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Related Items

Books

• Canon PowerShot G10 guide

Equipment

• Canon G10 Camera
• Nikon P6000 Camera

Tutorials

• Different Exposure Modes
• Manual Mode

New Photography Student Kit

If you’ve been taking photographs with one of the low-end compact cameras and want to get a better quality camera with features that will allow you to take better pictures and to learn more about photography, I have some recommendations for you. In fact, I’ve come up with this example of a good starter kit. For this photography student kit, I’m assuming that you’re willing to spend the money for a higher end compact camera, but you’re not yet ready to move into a DSLR camera (larger cameras with interchangeable lenses).

Considering the Future

When looking for a new camera that will take good photographs and, more importantly, will allow you to learn about photography I suggest that you don’t look for one that has the lowest price (or the highest price), the highest megapixels, the greatest digital zoom, the smallest size or the slickest looking model. Instead, I would recommend that you purchase a digital compact camera that has the ability to adjust easily just about all of the settings that you can adjust on a DSLR camera (e.g., shutter speed, aperture, white balance, etc). The advantage of having and learning how to use an adjustable compact camera is that it will prepare you for when you’re ready to move up to a DSLR.

The next future consideration is related to manufacturer. When choosing a camera maker, I recommend thinking about which manufacturer you would like to settle into when you eventually buy a DSLR camera and start buying lenses. For instance, if you think that one day you might want to buy a Nikon DSLR camera, then consider buying a Nikon compact camera. This way you can learn the controls of Nikon. The controls won’t be exactly the same, but chances are there will be some similarities. There are many manufacturers of compact cameras who also make fine DSLR cameras and related items. However, I would recommend Canon or Nikon for beginners. They both make good equipment at good prices. For Nikon, you might consider buying the Nikon Coolpix P6000 digital camera. If you prefer Canon as do I, then check out the Canon Powershot G10.

New Photography Student Kit

The compact camera in this shot is my Canon Powershot G10. You can see here the minimum accessories to get started: a spare battery; a spare memory card (get at least two memory cards with capacity of eight gigabytes); for cleaning, a bulb and a microfiber cloth To protect the camera, get a snug fitting case. I bought the hard leather, retro style case). You might want to get a multi-format memory card reader like the one shown here. Finally, get a good book on your camera—not just the booklet that came with it.

Both of these cameras have all of the automatic presets, but I recommend using manual mode from the beginning—or at least one of the other camera modes that aren’t fully automatic.  They both have a high-quality live view screens on the back that shows you the results of adjustments to the different exposures.  For instance, if you change the aperture setting (that’s like the pupil of the camera’s eye) to a wider setting, the view screen gets brighter as will the final photo; and if you set it the other way, it gets darker.  Being able to see the results of adjustments before you even take the shot like that is helpful in learning what the settings will do.

If you don’t want to worry about going manual mode at this point, the P6000 and the G10 have more than the standard few automatic settings.  For instance, the Canon G10 has Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Sports, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Fireworks, Aquarium, Underwater, Indoor, ISO 3200, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Color Accent, Color Swap.  It also has a video mode.  By buying a camera that takes great pictures in automated mode and will let you easily tweak it later means that this purchase could possibly be the last compact camera you’ll buy and help you to move up when you’re ready to experiment.

Accessories

You will need a few accessories to go with your new camera. At a minimum, get a spare battery. The camera will probably come with one, but an extra one can be very valuable. Incidentally, be aware of mail-order camera stores that have low prices on the camera, but overcharge for the batter. You might do better to buy your accessories from a site like Amazon.com Some cameras don’t come with memory cards. So you’ll have to buy that separately. Memory cards are cheap, so buy one for the camera and buy a spare. Get at least two memory cards with capacity of eight gigabytes. That may seem like too much, but it’s not. Having a spare can saves you problems: for instance, you took plenty of photos and forgot to copy them to your computer and now you’re out shooting pictures again. Related to the memory cards, although you can usually copy images from the camera directly to your computer, I recommend getting a multi-format memory card reader. I have one that reads six different format cards and is a USB hub. I find that this more straight forward method is faster that using the camera’s USB interface to copy images to your computer. The other advantage is that if you want to share your photographs with someone, you can do it easily with a multi-format card reader even if they have a different format.

Since the lens retracts and is covered automatically, you won’t need to clean the lens as much. However, for when you need to do this, be care and use the right tools: First try to clean any dust on the lens with a air bulb. If that doesn’t work, use a microfiber cloth. Don’t use any cleaning fluids or water. Not only might that put a film on the lens, when it retracts the liquids might get inside the camera. If that happens, the camera may be ruined or at least be brought in for professional repair. Related to protecting your camera from damage, you should get a snug fitting camera case, preferably one made by the manufacturer specifically for your camera. It may cost more, but it will function best. Along those lines, you may want to get a small camera back for holding your camera (even when it’s in its case) and your camera accessories. This will cause your camera system to bulk up, but you can use the bag for carrying other items such as a map, a notebook, and other items related to your photography outings. I recommend not buying a bag that has the name of a camera manufacturer on it. This way when you don’t have your camera out, no one will know for sure if you have an expensive camera on you. It’s a good security precaution.

The last accessory that I’d recommend for a new photography student is a good book about your camera. Some people may think it to be a waste of money when you can just use the booklet that came with the camera. However, I’ve found that most beginners know very little of which their cameras are capable. I good book about your camera specifically can help you explore it further than the owner’s manual. They usually include screenshots of the camera’s menus, photos of the camera indicating which buttons to press, and example photographs to show you the results of different settings. Such a book can help you get the most out of your camera. Our site has a section listing some recommended camera specific books. Additionally, you might check our listing of books for recommendations on photography in general. Just be careful: you can spend a great deal on photography books that look good, but turn out to be disappointing once you start reading them.

Summary

As you can see from the photograph of my compact camera and related equipment, I’m not recommending many items to get started learning about photography. What I am recommending is that you buy smartly: get an excellent compact camera that’s made for would-be photographers; get what you need to be ready to take lots of pictures (e.g., high capacity memory cards and spare batteries.); be sure to have what you need to keep your camera clean and protect if from damage and minimize attracting the attention of bag snatchers. And finally, get expanded information on your specific camera, as well as a good starter book on photography.