I’ve decided to get into photography, and I just impulse bought my first camera, a Pentax Q10:
Yes that’s Evangelion themed. No I don’t want to talk about how much I paid.
I’m really excited for it to arrive. What kind of kit should I get to take care of it? I’m assuming some kind of carry case, but I’ve no idea if I need something specialised or generic. Have you got any other tips for taking care of it?
Many thanks!
EDIT: Thanks so much for everyone’s advice! It sounds like I shouldn’t get anything too prematurely, but there’s also a lot stuff I should consider early on once I’ve got a feel for the camera.
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Patience, you need.
Patience with yourself when playing around and trying out all your new gear.
Patience with all the people and animals and things in front of your lens when they still refuse to look very good.
Some heterodox advice?
Don’t get any accessories yet.
Use your camera how you want. If it doesn’t do something you wish it did, look into something that helps with that. Let your personal use guide what accessories you’ll get.For example, everyone here is recommending a neck strap. I hate neck straps. And I’m not talking about ones that are too small or uncomfortable. I mean the very concept of a long strap around my neck, with the camera bouncing randomly as I walk, or draping around as I use the camera. It’s all annoying. I use a hand grip strap. Not even a wrist strap. A strap that wraps snug around the back of my hand while I grip the camera. And I only use that on wedding days where the camera is in my hand for several hours at a time. I don’t need a neck strap. In 20+ years, the only time I’ve ever dropped a camera, was when it was on a tripod that got knocked over by the wind.
Let your own needs guide what you buy.
100% agree. It all depends on how you are using it and what works for you.
I mostly do wildlife photography so I wear my camera crossed across my shoulders and resting at my hip. This makes it very comfortable to hike around with the weight of the camera and lens.
I hear you about the gripes of the neck strap, if only because when I was a child I ended up the perfect height to be smacked squarely in the forehead by my dad’s lens, which happened quite often
I am super clumsy though and I often drop things. I don’t wear the camera as a necklace but I do wear the strap when I’m actively using it. Same for binoculars. But I’d really be open to trying something else out. When you say hand strap, is that like something you’d use on a camcorder? That’d feel so much more secure to me than the neck strap
I’d add one exception: microfiber cloths
That’s the only universal accessory you can never have too many of when you have a camera. Just start hiding them in coat pockets and bags now
This is great advice for nearly any hobby. I think I might hit steal this for !coffee@lemmy.world if that’s okay.
This is the best advice. I also hate neck straps also only once dropped a camera and it was also on a tripod…
Strongly agree with this comment.
Sincerely, Me
The Peak Design camera clips are neat for when you want fast access without it bouncing around, and happen to be wearing a backpack, great for hiking/biking. I’ve not found any kind of strap I can tolerate.
Tried them. Hated the things dangling off the camera.
Edit: Wait. Those are different. I have tried that also. Better, but the camera still bumps my hip or wherever I put it. I just use an easy access bag I can get it in/out of in 3 seconds or less.
Hmm, I have only used them on backpack straps, and it works well for me mounted high on the chest, as long as there is enough counter weight on the bag and the straps are relatively tight it stays tight to your body when moving around. Even works well with a silly long lens like the RF800mm. You can even remove the safety release for easy one handed access. YMMV of course.
I have a Q10, it’s a good camera, it has fun modes, it’s very small and light. The battery life is atrocious so get more batteries if you’re planning on using it for extended periods.
Make the self power off aggressive if you don’t mind it.
It’s so small you don’t need a camera pouch to put in a bag, an old thick sock is fine. It fits in coat pockets easily too.
Don’t store it without a full battery, a soldered coin cell makes the whole thing tick and they can short out when they die. This kills the camera (it’s a cheap part but you have to take the whole thing apart to get to it and it’s delicate). The coin cell will die one day but you give it the best chance at not shorting itself if you don’t leave it with 0 power for long periods.
Hello fellow Pentaxian! Enjoy your new camera! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
The whole system seems so cute and fun! I’m looking forward to using it.
Looks good! Have fun with it and don’t forget to share your shots!
Invest in a good camera bag. I prefer a shoulderbag for quick acces, or a backpack with extra pouches if i want to take all my gear.
Buy or make a cleaning kit. K&F Concept sells affordable products that work very well IMO.
It is nice to keep your kit small. I can share the contents of my kit if you’d like that, but i’ll have to make a decent list for that.Tripod, and this is also worth investing in. I prefer the ones with a strong ballhead that folds as compact as possible. There are so many out there, so maybe people here are willing to share their recommendations too? Mine is from K&F Concept (yes, i’m a big fan of them overall).
Extra sd cards (and a good case for them), spare battery and powerbank should be standard in your kit. Get an UV filter as someone else suggested, mostly for protection.
I would wait with buying lenses if i were you. Once you made some adventures with your camera, you’ll come to know what kind of photos you like to take. Then do some research for lenses and gear that would get you further as you go.
