Look at all those accessaries for a digital SLR camera! What are the absolute essentials for a beginner in photography?

Look at all those accessaries for a digital SLR camera! What are the absolute essentials for a beginner in photography? Your personal opinions are appreciated.

Asked by boxing 56 months ago Similar questions: accessaries digital SLR camera absolute essentials beginner photography Arts > Photography.

Similar questions: accessaries digital SLR camera absolute essentials beginner photography.

" This will impact your purchase decisions. I'll list a few options for you to consider (I'll mention Canon lenses, as that's what I shoot, but you should be able to find the same for Nikon or other DSLRs): The kit lens - Definitely, definitely get it. Don't worry about all the on-line articles and blogs you read about how bad these kit lenses are.

For the Ultra wide angle (UWA) lens. I have the Canon EF-s 10-22mm lens and I LOVE it. The incredibly wide angle and the unique perspectives you can get are fantastic.

But, this lens is not for everyone. I use it primarily for wide angle scenic shots and for funky perspective shots (I particularly love it for shooting brownstone buildings in Boston) Telephoto lenses. If you like to shoot wildlife (birds, animals, etc) or sports, get one.

You can spend as little as $200 for a quality Sigma 70-300 APO lens or as much as $1500 for a Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS (stabilized) lens. If you're learning, and you think you'll only use it on sunny days, start cheap. If you have the money to spend, this is a good place to spend it.

Faster lenses (f/2.8) allow you to capture shots that slower lenses won't. Likewise, stabilization is very important, in this class of lens, for all but the sunniest days. I use the Canon 70-300 IS lens, which runs around $600.It's not fast (maximum aperature is f/4-5.6), but I for what I shoot, I'm more interested in stabilization than in speed and this wa a great compromise.

50mm f/1.8 lens. Every camera manufacturer has one of these lenses from the days of film. These were the original "kit" lenses on old 35 mm film cameras.

In most cases, they are under $100 (Canon's was $75, when I bought it). These are great for learning photography on the cheap. They're fast, they give a nice bokeh (the out-of-focus area around the main subject) and you can really learn about photography with them.

If you have more $, get the f/1.4 version, which are generally better quality, but the f/1.8s are still fine to learn and play with. You can use it in very low light, you can use it to create a dramatic blurred background, due to shallow depth of field, and you will learn a lot about framing a picture, when you "zoom with your feet". Dedicated macro lens.

Many lenses will call themselves a "macro" lens (sigma 70-300 APO Macro, for example). These are OK for shots of flowers, but don't allow you to get "really" close. A dedicated macro lens allows you to get incredibly close to your subject (think of an ant filling the entire frame), as well as allowing you spectacular blurred backgrounds for dramatic effect.

If you want to shoot this type of photography, buy a dedicated lens! Tripod. Though I own one, I don't use it much, but when you need it, nothing else will do.

Tripods are great whenever you need to take pictures with long shutter times (either low light, or for dramatic blurring of motion, etc). You can spend $20 and you can spend $1000. The more you spend, the more bells and whistles and lower weight your tripod will have.

Cable release (or wireless release). These go with the tripod.To further minimize camera shake, use a release (the cable ones are pretty cheap) so you're not physically touching the camera when you snap a picture. You can also use the delay timer on your camera.

External flash. If you shoot indoors, you need to either get fast lenses or an external flash. The built in flash is really only good for a few feet.

I've also seen people use their flash to fill in shadows in backlit scenes. Waterproof housings. These go for $1000s.

I'd stay away. If you want to shoot underwater, buy a nice point and shoot and underwater housing (the whole set up will cost less than the housing for your DSLR). Teleconverters.

These are an inexpensive way to get more length on your lenses, but at the expense of light. They multiply your lens's focal length by 1.4x or 2x, depending on what you buy, but there is less light available to the sensor, so shutter speeds will be slower. You really only want to use them in very bright light situations.

They also take a little extra time to put on on and take off. I hope this info helps. I'd personally start with a 50 f/1.8 and maybe a telephoto, until you decide what type of photography really intersts you.

Good luck..

A couple of lenses and a good dedicated flash I have a major Jones for Nikon lens, but just beginning I would suggest you start with two - a good 18-75mm range zoom and a 60mm macro lens for closeup shots. Pick Nikon or Canon only and stick with that. Digital camera bodies may come and go but the lenses will last.

I have had good luck buying used lenses on Ebay from highly rated sellers with an excellent track record. Also, if you find you don’t use it much you can resell it there easily. A powerful compatable flash for the hotshoe on the camera body by the same maker is also needed, capable of fill flash and bouce flash.

