OK, I wanted to start off the new year on the right foot. Over the course of my career I've seen so many filmmakers obsess over film gear, to a paralyzing end. They focused so much on gear that they never make actual films.
No one is saying you shouldn't keep up to date on the latest film gear. You need gear, without it you can't make films but cameras, lenses, drones, and grip equipment are just tools.
Do you think Chris Nolan, Martin Scorsese, or Quentin Tarantino obsessed about film gear? No. They learned to tell stories first and then grabbed the tools available to them to tell those stories. Sure now they play with all the latest toys but I can guarantee you Quentin Tarantino worked on The Hateful Eight script first before he thought of shooting it on 70mm.
You can pay $1 for a hammer or $100 but both will put the nail in the wood. It’s the master carpenter who practiced and took the time to learn how to hit that nail just right, with one swing, that is the craftsman.
Don’t rely so heavilyly on film gear to tell your stories, because gear is not the storyteller, you the filmmaker are. A good filmmaker tells a story with a RED Dragon or an iPhone as this year's Sundance Film Festival Winner 'Tangerine' proved.
Don’t believe the hype from all the gear companies having you run out and upgrade your cameras or lenses everytime they release something new. Stop obsessing over gear and start making movies! Take a listen to hear my argument against this "gear porn" epidemic.