As a photography enthusiast, you don’t want to waste your money on equipment. However, getting the right gear for your photography hobby is essential to having the best experience.
Whether you’re buying your first or upgrading equipment, some great tools can help you make well-informed decisions. If you don’t know what kind of camera body you want yet, check out the guide above for more information, or you can go to Expressway Cinema Rentals for more information
You want the best camera, lenses, and accessories for the best price. But when buying camera equipment, many things can get confusing.
There are many modern and vintage cameras. Each camera comes with various lenses and accessories such as tripods, filters, lens hoods, film backs, and more.
Here’s a quick guide to help you out.
Camera
The first step in buying a camera is to decide what you want to shoot and where you’ll be shooting it.
For example, a point-and-shoot camera is probably your best bet if you’re starting and want to take pictures of your family and friends.
If all you’re interested in is snapping photos of landscapes or cityscapes, then a compact mirrorless camera will suit you just fine.
If you’re looking for something more advanced to handle low-light situations and high-speed video capture, then a DSLR might be the way to go.
If you’re planning on shooting action shots or wildlife, an interchangeable lens system with an APS-C sensor may better suit your needs.
Lens
If you have a full-frame camera, you’ll need a full-frame lens. That means a lens that fits onto a 35mm film camera or digital SLR with an image sensor roughly 24x36mm — the same size as the negative from old-fashioned cameras. The choice of lens also depends on the purpose of photography. For wildlife photography, you can trust on the best Nikon lens for wildlife.
A full-frame lens will work on both APS-C and Micro Four Thirds cameras without vignetting (dark corners), but only APS-C lenses will work on APS-C cameras without vignetting.
If you have an APS-C camera, you’ll need an APS-C lens.
These lenses are smaller than full-frame lenses because they don’t need to cover as much surface area on the sensor, but they still fit on 35mm film cameras and digital SLRs by covering their smaller sensors.
If you have a Micro Four Thirds camera, you’ll need a Micro Four Thirds lens that fits onto Four-Thirds film cameras or digital SLRs with image sensors that measure 17x13mm or smaller.
The Micro Four Thirds camera sensor is roughly half the size of APS-C and full-frame sensors, meaning these lenses don’t need to cover as much surface area.
Tripod
Tripods are an essential accessory for any photographer, but they’re not all created equal. Before you buy a tripod, consider what features you need and how much you can afford to spend.
Tripods come in three basic styles:
Standard tripods
These are also called three-section legs. They have one section that folds into the next. They’re generally the least expensive option and offer good stability, but they don’t pack down as small as other options.
Monopods
These are one leg that attaches to your camera with a mounting screw (or two legs that connect). They provide additional stability for shooting at slower shutter speeds or windy conditions but aren’t as stable as standard tripods.
Photographers use these because they need to be mobile and don’t want to carry extra weight or bulkiness of a full tripod setup.
Collapsible tripods
These are made from thin, hollow tubes that telescope out to form multiple sections of leg length when in use.
These are great if you want something lightweight and compact enough to carry around everywhere or store in your bag all day long but still enjoy the stability of a full-size tripod when necessary.
They’re also great for travel or when you want to be able to pack your tripod away easily and still have it ready to use at a moment’s notice.
The main downside of collapsible tripods is that they tend not to be as stable as regular models and can be more prone to vibration if used with long telephoto lenses.
Long-exposure filters
A filter is a piece of glass (or plastic) you place in front of your lens. Or on end to affect the light that passes through. They come in all shapes and sizes, but here are some of the most common types:
Neutral density (ND) filters
These reduce the amount of light reaching your camera’s sensor. This is useful for shooting in bright conditions, for example, when you want to blur water or give silky smooth clouds or when you want to shoot at a slow shutter speed without overexposing your image.
ND filters come in different densities — from ND2 up to ND400 — and each lets through half as much light as the following highest number. So, for example, ND200 allows through 1/2 as much light as ND400 (which lets through half as much light as ND800).
Graduated neutral density (GND) filters
These are similar to ND filters, except they’re split into two halves: one dark and one clear. The darker half sits on top of the clear half so that part of the image appears darker than it would be. You’ll sometimes see these referred to as split ND.
Soft GNDs
These are just like regular GND filters but with lower contrast and more diffusion than average. They’re great for creating smooth skies and waterfalls and adding motion blur to moving subjects such as clouds or people.
Remote triggers
Remote triggers are devices that allow you to trigger your camera without touching it.
They come in many shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common: they can be used to take multiple photos at once with different settings.
This is useful when you want a photo of yourself with friends or family without asking them to wait for each shot.
Memory Cards
Memory cards are where your images are stored when you take photos with your camera.
Having enough space on your card is essential to avoid running out of room during an important shoot.
You should always buy a brand new memory card because used ones can be damaged or corrupted by viruses or malware, which will ruin your photos.
If you want to save money on buying multiple smaller cards instead of one large card, it’s best to buy multiple smaller cards of the same brand and speed.
This will allow you to use them interchangeably without any issues. You can also create backups of your images by saving them on your computer or online storage services like Google Photos or Flickr.
Final Thoughts
Photography is a great hobby to get into. You can take pictures of anything, from landscapes and portraits to food and abstract works.
But the right equipment is essential if you want to take photographs that are high quality and professional-looking.
A good camera body is an essential piece of equipment for any photographer, as it will be responsible for taking all of your photos.
DSLR cameras are typically recommended for beginners because they’re easy to use, but mirrorless cameras are also popular.
Once you’ve decided on a camera body, it’s time to consider lenses.
The lens with your camera body should be fine for starting, but there will come a time when you’ll want something better for certain types of photography, like portrait or landscape photography.
If you’re looking for some accessories that can make your life easier while shooting photos (like tripods), check out the list above.