Good advice. I would suggest when looking for a carrying bag, that you think of it as a backpack that happens to have room for camera equipment. When you’re out taking photos you’ll appreciate having room for that water bottle.
For tripods, I recommend spending a little more on carbon fiber. The weight difference is worth it. However, tripod is not the first thing you should get. Protect your gear and get extra memory cards before that.
I also recommend checking out Simon De Entremont (sp?) on YouTube. He has great advice for photographers on gear and techniques.
I have a Savotta bag, plenty of room for pouches/attachments. Not exactly a camera bag but being able to hang pretty much anything on it makes up for it. Love that thing.
Yeah that’s excellent. I have a sling bag that works great for photography and urban hiking, but I wish it had a way to attach my tripod. I may be looking for a mid size backpack soon. I’ll keep that brand in mind.
What kind of slingbag do you have/recommend? I often go without tripod too, would like to try out something like that.
It’s an older model Lowepro. The closest thing I see on their website is the Slingshot Edge.
What’s nice about it is that it fits my camera and some accessories while being small enough to fling around to the front so I can get my camera out without taking the bag off my back. If I’m careful I can even change my lens without setting things down.
Depending on how I pack it I can cram my camera with a 400mm mounted + a smaller lens in the top compartment with a spare battery.
There’s really no room for a bottle, but I’ve strapped one to the outside before with Velcro straps. It has built in straps for a tripod but it would be a very small one.
I also just use it as a regular backpack sometimes when I want my hands free, like on a bike ride, but I don’t need a big backpack.
Looks good, but perhaps a little bigger than i was looking for. Going to explore other options Lowepro has to offer. Thanks for sharing :)
It looks like it comes with a uv filter, that would be my first suggestion. Not because you need uv protection, but because if you smash your lens it’ll protect the lens itself from being broken.
Other than that its easy to spend money on accessories, and my suggestion is don’t. Start taking pictures first and learn.
UV filter is completely unnecessary, taking photos with that on degrades image quality (even if just by a bit) and lens hoods or lens caps are way more useful if you’re worried about breaking a lens
Image quality difference is negligable. I’ve had a lens saved by the UV filter (tripod got knocked over, lens hit a rock head on). IMHO it’s worth it. Lens hood is a good call too, cap only helps if you’re not shooting when it falls.
Don’t use a cheap UV filter and you won’t notice it. https://photographylife.com/filters-affect-resolution-lenses
There definitely is a difference between good and bad filters.
I like this blog post even though it’s from 2011: https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2011/06/good-times-with-bad-filters/
To this end, Beyond Point and Shoot by Darrel Young is a really good book for beginners looking for technical advice and understanding the jargon. I don’t know OPs current skill level ofc, but it helped me a lot
that book looks exactly right for my level, thanks!
First of all congratulations!
I would say to just enjoy your new camera as it is - it will become clear to you over time if there are any dedicated accessories you need. Build up a relationship with it so that you know it inside out, without too many other distracting bits of kit to juggle. You can even just use a towel or jiffy bag until you know what kind of case suits you and the camera, and clean the lens & viewfinder with a cotton T-shirt.
Enjoy!
Invest in a dry-cabinet.
you want a good, wide strap. otherwise, use the camera for a while before you buy more stuff. any bag will do if it’s padded, or just use socks or something for padding.
There are lot accessories :
- lense that limit sun glare
- protection that avoid direct sun
- a second sd card and a second batterie
- a trepod (useful for taking night picture…)
- a image stabilizer if you are into filming whilst walking
thanks! is there one or two you’d pick right away? sounds like the second SD card and battery might be really useful.
I’m not a photographer but I have a camera and have gotten some pretty cool pics. The first thing on their list is a polarized lens and it’s useful if you’re taking a picture with strong reflections from the sun (and probably some types of lights as well?) but I know it’s useful if you’re trying to capture water and see down into it. I inherited a camera with a bunch of accessories and that has been helpful for a couple pics in the past
For the sd card see how long it lasts you. They can hold a LOT of pictures, capacity depending
Get a good strap, get a decent amount of storage (make sure it’s the appropriate read/write speed), spare batteries, a flash (or flashes if you want to get fancy), filters, lenses for whatever you’re intending to shoot (primes can be fairly cheap while still producing great images if you’re just starting out), maybe a tripod and remote trigger (especially if you’re doing long exposures or something).
Also, carry a trash bag or three to function as a cover in the rain, gear protector, poncho, or other duties as needed.
Oh, and some sort of bag that works for you. You can get something nice from LowePro, but, if you are on a budget or want to blend in, an old trick is to just use diaper bags or similar (they’re padded, innocuous, and many of them make great camera bags that don’t scream “STEAL ME!”).
Depending on your subjects, a polarizing filter.
- case that fits the lenses you have
- strap if it didn’t come with one or that one is too uncomfortable
- polarizing filter! That one will make photos taken during sunlight lots better.
- obviously: enough cards and replacement batteries
