It’s been a long day, and I’m feeling pretty tired, so tonight I’m just going to write about something simple. There are so many people going out and getting cameras these days, but most of them have no idea what to buy. Today I’ll talk about beginner gear for photography, so people can have a better concept of what to buy.
Beginner Gear for Photography
The first thing I suggest you do is think about how you plan on using this camera. Are you planning on shooting snap shots of your family, sports, or wildlife? All of these will affect what you really need. In some situations you will need something special, and in others, you might just need something basic. You want to be careful, though, so you don’t end up spending too much and not needing something or not buying enough and not being able to capture what you want.
Bodies
Honestly, I don’t know a ton about the lower end bodies, but I’m going to give you some info to help make better decisions. First of all, brand is not that big of a deal. Canon and Nikon are both amazing and should cover what an amateur needs. You might go with Sony, but I personally feel safer with one of the big two.
There are a lot of lower end models, so you need to look at a few things to make a decision. One, how many frames per second can the body take? If you are shooting sports or something that isn’t holding still, it’s better to be able to take multiple photos quickly. You would also want a good focusing system. This is a little harder to rank, but look for the amount of focusing points and cross focusing points. The more usually the better. One thing people tend to focus too much on is the megapixels. You don’t need the biggest one unless you plan on printing posters or billboards. My older professional camera only has like 12 megapixels. More is not necessarily better. Besides that, you might just look at some of the extras to see if it matters to you.
Lenses
Most beginner cameras will come with what is called a kit lens. Most of these aren’t great. They can be used for general use, but there are a lot of better options out there. Both Nikon and Canon have a 50mm f1.8 lenses for around $150 to maybe $200. This lens will let you shoot in darker environments and outperforms kit lens. It’s a great investment. If you’re looking to shoot sports, you’ll need a longer lens. Depending on the sport, you might need something from 100mm to around 300mm. Unfortunately, there aren’t any really cheap versions in that focal length. There are some kit lenses that reach that, but again, they aren’t the best. Most of them go for a few hundred dollars. If you go to ebay though, you might be able to find an old Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 lens for around $300 to $500.
Flash
Unless you plan on just shooting outside, you will need a flash at some point. Yes, there is a built in flash on most of the cameras, but it’s not the ideal way to shoot flash. I never shoot a flash on top of my camera directly at someone. You want a flash to put on top of the camera that allows you to change which way it is shooting. Aim the flash at a wall or a ceiling and you will be amazed at how much better your photos look. There are some really cheap options out there. There are some off brand flashes that go for like $100 or you can go to eBay and buy some older flashes for about the same. For a lot of people, though, a flash is a game changer.
Accessories
These are small things, but they are needed. Get an extra battery. You don’t want to run out of juice at a vital moment. They cost like $50, and you will get a few more hours of shooting this way. Next, get more than one memory card for the same reason as the battery. Make sure the memory card is fast if you plan on shooting video or sports. Cheap cards have a slow write speed so you can only take a few photos before you have to stop and wait on the card.
Man, I went on for way longer than I planned. I think this is good though because I have people ask me quite often about what to buy. I know this doesn’t tell you exactly what camera to buy, but these are guidelines to help you make an informed decision. Take the information from this beginner gear for photography guide, do some research, and get what you really want.
