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There are many, many discussions concerning equipment. On web conferences, you can find people falled in love with old/new technique, lens, collectors items... and sometimes also shooters. There are thousands ways you can make your photos, starting with pinhole box and ending with profi Canon, Nikon, Minolta or Leica, Hasselblad, be it digital or classic...
The only question is what photos you expect (and able, o'course) to do - holiday family snaps? Ok, buy P&S. Makro? Buy SLR and good makro lens. Portraits? Buy SLR or 6x6 plus short or long telephoto and soft filters. Landscapes? 6x9, maybe panorama and wide angle lens is your choice. Old styled? You have to check for best pre-war lenses. Got it? Allright, we can proceed.
I had an east-German Praktica B100 bought by the first money I have ever earn - the snap of cat on title page I made with that camera. All in all, it wasn't so bad - for now, my brother takes care of it. I used some other cameras, but with exception of P&S Werra (all manual, no plastic :-)) only for short time.
Than in 1998 I bought Canon EOS50E and I was generally pleased with that body, but sold it in 2001 -- due to my new cameras I decided not to bother with all of them. Lenses I used: Canon 50/1.8 II, awfull piece of plastic with very good optical performance, macro Sigma 105/2.8 EX, superb lens for portraits and macro work. It was cheaper than brand Canon and worth every "penny". I had also 28-135/4.5-5.6 IS USM in my possesion and I wasn't actually pleased with that lens. Comparing to 50/1.8, which was much much cheaper, I've got only a few great pictures, and nothing excellent. Although the image was sharp, contrasty, etc -- i. e. by standard tests it was good -- something was missing. I assumed other cheaper zooms in Canon inventory like 28-80, 28-105 were of equal or worse quality... I gave up finding great zoom lens and I focused on primes.
Starting new millenium required new equipment, so in January 2001 I bought Contax G1 plus Planar 45/2. Well, in fact I was looking for a new 50mm lens for EOS (50/1.4), but found it (at least here in Czech Republic) way tooooo expensive. So I took another look at rangefinders market, and after some time of research, found Contax G body and lenses reasonably priced (comparing value you get for the money). So instead to buy only new lens, I bought whole new camera with, maybe, as good or better lens.
Pictures are great and camera is a neat toy, beautifully engineered. Yes, it is AF, yes, it makes some noises, but so what. At one third price of the Leica you get body and great glass, which itself is a bargain. I ordered 90/2.8 ...and moved from EOS completely.
The same year I bought used RTS II, 159MM and Planar 50/1.4 lenses. I hope to buy macro Planar 100, macro work was one of my favorite. So far I was able to buy Planar 85/1.4 and a wide for G - Biogon 28/2.8. I can say there is a difference between 85/1.4 and G Sonnar 90. Although almost the same focal lengths, lens for G is "more practical", sharp, contrast etc., intended to be used for some landscape, while 85/1.4 is much more poetic lens (with interesting bokeh). Also G 90mm is too sharp for any portraits. G Biogon 28 is a standard wide angle and fine lens, but 45/2 is significantly better.
I also used 30-years old Canonet GIII 17 QL, bought from Brian P. Wolfe shop, and I was surprised with some snaps from that camera. Sold some time ago to fellow botanist.
Tripod is also important: Bogen with good head (190B + 329).
I'm using mainly Kodak films: Supra, Portra, T400CN (B&W), Ilford Delta 100, sometimes Fuji Reala, and from time to time slide film Provia 100F and Velvia. Velvia is a great film for Zeiss glass, alas lab service here is not catching up with my demands. I also tried Fuji Neopan with Rodinal developer and found it a lovely combination.
Developer: Ilford ID-11, Microfen.
And also there are some papers, but last time only and only Ilford MGD IV and Multigrade developer. I've tried many films, papers, but end up, as expected, with the most expensive ones. If you need the best possible quality, you will end up with them too :-(
As with everything in photography, enlarger lens is also important piece of hardware: Rodenstock Rodagon 50/2.8.
Oh yes, I forgot the bag: nice Domke F-2 original in sand color :-)
I don't use flash - flash is the evil tool sent on Earth to destroy good photography and set newbies on the road to hell! For family enforced shooting, I use Sunpak 440D.