Gear matters when gear matters. Just like in engineering, art is all about trade offs. You might intentionally limit your gear to achieve a specific aesthetic,

Gear matters when gear matters. Just like in engineering, art is all about trade offs. You might intentionally limit your gear to achieve a specific aesthetic, or you might be freelance and work for a client that demands the highest fidelity possible. It's all about bounds. Tools impose bounds, and the whole point of creativity is to find clever or novel ways to work within those bounds or to make those bounds seem surpassed. No, the best gear won't imbue you with artistic talent or vision, but neither will the worst gear. These absolutist questions are so silly. Everything is relative.