To buy or not to buy. (protection film, front filter, battery grip and dry cabinet)

[toothie]

Hi All,

I am expecting my new DSLR soon (EOS 550D) (end of month).

I was wondering, with a tight budget, which items should be bought first. Any suggestion is welcome

I was thinking buying the following items according to their ranking
1) Dry cabinet (to protect my investment from mould)
2) Front filter
3) Battery grip
4) protection film for LCD display (Is this a waste of money?)

anymore critical things to buy?

cheers,

 

[Numnumball]

Hi,

Pls see my answers in bold. HTH

1) Dry cabinet (to protect my investment from mould) - Yes. Or if ur budget dun allows, a drybox with silica gel works jsut as well though more cumbersome

2) Front filter - Should be UV filter. Get a reasonably gd one for front elements protection

3) Battery grip - Depends on ur needs actually, need more juice (batt life)? need to shoot in portrait mode often? Only u urself can answer this

4) protection film for LCD display (Is this a waste of money?) - Not really, i got one for my cam just because i hate the scratches on the plastic protector that comes along and moreover it invites reflecting life making it hard to review ur shot in bright light conditions. A good screen protector wont.

 

[cleonbus]

Hi All,

I am expecting my new DSLR soon (EOS 550D) (end of month).

I was wondering, with a tight budget, which items should be bought first. Any suggestion is welcome

I was thinking buying the following items according to their ranking
1) Dry cabinet (to protect my investment from mould)
2) Front filter
3) Battery grip
4) protection film for LCD display (Is this a waste of money?)

anymore critical things to buy?

cheers,

1)Dry cabinet/Dry box is a must unless you want fungus after a few years.
2)UV filter you mean?A basic Hoya or Kenko costs from $10-$20.
3)Unless you want to take portraits or store 2 batteries at any time,this is not essential.
4)Screen protector.Just get one from Ebay for less than $5.

Camera bag,lenspen,blower and memory card are some of the things you need too.Tripod,flash and maybe a 50mm f1.8 will come later

 

[madmartian]

Hi All,

I am expecting my new DSLR soon (EOS 550D) (end of month).

I was wondering, with a tight budget, which items should be bought first. Any suggestion is welcome

I was thinking buying the following items according to their ranking
1) Dry cabinet (to protect my investment from mould)
2) Front filter
3) Battery grip
4) protection film for LCD display (Is this a waste of money?)

anymore critical things to buy?

cheers,

Welcome to CS
I'll go with nos 1 & 2, no regrets

 

[skyguy]

1 and 2 is confirm needed... but of coz do ur homework and check out the price and brand of filter...

4 is good to have...

no. 3... for what do u need it... make u camera heavy and bigger, and give u extra difficulty when taking it out from a bag?

 

[kaylan2000]

1)Dry cabinet/Dry box is a must unless you want fungus after a few years.
2)UV filter you mean?A basic Hoya or Kenko costs from $10-$20. (probably $20-30)
3)Unless you want to take portraits or store 2 batteries at any time,this is not essential.
4)Screen protector.Just get one from Ebay for less than $5.

Camera bag,lenspen,blower and memory card are some of the things you need too.Tripod and flash will come later

You summerised nicely. :thumbsup:

 

[dingaroo]

Hi toothie,

The other members have mostly answered your question.

But depending on your budget ....

1) Dry cabinet (to protect my investment from mould)

If between $120 and $180 for a dry cabinet is too much on your budget, get a cheap <$50 dry box.

2) Front filter

As pointed out by others, it's a UV filter. Just helps protect your front lens' front glass. Unless you got an L lens, don't need those that are over $60.

3) Battery grip

Adds weight to the camera setup, but of course, some say look like pro. Having 2 batteries in it, you can shoot for a few days before recharging.

4) protection film for LCD display (Is this a waste of money?)

I'm sure you put LCD protection on your phone. Since your dSLR is an investment, worth putting it on. That's for my argument.

anymore critical things to buy?

Cleonbus has added some other things you may need for now, like Lenspen (cleans your lens and filter).

Hope you enjoy your new 'baby'!

Cheers

 

[akerue]

to TS,

all the senior here have given u the asnwers u seek,

also pls be mindful and do ya homeworks when buying filters, as filters are one of the common things that ppl get chopped at.
same goes to other accesories.

happy shooting with ya new gears..

 

[cleonbus]

Cleonbus has added some other things you may need for now, like Lenspen (cleans your lens and filter).

Hope you enjoy your new 'baby'!

Cheers

Still got somemore leh...

3M microfiber cloth
Extra battery
2nd camera bag

:bsmilie:

 

[wildcat]

Actually for kit lens, I feel it's better to use hood than a good filter for protection. If you want to get a cheapo filter, then might as well don't get. My feel is that to put a cheap filter in front of the glass doesn't do justice to it, but it doesn't make sense to buy a dem good filter to put on kit lens (although I do that).

