Reminder that gear recommendations worth the hype? [v3]

Been thinking about this for a while and curious what the community thinks. For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land.

For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land. Mostly thinking out loud — feel free to push back hard. I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts.

Spent the last few weekends digging into this and the deeper I go the more questions I have. I want to write something more comprehensive about this later but starting with a quick post to gather thoughts.