Use the best-quality equipment you can afford
I'll admit to being as interested in the equipment for its own sake as I am in
taking pictures. So, understand my vices when I say don't believe them when
they tell you that the quality of your equipment doesn't matter. Certainly,
having a "good eye" is paramount, but in the everyday world this will
only be realized through greater experiential confidence--and that comes about
when your equipment is reliable and delivers consistent image quality in terms
of sharpness, contrast, exposure, and colour balance.
Buying used equipment
Because manufacturers of most 35mm systems have moved over to autofocus and digital bodies and lenses, a lot of the highest-quality manual film equipment ever made is now available relatively cheaply on the second-hand market. Medium format is starting to make this shift, but quality used equipment is still expensive; economy in this case is measured less in terms of price than in terms of the availability, for sale or rental, of extra lenses and accessories. About 75% of my 35mm gear, and all of my medium format gear, I purchased second-hand. Buying used equipment by mail-order can be the best way to get some real bargains; it is certainly the best way to access a large market. Shutterbug magazine is a good place to start, as many dealers advertise there with detailed listings of the used stock they have on hand; eBay is also a good source. From these you can get a good idea of a fair price for the particular item you want in the condition you want--and, if you read between the lines, you can get a good idea of whom you ought to do business with:
- "Mint" rarely means "Like New." In my experience, it usually means something like it looks new if you stand off from it about five feet. I have received "Mint" items with clearly-visible brassing, even dents.
- Watch out, consequently, for advertisers who use both "Mint" and "Like New" in their ratings; they mean different things. Watch out also for oxymoronic qualifications of "Mint" such as "Mint-" (mint minus) or "Solid Mint;" the first means that it is not "Mint" (and certainly not "Like New"), and the second implies that other items marked plain "Mint" are an ambiguous kind of "mushy Mint," and about as close to being "Like New" as Los Angeles is to New York.
- eBay. Based on experience garnered there since 1998, I now only buy from sellers with a minimum 99% feedback rating. However, buyers often don't leave negative feedback because they fear retaliation in kind, so any negative feedback in a seller's record should be cause for concern. Take some time and research the feedback record for a seller. See if they have problems with returns/refunds or if they are in any way abusive in the feedback they leave for others. Because I didn't do this once, I had an unpleasant interaction with one seller named betteroffblu, who, despite a feedback rating hovering around 99%, turns out to have a persistent (and public) record of verbal abuse leveled at customers who otherwise have received no negative feedback: see what I and others have had to say about her here. Avoid auctions where something is being sold "for a friend," where pictures of the item lack detail, or where pictures of the item show it being mishandled (e.g., where someone has decided that concrete is a good display surface for a "mint" camera body). "Professionally used and maintained" can be code for "worn out."
- Avoid dealers who need to tell you that they are "honest," "caring for you," and part of your family. If you see the Popular Photography magazine "Check-Rated" seal proudly displayed, be especially cautious. My opinion, based on what I read in the newsgroups and on the Web, is that Pop-Photo's Check-Rating policy isn't reliable.
- If the price seems too good to be true, it is (notice, I don't say "it probably is"). Use the advertisements of a reputable dealer like B&H to establish realistic "good price" benchmarks. If you find other places advertising at substantially lower prices, be very careful: odds are they will try a bait-and-switch on you; or send you a lower-quality "substitute" without telling you; or simply not send what you ordered and collect interest on your money until you give up and finally manage to cancel the order by complaining to your credit card company. Another scam is indeed to sell you the item you want at the advertised price but to charge an outrageous shipping fee.
- Use WWW resources for first-hand accounts of who to trust and who to avoid. It's remarkable how consistent peoples' experiences are with certain dealers in buying both new and used equipment--see for yourself with Photo.net's Neighbor to Neighbor service. Also try the Photographic Mail Order Survey and Reseller Ratings.com.
- You can always buy locally. That way you can see the equipment before you commit yourself to any expense (remember, even if you return items sent mail-order, you will not be able to recoup shipping costs). If you live in or near a larger city you can also rent before you buy.