Basic Equipment list

LizB90

LizB90

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Liz
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Hi all,

I'm sorry if I have put this in the wrong section, but I have been sat here wondering where to place it either in here or in the talk equipment section. So if anyone thinks it needs moving please either do so or let me know and I will try to do so.

Last year I upgraded to a canon 1100D DSLR with a 18-55mm IS kit lens. A couple of months afterwards I bought a 50-250mm IS and a nifty 50 f1.8. I'm due to go to weymouth at the beginning of july and possibly to kew gardens and hampton court later in the year. I was planning on buying a sigma 10-22mm f4-5.6 wide angle lens to add to my collection. But I'm not really sure if it is the best idea. I'm open to suggestions and my limit at the moment is about £400.

Equally I wanted to know about filters, is there any that are a must or is there any other bits of equipment that I may need, I am going to stock up on SD cards for my holiday as we are camping and I won't have computer access. I don't really plan to make any money from photography, but I do like taking landscapes, wildlife, close ups, food, portraits and architecture. I guess a little bit of everything really. Oh and I do have a tripod that I can use for now. I doubt I will get everything before I go to dorset but some pointers in a basic kit would be really useful and anything I can aspire to purchase in the future.

Thanks in advance,
Liz
 
Hi Liz. I'm somewhere in the same place as yourself as i only started with my first dslr around this time last year, a Nikon D5100 and 18-55 kit lens. Then bought a 55-300 as i fancied more length. Then a 50 1.4 as i fancied more close up speed. Then a sigma 10-20 as i fancied more width! There seems no end to what you can spend on this hobby but with the lenses i have i have most things covered. 10mm is really really wide, i found it great in kenya and new york earlier this year.

Filters im not so sure about though only last night i ordered a couple of cheaper ones to try as i want some long exposures for waterfalls and an ND grad to try at sunset.

Phil
 
If you are not really into macro then you have all the bases covered except the wide lens, personally I find the 18-55mm enough for my needs, but is down to personal taste, more of a 50-250mm person myself.
For filters, a polarizing filter will be good for Kew Gardens and Hampton Court if you get clear skies. Neutral Density filters are good too, but the investment is bigger and they need more practice, if you are going to be near water they are fun to experiment with.
Extra batteries is a must if you are going camping, but pretty much you have a solid starting kit.
 
Some people rave on about the 10-22mm, others say that the novalty soon wears off so maybe see if a friend has one you can borrow or hire one to see if it's something you're going to get decent use out of.

With regards to macro photography, I've seen good results from people using Raynox extention tubes and the nifty fifty, again it's a fairly cheap way of getting into Macro without having to shell out on more lenses.

Other than that I'd recommend getting flashgun (Jessops do a reasonable one for about £60) and diffuser and if you haven't got any got any editing software Lightroom 4 is fantastic and can make a huge difference to your photography.

I know there are a million and one possible suggestions, I'm just trying to think of the less expensive options that will give you most value for money AND be usable if/when you upgrade your camera :)
 
I've had quite a few goes on my friends 10-22mm but he has a Sony and obviously I have a canon so I can't try it on mine I do like it but I can see what your saying I do wonder if it's too wide I'm not sure. I already have the trial version of Photoshop elements is there much difference between that and Lightroom. I'm not really sure. I will have a look at extension tubes.

Also thank you for the advice about filters. I shall make a list and see what I can realistically afford.

Thank you for your help :)
 
There's a hoooooge difference between PS Elements and Lightroom.

Lightroom is a workflow tool that allows you to imports, edit, export & catalogue your images (along with a whole load of other stuff).

The main advantage is that you can batch process images so it can save a lot of time :)

Loads of videos on Youtube and the Adobe site has useful tutorials too.

EDIT..... You can also try it free for a month too ;)
 
After I posted on here I read the thread about Lightroom vs elements haha! I'm going to wait for elements to run out then try lightroom see what I think. I'm guessing I could still do my panoramic photos in Lightroom too. I will have a look on YouTube later just at work at the moment. So might not be the best idea now!
 
If you have lots of photos, or are planning on having lots of photos in the future go for Lightroom, its fantastic for organizing at cataloguing your images. Its like Bridge with Camera Raw built in. Once you get used to it and get a workflow set in your mind you will hardly ever need/want to use Elements or Photoshop. One thing it wont do is panorama stitching, although there may be a plugin out there.

With regards to the 10-20mm, its a nice lens, I borrowed my friends for a couple of weeks. Not worth it unless you plan to take loads of landscapes, although its a fun lens to get in peoples faces with at parties. The kit lens you have is almost as wide as this and is more than capable of taking landscape shots.

Look at getting some Cokin-P style ND filters and a holder, you can use these on all your lenses with a cheap adaptor ring for each lens, look at a wide-angle version if you plan on getting a 10-20mm lens. I wouldn't spend loads of money on branded Cokin or Lee filters until you know you are going to use them.
 
