It had hit me many times before. And by many, I mean MANY. Yet, I couldn’t be further from mastering how to feel when it hits. And as I’m cracking my blackberry-ridden sore hand knuckles, I’m beginning to see that I will never ever get used to it.

I am old. That’s what hit me (yet again) today. Now I’m not saying I’m Queen Elizabeth-old. (can you feel my death stare?) Heck, I’m not even saying I’m Prince Charles-old (although the dude does look pretty old. But hey, if you’ve been waiting to be crowned King for 62 years and counting, you WILL look old ).

So just how old do I feel? Old enough to badly miss my younger years. Oh the years when things were so much simpler. So simple that the day of the week was defined by what TV series was playing on the one-and-only cable TV station in town, RCTI .  So simple that my kid brother would view a shortage of chicken meat as a natural disaster (sorry Ping ). But most of all, life was simple ‘cause the notion of wealth hadn’t really corrupted our mind just yet.

Fast forward 30 years, and the harsh truth is staring you cold in the eyes. And when we look in the mirror, we see the image we thought we’d never become. We see people with endless issues, we see a wrinkle for every family turbulence we’ve survived, we see our ever growing eye bags with every financial headache we’ve had to overcome.

That’s probably why more and more people turn to photography as part of their effort to escape that taxing image. Perhaps, it’s the picture creating process. Perhaps, it’s the friends we make along the way. Or perhaps, it’s just the pleasant feeling of lugging a DSLR. Whatever the reason (or excuse, to be completely thorough:-) ), photography could serve as an effective stress-relieving outlet, and let me share how you can start snapping away with (almost) any type of budget.

Under IDR 3 million

Go buy a used prosumer camera (e.g. Panasonic FZ series). Prosumer cameras give you the manual control, decent zoom range, and at times, quite fast lenses (in terms of maximum aperture). Yes, the sensor is on the small side, but you weren’t really shooting for a wallpaper-size print at this budget, were you? And yes, buying used has its risks, so you need to be careful. But with this budget, you really don’t have any room to be picky, right?

IDR 3-6 million

Forget the DSLRs. You’d still be better off getting a new prosumer camera at this budget range. Forcing a DSLR here would leave you with a crappy kit zoom lens. And *sigh* yes, many great photographers take amazing pictures with crappy kit zoom lens. But you’re not one of them, are you?

IDR 6-10 million

Now we’re talking Buy an entry level DSLR, without the kit lens (get my drift?). Then find a 3rd party 17-50/2.8 lens. Trust me, they’re a gazillion times better in terms of sharpness and ability in making your object stand out. Use the rest of the budget on a 50/1.8 lens. You’ll be amazed by what you can achieve with this system.

IDR 10-20 million

Control that urge of yours to upgrade your DSLR. Unless you’re a wedding or action photographer, you’d see very little benefit in upgrading. Instead, expand the above system in the following order: an external flash that you can bounce off the wall (you’ll drool over the soft diffused lighting), an 85/1.8 lens (models, errr I mean, your wife, would love this lens ), then spend on accessories. Again, buy used whenever you can, and you just might be able to squeeze a camera upgrade with the budget leftover.

IDR 20-30 million

Sell the 85/1.8, get a 70-200/2.8. Upgrade your DSLR.

Above 30 million

Dude, you don’t really have any business reading this article with that much money, do you?