Beginner First Time DSLR What Accessories Do I Need

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Name
Ian
Edit My Images
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Hi Everyone

So my family have got me my first dslr camera for my birthday (can't have it until May 21st :eek:) and so far I have the camera with kit lens and a 50mm lens. So I know I need a memory card but what other accessories do you think I should be aiming to get in the near future ?

Note: I have a tripod already

Cheers in advance
 
Depends where your photographic interests lie.

But I'd start by putting money towards a longer lens, something like a 70-300.

Memory cards
Some sort of rain cover - Optech Rainsleeve,
A more comfortable camera strap
a circular polariser
bags
memory card reader
software
remote trigger
flash
etc
etc
etc
 
Definitely a bag that will hold your current gear plus a couple of extra lenses. What type of photography do you want to do? If you know that it’s much easier to come up with a list, for example you wouldn’t need flash for landscapes, or you wouldn’t need polarising filters for portrait
 
Ahh yes the dreaded memory card issue is getting me I have been looking at a SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB class 10 upto 170Mb/s does that seem ok ?
 
Definitely a bag that will hold your current gear plus a couple of extra lenses. What type of photography do you want to do? If you know that it’s much easier to come up with a list, for example you wouldn’t need flash for landscapes, or you wouldn’t need polarising filters for portrait

Well I like a bit of everything but i'm hoping to get out into the city and try to capture street photo's like people just doing everyday life and maybe some buildings and landscapes
 
Ahh yes the dreaded memory card issue is getting me I have been looking at a SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB class 10 upto 170Mb/s does that seem ok ?
What camera is it ?
What sort of photography will you do ?

As above is all dependent, no real point having a super fast card if you’re doing landscapes and taking a picture every few minutes, on the other hand if your doing sports or something you may/want that speed.

As with any other equipment, it’s dependent what your doing.

I would certainly say maybe a spare battery or two.

Then go out see what your like
 
Well I like a bit of everything but i'm hoping to get out into the city and try to capture street photo's like people just doing everyday life and maybe some buildings and landscapes
Don't think about any other lenses or accessories until you've learned the limitations of what you have.
If what you have is a crop sensor camera (likely) then personally I could live without both lenses you have already - but I'm not you, and nor is anyone else, so we're no use for telling you what to buy beyond 'don't rush into anything'
 
It depends entirely on what you want to photograph, and in what style. I doubt anyone can recommend many accessories that will definitely be beneficial to you based on what we have to go off so far. :)

Can you tell us which camera you have been bought, an idea of the type of photography you'd like to do e.g. (landscape, sport, street, documentary, macro, nature, portrait, etc.). Also your level of photography experience (beginner, novice, intermediate, etc.). When I got my first SLR many years ago, I wanted to do the lot... but quickly realised that this was an unrealistic expectation, and that you often need specific kit to do a good job of the more specialised stuff. So don't be disheartened, it's the same for everyone 'one size' definitely doesn't fit all situations! :banghead:

Until we know what you're looking to do, then any accessory suggestions will be pretty general and vague, such as something to safely clean a lens with, another memory card (without actually being able to suggest the most suitable and cost-effective one for your camera!), a suitable bag or case to keep your kit in, etc.

PS Apart from that, look forward to getting your camera and enjoy taking lots of photos. (y)
 
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I will be learning the ropes on those 2 lenses and once I get into it more I would consider a better camera and lenses but yes of course spare batteries
 
Another battery, a couple of cards (normal Scandisk cards will do, nothing fancy or fast), a bag (although any old bag will do to begin with as long as your careful), some editing software for your pc (I assume you have a pc?) and off you go! Then spend the next however long getting to know your camera and what you enjoy doing. With the two lenses you have, they are perfectly adequate to take landscapes, portraits, street photography etc. Good luck. Only other thing I would add would be a circular polariser for landscapes.
 
Has anyone suggested a dust bunny cleaning kit?

I'd suggest a bottle of Eclipse fluid, a pack of Pec Pads a nice cloth for the lenses.
 
Has anyone suggested a dust bunny cleaning kit?

