When buying a digital camera, do consider the cost of buying some necessary accessories as well:
UV Filter
For DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera users, one of your first purchases after the body and lens should be a UV filter. This should stay permanently attached to your lens, and serves as a protection for your lens. If you accidentally drop your lens onto a rock or sharp surface, the filter will protect the front element on your lens from scratches, saving you a lot of money. Replacing a filter is cheap. If you plan on selling the lens later, you’ll probably have a hard time selling a scratched lens. By the way, many photographers start off with a basic lens and sell it later to upgrade to a better lens. My first DSLR was a 6-megapixel Nikon D70 and its 18-70mm kit lens, which I used for
my trip to China in 2004.
Lens Hood
The other thing to keep mounted on your lens is the lens hood, which usually comes together with your lens purchase. Not only does it shield your photos from lens flare, it also provides handy protection in case you drop your lens. I have personally had the scary experience of dropping my expensive lens onto a very hard surface, twice. The metal lens hood of my 85mm lens broke the fall and was dented, but it saved the lens. The other incident involved my 70-200mm lens dropping onto a marble floor from table height, with only the lens hood damaged. So, save yourself some potential stress and keep the lens hood on.
Sufficient Storage Media
These come in various formats, eg. Compact Flash (CF), Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick and many others. Usually the one that comes bundled with the camera is insufficient. I suggest a minimum of 4GB for a 10 megapixel camera. The more megapixels your camera has, the faster your storage media will fill up. I have personally used portable hard drives during
my many travels but have found that keeping several large CF cards in my bag is the best solution. The weakness of portable hard drives is the hard drive itself, which is fragile (especially if you are on the move on rugged terrain) and prone to failing at the worst possible moment.
Spare Battery
Not absolutely necessary but handy since digicam batteries drain notoriously fast. If your camera uses a proprietary lithium battery, you need to get at least an extra one, and a universal travel power adaptor so that your charger can be used in any country. If it uses AA batteries, get rechargeable spares which are cheaper compared to lithium batteries. AA batteries are also easily available even in remote areas, though you’d probably only find non-rechargeable types when on an island vacation.
DVD Writer / External Hard Drive
This is because digital cameras don’t produce negatives like film cameras do. So you’ll need a way to backup your precious photos, in case your hard drive crashes. I recommend making multiple backups of important photos on DVDs as well as external hard drives. This is to guard against the possibility of corrupted DVDs or bad sectors on the external hard drive.
Lens Pen
This is a handy tool for cleaning your lens front element, or UV filter, when you are travelling. The pen takes up virtually no space in your bag, doesn’t use any messy alcohol, and is super quick to use. To clean your lens, just rub the Lens Pen in a circular motion on the front element, and you’re done!
Having these accessories will improve your overall photography experience, and make it a deeply satisfying hobby.
