Should gear recommendations that nobody talks about [v4]

Maybe an unpopular opinion but here we go. The trade-offs here are not obvious to me and I keep flip-flopping. Been thinking about this for a while and curious what the community thinks.

Quick context: I am relatively new to this and trying to find my footing. I tried three different approaches and none of them felt quite right. Not sure if this is the right place to ask, mods please remove if it is not.