15 Essential Camera Gear For Beginners
You recently purchased your first camera, and you’re wondering what camera accessories you’ll need to acquire. The issue is that there are so many people out there that getting lost is really simple.
I’ve compiled a list of the 15+ Essential Camera Gear For Beginners I acquired throughout my first year of shooting to help you get started. Below, I’ve listed every accessory I own, along with what I bought and why.
You may check out my gear page here to see what I’m currently utilizing for photography.
15+ Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
An Excellent Camera Bag
Essential Camera Gear For Beginners
I purchased a camera bag as my very first camera accessory. I regret not doing my homework in advance. I purchased an inexpensive bag from Amazon, but I soon changed it to a more useful camera bag.
Although there is no such thing as the ideal camera bag, there are several considerations to make. Consider where you will use it before using it. You wouldn’t carry the same kind of camera backpack around a metropolis as you would on a trek, for example.
Another consideration is how much gear you want to carry at once.
When you first start snapping photographs, you might not have a lot of equipment, but that will change with time.
When weighing your alternatives, consider how long you might wish to keep this bag.
I have two camera bags, and each one serves a different function. I started with a Peak Design Camera Bag (Pictured Above).
In order to meet the needs of photographers like you, this 30-liter backpack was created. This gorgeous camera bag has a sleek, contemporary design that is intended to protect your equipment as you travel.
Despite being small, it is highly padded and provides space for a tablet, a camera, and a number of lenses. You can also fit a 13-inch MacBook Pro model from 2016 or later into the tablet slot.
The Peak Design Messenger Bag (Pictured Above) is ideal if you need something smaller.
This adaptable substitute can be used to transport a laptop or necessary items for photography. You can carry a full-frame DSLR with up to 3 extra lenses and accessories, as well as laptop and tablet sleeves.
It includes a weatherproof exterior with a DWR coating to shield your belongings from the elements.
Click here to see which camera bags are currently selling the best on Amazon.
A Flexible Camera Strap
Essential Camera Gear For Beginners
A gorgeous branded camera strap was probably included when you purchased your camera new. However, after a few hours of wearing your camera around your neck, you’ll wish you had something comfier.
The Peak Design Slide camera strap was another early purchase I made for my camera. Instead of a neck strap, I wanted something more adaptable that would let me carry it in different ways. Fitting the bill was the Peak Design Slide strap.
It is very nicely crafted, with Peak Design’s clip mechanism, and can be used as a neck or shoulder strap. The clip system is fantastic since it makes switching to different Peak Design accessories and removing the camera strap from the camera simple.
This may apply to items like the wrist strap. Since purchasing it, I’ve grown to love Peak Design’s other offerings and most recently bought their Capture Clip.
Click here to check which camera straps are presently selling the best on Amazon.
A Sturdy Tripod
Essential Camera Gear For Beginners
A high-quality tripod is essential if you wish to shoot long exposures, light trails, HDR photos, or night or astronomical photography. A tripod is an essential piece of equipment to have because you can use it for many different cameras over the course of many years.
I made the error of purchasing a cheap tripod from Amazon, which I promptly replaced. The inexpensive tripod was neither well-made or steady, yet it first performed its function. This led to quite a few blurry photographs in circumstances where it shouldn’t have.
I decided to spend money on a good tripod, and I went with the Manfrotto Element Traveller (Big). I picked this partially because it was inexpensive, but also because Manfrotto is known for its high calibre.
In many ways, the Manfrotto is superior to my first tripod. It is not much heavier, has an Arca-Swiss compatible ball-head, and is significantly more stable. It has greatly increased my flexibility and enabled me to take some incredible pictures.
The Joby GorillaPod 3K is another alternative if I still want to use a tripod but want to travel a little lighter. I was given this last year, and considering it’s small, it is amazing. Although it isn’t the most stable, it enables you to travel light and position your camera in locations where a conventional tripod cannot.
Click here to view the tripods that are presently selling the best on Amazon.
A Lens Hood
Essential Camera Gear For Beginners
While the majority of lenses include one as standard, if you purchased your camera with a kit lens, it’s likely that you don’t. A lens hood may not seem like something you need, but I bought one of these as one of my first camera accessories.
A lens hood performs several crucial functions. It protects the lens element should your camera fall and prevents stray light from striking the lens, which can create flare. Your images may also have greater saturation and richer color as a result.
An alert from my personal experience. When feasible, purchase the lens hood that came with your lens. Occasionally, vignetting at wide focal lengths can be brought on by less expensive third-party lens hoods.
