For my photography, I sometimes use film, and digitize the images with a film scanner. The film camera body is the manual, all-metal Nikon FM2 with which I use manual Nikkor lenses, all of which have fixed focal length for maximum quality. In addition I have a digital setup. For digital capture I have chosen the Canon system, built around EOS digital DSLR and EF lenses. Admittedly, my photography is mostly digital at the time of this writing. Cost considerations mean that it will likely continue to be so. - Regarding the quality of photographic equipment, there are only two classes of quality as is the case with other things: The best, and the rest. Fortunately, the best need not always be the most expensive. The lenses I use are mostly primes (fixed focal length lenses). For beginners who want to save money I generally recommend to start with prime lenses because zooms are either inferior in quality or unpleasantly expensive. In my opinion prime lenses are a first choice whenever they fulfill the requirements at hand, but your mileage may of course vary. The lens is a crucial factor in image capture. The lens has an immediate and direct influence on the quality of the image, and the importance of high quality lenses almost cannot be overestimated or overstated.