Photography Equipment for Beginner

On Previous article that i posted, we talked on getting into photography and in this one its more of a supporting article regarding the subject "Choosing the Right Gear". Buying photography equipment for the first time is a really intimidating and a daunting task. Many useful guides exist to help beginners choose a good camera, but few realize that the camera itself is only the first of many pieces of equipment necessary to create a full setup for photography. In this article today, I will suggest a complete kit, everything from lens cloths to computer monitors, that will provide a beginner with high quality images and room to grow so prepare those credit cards or debit cards cause we gonna erase some of those zeroes from your bank accounts (or lower your credit score lmao).

— Note that this guide is not a comprehensive list of equipment that will work for every type of photographer. As your photography becomes more specialized portraiture, landscapes, wildlife, or anything else you will be gravitated towards a more specialized equipment as well. The recommendations below can be considered an all-purpose starter kit rather than a list tuned to one specific type of photographer thank you.—

THE CAMERA

The core of photography is a camera. Currently, one of the biggest debates in the photography world is between choosing between two different types of cameras: mirrorless and DSLR cameras. Both have their merits, but a beginning photographer on a tight budget should be looking more closely at DSLR. With entry-level models, new mirrorless cameras cost about the same as new DSLRs, and sometimes less. However, you can still buy older, high-quality DSLR equipment (including lenses) for a lower price than similar mirrorless gear. Mirrorless cameras are filling this gap quickly, but the best camera for a beginner on a budget is almost certainly a DSLR.

Of all the possible DSLR cameras, my strong recommendation is to buy a Nikon D7000. The D7000 is better than an entry-level DSLR because it give you room to grow. Although it has the same sensor as some cheaper cameras, it gives you so many more features (including extra dials that make it easier to change settings once you learn about your camera) that make it indispensable. I recommend buying an used camera to save some money try to check on local retailer or a photography gear group where people tend to promote their used gear and camera. Keep in mind that the D7000 can be a complex camera for a beginner. However, if you’re dedicated enough to be reading this article in the first place, you are probably the type of person who will grow to appreciate the many benefits offered by the D7000 (note that the D7000 is already discontinued so the chance of finding a brand new one is pretty low). Another great option, especially if you are just starting out, is one of Nikon’s entry-level DSLRs. These cameras have slightly-better image quality than the D7000, and they are easier to use, but they don’t have as many features for learning photography. Nikon’s newest is the D3300.

Lenses

Whereas a camera sensor will record the light that it receives, a lens’s job can be said to be even more important: help the light get to the sensor in the first place. Lenses range from the free for those which come in a kit with the camera itself and to the unbelievably expensive. As a beginner, it can be tough to determine which lenses are worth their asking price, especially if you have no prior knowledge of which lenses even exist in the first place there are many sites which make databases and listing of lenses available to access online. If you want a high-quality beginning lens for the lowest possible price, you should look at prime lenses (those which can not zoom) or third-party lenses. I do not recommend starting with the kit lens that comes with some cameras, since you will soon realize that you want something better but if it works for you why not.

My first recommendation, if you use a Nikon camera like the D7000, is to buy the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX lens. This tiny gem is sharp — check out our sample photos — and it costs just under not that much rather than other lenses. To add to the 35mm f/1.8, you will probably want a wide-to-telephoto zoom, and a good choice is the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 OS lens. This is a particularly useful lens because it not only has a wide aperture of f/2.8 which work well in dark scenes, but it also has image stabilization to help make your handheld images sharper. Or, if you would rather stick to a single lens and not bother buying more, the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 might be the answer for you but it may be out of the price range of some people, but it would replace both the lenses above. It is a heavy lens and heavy to the wallet, but it is amazingly high-quality.

Lenses are an individual decision, and these three are nothing more than my own and few other people recommendations. If you practice a more specific type of photography (such as wildlife), you could prefer completely different lenses. However, for a newly starting beginner, these lenses are a great way to find out what type of photography you like the most. Plus, they are good enough to keep even as you grow more specialized.

