Need Help

[bamanic]

I'm a very recent G3 owner and a complete novice to digital photography. I'm looking down the road (at Christmas time) and trying to decide on some possible accessories for my camera and right now I'm just totally confused. So my question is this: What do I need to buy? Maybe that's a bit to broad; I enjoy landscape photography and I'm learning a bit about macro stuff. So I probably want both the teleconverter and the wide angle one, but which adapter? Also interested in doing infrared - which filter (and size)? That should sort of demonstrate how confused I am; hopefully not so much that I won't get any response. Oh yeah, it would be safe to assume (when responding) that you are dealing with a complete rookie at this. Thanks for your assistance.

[sdommin]

This question comes up every now & then, and my answer is always the same:

Since you are (by your own admission) a novice, you don't need any accessories. Your new G3 will serve you well, just as it is. Take a few months to learn the camera inside & out. Take pictures in all kinds of light, all kinds of conditions, day & night. Experiment! If you do this, you'll already know what accessories you need (if any).

The only thing anybody really needs is more memory. Buy as large a CF card as you can afford.

[dtrayers]

One accessory I always recommend to my friends, regardless of the camera, is a good tripod.

Among the many benefits are, IMO, two primary items: it'll improve your pictures, especially in low light, by eliminating camera shake.

The second item is that it'll slow you down. That's a good thing. You take a little time to look at the composition, look at the light, look at the scene. I *always* like the pictures I take with the tripod better than the point and shoot pictures. It's because they're composed better.

The G3 has a great advantage when used on a tripod. You can use it at waist height and swivel the LCD up towards you. It's like using an old twin-lens camera. That way your tripod only has to be extended the first two leg sections and you can easily carry it around.

[stoneylonesome]

couldn't agree more about the tri-pod, even a combo walking stick/monopod is useful, another 2 items yu might want to consider is a good external flash, I've got the canon 420ex , and a decent camera bag to carry everthing around in, an extra battery and an external battery charger are always handy

I've have this charger with car adapter works great

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/lm-msc1.htm

flash
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=206436&is=GREY

[jpmccormac]

Ditto on the tripod recommendation. You don't need to spend a lot of money. Get a light-weight tripod that folds up to about 18-20" so you can pack it with you, otherwise you won't use it all.

The accessory I use most often outdoors is a two stop graduated neutral density filter (GND). This filter will reduce the exposure on highlights (sky) and help prevent the sky from being blown out (turning white) in your landscape shots. The filter is 2 (or 3) f-stops darker on the top than on the bottom, so it equalizes the illumination of the land and sky.

A polarizing filter (linear type) is also a valuable tool for reducing glare and pumping up contrast and color in sky and clouds.

Check out this page on Photo.net for more info:
http://www.photo.net/learn/

[msvadi]

I would start with a tripod, lensmate adapter and UV filter (Hoya HMC, for example) for lens protection. http://lensmateonline.com

For the future consider: external flash (420EX), graduated neutral density filter and polarizer (can be very useful for landscape photography). And, of course, a good camera bag.

Regarding infrared. As far as I know Hoya R72 is popular, but check out the "share" forum. There is a couple of users there who post infrared shots, may be they can give you some tips.