Some kind of photo processing sortware, like Photoshop Elements. A high-quality tripod, easily adjustable to your height. A good book, like Bryan Peterson’s "Understanding Exposure".

If you plan to shoot sports or animal shots you will also wind up with a good, big telephoto lens too. Filters and such are optional at first, I think. Have fun!

And get ready to spend some serious money. You really get what you pay for with lenses.

Good luch with DSLR! First, do to get rid of your point-and-shot. SLRs are larger and heavier.

Also, screen in DSLRs is used for viewing only, you must use viewfinder to take pictures. You've mentioned Canon in clarification, so lets talk about Canon. Canon's DSLRs (Canon Digital Rebel xt and xti) have magnification factor 1.6.This means that focus length should be multiplied by 1.6. So, if you get lens 50mm, with DSLR it works as 50*1.6 = 80mm.

Lenses. I'd recomment to get camera body with 17-85mm IS (Image Stabilized) lens (do not forget lens hood). With DSLR it would be 27 - 135mm.

This range covers most of situations: from wide angle to portrait to telephoto. Other lenses depend on what kind of images you prefere to take. You can get extra wide angle (or even fish eye) or telephoto lens.

In my opinion, there are more situaitons when you'd need telephoto lens. Canon has many of them. I'd recommend 70-300mm IS lens (again do not forget hood).

With DSLR it would be 110 - 480m.So, those two lenses cover really good range from 27 to 480mm. Filters. Very basic filter set should include two filters: UV protector.

This filter protects lens from UV light and from any other extrnal troubles (dust, water, etc. ). This filter doesn't affect light. Circular polarizer ("circular" has nothing to do with filter shape).

Polarizer allows to filter out part of light in some situations, like remove reflections from glass or water, make sky more or less blue, etc. To get effect which you want, you will rotate plarizer. There are many more types of filters, but I would not recommend to get many untill you realise what kind of effect you like to get. Digital editing (Photoshop) allows to create many effects on later, but there are filters which cannot be replaced by software.

One of them is polarizer (mentioned above). Another is ND (Neutral Density) filters. ND filters simply reduce amount of light, most of ND filters are just grey.

There are two types of ND filters: -- Splited (Graduated): part of the filter is transparent, part is grey. Reduces light on part of image. It allows to get more balanced pictures.

I think it's better to use rectngular Graduated ND filters instead of round (I mean shape). Round filters don't allow to move filter up and down, so you cannot set split line aon the level you need. Rectangular filters allow this.

-- All filter is grey. Allows to use slower speed in bright light conditions. Alos reduce contrasts.

Tripod I'd recommend to get and use tripod from very beginning. Other accessories. There are many more lenses available (macro, closeup, fisheye, etc. ,.Etc.

,. Etc....) as well as many more filters and other accessoried (flash light, etc. ). Do not get everything you see.

Try with basic at first..

Nothing extra is essential for a true beginner. The beauty of the more advanced digital SLR cameras is that a lot of the features are built in, so nothing but a lens is necessary. It also depends on what comes with your camera.

Most come with the image card and cables to connect them to your computer. The first purchase I would recommend adding to your basic set up is a card reader. Rather than connect your camera to your computer every time you want to download photos, you can just insert the image card into the card reader.

This save wear and tear on your camera and battery use. They just have a USB connection and are often a lot faster than using your camera to do it. You might also want to invest in a battery charger if your camera uses regular batteries instead of a camera battery.

If it does come with a camera battery, you might want to buy an extra one to use while you recharge the other if you take a lot of photos. The digital photo frames are fun too. That said, if you are already proficient with film SLR's, you can add anything to the digital set up that you have used before with lighting, filters, etc.You also have to decide if you want to print your own pictures or have them printed at some place like Clark Photo Labs or Kodak.

Com or something. Digital photography can produce some really amazing images. Sources: my life as a journalism teacher .

1 Sorry, I should have said mainly I am concerned about all those extra lenses and filters they suggest for different occasions. I am very good at electronics and computers including the dummy digital cameras, but the art of photography? Not a chance.

Getting a digital SLR, for me, is to be able to take GREAT pictures.

Sorry, I should have said mainly I am concerned about all those extra lenses and filters they suggest for different occasions. I am very good at electronics and computers including the dummy digital cameras, but the art of photography? Not a chance.

Getting a digital SLR, for me, is to be able to take GREAT pictures.

Looking to purchase a digital camera/housing for both Underwater photography and other use.

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