp fast aperture ones like f/1.8 or f/1.4 will always breathe new life into your camera and motivates you to capture more moments. 

What do you guys think? What are you hoping to get as a nice holiday treat? 

[davidmclain]

Hi Jason, no-brainer. Put the money in the new glass.  Have fun!  

[pm-r]

Glass is always king, especially anything with a GM in the name!!!

[TrekRover]

Personally, I would go with the body upgrade depending on how much improvement there is in ISO sensitivity, MP, Stabilization. Many newer cameras have significant improvements in buffer size, writing speed to the memory card and software features and improvements.

I feel like lens technology has relatively stayed the same due to the limit of physics.

[LensBrew]

The optimal answer be: it depends. Whether shooting stills, video or both. I agree that lens will always be at the top. But if the body you own is falling behind (by a lot) with respect to available technology or features that can help your work, I would say a body would be first. If and only if those features will elevate the work by at least 50%.

[jasonvong]

Personally, I would go with the body upgrade depending on how much improvement there is in ISO sensitivity, MP, Stabilization. Many newer cameras have significant improvements in buffer size, writing speed to the memory card and software features and improvements.

I feel like lens technology has relatively stayed the same due to the limit of physics.

100%! That is also true as well, ISO performance on the newer cameras have gotten so much better in the recent years.

[AliyaJmari]

What about logging/youtubing? My DSLR is really loud while in AF...Is that simply a lens issue or should I switch to mirrorless? 

[albertogvphoto]

Do you think it is worth selling the SONY A7RIII and SONY A7RIV for the SONY A7RV? what would you do ? 

[LensBrew]

What about logging/youtubing? My DSLR is really loud while in AF...Is that simply a lens issue or should I switch to mirrorless? 

Aliya, that is simply the lens. I believe it's the ones with focus by wire that creates the loudest sound. The new GM lenses use magnetic servo motors, they are fast and quiet, not to mention optically superior. If you are hesitant about what you might need to upgrade, try renting a lens and see how it works. For vlogging and YouTubing, I recommend the 20mm f1.8 G lens. It's not a GM but it is amazing for vlogging.

[Horn]

I've always said go with glass.  With that being said I'm still shooting with Sonys first a7, so I'm afraid 2023 I'm looking to upgrade my camera body.  

[ABETTERDJ]

Since we already have some A7IVs with great lenses and some ZV-1s, I elected to upgrade some peripherals this year. I added Smallrig cages and triple cold shoes for the ZV-1s, and a very heavy duty 8' tripod for our A7IVs. We shoot both stills and video at weddings. The cages allow us to change batteries on the ZV-1s without taking them off the tripods. The triple cold shoe allows us to mount 3 LED lights on top of the camera and use the cold shoe on the bottom of the cage for a mic. The 8' tripod puts the A7IV over everyone's heads and lets my partner stand right in front of it to shoot stills. 

[CarolineJensen]

Glass...definitely glass, but this year I bought things to get me closer to my subjects in the water. 🙂 

[CarolineJensen]

What about logging/youtubing? My DSLR is really loud while in AF...Is that simply a lens issue or should I switch to mirrorless? 

 Lenses with internal motors can sometimes be super loud. The latest Sony lenses are pretty silent. 

[Atolavisuals]

just updated to the 24-70 GM II and i'm super glad I made the investment! saying goodbye to my old 24-70 was a bit heartbreaking tho 😞