Canon T3i Gear Recommendations

[bwells3]

OK, so we got the Canon T3i for Christmas and I have really been enjoying it. Needless to say, I have a lot to learn and am excited to start the process.

However, I would like to know more about accessories/gear that I should slowly include in my kit. I have questions such as is it really necessary to have a filter? Any recommendations on good bags that won't make you look like a 'sherpa' while on vacation/at theme parks?

Any other items that I should consider purchasing for this camera? I don't want to break the bank, but am willing to invest in the purchase.

Thanks in advance!

[Preeb]

Originally Posted by bwells3

OK, so we got the Canon T3i for Christmas and I have really been enjoying it. Needless to say, I have a lot to learn and am excited to start the process.

However, I would like to know more about accessories/gear that I should slowly include in my kit. I have questions such as is it really necessary to have a filter? Any recommendations on good bags that won't make you look like a 'sherpa' while on vacation/at theme parks?

Any other items that I should consider purchasing for this camera? I don't want to break the bank, but am willing to invest in the purchase.

Thanks in advance!

Flash might be your first consideration. They aren't cheap, but getting a flash which can be bounced is several steps above the built in, even if you still use it on the hot shoe.

For filter, a good circular polarizer if you do landscapes. Again, a good one will run you $100 and up, but a $20 CPL is worse than useless. Otherwise I'd say don't waste your money. There is no good reason to use a UV or such for "protection". All it will do is help to further degrade the images from your kit lenses. Just take care of them, and if you want protection, buy the recommended hood. Just keeping them capped when not shooting is protection enough.

Lots of options for bag or pack. I use ordinary day packs, and keep my lenses in padded pouches (Lowe Pro lens cases for the most part). I have a 30 year old pack which has been used for photo day hikes since I had my first film SLR. It will carry the camera and a couple of lenses, but not all of my gear. For that I have a new pack which I use for traveling so I can take everything, including my 17" laptop. Neither is actually a camera pack, and neither advertizes what's inside.

[OsmosisStudios]

Got the T3i...now need some basic gear recommendations

[KristineMN]

Rick, I have to argue the no-filter comment. See my post in the general chit chat forum. My capped, stored camera was in my LowerPro SlingShot bag and I'm assuming it got knocked or dropped (by a child?). Even though it was capped and stored the cap took the impact and jammed into the lens. Fortunately I had a filter on it and only the filter cracked vs the lens. The filter saved my lens which is far cheaper to replace. The lens was over $1300... the filter was only about $100. If you don't carry extra insurance, which would you rather replace?

[inkista]

Originally Posted by bwells3

.... is it really necessary to have a filter?

No, it's not necessary. But I prefer having them on to protect the front element coatings. I regularly trash my $40 Hoya SMCs by wiping them off with a shirt tail. I shoot a lot in dusty back canyons and at the beach. Salt spray on a filter gives me less willies than salt spray on my lens. Depending on what and how you shoot, and how much care you like to take of your gear, it's up to you whether or not you want them. For me, I can always take a UV filter of if flare is driving me nuts. But if I don't have one on, chances are good at some point, I'd be replacing the front element of my lens.

Any recommendations on good bags that won't make you look like a 'sherpa' while on vacation/at theme parks?

This is what theme park lockers are for. You want to use a P&S at Disneyland if you want to go on any of the rides. That little net basket they put in front of you isn't particularly protective or particularly large. Plus while kid-herding, the last thing you want to be doing is carrying a full bag of camera gear. Just my personal advice.

Some folks enjoy Crumpler or ThinkTank bags for not looking like typical camera bags.

Any other items that I should consider purchasing for this camera? I don't want to break the bank, but am willing to invest in the purchase.

None of this is "investing", you're rarely going to see a return on anything you purchase. My personal advice is if you don't know what you should be purchasing, wait until you do. GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) will bite you soon enough.

To me, the only things you have to have out of the gate are a camera, a lens, a memory card, a card reader, a battery, charger, a computer, and post-processing software of some kind. And generally, my second recommendation for a purchase is Bryan Peterson's book, Understanding Exposure, to get some basic technique under your belt.

Leave off lenses, flashes, etc. etc. for now. You've got a big learning curve ahead of you on just figuring out your camera, and how to do things your point and shoot never expected you to do, like shooting RAW, mastering the autofocus and metering systems, and shooting in full manual mode. Time enough to add more factors when that's all been sussed.

Lens-wise, my personal recommendation of a "training wheels triple" (and many would disagree), would be to add the EF-S 55-250 IS and the EF 50mm f/1.8 II to the bag. Low-cost lenses to learn on.

Other basic gear, depending on what/how you like to shoot would be a tripod and a remote, and a flash, but until you do the kind of shooting that requires these things, I'd say leave 'em alone for now. Particularly flash. My general advice with flash is to be sure you've mastered M mode and are comfortable shooting there before you go with a flash.