Beginner Thoughts on first pieces of kit to invest in

Tom Pinchenzo

Tom Pinchenzo

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Tom
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Hi All,

I've just bought a Nikon D3300 and apart from the standard kit lens that came with it, I have no accessories.

What are people's thoughts on first pieces of kit to invest in? A tripod? a filter? Some good image editing software? I imagine it will depend on what I'll be primarily shooting - landscapes, portraits or wildlife etc. or are there things that are useful regardless of the subject?

Any thoughts or advice would be welcome.

Thanks,
Tom
 
To be honest it really does depend on what you plan to photograph.
A tripod is always handy
A camera bag
But most of all, just get it and use the camera, you will find what floats your boat and this will have an impact on what you will need to progress in your "style" (not my favourite term to use, but can't think of the right word or words).
 
A good tripod and bag, would be virtually essential, regardless of the type of photography you pursue. But don't rush, better to take your time and buy a product that suits your needs, than to rush out and then have to buy multiple versions (that from the man who has 6 camera bags :D)

Regarding buying gear, try to resist and only buy, when what you have no longer fits your needs. It is way too easy to develop GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) :eek:
 
A tripod is by no means essential for most of what I do.

The message is, it depends on you so the best advice is to get out there and learn your camera and photography style and then when you want to do something your current kit doesn't let you do then you will know what to buy.

You are much better off having one really useful high quality accessory than a load of mediocre crap that you never use.
 
Not kit per se, but the best thing to invest in is learning. You can have the best gear in the world but without proper understanding and knowledge you can still get bad pictures. As for kit for me two essential things are a tripod (don't buy a cheap one) and a flash. Don't underestimate the power and versatility of flash.
 
Thanks for the helpful replies. I'd like to develop my landscape photography so I think I'll take the tripod advice!

What about editing software? Is it worth getting to grips with that side of things from an early stage or just do JPEGs and let the camera do the hard work? And is it worth paying for something or are there decent free programmes out there?
 
My view on software is to just buy Adobe Lightroom (you can get it on subscription too but don't pay full price as there are always offers around), it's what the majority of people use and contains all the features you will need for 99% of your photography and is very simple to use. Importantly for me, and landscape shooters, it does grad filters which if you shoot in raw negates (and can even improves on) using filters. Others will say that there are lots of other options, some free, but Lightroom is the destination for most so you may as well start there.

As for a tripod, don't skimp, lots of people have a wardrobe full of cheap tripods that they bought hoping to 'give it a try' and then realising they were just useless and ended up buying something better.
 
Another vote for lightroom, and I would say start getting to grips with it from day 1. Plenty of youtube vids out there to help you learn, Anthony Morghanti's are generally very good imo.
 
Nawty said:
As for a tripod, don't skimp, lots of people have a wardrobe full of cheap tripods that they bought hoping to 'give it a try' and then realising they were just useless and ended up buying something better.
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Agreed, been there done that ;)
 
Softwre wise, whatever you use, always always make sure when you take a picture, you save it in RAW format, rather than jpeg, and you'll find you have like 1000000's more opportunities to edit your picture as RAW retains all the details.
 
Get a good tripod that can go as low as the ground and a bean bag, you can then experiment with images from that lower perspective with good stability.
Oh and some waterproofs for lying on damp ground.
I might be stating the obvious but get good lens cloths, a blower and soft brushes ( make up, shaving or as sold in the camera shop) to dislodge sand etc..
 
Well, when I got my first DSLR, the first thing accessories I bought, were: 1) a 70-300 lens, 2) a circular polarising filter 3) an external flash 4) a cheap 50mm prime lens and then 5) an ultra-wide angle lens.

Each were comparatively cheap and most were replaced within a year or two with more expensive versions once I'd figured out what I wanted to do. I already had a cheap tripod from film photography days and a camera bag.

If I were starting out from scratch again, I'd probably do the same again, but would probably add remote flash triggers to the list.
 
If you like landscapes you could do worse than buy Ansell Adams' The Camera. Don't worry too much about camera gear - it's more about getting out and shooting, learning what works (rarely) and what doesn't work (mostly) and slowly getting that ratio the right way around :)

(I'm still not there yet either...)
 
Hello Tom and welcome to TP.

I agree a good bag is pretty much essential. It might not be just now but as you get other bits of kit it will become so. It could be a dedicated camera bag or a simpler small rucksack. It depends on the amount of gear you have, but it it worth thinking for the future - you might not need the space now, but sometime you might. For short trips I use a really cheap bag, for longer trips I use my ordinary rucksack with various soft padding inside.

A tripod, though not essential, is also useful and again I would agree about not going for the cheapest.

For software - I use Photoshop Elements quite a lot (I got an earlier version cheap when a later one was released) but also have a look at GIMP (it does just about anything you'll need, but like any other high end package it takes time to learn) and Photoscape (it only handles JPEG files (sorry if you are not sure what this means)) but it is VERY easy to use. Both GIMP and Photoscape are free to download.

However, as you are new to Photography the advice above to get out and take shots is very good. Digital photos are effectively free, so take loads. To begin with just stick the camera on AUTO. A lot of the shot will be just fine but if you analyse them, you'll find some that did not come out the way you wanted.

To get the best out of your camera learn about the exposure triangle (ie aperture, shutter speed and ISO), how they relate to each other and the effect each has on the image; it is the way to taking more control over the camera and getting (or getting closer) to what you want from a photo.

If you have shots that have not turned out how you wanted, post them up here and someone will help.

Dave
 
Adobe Elements was first software I bought, then realised Lightroom was the way to go.. So go for that as a starter software, Learning curve is moderate, but once you've got the basics you can do some good work.

After that, I bought books on the subject matter I wanted to learn to photograph..

Plus a bag... Get a bigger bag than you might think you'll need... I'll bet most on here have several after buying too small to start with!! I know I did...

But best thing I got...

Advice from this forum... Free and on the whole excellent!

JMHO
 
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Nostromo said:
Also most definitely read your cameras manual, if you haven't already. Even carry it around with you.
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Good call, I do that as well.
 
Tom Pinchenzo said:
Any thoughts or advice would be welcome.

Thanks,
Tom
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Start saving up :)

Seriously, I'd suggest a nifty fifty prime lens so you can see the possibilities in low light and subject isolation, a small tripod for longer exposures and Lightroom
 
Fast 45+Mb/s SD cards
Spare Batteries

Petrol/bus-tickets/shoe-leather

Just get out there and use the thing

It's a camera, not a lego set!
 
Teflon-Mike said:
Just get out there and use the thing

It's a camera, not a lego set!
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+1 go out and use it, play around and learn! Post your shots here and get feedback.

This will also give you an idea of what you want to shoot and what you'll need to shoot it :)
 
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