>>4024987It took me a long time, and going through a lot of gear to realize how little I actually need. In hindsight, renting (or buy/sell used) all kinds of different stuff would've got me there a lot quicker. It took far too long to figure out I simply don't like certain genre's of photography too.
When I was super budget constrained, I always had "what if I had xyz gear?" in the back of my mind. It was hard to say how different gear will impact my shooting, until I actually used it. The financial investment involved also led me to holding onto or trying to justify gear that simply wasn't for me (I spent $$$, I better use / enjoy it).
Once I got to a spot where I could afford anything I wanted, things got a lot more clear. A setup like the Canon R5 + 28-70mm f2 could get me 99% of what I like to shoot, but I would also feel comfortable with any brand/sensor size and a handful of primes (28/50/85) too. Marginal spec improvements (af speed, resolution, etc) don't really interest me anymore at all, pretty much everything in the last 5 years is "good enough" for my needs, so any desire to upgrade gear has to come from something significant.
