Now that you’ve got your nice, new and shiny DSLR camera, it’s time for the additions. If you started with the basic kit of camera body and kit lens, good for you. Before long, you’ll start contemplating on what to buy next. Most of the time it will be these three: Flash, Tripod and Lens. So what do you buy first? As always, my automatic answer is “what do you need?”

Establishing the need for any equipment/tool/accessory is the first thing you should do when contemplating on a new acquisition.

Note: Gear Acquisition Sickness (or Syndrome in some part of the online photography community), or GAS is an affliction that hits you when you start mingling with other photographers and beginners.  I’ll discuss GAS in another post, but as a brief, GAS makes you need something that you really just want. It’s like saying I WANT to have this lens because I think it’s cool, then rationalizing that you NEED that lens because it will make you a better photographer.  In the end you just end up with a lens that doesn’t make you a better photographer and  just takes up space in your bag or dry cabinet.

So on with the tips.

During the time I was writing this article, I noticed that it was fairly long. So to save you from reading till the end, I’m giving you a summary:

If you’re budget conscious yet you need to satisfy that urge to buy more, follow this sequence of purchases:

cheap TRIPOD, good FLASH, better LENS.

Still interested to know my rationale for that sequence?  Read on.

Continue reading »