Equipment DOES Matter

I have long been told that equipment does not matter, what matters is the person behind the camera.

Yes, it is absolutely right, to a certain extent. Good and expensive equipment will not make you a great photographer. Lousy composition, cliche ideas can be helped by your equipment. In this very sense, it is absolutely right to say equipment does not matter.

However, when you have reached a certain level, your equipment does play a very important role. Tell a bird photographer that equipment does not matter. Do you expect him/her to shoot a bird far away with my 28-135mm lens? Or you ask a macro photographer to shoot 1:1 true size with a non-macro lens?

Chinese saying, if you want to be good at doing something, you have to first get your tools ready. Using the right tools will improve your efficiency.