Well my sigma 10-20mm lens arrived yesterday and I'm in love with it already. I've already tried a panoramic scene in PSE and apart from the fact my exposures, white balance etc weren't right and I could do with improving on my touch up skills the camera itself was impressive. I'm also waiting on a new SD card and a polarizing screw in filter to arrive and I might have a look at an ND one we shall wait and see on that.


Thanks for everyone's help,
Liz
 
A cheap shutter release cable will be useful when using the tripod. Lens hoods will give you a bit more contrast and also protect your lenses whilst out and about. A decent bag to let you carry your gear comfortably, lens cloths and a rocket blower to keep your gear clean. A grey card will help you get your White Balance right, they're only cheap and slip in a bag.
 
Wow - I never knew they did the 1100D in red!

With regards to filters, my opinion is that ND Grads are the most useful for landscape/general use - helps to keep those grey skies from blowing out. Square (P) filters with a holder are the best to go for - you can change the position and angle of the graduation and, with the the correct threaded ring, you can use them on more than one size lens - be careful with the new 10-20mm though - you might need the wide angle filter holder at the shorter end to avoid vignetting. I really ought to know because I use P filters and a 10-20mm - just haven't used them together yet ( iirc, I have hand-held the filter in front of the 10-20mm effectively - you might find that half the time you just hold the filter in your hand instead of using a holder). There is the larger 'Z' filter - but they are more expensive. There are 'starter' kits available that include a couple of ND and a couple of ND grads together with a holder and threaded ring for reasonable prices - I bought a Kood kit which I'm happy with.

Other equipment (apart from what's already been mentioned) - spare batteries. I always pack the camera manual - there's always something I'm likely to forget and not work out how to do! Mark's list is good.
 
Packing the camera manual is a great idea. Until you really get to know the camera (and possibly even after) there is always the chance of getting stuck trying to find a particular function tucked away in the menus or just have a brain explosion over something you normally always know how to do.

Something that works for has been to save a PDF copy of the manual in my smartphone. That way I can carry around three manuals that are always with me with no extra weight. Finding things on the screen can be easier than the hardcopy if its dark. Only downside is phone battery life of course.
 
When i first started out in photography, I brought some close up filters ... they were about £10 for a set of four and really useful before i finally took the plunge and brought a macro lens... they work like filters and screw on the threaded front of the lens... might be a good cheap option for now.

Here is a link showing an example ... I got mine from a seller on ebay

http://www.cameratonic.co.uk/produc...ter-set.html?gclid=CLf5gN3W6LACFdKBfAod-CwM1g
 
If lanscape is your thing some decent filters help alot although not essential as some manage without them and just combine exposures ( 1 for the foreground 1 for the sky ) But most do prefer to use them, I would start by getting a 100mm system like Lee Foundation Holder and Hitech filters, 0.6 (2 stop) hard and soft grads, And a 0.9 ND (3 stop) solid neutral density filter. Hitech also make a very good 10 stop filter too which is very reasonably priced and easy to buy than the lee 10 stopper which can have a 3 month waiting time.

No point wasting money on cheep alternatives which can give an unwanted cast to your photos and using a wideangle lens on a 85mm system will give some very bad vignetting.
 
Last edited:
Hi all,

Thanks for the replies, I have used my new lens quite a bit. But when the Olympic torch went past us the other day I used my 55-250mm set to just below 100mm which I was quite surprised at and used my wide angled lens only a couple of times. Unfortunately last time I used it I turned the AF off so some of the shots aren't as crisp as they should have been as I didn't realise til afterwards doh! I also did a bit of close up work using it and took some wide angled shots in my garden including my first panorama :). I may post a link to my Flickr later on so people can have a look.

My polarizing filter is already on it's way and I was thinking for my holiday buying a screw in variable filter for the wide Angle purely because of some of the problems you can get with the and vignetting on kits maybe if I had one to fit my lens etc. I am thinking about buying a kit but would like to buy a proper one. But this will have to wait a while until after my holiday now. You may scream at me if anyone feels I'm making a mistake! I do have a book about my camera which I will take with me but with my camera manual on my computer that might stay at home. Yes there was a red 1100d around last year when I bought it but it was a limited edition.

Thank you for everyone's help again,
Liz
 
LizB90 said:
Hi all,
My polarizing filter is already on it's way and I was thinking for my holiday buying a screw in variable filter for the wide Angle purely because of some of the problems you can get with the and vignetting on kits maybe if I had one to fit my lens etc.
Liz
Click to expand...

Keep an eye on using variable ND filters, and CPLs for that matter (a variable ND is a pair of polarisers) at very wide angles, the field of view is so wide that you end up with differing amounts of polarisation across the frame, weird dark crosses on shots etc. Your kit lens should be OK but watch for it on the 10-22
 
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