If you’re set on a third-party solution, check it out for yourself at a nearby camera store. Here, you can make sure that the one you choose doesn’t vignette and fits your lens. Check the filter thread size of your lens before buying a third-party lens hood to make sure it fits.
Click here to view the Lens Hood that is presently selling the best on Amazon.
Lens Filter
Essential Camera Gear For Beginners
Filters can enhance creativity and enable new forms of photography. I currently own a set of filters made by the Hoya firm. An ND1000 filter, a Circular Polarizer (CPL), a UV filter, and four colored graded filters make up this 7-filter kit. The ND1000 and CPL are the two main filters I employ.
Long exposures can be made with the ND1000 filter in situations where they otherwise wouldn’t be possible (i.e. bright sunlight). I use the CPL filter to reduce sky brightness and get rid of reflections from glass buildings and water. The colored graduated filters are something I’ve occasionally used, but I don’t use them frequently.
The many sorts of filters are something to keep in mind when purchasing them. Both square and screw-in filters are available for purchase. You must purchase screw-in filters for your lens’s filter thread if you purchase screw-in filters like the Hoya ones I own.
These are typically less expensive, but you can only use them with a certain number of lenses. All of your filters will work on any lens, even if square-based filters are more expensive and need a special holder.
Click here to view the Lens Filters that are presently selling the best on Amazon.
An Air Blower
Essential Camera Gear For Beginners
You went out and took some incredible pictures, but after editing, you noticed several stains on your pictures! These are probably dust specks, and cleaning the sensor of your camera is required. Using a rocket blower is one of the simplest and least invasive ways to clean your sensor.
By blowing dust spots off your sensor, a rocket blower, a cheap device, can remove dust spots. If necessary, you can also use one to blow the dust off your camera’s lenses and other equipment. These are produced by numerous businesses, but the one I bought came from Giottos.
Click here to view the Best Sellers in Camera & Photo Compressed Air
Cleaners for Sensors
Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
There are alternative techniques to clean your camera sensor if a rocket blower is unable to remove obstinate dust patches.
Unfortunately, as I discovered, there are very few correct ways to achieve this and many incorrect methods. Take your camera to a camera store and have the sensor cleaned there if you are uncomfortable cleaning it yourself.
You may purchase specialized camera sensor cleaning kits if you wish to give them a try. The kit I purchased was from AAWipes, a firm that sells kits for both APS-C and full-frame cameras on Amazon. Every package includes microfiber swabs prepared by laser-cut in Cleanroom 100-level workshop. It is super fine, flexible, smooth, and lint-free, with no damage to the sensitive sensors, sweeping off invisible dust and particles without fluff left.
This is something you can do yourself, in my opinion, as long as you take your time and adhere to the directions.
Click here to view the Best Sellers in Camera & Photo Cleaning Kits
The LensPen
Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
A LensPen is yet another essential cleaning tool. A LensPen can be useful when you have marks on your lenses that a rocket blower can’t always remove. It has two ends, one with a soft-bristled brush and the other with a felt tip that has been charged with carbon.
The bristles end is excellent for removing loose dust, while the carbon-charged end is wonderful for removing grease and tough stains. You can use the carbon-charged end repeatedly after replacing the cap since the cap adds more carbon to the tip.
These must be replaced after 100 cleanings because they cannot be used indefinitely.
I have only used the original LensPen, so I can’t suggest any other affordable brands.
Additional Memory Cards
Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
When traveling, it’s a good idea to bring a couple of spare memory cards with you. First of all, if you don’t have a backup plan, you don’t want to run out of room in the middle of your trip. Second, memory cards do occasionally malfunction, so having backups allows you to keep shooting and not miss a thing. The following considerations should be made while purchasing memory cards:
Memory Card Type – Memory cards come in a variety of formats, including SD cards, CFexpress, CF, XQD, and others. It is crucial to find out what kind of memory card your camera uses so that you can get the proper one.
Memory Card Speed – Not all memory cards are created equal, and even within the same type, some memory cards are substantially faster than others. This might negatively impact how useful your camera is. When using a sluggish SD card, your camera’s buffer will quickly fill up and prevent you from taking pictures. This is due to the camera needing to cease writing to the memory card because it cannot do so quickly enough. Buy the fastest memory cards you can afford to buy.
Memory Card Capacity – A memory card’s capacity determines how many photographs it can store. The number of megapixels in cameras has kept rising, which has led to greater image and video sizes. You can take more pictures if your memory card has a larger capacity. But there is a cost involved. The chance of losing many pictures or movies increases with memory card size. It is possible to strike a balance between using a few cards with different capacities and using large-capacity cards. When choosing your memory cards, give some attention to how you will handle this.