TRIPOOOOD

Often overlooked and undervalued, a tripod doesn’t seem nearly as important as it really is. After all, three aluminum sticks glued together are no more complex than three sticks glued together. Right? Unfortunately, that logic is why many photographers choose to buy the least expensive tripod they can find, then leave it at home all the time because it’s cheaply-made and hard to use. A tripod should be as popular as its buddies Camera and Lens, but somewhere along the way it got the short end of the stick. You will realize over time whether or not you need a tripod for your photography and if you do, you will want a more expensive model at some point in the future, but it is important for a beginner to have a solid model as well. With that in mind, my recommendation is to get the Manfrotto MT190X3 tripod. It is not a perfect tripod, but I can say having used the older version of this tripod extensively that it should be more than enough for most beginners. Plus,it is pretty inexpensive as far as good tripods go. However, a tripod is not enough — you still need a ballhead so that you can adjust the position of the camera. I have tried a handful of ballheads in the cheaper range, and I can say that the best by far is the Oben BE-126 ballhead. Even with the heaviest camera and longest telephoto lens, this ballhead has never slipped out of position, and it always locks tightly. This head isn’t quite as good as the most expensive ballheads from companies like Really Right Stuff or Arca Swiss, but it is fantastic for the price.

Lightning

I don’t use much external lighting for my photos, mainly because I do not take many images of people. That being said, most photographers will need a flash at some time or another, whether for portraits or for creative still-life photography. Nikon brand flashes cost hundreds of dollars, assuming that you want a flash that can function off-camera in an automatic (TTL) mode. However, third-party flashes with those features can be fairly cheap for example the Yongnuo YN-568EX, an extremely well-specified flash. Depending upon the genre of photography you practice most, this may be the only flash you need. (Or you may need dozens more). You may also want some light modifiers (such as reflectors), but I don’t recommend getting anything more until you are sure that you want to do portrait photography. There is no end to the world of light modifiers, and a beginner should learn the basics before deciding which complex lighting setups to buy.

FILTERSSS

Filters are another essential element of a photographer’s toolbox. With digital cameras, only a few filters are even necessary in the first place, the old color-correction filters for film can be replicated using software like Adobe Lightroom, but some filters cannot be replicated in post-processing. The single most useful filter for digital photography is a polarizer. Just like polarized sunglasses, these filters cut glare from shiny surfaces other than metal, they darken skies, and they reduce haze. Plus, they make images look more vibrant and saturated. If you are not a landscape photographer, you will want a polarizer because of these benefits and if you are a landscape photographer, you will probably never remove the polarizer from your lens! Depending upon the lens or lenses that you use, you will need to get a polarizer of a specific size. Polarizing filters (and filters in general) are sized in millimeters — just like the front rings on a lens. For a lens with a 72mm ring (like the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 that I suggested above), you would need a 72mm filter. If you are on a budget, buy a polarizer that is the same size as the filter ring of your largest lens. For example, you may choose to go with my suggestion to buy both the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX and the Sigma 17-55mm f/2.8 OS. If you do, these lenses have different filter ring sizes — the Nikon is 52mm, whereas the Sigma is 77mm. To use the same filter on both lenses, get a 77mm filter a plus a 52mm-to-77mm step-up ring. This is a lot less expensive than buying two filters! Filters can be expensive, and with good reason — a bad filter will harm the image quality of every image you take. So, don’t skimp on a filter! One brand known for a good balance of price and quality is Hoya, which is my first recommendation for a beginning photographer. If you decide that landscape photography is your favorite type, you will probably need two additional filters: a graduated neutral density filter to darken skies (get a rectangular graduated filter, not a circular one) and a regular neutral density filter to blur moving water. However, both of these are specialist filters, and I recommend waiting until you know what you want before buying either. For now, a high-quality polarizing filter should be more than enough.

EXTRAAAAAAAAAAAAS

You will definitely need a bag for your camera so that its safe and clean like my search history, but I recommend against buying one new from a store. Generally, you’ll be able to repurposed an old backpack or messenger bag to carry a camera. I would also recommend a remote release for your camera. And on the side not Make sure to also get cleaning equipment for your lens. I recommend that you get two or three lens cloths, i also recommend an extra battery. That way, you can be shooting while one of your batteries is charging. make sure to buy an original battery from your camera brand as you really REALLY did not want the batteries to malfunction, trust me i learned this the HARD way. Lastly, you will need memory cards obviously.