Good to know that you are seeing that kind of thing, and my comment about the equipment thing, you seem to be on top of it.
With respect to the 'badges' thing, that might be an opportunity to create a sort of game/score environment. Similar to HN, though i think stackoverflow does a better job of it. It gets people interested in who's saying what, what their qualifications are, etc.
Once they're in, users seem to feel quite well. The first thing they do is actually list their equipment and then see what other members use. They also come back quite regularly. I got the idea when I saw users on photo forums creating very elaborate badges showing their equipment in their signature. When you spend a lot of money for cameras and lenses, you're not only proud but you also like to know what others use and chat about it.