I’ve only ever purchased SanDisk memory cards, and I presently have five SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I Memory Cards in use. I’ve had no issues with these so far and they’ve been fantastic.
Other companies like Lexar, PNY, and Sony also produce high-quality cards. Purchasing less expensive or no-brand cards is not advised because of their high failure rate. Your camera costs a lot of money, so you don’t want to lose your pictures.
Click here to view the Best Sellers in SecureDigital Memory Cards
Wallet for Memory Cards
Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
You’ll need a place to keep your memory cards once you have a lot of them. You should add a memory card wallet to your list of camera equipment because it is a terrific method to protect them.
Find a wallet that protects against falls and drops and against liquid harm if the wallet gets wet. These might be specific memory card wallets or smaller carry cases. If you are looking for the best memory card wallets Pelican and Ruggard Leda memory wallets are two excellent wallets for any photographer’s skill.
Click here to view the Best Sellers in Computer Memory Card Cases
Reader for Memory Cards
Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
To access your images, you can connect your camera to your computer, however, I’ve found this to be rather inconvenient. I’ve also tried Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transfer methods, but I discovered that they are both very slow.
Using a memory card reader is among the best ways to access your images. These are much more adaptable and swifter than previous transmission techniques. Make sure to purchase one that has a quick connection to the computer and can accommodate the sort of memory card you are using.
I’m using a Dockteck 6-in-1 HyperExtended USB C Hub Multiport Adapter with an SD card slot while using a MacBook.
Click here to view the Best Sellers in Computer Memory Card Readers
Shutter Release via Remote
Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
A remote shutter release should be quite high on your list of camera accessories if you plan to perform any shooting while using a tripod.
When utilizing a tripod, they eliminate the need to press the shutter and allow you to keep your hands off the camera. You could set a 2-second timer, but that may delay snapping the photo, possibly causing you to miss the action.
Although there are several types of remote shutters, they are often wired or wireless depending on the make and model of your camera.
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Backup Batteries
Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
If you frequently travel with your camera, spare batteries are a must. While being able to charge a battery while moving can be helpful, it also forces you to stop shooting or filming.
If you have extra batteries, you can change them out and keep going. I ran into trouble in Alaska and missed 30 minutes of the most brilliant display of the Northern Lights we had seen so far. My camera’s battery died within 2 hours due to the extreme cold. I could have continued if I’d had a backup battery.
The takeaway is to think about purchasing some extra batteries if you don’t already have any. If you can, I’d suggest purchasing official ones for your camera, but there are also third-party possibilities. Expecting third-party batteries to perform at the same level as an official battery is unrealistic.
Click here to view the Best Sellers in Camera & Camcorder Batteries
Camera Flash
Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
A flash is critically necessary for many forms of photography. It depends on whether you want to photograph individuals in low-light situations or if you want to control and modify the light that falls on your subject. Even during the day, it works well to lighten gloomy shadows.
Many cameras already feature pop-up lights, but you may also pay extra to get separate, more powerful flashes. Some photographers may not need a flash at all, such as those who specialize in landscape or architectural photography. Others (such as portrait photographers) might regard them as being crucial.
Consider investing in a flash that can operate independently of your camera if you’re interested in sophisticated flash photography. Otherwise, all you might need to get started is a flash that can be adjusted up and down or even your camera’s built-in pop-up flash.
Power Bank
Essential Camera Gear Items For Beginners
After my camera, this is one of the first items I pack in my camera bag. It has come in handy for charging not just my camera but also my phone and other electronics.
Although it isn’t technically a camera accessory, it belongs in every photographer’s camera bag.
There are numerous brands that produce Power Banks, much like other modern electronics. Anker is a company that I have firsthand experience with that is extremely reliable, with 20,000 mAh Li-Ion Battery charging that could simultaneously power several devices. To allow you flexibility between recharges, I’d aim for at least 10,000 mAh.
Conclusion
This concludes my list of the top 15 Essential Camera Gear For Beginners accessories, which I’ve compiled based on my first year of photography/videography.
Please let me know in the comments if you believe that anything is left off the list. Have fun content creating!
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About the author: Trent (IMDB | Youtube) has spent 10+ years working on an assortment of film and television projects. He writes about his experiences to help (and amuse) others. If he’s not working, he’s either traveling, reading or writing about travel/film, or planning travel/film projects.
