Search for photography equipment for beginners and you get a long shopping list. The good news is that four or five inexpensive items cover almost everything you need in your first year.
After decades in the camera industry, there are a few items I always suggest first to help you start your photography journey.
Here they are:
- A spare battery and a second memory card, so you never run out mid-shoot
- A comfortable strap, so you carry the camera more and shoot more
- A small cleaning kit, to keep your lens clear and your photos sharp
- One affordable prime lens, for brighter indoor shots and softly blurred backgrounds
Get these first, then build your kit as your photography grows.
Build your kit in the right order
Your camera, its kit lens (the zoom lens it came with) and a memory card get you shooting on day one. What you add next decides how much your photos improve.
Most photography starter kits include the camera, a lens and a strap, and brands often run offers that add a bag. So the first gaps to fill are power, storage and comfort, and after that the one lens that changes how your photos look.
Buying in that order makes every purchase count. The beginners who get the most out of their camera add a piece at a time, learn what it does, then come back for the next one.
Buy a spare battery and a second memory card
These two cost very little, and they stop the two things that end a shoot early: a flat battery and a full card.
Buy the second battery before your first day out. A battery charges in hours, not minutes, and while it is on charge the camera cannot be used. Forget to plug it in the night before and the day is over before it starts.
A second one takes that worry away for good. One sits in the camera, one sits charged in the bag, and a swap takes ten seconds. It counts most on the days you will want to remember: a holiday, a wedding, an afternoon walking round a city. A new camera is exciting, so you take five photos where you once took one, and a charge goes sooner than you planned.
A second battery is not an expensive thing to add, so budget for it on day one, when you buy the camera, rather than after the first day it lets you down. On a first camera like the Canon EOS R50, the body is $729.99 and the Canon LP-E17 battery it runs on is $89.99. Buy the maker's own, because third-party copies often fade within a year.
Memory cards fill up faster than you would think, too. 4K video runs at about 120 megabits a second, roughly a gigabyte a minute, so a 64GB card holds only about an hour of it. Cards can also fail, so carry a spare.
Fake cards are also common, so buy from a seller you trust rather than the lowest-priced listing.
A comfortable strap gets you shooting more
After the camera itself, the first accessory I recommend is a comfortable strap. It sounds dull, I know. But a comfortable strap means you carry the camera more, and you shoot more.
The thin one in the box digs into your neck after an hour. A padded sling, or a wrist strap for a lighter camera, is far easier to live with.
Peak Design and Black Rapid both make good ones. Pick whatever feels comfortable and lets you grab the camera fast.
Keep your lens clean
A clean lens is the easiest way to get sharper photos. When shots look blurry, a dirty lens is often the reason, and editing cannot fully fix it.
A basic cleaning kit is all you need: a rocket blower to puff off dust without touching the glass, a microfibre cloth and a lens pen for fingerprints. It costs little and fits in any bag.
A prime lens is a huge upgrade
If one purchase improves your photos more than any accessory, it is a prime lens. That is simply a lens that does not zoom.
Most brands sell a 50mm f/1.8, nicknamed the nifty fifty, as their most affordable lens.
It is sharper than your kit lens, and it gathers up to twelve times as much light. That means brighter indoor photos and the soft, blurred background that makes portraits look professional.
I hand one to beginners all the time. It improves their photos more than a new camera would. If you can afford a single upgrade, make it this.
When you need a tripod or monopod
Use a tripod in low light with a still subject: indoors, at dusk, and for landscapes or long exposures.
A beginner camera and a slower kit lens take in less light, so in a dim room the camera drops to a slow shutter speed, and the smallest shake turns into blur. A tripod holds the camera steady, and the blur is gone.
A monopod is the better tool when your subject moves. Take a football match. You need a long, heavy lens to reach the action, and it is tiring to hold steady by hand, especially as the light fades.
A monopod takes the weight and keeps your shots sharp as you follow the play. It does the same for wildlife and birds. And for street photography, where a tripod is too bulky, a monopod is quick to carry and lets you lift the camera for a shot over a crowd.
A flash for indoor and family photos
Indoors, a flash is one of the biggest steps up you can make. It helps on any camera, and even more on a beginner one. Raise the ISO (its sensitivity to light) in a dim room and the photos come out grainy. A beginner lens is slow too, so it lets in less light. A flash adds the light the room lacks, so you keep the ISO low and get a clean, sharp photo.
You do not need the camera maker's own flash. A third-party one, from a brand like Godox, costs far less and does the job. Point it up at the ceiling so the light bounces down softly onto your subject, rather than firing straight at them.
That fixes hard shadows from the flash. A small clip-on diffuser, also called a light modifier, softens it further for little money.
The classic case is photographing kids indoors. The light is low and they never sit still, so a flash gives a brief burst that freezes their movement and keeps the photo sharp.
What to add as you grow
Fit a UV or protective filter from the start. It sits over the front of your lens and takes the dust, rain, sea spray and fingerprints, and it costs far less to replace than the lens does.
Buy a good multi-coated one and put a lens hood (the ring that shades the front of the lens) on with it, because the hood shades the glass and cushions knocks. The two work as a pair.
The rest of the kit has its moment, and it helps to know what each piece is for.
A power bank keeps you running through long video, time-lapses and night-sky sessions, where the camera works for hours at a stretch.
A teleconverter adds reach to a telephoto lens, which is what you want once wildlife or sport takes hold. A light meter comes into its own for studio work and film.
Buy each one as your photography moves that way, and you will get proper use out of it from the day it arrives.
Book a lesson to get the most from your gear
Gear and skill work together, so plan for both from the start.
A brighter lens, a sharper prime and a flash each make a visible difference to your photos, and knowing how to use them is what brings that difference out.
The quickest way there is to be shown. At Campkins we run one-to-one lessons, talks and workshops. An hour with someone watching you shoot moves you on further than a month working it out on your own, because they can see the single change that will lift your photos most and show it to you there and then.
Wherever you are in the USA, camera shops, colleges and camera clubs run the same sort of thing. Find one near you and book on. Then get the few things on this list, and go and shoot.
Frequently asked questions
What should a beginner photographer buy first?
A beginner photographer gets the most from a spare battery, a second memory card and a comfortable strap first, then a small cleaning kit. They cost little and they cover the everyday basics: enough power and storage for a full day out, and a camera comfortable enough that you take it with you.
Do I need a UV filter to protect my lens?
Yes, fit a UV filter and leave it on. It takes the dust, rain, sea spray and fingerprints that would otherwise reach the front of your lens, and replacing a filter costs a fraction of repairing a scratched front element. Buy a good multi-coated one from a name like Hoya or B+W, as a well-made filter makes no visible difference to your photos, and add a lens hood alongside it to shade the glass and cushion knocks.
Is a tripod worth it for a beginner?
A tripod is worth it for a beginner shooting in low light with a still subject: indoors, at dusk, and for landscapes or long exposures. It holds the camera steady and removes the blur a beginner camera and lens tend to produce in low light. When the subject moves, or you are holding a long lens for sport, wildlife or street, a monopod is the better tool. In bright daylight you can hand-hold and skip both.
About the author
Owen is the owner of Campkins Cameras, a UK camera shop with a physical store as well as an online one. Alongside cameras, lenses and flashes, it sells binoculars, monoculars, spotting scopes and more. Owen has spent decades helping beginners choose their first camera and the accessories to go with it, and he writes about which gear is worth buying and which is not.
Featured image: CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.