Camera and lenses are not all you need
Written in 2005, latest update 2010.
If you are into serious photography, the first things you need are a camera body and one or more lenses. But in addition to these there are many things that are needed or come handy. Here are non-conclusive lists of things that I use or have used.
Things in active use
- lens hoods for all my lenses (I use lens hoods on all lenses all the time)
- protection filters for all lenses for the sake of lens front element protection and easier cleaning
- the equipment bags: Lowepro Stealth Reporter D650 AW, Lowepro Nature Trekker AW II and Lowepro Magnum AW
- Canon Ec-S for my Canon EOS 1D Mark III
- lens pen and microfiber lens cleaning cloths
- the sensor cleaning set for sensor cleaning at home: Sensor Swap, Pec Pads, Eclipse fluid
- catza.net customized Marumi Digital Pro Aircell camera strap
- CF and SD cards and a reliable boxes to store them safely
- spare batteries to keep the camera going all weekend (although this is pretty much not needed with Canon EOS 1D Mark III)
- a car to get to the shooting locations (the current version is Honda Jazz 1.4i Comfort)
- a powerful desktop computer with a quality flat screen for post-processing purposes
- Spyder 3 monitor calibration tool
- photo editing software
Things that I sometimes use
- Manfrotto tripod and Manfrotto monopod with plate attachment and tilt head
- a natural density filter and a polarization filter
- a laptop to browse the photos while on tour (I really can't work with photos with a small low quality display, without serious processing power and without all the software I have installed on my desktop computer
- Kenko EF Extension Tubes for macro work (those with EF electronics coupling)</li>
- grey cards
Things no longer in use
- Sigma EF-500 DG Super with sets of rechargeable AAs and a charger
- some flash bouncers and softboxes
- a portable photo bank having a card reader and a 40 GB hard drive
About insurance
One more thing to consider is an insurance. Is a nice thing to know that if your equipment gets stolen you will get a full refund. My photography equipment set has a purchase price of many thousands euros so I have decided to have an special insurance to ensure that my hobby can go on even after such an unfortunate event.