Realize that once you pick up a DSLR your financial stake in this hobby has likely just started. At this point the key piece of equipment you have is, of course, your camera. But the DSLR’s raison d’etre is its ability to accept different lenses. And it is here that a large amount of your money is destined to go.
But one of the first pieces of equipmnent you will need to acquire is a bag. Here things are already a bit complicated. Assuming you just picked up a DSLR with its kit lens and a battery charger, the small “holster” style bag would suffice. I really like this style of bag, as it’s easy to get the camera into and out of it.
But soon you will want another lens. And then comes the questions of where to put it and its natural follow-on, what to do with the old bag.
At this first stage these questions aren’t too difficult – the answers are “in your bag” and “not applicable”, respectively. With on caveat – you should not get the “small” holster bag but rather the “long” one – one that’s capable of carrying a camera with a “long lens” (telephoto) attached.
It’s the next step – when you start acquiring more lenses than the first one, where things get more complex. But let’s get back to the start.
The “holster style” bag is handy and convenient. The thing is, more than likely one of your first lens purchases will be a telephoto lens, and if you get the “short” bag the camera with this lens won’t fit in it. So get the “long” bag. If you never get another lens you’ll be set.
If your first lense isn’t a telephoto lens you can probably still get by with just the “long” holster-style bag by putting the extra lens in first and then the camera. This depends on the size of the lens though.
Eventually you will collect more lenses, at which point you should get the largest bag you feel comfortable carrying. You’ll likely grow into it.
A tripod is almost a required piece of equipment. If you’re not able to get a “good” one for a while then pick up a not-so-good one until you can. Like anything, the better tripod will encourage you to use a tripod because it will be easier to use. It will also last longer.
When I first started I bought quite a few filters, excited by their creative possibilities. But I don’t use hardly any of them. I would suggest that you get a UV filter for each lens. When the sales-person first suggested this I thought it might be a “trick” to sell me more stuff, but then I realized a) commission from something like $12 wasn’t really worth the effort and 2) they had a point. A UV filter will filter out UV light and have no other effect. Filtering out UV light is often a Good Thing(tm) because it can reduce haze, but really most cameras already filter out UV light so the only purpose for the filter is to protect the front of the lens. It’s easier (financially) to replace the $12 filter because it got scratched than to replace the lens.
A Circular Polarizer is another must-have filter. This filter will reduce the amount of light entering your camera, and it only allows light of a certain “orientation” through. You can turn the filter to adjust which “orientation” is selected. As you remember from your Optics class, light is polarized by reflection. So by selecting the appropriate orientation you can minimize the amount of reflected light in your image. This is useful to “see through” water or glass. It also has the effect of saturating (emphasizing) colors. Note that light from the sky is polarized, so at times the use of a polarizing filter at a certain orientation can make the sky dark blue to black.
Neutral Density filters are used to subtract light, leaving all other characteristics of the light uneffected. There will be times when you want a longer shutter speed but can’t get to it due to the amount of light, and these times require a neutral density filter.
Imagine a scene where you have a lot of light in one half your picture and significantly less in the other half with a defined horizon line separating the two – one such scene would be a sunset over the ocean. A graduated neutral density filter is a filter which has the “top” side filtering out some amount of light and the “bottom” side is clear. The idea is that you can mount this to the end of your lens on a mount which allows the filter to both be rotated and slid up and down. You place the line which separates the clear side from the “top” side on the horizon and you expose for the clear side. If you’re having trouble visualizing this, it’s like having sunglasses for the bright sun.
The short story with filters is this – there are many, but the only ones whose effects cannot be replicated in post-processing software are ones which effect exposure and/or the “quality” of the light. So, pick up a circular polarizer and consider picking up various neutral density filters.
A cleaning cloth and, to a lesser degree, a “hand blower” are good maintenance items to have. It’s a good idea to check your filters and lenses for dust and smears. Use a cleaning cloth to clean your optics – but be careful. You don’t want to scratch the glass.