I'd suggest a bottle of Eclipse fluid, a pack of Pec Pads a nice cloth for the lenses.
I've never yet dared to try to physically clean the sensor on my Canon 6D, I'd rather pay a reputable Canon approved service company to do that when/if it becomes necessary. To prolong the day, I try to avoid changing lenses in dusty situations (I'm not a pro photographer, so I can weigh up the 'likely cost' of getting a shot accordingly), and I point the camera body downwards when changing lenses to reduce the likelihood of dust dropping into the body when the lens is off.

Once an obvious and intrusive dust bunny (a particle of dust on the camera's sensor that repeatedly shows up as a dark spot on the photographs taken) becomes evident and can't be shifted using the camera's built-in cleaning programme, I'll take my camera to be professionally cleaned and serviced, as it's approaching 5 years old and has given me faultless service, so it probably deserves a bit of TLC when it lets me know the time has come. :)

Over cautious? Well, I've been looking after camera kit for around 40 years now, so I've leant by my mistakes! :facepalm: I think William Shakespeare summed things up perfectly (in one of the plays what he writ)… "In striving to better oft we mar what's well". In other words, you can't half bugger things up by trying to improve/fine-tune them! :whistle:
 
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I once paid Canon to clean my sensor and it came back with about he same number of contaminants and it seems that all they did way move them around. Ever since I've done it myself with Eclipse fluid and Pec Pads and I've never had an issue with any camera.

Using a good lens changing technique wont completely eliminate sensor contamination but it'll help. With a DSLR much of it will possibly be generated by the moving parts within the camera so even if you never ever change lenses contamination will probably still occur as debris and oil etc come off those moving parts or gets in through other means such as gaps in the camera body around the buttons and dials etc or through the lens.
 
It’s been said already get put there and take pictures you will find out what you need. The nice thing about canon is it comes with dpp. There free editing software. Again use it it may be what you need. Best advice go and enjoy
 
Buy the memory card and leave it at that.

Every review you read, every article you see, every youTube tutorial you watch will make you feel you absolutely, definitely 'need' something you have not got, or a slightly better version of something you already have, or the thing you used to have but sold, but now you think about it, you really, really need again.

This hobby will drain you of cash if you let it. And like most, despite my best intentions, I have, several times over.

You have a camera, a lens and will have a memory card - that's all you need. Go play with those until you hit a real barrier then you'll know what you need next. If you can do this, you are better than 90% of those on here!
 
While the 50mm lens is a classic and good to start with, a modest zoom is good to have on by default, not sure what canon offer, for full frame 24-105 is nice range, for crop sensor something a bit wider maybe.

The sensor will soon get dust specs even if you don't change the lens, the blower mentioned above is inexpensive and often shifts them with minimal risk.
 
Guys this is great thank you so much for the advise and tips. For software I have been using Gimp off and on and learning some basic editing skills from youtube videos and I will have a play with Canons software too when I get the camera. I just cant wait for my birthday now I want to get out there and shoot :)
 
Get a nice cheap bag. I say cheap because as you find what you like shooting your needs will change. Sooner or later chances are you'll need a different one (most of us have several to suit our day plans). I'd go for a couple of memory cards, that way you have a back-up if one claps out.
Go easy of the gadgets. I have a holdall full of must have, can't manage without, totally vital odds and ends I've used once and thrown in the bag. Keep it simple.
A lot will depend on what you like to take pics of, obviously sport will need different kit to say night photography or whatever, so untill you figure out what works for you we're a bit stuck.
One bit of advice I learned the hard way, whan you buy cameras and lens buy good buy once! Buy a cheap lens and you'll end up getting a better one, then a really good one. You'd have saved money to buy best first.
 
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One bit of advice I learned the hard way, whan you buy cameras and lens buy good buy once! Buy a cheap lens and you'll end up getting a better one, then a really good one. You'd have saved money to buy best first.
That's good advice but it assumes the person has the money available to buy top quality kit in the first place. Quite often, a person might not be able to afford (or be able to sensibly justify) spending what could easily be several hundred to a couple of thousand pounds on a top notch lens.

