Bottom line: Get Good Gear. The gear doesnt make the photographer but it sure does help you do your job with excellence.

Save up for the best of the best rather than buying something that is second class and then having to trade it in later. Do yourself a favor and save up for that L-series lens that can offer you that tasty f stop (1.2-2.8)that you've been wanting rather than skimping and buying an off brand with a "not-so-tasty" f-stop :).

This is something I have done since the begining because I have wise photogarapher sensai's that told me that that is one thing they wished they would have done differently. And also because that is just the way the Rhoads Family Rolls... we buy the best. Your Return on Investment will be well worth the initial cost. I promise.