The First 10 Things You Should Do When You Get a New Camera

Receiving a new camera during the holidays is a thrilling experience for any photography enthusiast. To ensure you make the most out of your new gadget, here’s a comprehensive, step-by-step guide of every important action you should take after you unbox that shiny new gadget.

1. Understand Your Camera's Manual

While 400-page camera manuals aren't incredibly exciting reads, it pays to spend at least an hour skimming through the key sections. This will illuminate you to some advanced features and customization options you may not have otherwise realized your new camera is capable of. As an added bonus, you're likely to uncover quirks and fine details of how the camera operates. For instance, this can be where an option is buried in the menus, how button combos work, what certain cryptic error messages mean, and how the camera behaves in very specific scenarios. Knowing these things in advance saves headaches down the road and precious time during a shoot.

Of course, concentrate your manual-reading efforts on sections related to the types of shooting you do most often. If you mainly shoot fast-paced portrait sessions, for example, focus on sophisticated autofocus capabilities so you can optimize tracking sensitivity and parameters for your subjects and conditions. The goal isn't to memorize the entire manual, but familiarize yourself with features that are truly relevant.

2. Personalize the Settings

Modern cameras have tons of customizability options. Take some time to go through every menu and customize buttons, dials, and controls to fit your personal shooting needs and style. For example, if you frequently need to engage silent shooting mode, consider mapping this to a custom button for quick access. Or if you constantly change metering modes, set this to a control dial. Set up custom shooting banks or modes tailored to situations you shoot in often, like action sports or concerts. The key is to optimize efficiency and minimize time spent digging in menus during actual shoots when time if often of the essence.

Be sure to take note of important custom function settings from any old cameras you are upgrading from and replicate those settings on the new camera body. Small things like specific autofocus parameter behaviors can throw you off greatly if the new camera doesn't handle them the same way you are accustomed to. Sit the old and new cameras side-by-side, go through every menu, and duplicate key settings.

3. Check Default Settings

When unboxing a shiny new camera, it’s tempting to immediately start firing away without checking any settings. Resist temptation! Manufacturers often configure cameras with strange default parameters likely meant to maximize battery life and storage space in a past era of power-hungry processing and limited, expensive media card capacities. But nowadays, such measures are often unnecessary. Double check that key settings like image quality and file format are not still sitting on odd defaults like small JPEG. Raw capture should be the standard unless you have specific workflow needs otherwise.

While you’re assessing settings, verify critical options like metering modes, focus modes, white balance configuration, and Auto ISO limitations. Make adjustments as needed, so your new camera behaves consistently right out of the gate. You want to avoid sloppy default settings surprising you during an actual shoot, resulting in incorrectly exposed or focused images. It only takes minutes to tweak settings to your liking, versus hours of post-production headaches.

4. Register Warranty and Insure Gear

You likely invested good money in your shiny new camera gear. So, take measures up front to protect that investment should anything go wrong down the line. For starters, be sure to register the warranty with the manufacturer using the included card or online registration form. Should warranty service be needed, having the gear properly registered from day one streamlines the process.

Additionally, add your new camera equipment to any existing gear coverage you may carry and remove any old gear if necessary. Accidents happen, and camera repair bills can easily exceed a thousand dollars if delicate internal components become damaged. For relatively little yearly cost, having robust insurance that covers drops, spills, theft, and replacements eases worries about carrying and traveling expensive photography investments. Spending five minutes registering warranties and insurance prevents massive headaches later on.

5. Get Additional Batteries and Memory Cards

Camera technology improves so rapidly that accessories like batteries and memory cards often lag behind current specifications and demands. If upgrading from an old camera, double-check write speeds on memory cards to ensure they can sustain capabilities like video bit rates or rapid burst shooting speeds. Similarly, make sure batteries are both cross-compatible and of a sufficient capacity. 

In general, having backup batteries and redundant media cards provide confidence to shoot freely without worrying about running dry at inopportune times. Consider adding a power grip to double battery life while adding comfort and stability when shooting portraits vertically. And even if you don’t fill them up, having ample empty, high-performance media cards ready to go in a shoot prevents needing to micromanage card space.

6. Set Up Image Review Options

When firing off shots in rapid succession, having images held on screen reviewing themselves can severely hamper workflow by essentially buffering the camera functions temporarily after bursts. Most new cameras offer customizable image review duration as well as toggles for auto image review. Spend a few minutes configuring these options to best suit your needs.

For quick-paced shooting, turn off auto image review entirely. This will keep the camera highly responsive to immediately capture the next shot versus getting bogged down showing you images you already know you captured successfully. For slower, more calculated shooting, longer review times let you inspect images more closely while still on scene. Find the optimal balance for how you specifically shoot to maximize efficiency.

7. Customize Your Strap

Brightly colored, branded straps advertise loudly what expensive kit is hanging around your neck, and they don't do much for functionality or comfort, typically. Chances are good that great improvements exist over the free logo strap. Higher-end third-party straps often build in useful features like quick disconnect points to allow cameras to seamlessly switch between handheld shooting and being worn across your body securely. 

8. Get a Quality Bag

While weather-sealing and magnesium alloy construction toughen exteriors against elements, interiors still house sensitive electronics and precision optics vulnerable to jostling. Don't equate rugged claims with invincibility justifying neglect. Get a proper bag with ample structural padding to protect from routine bumps and jumbles inevitable during usage. 

9. Get Cleaning Supplies

Every new piece of gear gets dirty eventually. A blower, brush, microfiber cloths, cleaning solution, and wipes make a nice and affordable kit.

10. Practice Using the Camera

When receiving tech as advanced as a new high-end camera loaded with features, it’s tempting to feel overwhelmed. Manuals, menus, customization, accessories. How does one even begin tapping into the potential? By simply picking up the camera and using it. Don’t obsess over every function before shooting a frame. Instead, get out and actively photograph things. This builds familiarity much quicker than studying theory in isolation.

That’s not to say you shouldn't take the time to read manuals or watch technique tutorials on areas you want to improve. Absorb new knowledge voraciously. But also balance it with practical application. All the conceptual comprehension in the world can’t compete with accumulated years strictly handling camera equipment, mastering muscle memory, and honing photographic instincts shooting in real-world conditions. And besides, making photographs is where the fun is!