My new D-SLR, what do I need ?

Charlottefitz

Charlottefitz

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charlotte
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Hi everyone, I just wanted a little advice on what extras I will need to purchase when I buy my Olympus e-450 in just over 2 weeks time. Its my first D-SLR so I'm a little clueless as to what is a necessity and what is an extra.
I have read on this forum that it is recommended that you get a lens hood as this could save damage to you lens if you accidentally knock or drop your camera. I have also read online somewhere that you should purchase a uv filter to protect your lens, would you experts say this is true?
Also is there any other key essentials I am missing out on here bar a camera bag, an SD card, some very strong recharable batteries and possibly a tripod in the near future.
Thanks for all your help guys.
 
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Hi
A lens hood is a good idea, as for a uv filter some say do it, some don't it's down to personal preference however it can make a world of difference in protecting your lens, personally I use them :)
Memory is essential you'll need CF not SD for your camera ;)
Enjoy :)
 
You may find that your lens comes with a lens hood anyway so you may not need to buy one as an extra.
A spare battery is probably a good investment - we all have the intention of making sure the one in the camera is kept fully charged and ready for a day's shooting but I'll bet that we've all run it flat once or twice!
Personally, I rarely use a protection filter. I always have the hood fitted and only use a filter if it's very dusty or there's loads of sea spray flying around. Even then, I'm almost more worried about dust/spray etc getting in through the focus and zoom rings as I am of it hitting the front element.
A tripod is not quite a must (unless you're planning on lots of long exposures and landscapes) but if you do get one, it's worth spending as much as you can afford to to avoid spending more than once when you discover that the super cheapie you got from e-bay is a bit like a chocolate teapot.
As for memory cards, some people recommend one large capacity one so you're unlikely to lose it when changing cards when one's full. Having had one go corrupt on me (as usual, an unrepeatable shoot was on it...), I'm one of those with several smaller capacity cards. Apart from anything else, if one does crap out on me again, I won't lose too many pics.
Bags! Again, an area where most of us have a couple up in the loft which are no longer big enough to hold our usual day out kit. There are a few types; backpack, single shoulder sling packs, shoulder bags. If you can, try a few on (ideally when full of kit) so you can feel how well they suit your shape.
After a while, you'll probably decide that the lens(es) you have don't cover all your wants - you may want more reach or wider angles. Once you know what you want, I'm sure we'll help you spend your money (and more!).
 
Thank you both very much for taking your time out to advice me on what is best. The overall trend with most things such as lenses seems to be that each person has their own preference and you do what you feel comfortable with :)
The main thing I want to do is protect my lens , especially while I'm getting to know the camera so I think that a lens hood would be extremely useful to me.
Nod, I didn't realise you could get rucksack camera bags , that's definitely the style that would be most comfortable for me due to my very petite and weak frame lol :).
I'm sure once I get into photography a little more I will want to keep expanding my kit :)
Thanks again !
 
Charlottefitz said:
Thank you both very much for taking your time out to advice me on what is best. The overall trend with most things such as lenses seems to be that each person has their own preference and you do what you feel comfortable with :)
The main thing I want to do is protect my lens , especially while I'm getting to know the camera so I think that a lens hood would be extremely useful to me.
Nod, I didn't realise you could get rucksack camera bags , that's definitely the style that would be most comfortable for me due to my very petite and weak frame lol :).
I'm sure once I get into photography a little more I will want to keep expanding my kit :)
Thanks again !
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Hey my fello Norn Irelander good to see a new face.

Yes you will notice your kit expanding greatly and your wallet... sorry purse getting lighter and lighter :'(. As has been said a UV filter is something that some people swear by and others dont, one thing if you are going to get one make sure that its a good quality one £30-£40 new. A hood is a good idea also and some lens do come with one but some can be a little combersome I find.

If your looking for a backpack have a look at lowepro for a good quality resoanably priced one. If you are the more girly girl have a look at Crumpler, you will pay slightly more but look rather snazzy.

Other things I would recomend you get would be 1) a rocket blower and 2) a sensor pen 3) Micro fiber cloth just for routine manitanence, more required when you get maybe another lens and you are changing between the too a bit.

There is a wealth of other kit to buy depending on what subject it is your are going to be photographing. Whats your areas of intrest?

Oh I would recommend a good photoediting program maybe Photoshop Elements or the more expensive CS4 or 5 possibly even Lightroom, again all depends what your intrests are.

Just dont panic all your really need is your camera and a lens.
 
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Thank you for your reply Donki :) and Hello to you too :D
Those crumpler bags are so pretty but the price isn't so lovely lol . I have seen an olympus camera bag in black and electric blue on ebay for £16 which I thought was a good deal and quite nice looking to.

Thanks for raising the photo editor situation to, its something I haven't even though about until now :) My boyfriend luckily already has a copy of paintshop pro so I can cross that off my list of things to buy , I will have to master the use of it though :)

Do you think I should buy the rocket blower and sensor pen when I'm ready to change my lens as I'm sure it won't be changed for the next year or more lol

Thanks for all your help Donki :) much appreciated !
 
If you are keeping the same lens on all the time and not changing it all the time, then a lens pen and rocket blower probably wont be needed straight away, but as soon as you start taking the lens off, you will need one.

Basicly everything is an extra, all you need is the camera and lens really. Just buy what you find you need as you need it, but extra batteries and CF cards would be my priority.
 
I'd buy 2 or 3 SD cards, if you go snap-happy, you'll find that you could easily fill a 2GB card in a short period of time. I used 4GB Sandisk Extreme III's on my D90.

Also, a dust-blower would be a wise investment. It can help to remove any dust from the front lens element without actually touching the glass.
 
First on the list would be a lenspen and rocket blower. I use them a lot as you can get dirt and dust on front of lens

If I was shooting outdoor a lot a UV filter, but indoors wouldnt bother, unless I was away a lot would not bother with additional battery.
 
Charlottefitz said:
Nod, I didn't realise you could get rucksack camera bags , that's definitely the style that would be most comfortable for me due to my very petite and weak frame lol :).
Click to expand...
Hello from another petite NI newbie gal! :D

I'm getting my first DSLR soon and am starting to think of all the extras I'm going to need... I have a small bag (a friend has lent me a D90 to try and I needed a bag) but it just takes the camera with lens, will need a bigger one for carrying extra stuff.

Enjoy your new camera - I'm really looking forward to getting mine!
 
The Chillinator said:
I'd buy 2 or 3 SD cards
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Not for an e-450 you wouldn't. XD or CF :-)
I'd go for CF. The price of XD is stupid compared to more popular cards like SD.
However, my e410 (and I suspect your e450?) must use XD for it's panorama feature, which I've never used TBH.
Of course, you can put both CF and XD in together and transfer between the two. Another feature I've never used :-)
 
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