Tech Questions.
DeGeeked Answers.

3 Comments

What accessories do I really need for my digital camera?

Whether you're buying off of Amazon.com or in-person from a Big Box store, when you go to put a new digital camera in your shopping cart you'll likely get some friendly "advice" on accessories that will make your new purchase complete. While most of the time we are skeptical of these suggestions and chalk them up to the store wanting to increase its bottom line, there really are some extra items we would recommend getting along with your new digital camera that will greatly enhance the experience of using the camera or the photos you take with it.

A Bigger Memory Card? Yes.

First and foremost, you definitely should buy a bigger memory card. This is one of the DeGeeked Crew's biggest gripes with digital camera makers; most cameras still come with a memory card that is capable of holding only a couple handfuls of pictures when the camera is set to its highest quality setting. These cards are usually 32 or 64 megabytes, and that is just way too small considering the files today's digital cameras pump out are at least three or four megabytes each.

The good news is that you can get a memory card that can hold hundreds of photos at your camera's highest quality setting for not a whole lot of money. Stick with a name brand, such as Kingston or Sandisk, that might cost a couple extra dollars, but will be more reliable and last you longer. We recommend going with at least a 2GB card, but a 4GB card wouldn't be overkill, especially if your camera is over 10 megapixels.

The type of memory card you need will depend on what camera you have. Check your owner's manual and/or look at the current memory card, which will usually have what type of card it is written prominently on it. The most popular types of cards, along with links them on Amazon, are:

• CompactFlash
• SD
• SDHC

An Extra Battery? Yes.

We know that they may seem expensive for such a small, mundane looking thing, but we recommend splurging on an extra battery for your new digital camera. Aside from the convenience of always having a fully charged battery at hand, there is the peace of mind of knowing that you won't miss that important shot due to a dead battery.

Just imagine, your grandchild is taking her first step or you find yourself only feet away from your favorite celebrity, and your one and only battery is dead. Trust us, it will happen.

Like memory cards, batteries come in different shapes and sizes. Again, check your owner's manual or your current battery to find out what kind of battery you need.  If all else fails you can browse Amazon.com by brand to find the camera battery you need.

A Tripod? Yes.

We've all had this experience: You see a photograph that is extremely crisp and you ask yourself, "How'd they do that?" Most likely, the photographer used a tripod. Even with the Image Stabilization features being built into many modern digital cameras, camera-shake can be a real problem. Tripods take this out of the equation and can greatly improve the image quality of your photos.

Here's another situation we bet you've found yourself in: The whole family is together and someone suggests taking a group photo. Great idea! What's the next step? Someone balances the camera precariously on whatever is at hand, and you wind up with a less than perfect family photo. If you had a tripod you could stage the photo wherever you like (not just where it's convenient) and you wouldn't have to risk playing a balancing act with your new digital camera.

Now, we don't recommend you get a huge tripod that is hard to lug around and a pain to set up; you'll just leave it at home and never use it. There are a number of options for very small and light, yet effective, tripods that will come in handy in the above situations and more. Here are a few we'd recommend checking out:

• Slik Compact-XL Compact Travel Tripod
• Vanguard VS41 Flexible MiniTripod
• Joby GorillaPod Flexible Tripod

Extended Warranty? No.

Unless you just bought a high-end professional DSLR (in which case, you probably don't need this article to tell you what photo accessories you need), save your money, and stay away from the extended warranty.

When you buy an extended warranty you are basically buying insurance for your camera. Insurance is meant to protect you from life-changing expenses, such as replacing a car or covering a hospital stay. Since you know that you can get quality digital cameras for under $200, we see no need to spend money protecting this purchase. Consumer advisors tell us that if the extended warranty costs more than 20% of the purchase price, stay away. We agree and would add that any product under $500 is not worth "insuring" with an extended warranty. Spend your money on a tripod, battery, or memory card instead.

Photo Editing Software? Maybe.

This is a tough one. Most photo editing software that is bundled with digital cameras is unusably bad. At the same time, unless you're going to be making money on your photos, there's no need to spend a bunch of money on Photoshop or a similarly high-powered piece of pro image editing software. Our advice would be to try out the software that came with your camera and see if it does what you need it to. If so, stick with that. If not, what you need depends on what you want to do with your photos.

We've already penned a couple articles that might help you find the right software, which we encourage you to explore:

• Do I need Photoshop to edit my digital photographs?
• What’s the difference between Adobe Photoshop and Elements?