My Photography Gear as a Beginner

Last updated on November 23rd, 2022 at 07:40 am

So, despite having worked with photographers and even studied film for a long time, I’m not super experienced with photography. I’m having a lot of fun figuring out cameras and lenses and other gear. But I don’t really have any real fancy equipment yet because I’m still starting out and don’t have a lot of money to invest yet. So, I thought I’d share my photography gear as a beginner in case it’s helpful to any new photographers or bloggers out there.

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Camera

Obviously, the most important piece of photography gear (though I’m learning that if you’re going to invest in anything, invest in lenses). So, I actually got my camera a while ago because I wanted it for taking pictures for social media and potentially a YouTube channel. I own a Canon Rebel T6i, and I like it a lot. It does what I need it to do. It goes up to 12800 ISO. It’s not amazing in low light, but it’s fine enough. It’s not super heavy, which is great, and it takes EF and EF-S lenses.

For video, it shoots in 1080 HD, though not 4k if that’s what you’re looking for. It does shoot at 24 fps. It has built-in Wi-Fi, which honestly I’ve never used it so I can’t speak to it. It’s also great for filming videos of yourself because it has a display screen that pops out so you can see yourself as you record.

It’s difficult to find just the body of the camera now because there are newer versions of this camera, but you can still get a bundle with a lens that I’ll go into next. Unless you want the lens or you’re just trying to get any lens, you’re probably better off getting the camera body used. It’s also not that much more expensive to upgrade to a T8i so you might be better off doing that.

Lenses

Your lenses are your next most important piece of photography gear. I have two lenses, an EF-S 18-55mm IS STM lens that came with the camera and an EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM wide lens I bought separately. It’s good to have a zoom lens and a wide lens that I can switch between. They’re like average lenses, but for right now, they do the job I need them to do. The next prime lens I want to buy is a 50mm f/1.4 lens. My goal is to eventually upgrade my zoom lens to a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM, but it’s really expensive. We’ll get there one day!

Stabilizer

So, the tripod that I use apparently isn’t sold anymore. I have a Sunpak Ultra 7000TM tripod, and it’s solid enough. If you’re looking for a really good tripod brand, Manfrotto seems to be good, if more expensive. Personally, I’m hoping to save up for a Flycam Redking because I also want a stabilizer for filming!

Currently, I don’t really have a lens filter that I would recommend, and I’m not using an external monitor yet. I’m also rocking window light as my lighting source because, uh, lighting is super expensive. I can tell you that I’m hoping to save up for PolarPro Variable ND filters. But as far as lighting goes, I’m not sure yet.

Storage

An underrated important part of your photography gear is your storage! This includes your memory cards and your external hard drives. For my memory card, I have a SanDisk 128 GB Extreme Pro memory card. I’ve heard recommendations that you want to stick to a smaller memory card in case it gets corrupted. Then, you’re losing less of your work. So, you can always stick to a 64 or 32 GB memory card.

For my external hard drive, I have a Seagate Portable 2 TB. I think 2 TB makes the most sense for a beginner photographer. This way, you have a good amount of space, but you’re not spending all that extra money to upgrade for space you don’t need yet.

Audio

I’ll share my audio equipment too in case you’re interested! I’m discovering that audio is pretty complicated, and there are a lot of different systems you can go with. For right now, I’m using a shotgun mic, which means it goes on top of the camera. I started with a more basic Rode mic that still got the job done, which is their Rode VideoMic GO Lightweight On-Camera Microphone. But the audio wasn’t quite what I was looking for, though it wasn’t bad. Audio is so important because people will stick around for not great video, but they will not stick around for bad audio. So, I recently upgraded to the Rode VideoMic Pro+ Compact Directional On-Camera Shotgun Condenser Microphone. I like it a lot better.

As far as other photography gear goes, I don’t own it. I don’t currently own reflectors or a flash, which is something I’m hoping to correct really soon! Also, I don’t own any lighting kits, but I’m not worried about that yet since I mostly shoot with natural light anyway.

I hope this photography gear guide helps you figure out what gear you want to invest in as a beginner. It’s a decent gear setup for a YouTuber too. Feel free to comment below with your own photography gear or ask any questions!