Buying the wrong camera gear early on is one of the fastest ways to waste money in photography. Five specific categories trip up beginners more than almost anything else, and most of them are things you'd never think to question.
Coming to you from Curtis Padley, this straightforward video breaks down the camera accessories Padley considers traps for beginners, and his takes are sharper than the usual "just buy quality" advice. He starts with camera bundles, those packages that show up all over Amazon promising extra value alongside your new body. The pitch sounds reasonable until you look at what's actually in the box: a flimsy camera bag, a questionable third-party battery, and a slow, unreliable SD card that probably isn't worth more than $5. The $30 to $50 premium you pay for that bundle would do far more work put toward a single decent memory card. Padley then moves into filters, where he separates the genuinely useful from the gimmicky. UV filters are his first target: putting a cheap piece of glass in front of an expensive lens actively works against the investment you made in that lens. Kaleidoscope and prism filters get the same treatment. That said, he's clear that some filters are worth carrying every time you shoot, specifically circular polarizers and variable ND filters, which he uses regularly for landscape work and video.
The section on camera bodies is where Padley gets into real money territory. Using a $1,700 budget as an example, he walks through why dropping the entire amount on a body like the Sony a6700 with just a kit lens is the wrong move. His preference is pairing a more affordable body like the Sony a6400 with a better lens or two, and checking the used market to stretch the budget further. The core argument is that lenses will do more for your images than any camera upgrade, and spreading your budget across a more complete setup beats going all-in on one piece of hardware.
Padley's thoughts on tripods and drones round out the list, and both sections are worth watching in full. His position on tripods is more nuanced than a flat rejection, and he lays out a specific method for deciding whether you actually need one before spending anything. The drone section is candid in a way that's rare: he owns one, admits it produces impressive results when he flies it, and still argues it's the wrong purchase for someone early in their learning. The reasoning he gives goes beyond cost and regulations, and it gets at something more fundamental about how beginners actually develop their eye. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Padley.
5 Comments
A must listen for new photographers and a lot of seasoned. We all have to start somewhere and that start can be expensive!
If you do not have a camera yet and want to get one to cut your teeth on I suggest the used market where you will find camera are for a life time except ask for the shutter count its mechanical and has the life you will need. Check things like if a DSLR or mirrorless (todays standard) but the difference's are very important
1. In body image stabilization with mirrorless for the no need for a tripod for everyday capture but a good tripod for those long exposures greater than 1sec..
2. Camera makers when they went mirrorless all followers of the DSLR's had to get rid of their lenses also except there are some adapters you can get the plus side is the used market is full of great gear for a starter for a low low price never see the word CHEAP as what you may think all the cameras and lenses are the best made for their time. Just remember it is learning time and training you eye to see what others do not and practice your different framings. A hint about Mirrorless is Sony has been at it the longest and others are playing catch up just saying everything is an investment over time and Sony Mod 2's have IBIS yes as far back as December 9, 2014 11 years ago!!!! And with a long list of lenses to build on.
When looking and before buying ask if the EVF/ rear screen are good. An extra plus if you do go Sony and look at the Mod 1's or 2's is the on camera apps, little known about even by in store reps, one mainly is the "Digital Filter" no need to carry filters or their holders, the app comes with presets for sunrise/sets plus others. but you can use any camera setting for sky and foreground and get a RAW/Jpeg or both sent to the SD card. Another plus is there is a Panorama selection on the upper dial along with not one but two auto functions to select from one is great for night portraits using a flash where it takes two images one for far and the next for the person combined in camera and output as RAW/Jpeg or both.
Do not mean to brag but I started with Sony in 2014.
3. One thing to know about not needing a tripod is if there is light you will not need one. My accidental learn happened at Antelope Canyon day tour when I forgot by camera plate for my tripod and could not go back to get it. I had just bought the Sony A7RM2 along with the FE 12-24mm f/4 G and while others were doing long exposures on tripods I just did a check for one image and it looked great and being a Mad Scientist of light I did s bracketing of 3 at +/- 2EV and all three where great and next was my night tour where the tour guide had a LED lantern meaning there was light and again all images were great so I left my tripod at the entrance and just handheld again getting stars through openings in the overhead. To top it all off other camera makers di not have a 12mm for years after so I got more in a capture than anyone at that time.
Another point about having lights at night Manual Mode is not always needed for your cameras Aperture mode will get the capture.
4. I wasted a lot of money on different things for Milky Way panoramas all automated that never really worked when trying to use today a less than $100 panorama rig with a degree stopper at its base will do a +200 degree panorama in less than 90secs. when using in camera NR and moving to the next click during it.
A camera and lenses are a personal investment for the long run and may never be worth what you paid for afterwards but all are lessons learned, I still have my film cameras/lens and when i went Sony I was able to use the lenses with my Sony A7SM1 and in October 2014 capture my first lunar eclipse.
One very important thing is a image editor like Lrc or the many others they will be needed for your art to come alive and to post/print wherever another investment that will change many times through the years.
also the point and shoot cameras with digital telephoto lenses are a great start some even water proof.
Long, I know but a few have a long history with photography along with a lot of wasted things in the closets!!!!!!
I think that articles like this are too quick to discount (haha) kit lenses. They're inexpensive, light and especially the recent ones are excellent for the price. They can be used for street photography or in bad weather when you don't necessarily want to pull out your very expensive lenses - for anyone who doesn't have tons of money to throw around. I have a kit lens and though I don't use it very often, I do want it around.
Sony's 28-70/3.5-4.0 kit zoom was a dog that I replaced immediately. OTOH, their 28-60/4.0-5.6 is quite good.
One thing a kit zoom is good for is serving as backup to a better lens. Pros, in particular, really need to have backup gear, which is why we generally bring a second or third body, multiple flashes, and extra lenses, particularly to jobs that cannot be repeated in case of equipment malfunction. I'm talking here about PJ and events. In my kit, the 28-60's compactness makes it an excellent backup on flash-lit candids and portraits at corporate events, where I don't need large apertures.
As a hobbyist I keep the FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS on my camera for day or night there is aways light. Going APS-C from full frame gets 36-360mm yes in camera crop but also the center of the sensor getting faster AF and better pixel coverage. It came out in 2015 but reminded of the 50-500mm and 60-600mm back in the DSLR days of old and were in magazines as the greatest of travel lenses.
Two lenses to look at for long term 1. The 10mm f2.8 Laowa reason is it will give a panoramic look but with the top and bottom before in the old it was fisheye lenses. Get all in one capture where in a panorama you have to deal with cloud movement also good for that close up in a candy store and you can not backup 2. A 10x Telephoto lens like the Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS when going APS-C you have 36-360mm does not matter who makes it just to have on your camera most of the time when just on a walkabout not knowing what you might see or even when you plan and just do not know what to use in your bag of tricks.