In article <4ju47t$fn4@news.cais.com>, pangea@cais.com says...

If you are on a short budget, are interested in best-quality images,
and care about resale value, I would not put the largest part of the
photo equipment purchase into the latest technology gear (and most expensive, and most fleeting in its status as "latest technology" -
and therefore most temporary in its high resale value). I would buy
good solid gear that is at least one technology step back, buy it used (and, if you are doing weddings, you WILL NEED a back-up camera
[failure to complete the shoot CANNOT be blamed on camera failure]),
and buy Nikkor lenses, which are mostly first-rate optically, durable, and if purchased used (or even if not), hold their value extremely well (you may even make money on resale, if you take care of the equipment - a hard deal to beat!). If you do buy used (or even if new - new equipment can be defective, too), buy only from sources which will
allow return - and CHECK OUT THE GEAR BEFORE USING IT FOR A COMMERCIAL JOB! (BTW, a good outfit for me for weddings and many other kinds of work [I prefer MF] has been two 8008 bodies, two SB-24 flashes, 20mm f2.8, 35mm f1.4, 85mm f1.4, and 80-200mm f2.8 - with a TC14C, a 16mm f3.5, and a 50mm f1.2 being useful occasional additions, depending on conditions and client preferences. [I shoot almost entirely MF, available light, with on-camera flash fill, which makes most zooms, except for outdoor work, nearly useless - they are too hard to focus, and too slow at their widest good aperture.])
Hope This Helps