Realize that once you pick up a DSLR your financial stake in this hobby has likely just started. At this point the key piece of equipment you have is, of course, your camera. But the DSLR’s raison d’etre is its ability to accept different lenses. And it is here that a large amount of your money is destined to go.
One of the first pieces of equipmnent you will need to acquire is a bag. Here things are already a bit complicated. Assuming you just picked up a DSLR with its kit lens and a battery charger, the small “holster” style bag would suffice. I really like this style of bag, as it’s easy to get the camera into and out of it.
But soon you will want another lens. And then comes the questions of where to put it and its natural follow-on, what to do with the old bag. At this first stage these questions aren’t too difficult – the answers are “in your bag” and “not applicable”, respectively. With one caveat – you should not get the “small” holster bag but rather the “long” one – one that’s capable of carrying a camera with a “long lens” (telephoto) attached.
The “holster style” bag is handy and convenient. However, more than likely one of your first lens purchases will be a telephoto lens, and if you get the “short” bag the camera with this lens mounted won’t fit in it. So get the “long” bag. If you never get another lens you’ll be set.
If your first lense isn’t a telephoto lens you can probably still get by with just the “long” holster-style bag by putting the extra lens in first and then the camera, depending on the size of your lens.
Eventually you will most likely collect more lenses, at which point you should get the largest bag you feel comfortable carrying. You’ll likely grow into it.
A tripod is almost a required piece of equipment. If you’re not able to get a “good” one for a while then pick up a not-so-good one until you can. Like anything, the better tripod will encourage you to use a tripod because it will be easier to use. It will also last longer.
When I first started I bought quite a few filters, excited by their creative possibilities. But I don’t use hardly any of them. I would suggest that you get a UV filter for each lens. When the sales-person first suggested this I thought it might be a “trick” to sell me more stuff, but then I realized a) commission from something like $12 wasn’t really worth the effort and 2) they had a point. A UV filter will filter out UV light and have no other effect. Filtering out UV light is often a Good Thing(tm) because it can reduce haze, but most cameras already filter out UV light so the only purpose for the filter is to protect the front of the lens. It’s easier (financially) to replace the $12 filter because it got scratched than to replace the lens.
A Circular Polarizer is another must-have filter. This filter will reduce the amount of light entering your camera, and it only allows light of a certain “orientation” through. You can turn the filter to adjust which “orientation” is selected. As you remember from your optics class, light is polarized by reflection. So by selecting the appropriate orientation you can minimize the amount of reflected light in your image. This is useful to “see through” water or glass. It also has the effect of saturating (emphasizing) colors. Note that light from the sky is polarized, so at times the use of a polarizing filter at a certain orientation can make the sky appear dark-blue to black.
Neutral Density filters are used to subtract light, leaving all other characteristics of the light uneffected. There will be times when you want a longer shutter speed but can’t get to it due to the amount of light present, and these times require a neutral density filter.
Imagine a scene where you have a lot of light in one half your picture and significantly less in the other half, with a defined horizon line separating the two – one such scene would be a sunset over the ocean. A graduated neutral density filter is a filter which has a “top” side filtering out some amount of light and a “bottom” side that is clear. The idea is that you can mount this to the end of your lens on a mount which allows the filter to both be rotated and slid up and down. You place the line which separates the clear side from the “top” side on your scene’s horizon line and you expose for the clear side. If you’re having trouble visualizing this, it’s like having sunglasses for the bright sun and clear glasses for the relatively darker foreground.
The short story with filters is this – there are many, but the only ones whose effects cannot be replicated in post-processing software are ones which effect exposure and/or the “quality” of the light. So, pick up a circular polarizer and consider picking up various neutral density filters.
A cleaning cloth and, to a lesser degree, a “hand blower” are good maintenance items to have. It’s a good idea to check your filters and lenses for dust and smears. Use a cleaning cloth to clean your optics – but be careful. You don’t want to scratch the glass.
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