For instance, I'd love a Canon 100-400 L IS II zoom but, for the number of times I'd actually use it, I couldn't justify the cost (over £1800 for a new one). So I decided to settle for a Sigma 100-400 instead, buying a mint-ish used one from a reputable dealer rather than buying new, and trading in an old 70-300 zoom to lessen the cost. Spending a bit of time to research the pros and cons, being realistic and buying with my head rather than my heart, it's cost me £400 to change, and that's a heck of a lot less money than the Canon version.

It's also important to remember that 'better' kit doesn't automatically mean better photos, and once you get to a certain level of quality with lenses, you have to spend an awful lot more to get something perhaps only a little bit better optically - the law of diminishing returns. A pro can justify that as it's their livelihood, but as an enthusiast I have to keep the cost of kit in perspective.
 
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1. Firstly buy nothing until you need it. We all buy stuff we want, but don't need - try not to fall into this trap.
2. Cards and batteries are obvious (and will be needed) and a lens cloth will keep your T-shirt clean.
3. A bag to keep it all safe (waterproof or with waterproof cover).
 
I agree with the minimalist approach others have suggested. You need a camera, lens, battery and a memory card. That's it, for the essentials. Add a lens hood - Canon's own hoods are ridiculously expensive, so get a generic one - and a rocket blower. These are cheap.

That's it. Start taking photographs and you'll soon work out what else you actually need, and what you would like. It's up to you after that!
 
A pair of walking boots or sturdy shoes!
There's only 'so' much to take photo's of in your own home, so to find stuff to take photos of tends to mean getting out and about!
So get out and about! Go find photos!
99.999% of a picture is OUTSIDE the camera, not in the camera or what buttons or dials your prod or poke on it, or what guff you slap on the outside of it!!!
So think outside the box(of electrickery!) and get OUT and take pictures!
Top accessory recomends here have to be spare batteries and memory cards, cos an electric-picture-maker don't work so well without electric, and if you got electric, not much good if you cant 'save' the photo you take to a card!
BUT, what batteries or cards, or how many? REALLY depends on how much you get out and about!... back to the boots!
Anything and everything else, then sort of hinges on that, getting out and about and taking photo's, and discovering what you actually take photo's of, and what actually may be more of less helpful....

You mention a tripod... err. yeah, well.... I have a few! Mostly stuck behind doors to fall over when some-one slams them! Double edged sword them, and a good example of where 'more gear' might NOT be such a great idea! Bludy encumbrance trying to lugg one about a lot of the time. Certainly if hiking up a ruddy great hill, or keeping tabs on a couple of tear-away-tots at the same time! And do you really need it? Is it so essential?

Little illustrative anecdote here; once upon a time many years ago, I was at the top of a big hill, surveying the landscape, with my diddy little Olympus XA2 'compact' in my mitt... another chap, a keen photographer.... I could tell... the canvas camera bag weighing down one shoulder and the huge tripod asymmetrically weighing down the other, and the big SLR hung around his kneck, making him stoop, 'sort' of gave it away.... spotted the camera in my hand and came over to offer some 'helpful' advice.... which was mostly that if I 'wanted' a decent photo, I 'really' needed to chuck away that 'cheap' compact, and get a propper 35mm camera.... and a tripod.... I could have taken umbridge here.... that 'cheap' compact in my hand, WAS a 35mm film camera, not a 110 cartridge instamatic... a-n-d not exactly 'cheap', it cost more, new in the shop than a lot of 35mm SLR's! But still.... smile and nod, chap was trying to be helpful.... and he wasn't to know that at the bottom of the hill, in the boot of the car, I had left the camera bag with two 'fancy' winder equipped SLR's and a lot of alternate lenses, and the 'other' bag with the 'all manual' all 'prime' kit in it, and I think three different tripods, and other accessories... 'cos I was gonna be bluggered if I was going to lugg all that crap up such a big hill!!!

I indulged him, until he started stumbling off down the hill, before I took off my jumper to use as an improvised 'bean-bag' to give me a base to get the camera pointing in the direction I wanted, on a park bench, firing it on the self timer, in substitute for a remote release cable... And re-tied the laces on my hiking boots, which were the ONLY thing I had taken out the back of the car, before tackling the climb up that hill! And probably the most useful!

