I have to chuckle to myself every time I visit an Internet photography forum and someone posts a question about what new equipment they should buy. How is anybody else supposed to know? Equipment choices are, invariably, a personal issue depending on the types of photographs a photographer intends to make. Often times the question is presented as, "Should I buy third-party Brand X's 17-200mm do-all zoom or should I buy the OEM's* 17-200mm do-all zoom lens?" Now, there are a lot of photographers who will honestly do their best to answer a question like this objectively. However, there are those photographers who will answer this question based purely on a resale/investment standpoint. First and foremost in the minds of the "equipment investors" is, "Buy OEM. You can resell the equipment for close to what you paid for it." Another "equipment investor" response may be, "Buy third-party used equipment. You can recover nearly all of what you spent when you resell it." Huh? Resell? Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the reason for purchasing new equipment but to buy equipment that will be used? Are we photographers or are we photo equipment investors?

Let me state, for the record, I am a photographer, first and foremost, and not a photo equipment investor. I base my equipment choices solely upon my photographic needs after thoroughly researching my needs. The very thought of photographic equipment as an "investment" is ludicrous, in my opinion, unless you are a collector of vintage photographic equipment. The minute you buy any piece of photographic equipment the value depreciates immediately, OEM or third-party.

Case in point: When I first started photographing birds I purchased a Canon EF 300mm f 2.8L IS lens and both of the Canon EF II teleconverters. I did not do my homework on this combination as well as I should have and found that it did not serve my purpose as well as I needed. Two months later, after thoroughly researching the lenses most suitable for my bird photography, I sold the 300mm lens and purchased the Canon EF 500mm f 4L IS lens. The 500mm lens is a perfect match for my needs. However, this "little mistake" cost me US$400.00, the difference between what I paid for the Canon 300mm lens new and the price I could sell the nearly new lens on the used camera market. Granted, had I purchased, say, a Sigma 300mm f 2.8 lens I may have lost even more money reselling that lens but, the point I am trying to make is, had I done my homework properly I would not have lost any money at all.

Consider this: In 1972 I purchased a brand new Nikon F2 Photomic 35mm SLR camera. Being a general photographer at the time I also purchased 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 105mm, and 200mm lenses. In the early 1980s I purchased two Nikon FM bodies as backup bodies to the F2. Some time in the 1990s I added a 300mm lens. I used this equipment for over 25 years before I felt compelled to re-assess my equipment needs. In the meantime, my closest photographer friends spent thousands of dollars chasing every new lens that Nikon offered, buying and re-selling lenses, and losing considerable sums of money in the process. In 2000, after thoroughly researching my needs, I switched over to the Canon line of autofocus 35mm cameras. I promptly sold my Nikon gear when I made the switch. Did I get a return on my Nikon investment? Not from selling the equipment, I didn't! However, I did get a substantial return on my equipment investment in the form of income made during the 25+ years I used the Nikon equipment without unnecessarily buying and re-selling equipment.

Don't become an "equipment investor". Whether you buy third-party or OEM equipment you will always lose money on a resale. Carefully research your photographic needs and make equipment purchases based on those needs. "Equipment investors" rarely have equipment long enough to discover the full capabilities of the equipment they are reselling. It takes time and almost daily use to appreciate features offered by today's cameras and lenses. By performing careful research into your needs and what equipment can satisfy those needs at the first purchase, you can save money in the long run. As regards the advice to purchase used equipment, if you've done your homework you won't be reselling that used item any time soon. Do beware, though, you could be buying someone else's headache which can cost you even more money in the long run.

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*OEM...Original Equipment Manufacturer. Lenses and accessories produced by your camera manufacturer.