The weakest link will make or break the photos you take - ensuring you have a evenly distributed cost spread across all your equipments will be good to prevent one single very bad part affecting everything else. By evenly, I don't mean filter cost as much as lens as much as camera... but should be relative to what you'd pay for each. Know what I mean?

 

[cleonbus]

Actually for kit lens, I feel it's better to use hood than a good filter for protection. If you want to get a cheapo filter, then might as well don't get. My feel is that to put a cheap filter in front of the glass doesn't do justice to it, but it doesn't make sense to buy a dem good filter to put on kit lens (although I do that).

The weakest link will make or break the photos you take - ensuring you have a evenly distributed cost spread across all your equipments will be good to prevent one single very bad part affecting everything else. By evenly, I don't mean filter cost as much as lens as much as camera... but should be relative to what you'd pay for each. Know what I mean?

Get B+W lor...

I actually got one for my kit lens:bsmilie:

 

[Fotophilic]

Hi All,

I am expecting my new DSLR soon (EOS 550D) (end of month).

I was wondering, with a tight budget, which items should be bought first. Any suggestion is welcome

I was thinking buying the following items according to their ranking
1) Dry cabinet (to protect my investment from mould)
2) Front filter
3) Battery grip
4) protection film for LCD display (Is this a waste of money?)

anymore critical things to buy?

cheers,

dry cabinet sounds best to me, among the list.
if u really do not have the money to buy a proper dry cabinet and do not wish to use a dry box, then don't buy it first.
mould/fungus grows on the glass because the air is stagnant. just bring it out and exercise it often and it'll be fine. i know of someone who uses a D200 and 18-200VR for about 3 years without putting it in a dry cabinet. and yes he uses it often. the last time i see the glass a month ago, no fungus spotted.

 

[toothie]

Hi All,

Thanks for the advise

summarize.
1) dry cabinet (Must have, cos i do not use the camera daily to air it. Need to read more, to get digital or analog gauge, types of cabinet..etc)
2) Lens filter (WAaahh...dun know that a bad filter is doing more harm to the camera setup, also need to read up more)
3) battery grip ( well heard that it balances the weight issue of the light body, but this I need to try and decide later)
4) No point saving the $10+, will get the screen protector.
5) Lenspen (Need to read more too, first time hearing this)

Thanks again.

cheers,

 

[yc2005]

I was thinking buying the following items according to their ranking
1) Dry cabinet (to protect my investment from mould)
2) Front filter
3) Battery grip
4) protection film for LCD display (Is this a waste of money?)

anymore critical things to buy?

1) Its a must have, or at least a dry box with silica gel.

2) Filter as protection, good to have but not necessary if you are careful. Buying lousy ones will even degrade the IQ so might as well not have.

3) BG is subjective. Personally I can live without one.

4) Just like screen protectors for your mobile phone, some die die need one, others dont. So are you so anal about it?

Others: Cleaning kit and blower is a must have as well, else how are you gonna clean your lens after a day out? with tissue paper? :bsmilie:

 

[sinned79]

battery grip should be the last on your list if u want to save some money for your first time buy.

please dun go for cheapo filters (eg those $10 tokina). Go for at least a Hoya Pro1 series.

 

[cleonbus]

Hi All,

Thanks for the advise

summarize.
1) dry cabinet (Must have, cos i do not use the camera daily to air it. Need to read more, to get digital or analog gauge, types of cabinet..etc)
2) Lens filter (WAaahh...dun know that a bad filter is doing more harm to the camera setup, also need to read up more)
3) battery grip ( well heard that it balances the weight issue of the light body, but this I need to try and decide later)
4) No point saving the $10+, will get the screen protector.
5) Lenspen (Need to read more too, first time hearing this)

Thanks again.

cheers,

After having all these things,you don't need a memory card to shoot(and a backup copy)meh?:think:

 

[toothie]

Hi sinned79, thanks for the specific recommendation.

Hi cleonbus, the camera comes with 8gb card, should be enough for a few months, till i know what kind of card speed that i want.

Thanks all.

 

[Octarine]

Hi cleonbus, the camera comes with 8gb card, should be enough for a few months, till i know what kind of card speed that i want.

Change this to "card speed you need and the camera can support". Your wallet will be very thankful if you remove the phrase "I want" and replace with "I need for my photography"
I support the mentioned lens hood. Bbetter than any filter and it doesn't produce flare or ghosting when left on

 

[jeffchanjj]

yes avoid buying the battery grip first (unless you have a big and heavy lens) and save up more to get a tripod or flash (these 2 stuff are very important too) =)

 

[night86mare]

get a dry cabinet first, that is most important.

everything else is optional, but the lcd protector is useful.