Must-buy Accessories for Your First DSLR Camera

If you are planning to buy your first DSLR camera or have recently bought one, I am sure you must have been confused as to what all accessories you must buy. You can make a long list of digital camera accessories but you must know some of the must-buy camera accessories in order to manage your funds.

There are some DSLR camera accessories that you shall be buying with your first camera, and some can be bought at a later stage as well. I have made a list of 6 must-buy accessories for your first DSLR camera which I think shall be among the first few accessories that you invest in.

1. Camera Bag

We all know that a digital camera is an expensive gear, and the cost increases if you buy a pair of lenses along with it. It is really important that you buy a camera bag which is especially designed to store your digital camera and lenses. The camera bag has pads to divide the bag in to different sections so that the gears stay protected, after all they cost you a huge sum of money.

Some of the camera bags that I would like to suggest are Vanguard Up-Rise II 49 Camera BackPack, AmazonBasics Camera Backpack and Lowepro Photo Hatchback 22L AW.

2. UV Filter

A UV filter is a basic accessory that you must buy along with your first DSLR camera in order to keep your lens safe. A UV filter is suppose to be used to cut ultra-violet rays, but as per my experience it further degrades the image quality. So it is best to mount the UV filter on your lens when you are storing it in your bag or while you are not clicking photos to protect your lens from dust particles. A UV filter also protects the front element of your lens from getting damaged by any fall or any collision with hard surface.

This is the reason I would suggest that you must buy a UV filter your lens, but do not spend too much on it. You can buy Osaka UV filters or AmazonBasics UV filters, depending on your lens filter size.

3. Memory Card

Investing in the right memory card will give you long term benefits as the burst speed and the video recording capability depends on the card you select. Along with the storage capacity, you also have to look out for the type and class of the card.

You can either buy an SDHC memory card or a CF memory card, depending on the card slots provided in your DSLR camera. CF cards are usually fast and allows you to shoot more continuous burst shots as compared to an SDHC memory card.

If your DSLR camera supports only SDHC cards, then you can buy the SanDisk Ultra 32GB Class 10 UHS-I SDHC Memory Card or the SanDisk Ultra 64GB Class 10 UHS-I SDXC Memory Card.

But if your DSLR camera has a CF card slot, then I would advice you to buy that one. You can look at buying SanDisk 32GB Extreme Pro CompactFlash Memory Card or SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB Compact Flash Memory Card.

4. Tripod

A sturdy tripod allows you to keep your DSLR camera stable and minimizes camera shake that would otherwise be caused by hand shake. By using a tripod you can easily click long exposure photos such as light trails, star trails or night photos, and you can also shoot long videos and timelapse videos.

My top three tripod suggestions would be:

Manfrotto Be Free Aluminium Travel Tripod with Ball Head

Manfrotto Compact Action Aluminium tripod with Hybrid Head

AmazonBasics 50-Inch Tripod with Bag

5. Speedlight/Flash

A built-in camera flash is a good additional light source to be used while clicking photos in low-light conditions. But trust me, when you start using a flash light you will never use the built-in flash light again. You can use the flash light off-camera, put on colored gels and different light modifiers to change the quality of the light.

If you wish to get professional results in your photos, you would have to invest in a decent flash light. It is even better if you buy a flash light which has TTL and HSS technology.

I would suggest the following flash lights:

Godox TT685 TTL emabled flash (CANON)

Godox TT685 TTL emabled flash (NIKON)

Godox TT685 TTL emabled flash (SONY)

Sonia manual flash

6. Lens Cleaning Kit

While you would be clicking photos in different conditions, there would be moisture and dust forming a layer on the front element of the camera lens. It is really important to take care of the lens regularly and this can be done with the help of a lens pen.

A lens pen is an accessory which allows you to clean the front element of the lens and help you keep it away from dust particles.