Re: Newbie seeks advice on digital camera kit going from novice to pro

Good advice Micah,

Lenses should be high on the list, it's worth sacrificing 'camera' for quality lenses and I personally have opted for the Canon 7D instead of the Canon 5D mkII (which is a superb camera) as I had a limited budget and wanted to invest for the future, hence lenses were a lot more important to me. I'm not going to advise you as to what lenses to get as I'm sure you can make that decision based on the type of shooting you will be doing but the best quality you can afford should be a very serious consideration.

If you have friends and associates telling you how good your work is then take the "ease", what I mean is to find work outside your normal working hours and start to build your portfolio. This will allow you to gain a direction as to where you want this career to take you without a financial kick.

Get a good website built, advertise judiciously and make this work for you, you have the passion, go for it!

Joe Fountain
Cinematographer
Editor
New Zealand