So, I’ve got a great kit so far for an amateur photographer, but I’d really like to get to the next level with it. I still don’t intend on turning my hobby into anything more, but I feel like having better tools allows me to get more joy from the effort I put into it.

I’m slowly trying to save up to purchase my first L lens. This is a professional lens designation and comes at a professional level price. The pieces I want to get for my camera now are all around one thousand dollars or more.

So here’s what I’m thinking about getting next…

The first thing I want to purchase is the EF 24-70mm f2.8L USM lens which comes in at around $1500 (plus tax). I have two longer zoom lenses that are fairly decent, so I don’t feel like I’m in any hurry to upgrade those. It is the wider range areas that I’m currently hurting for an improvement in. I currently only have my kit lens and my EF 50mm f1.4 lens.

After that impressive piece, I hope to purchase a macro lens. I haven’t decided if I’m going to go L-series for this lens or not, as it won’t be used as much as other lenses I want to own and the L lens is twice the price of the non-L. I’m sold on getting a 100mm macro lens though. It will either be a $700 or $1300 purchase.

Lastly, I’d really like to get a 70-200mm L lens. Most likely, I’ll pick up the f4 IS version of the lens. There are four versions of the 70-200mm lens starting at $800 and going up to $2700. The Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM is $1400 and is an amazing lens that will probably fit my needs for a very long time.

My cousin, and others, have continuously tried to push and pull me towards the $2700 Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, but because of how heavy it is, and how pricey it is, I’ll probably stick to buying the f/4L IS.

At that point, I’ll have pretty much every piece that I’ll need for 99% of the shots I’ll want to take and my next piece of kit after all these will probably be a new body because it’ll take me another year or two to buy all these, and I’ll have gotten around 40,000 shots out of my current camera body.

It really is amazing how much enjoyment this hobby brings me, and I constantly look back at pictures I’ve taken and get that sense of joy again. There are few hobbies in my mind that provide enjoyment in both the doing and the later reviewing.