With so much photography equipment available, find out what's really needed.

What Photography Equipment
Is Right for YOU?

So much photography equipment is available that it can be difficult deciding what (if anything) to buy. To simplify your decision-making process, we have narrowed things down to

Mandatory or highly recommended photo gear

The very best online merchants to consider (for price, delivery, and customer service)

Advice on how to choose the specific piece of equipment

Tripods

tripod page

For the "Executive Summary," know that using a tripod will result in sharper pictures that can be taken with longer exposures (too long to be holding the camera without any camera shake), as well as capturing pictures that could not otherwise be captured.

HOW TO CHOOSE A TRIPOD
Determine where and how you will be using the tripod. Multiple indoor and outdoor demands require a more substantial tripod than the occasional indoor shot

Key factors involve the maximum extended height, tripod weight, collapsed (folded) size, and the maximum amount of weight the tripod can support

Allowing for future equipment purchases, a good rule of thumb is to pick a tripod that can support up to 25% more than the weight of your heaviest camera/lens/flash combination

Tabletop tripods are often sufficient for point and shoot cameras used indoors

Unless you do serious photography, a tripod consisting of both the legs and head is your best bet (legs and heads can be obtained separately for more professional level tripods)

It is nice to have a bubble level on the tripod and/or head, although separate levels can be purchased and easily attached to a tripod

Note:

Traditional Tripods

Compact Tripods

Camera Bags

If you're thinking to yourself: "Why do I need a camera bag when I have pockets," keep reading. Camera bags are more than a convenience item.

Most camera bags are padded, so they protect your camera from falls as well as the elements. You are more likely to remember to bring along all those other photographic items, such as extra batteries, battery charger, memory cards, filters, etc... if you can easily put them in the camera bag.

Depending on the item, it's best to simply leave it in the camera bag when not in use, so it's ready for your next photo opp.

HOW TO CHOOSE A CAMERA BAG
Always choose a bag slightly larger than you think you will need

For INDOOR events, a bag without a shoulder strap is acceptable for light equipment not carried for long distances

For OUTDOOR uses involving significant walking, a backpack or bag with a shoulder strap is the best choice

When considering cost, most bags are amazingly durable and can easily last a lifetime

Some camera bags have loops so they can be worn on your belt

Most backpacks have the means to also carry a tripod

If you have a large amount of photography equipment, choosing several bags of different sizes is often more convenient than choosing one huge bag which must always be used

There are a few categories of camera bags.

The first category includes bags that can be carried either by hand or over the shoulder. Use the sorting filter on the left (when the page opens) to examine this most popular type of camera bag.
The next category includes bags designed more for the smaller point and shoot cameras.
The last category includes the larger "I'm going to be walking around all day with this bag" type of backpack and daypack. Generally, more expensive, but if you have a lot of gear, you really do want to use a backpack type of camera bag.

Filters

HOW TO CHOOSE FILTERS
Your lens should always be protected with at least a UV filter - it's the cheapest insurance policy around

Circular Polarizing Filters are used to change the deepness of the blue in the sky, reduce glare and minimize reflection from water, metal, and glass

Unless all your photography is done indoors, a circular polarizing filter should be part of your gear

A neutral density filter (ND) reduces the amount of light EQUALLY across all colors. To take a picture of moving water slow enough to produce that "cotton candy" effect requires a slow shutter speed.

But, during the day, there is too much light for a shutter speed of 1/4 second. ND filters darken the scene enough to allow using a slow shutter speed (see example photo below).

Once you have purchased a few filters, a filter pouch is a great way to easily organize and transport them.

With so many filters coming in varying sizes, the easiest way to locate what you're looking for is by entering the exact size and filter type into the search box.

For example, entering "67mm UV filter" produces results of over 20 filters to choose from.

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

External Hard Drives

HOW TO CHOOSE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES
If your current internal hard drive(s) has less than 30% free space, it's time to consider an external drive as ADDITIONAL STORAGE. And if your drives have plenty of space still available, do yourself a favor and take a backup of your data

If your image files are irreplaceable, a separate location other than your computer should be used as a backup.

Either use a physical drive or an online storage system. The important thing to remember is this - if a fire destroys your primary storage, you want to have your backup in a DIFFERENT LOCATION.

Currently there are 2 types of external hard drives: the traditional size whose capacity can exceed 2 TB (a Terabyte = 1,000 Gigabytes) and the smaller portable size whose capacity is usually less than 160GB.

Transfer speed and capacity are the 2 most important factors to consider

Most external hard drives connect to your computer with a USB cable

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