[jillesvangurp]

Depends what you do with the gear; or whether you even have the skills to use the gear properly. There are a lot of people with money that end up buying some really expensive gear that haven't got a lot of skill. And there are a lot of impoverished but skilled photographers that take photos with some old thing they got their hands on cheaply and second hand because that's all they can afford.

The latter take better photos, generally. But as soon as they get money, they buy the gear they need and make even better photos. Professional photographers tend to really obsess about their gear.

I got myself a canon dslr about 12 years ago. Nothing special. Just the entry level model (550D). I used it until about 2020 and I replaced it with a Fuji XT-30. Also an entry level camera. Does it take better photos? Yes and no. It's certainly more capable in low light situations. And the photos have a bit less noise and more dynamic range, which is nice. But neither of those things were much of an issue with the Canon in daylight situations. And I'm still the same person with the same amateur skills. So, there hasn't been a massive improvement in the quality of the photos I take. I do shoot a bit more at night now. Because I can with this thing.

But what I do appreciate most with Fuji is the controls. I mostly shoot manual now because this is very easy with this camera and was very fiddly with the Canon. I have one dial for aperture on the lens, one dedicated dial for shutter speed and I control the iso with one of the programmable dials. As it turns out, forcing yourself to shoot manual all the time puts you on a learning curve where you start analyzing what you shoot and how to set the shot up correctly. Shooting in half automated mode with the Canon was easier but you get lazy about it as well. I mostly shot in AV mode with that and thus ended up with a lot of shots that were either not well exposed, noisy (high iso), or with the wrong aperture for the situation.

Fuji makes some fantastically expensive cameras that cost thousands of dollars that you typically pair with lenses that are even more expensive. Clearly way out of my budget. Would I like owning one. Oh yes. But would it probably wouldn't make a huge difference.