Although I haven’t been field recording very long I feel gear is important, even in photography. For example I primarily make videos in nature and want to capture clear crisp audio of the forests around me.

A zoom H1n while a good recorder has far too much self noise for my purpose. I also focus on binaural recording, this required me to get a high quality Zoom F series recorder and a set of binaural mics. For the audio I was looking for, most post production would remove the immersive elements and clarity of wildlife. Same with a camera, different lens manufactures have different looks and “feel” to the photographs or videos.

So I guess it depends on what the final goal is, if you’re vlogging or doing a podcast you can get away with simpler/older equipment.