Any how, moral is, that you HAVE to go find your photos... and a pair of walking boots are probably the 'best' investment here, after some petrol money or a bus-pass! Almost EVERYTHING beyond that can to some degree or other be improvised, like using a park bench and jumper instead of a tripod, and the self timer instead of a cable release, or as other instances, a towel or T-Shirt as a reflector, rather than using harsh fill-in flash, etc etc etc...

BUT... either which way, and no matter how much improvisation and ingenuity you may choose to employ or chun... you aint gonna get a picture unless you climb that hill... SO, faced with a long steep climb.... how much added weight do you need carry, how much is going to actually help you get a better photo, and how much is just going to make life harder for you, especially lugging it all around?

Batteries
Spare Cards
Sturdy Footwear

Think outside the black-box, forget the camera, it almost dont matter... GET OUT and USE the thing.
 
Thank you for all your suggestions and wisdom I feel better informed on what to get in the beginning and what to wait on depending on the type of photography I warm to most.
 
I wouldn't buy anything other than memory card or two. Depending on how you are set up you might want to look at computer storage and backup - you'll be amazed how fast you can fill up disks :)

I recommend getting and reading this book "Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera" by Bryan Peterson
You can learn similar things on YouTube etc. but I quite like to read and reread at my own pace.

GIMP is pretty good to begin with for editing JPG images but it doesn't help with organising the thousands of pictures you'll end up with and I never got a good workflow for editing RAW files with it.
You'll probably end up wanting something more tailored to photography, my pictures got so much better when I moved on from GIMP/JPG to use Adobe Lightroom with RAW files.

The main thing is to take lots of pictures and enjoy yourself.
 
Depending on how you are set up you might want to look at computer storage and backup - you'll be amazed how fast you can fill up disks :)
That is a very worthy topic, and oft forgot, but probably should come before any of the other camera-guff you can get.
Thing is, the start-point, isn't so much getting hardware, but sorting ideas; you need a strategy for archiving, really before you want the hard-drives, and again, oh-so-much depends on what you do, and what you do with it.
Good tip for a newbie here, starting out, is to buy a portable pocket drive; they start from under £50, and you dont need a huge one, 500Mb is probably more than enough to be getting on with.
Trouble with 'In-Computer' storage is it's in the computer, and if the HDD goes bump, so do your piccies.
On-Line storage? Well, there's a lot of host-sites, but they make your pictures public; and there's subscription 'cloud' services, but you have to keep paying for them... a pocket drive you only need pay for once!
As a basic methodology; after each outing, clear the camera cards down to the computer, and immediately back them up to the pocket drive. IF you keep 'old' photo's on the camera card, you can easily get in a right muddle, with what's what, so clear them down for next outing, it saves fafffing trying to delete shots from the card on the camera when you run out of card-space.
Then, with two 'sets' of picture-files; one on your computer, one on your pocket drive; you can diddle away to your hearts desire with what's on the 'puter; messing with sliders, changing colour balence, cropping and sizing, and making something to upload to boto-phucket or farce-broke, or wherever... you have the 'masters' on the pocket drive if you eff-up and make one 60pixels square instead of 600px or something
But then.... you create a new file on the pocket drive; you have one for your 'Master' images, straight out of camera; but, the second is the 'Display' archive for whatever you make from the originals; which, in my case are the final edits, in the full-size form, before I resize them down for web-upload... cos that the easy bit! And means that you dont have to re-do all the edits if you loose the uploads or the computer goes bumpo, or whatever.
Keep the Pocket drive DISCONNECTED from the puter, when you are NOT transferring files to or from it, and try to do that as seldom as possible; if not connected, cant get infected or wiped by anything on the computer, can it?
Then, when you have experimented and played and worked out what you do most, and how much you are likely to shoot; then you can revisit the strategy, and other hard-ware may be more suitable, and more refined archive solutions pertinent;
BUT, pocket-Drives are pretty cheap, SD Card cheap for maybe 30x the 'space'; and you can keep them safe on a shelf not on the computer; and even 'off-site' if that's a worry.
It's a place to start.
BUT... top tip, is to KEEP that Hard-Drive 'dedicated' to your photo's....
Daughter was a bugger for this' she'd go round her mates, and pick up whatever flash drive or porta-drive was to hand, and end up with a mix of movies and pop-music and photo's and all sorts... then come crying that she'd 'lost' her home-work.... no... you DIDN'T loose it dear... you ERASED it! When you formatted that flash-drive you 'thought' only had "Glee-Club-Movies" on..... No... sorry, your BROTHER, didn't wipe your home-work either! I know... you loaned him the chip to watch Glee-Club-Movies on..... and told him to 'wipe' it when he'd seen it... he did EXACTLY what you told him to! He wiped the whole card... Lol!
Keep it to your-self; keep it dedicated to photo's, and save potential calamities and confoundements!
 
