I agree with Rick for the most part, and further with Jim, simply because while it's true if you gave a $50k camera to a non-photographer, they;
A) wouldn't know how to use it
B) probably don't know how to take a good image
giving that $50k camera to a photographer of intermediate skill who understands what a good pic is and how to get it would open the door for them to make those good pics.
It surprises me, and I often laugh at how many people say things like "Gear means nothing, a good shooter will make good images with any gear" and I find that often those spruiking the notion are those who simply don't have the gear.
If we think about this for a minute, we know that statement is untrue. Shooting entry level gear will in many cases simply not allow you by virtue of it's limitations to get the images you could get in the same shooting scenario with pro gear. Low noise in low light, AF in low light, high frame rate, fast focus tracking, high sync speeds, shallow DOF, DR, colour/contrast etc are all things that can mean the difference between making a good pic and a terrible one, or none at all.
Whilst good gear won't instantly make a shit shooter a good one, it certainly helps a good one do more, and often things they couldn't do with entry level gear otherwise we would all be shooting box brownies and $50 P&S cameras with fixed lenses.