+1 for not getting anything else until you know you need it.
 
I am with "newbie 1" on this. I spent hard earned pennies on useless stuff when I started.

Just get a decent memory card of reasonable speed then just get out and learn/shoot. As time goes on you will find what you need (or don't need!) so don't buy anything, other than a reasonable memory card, for now.

You can spend thousands on accessories so only get the ones that you need - the alternative is expensive.
 
A piece of string to hook around your foot, hook the other end around the camera and pull tight. Not as good as a tripod but often better than nothing, and handy when panning.

A wad or two of bubblewrap to place your camera on when shooting from the ground, can be rearranged for tilting up to 45 deg. Also, when you see the photo op. of a lifetime and the first spot of a rainstorm hits you, cover the camera with it.


;)
 
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When I got my first DSLR (a Canon 100D) the first things I bought were some memory cards (at the time PC World were doing a special offer on packs of 2 16gb for £11ish - so I bought 3 packs) and a couple of spare batteries. My camera and lens kit came with a free Canon bag, so I didn't buy anything else for at least 6 months. I did use my camera everyday, at first just on fully auto until I started gradually understanding the other settings.

The first lens I bought was a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro because it was something I was interested in - I couldn't afford the L version which at the time was around £650 - I still have this lens 4 years later and it still does the job.

I think the best lens I invested in was a Canon 24-105mm f4 L, as someone as already mentioned buy good buy once, I can't recommend this lens enough. It's my main go to lens, these days now that I have two cameras this never comes off my Canon 800D.

If you find you're interested in photographing wildlife or birds you'll probably want a biggish lens, I opted for a Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary.

The last two lenses I bought was a fast prime lens, a Sigma 30mm f1.4 Art in 2017 and a Tokina 10-20mm f2.8 wide angle lens in 2018.
 
Hi Everyone

So my family have got me my first dslr camera for my birthday (can't have it until May 21st :eek:) and so far I have the camera with kit lens and a 50mm lens. So I know I need a memory card but what other accessories do you think I should be aiming to get in the near future ?

Note: I have a tripod already

Cheers in advance

Usually the best way to know what accessories you will need is to experience it for yourself instead of asking other members what accessories can they suggest.

Remember one member may suggest a piece of accessory that you may buy but never needed it at all, because every photographers do different photography. For example, what if a landscape photographer suggested a useful accessory, but you happen to be a sports photographer, and this piece of accessory is unless?

Just go and enjoy your birthday, go and enjoy your new toy, go and enjoy taking photographs. Forget worrying about what accessories you need, just enjoy doing photography.

When and while you are taking photographs, you will find a bit of a problem that will make you think "Oh! I wish I had that piece of accessory!" So what you should do is write it down on a shopping list, or go and buy it first chance you get. Over time, as you do photography, you will come into situations where you will realise this and that accessories would have been useful, then you should make a shopping list, and buy it, for the next time.

Your kit will grow with accessories that suits what kind of photographs you want to take, rather than your kit gets overwhelmed with accessories suggest by others, and it turns out that half of them isn't even needed at all.

Happy birthday to you, go and enjoy your new DSLR, you'll only need to make notes of what accessories you want when you do your photography.
 
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