I have decided that I am going to be purchasing the Nikon d40x. I have been doing a lot of research and this is what most of the people I have found said I need to start off with.

Lens hood, polarizing filter, neutral density filter, Singh-ray vari-no/soft ray diffuser, graduated filter, cable release, tripod, camera bag, skylight 1a protective lens, screen protector for lcd screen.

Here are my questions.

I know the camera will be a little under $1000, and at the most I will have maybe $1500. Could you help me put these things in order of importance.



As far is the different filters, are there certain ones I need for my specific camera, and there are so many different kinds can you tell me which exact lens to get.

I know I need to buy a tripod without a center column and a ball head, but I am not sure what to get, especially the ball head.

Lastly, what is the best to place to buy all of these items?

Any input will be greatly appreciated.



Thanks in advance,



Jason

You get a lenshood with the lens that comes with a new camera normally.

As for the rest, I think it's all unnecessary. Who are all these people recommending all these things, and why don't you just ask them to justify their suggestions?

Singh-ray diffuser? I had google for what those are. Some extra-fuzzy filter or summat.

Cable release? Do you need a remote, and are you going to need bulb mode for really long exposures?

Ball head tripod without a centre column? Are you going to be taking extra long exposures, or using this to hold some mad scientist's death ray extra stable?

Other than a bag and maybe a cheap tripod, most of that is just fluff. Pup and I differ on whether a UV or clear filter is worth having to protect the front element of a lens. He says "nay" while I say "yea" on that one. In my defence, I do have a 9 month-old who seems to instinctively want to reach for the lens of any camera pointed in her general direction, and it's a lot easier to clean drooly finger marks off a filter than a lens.

You didn't happen to get that list from a camera shop, did you?

OK, so maybe that's a little unfair. Tripods definitely have their uses, but unless you have some requirements that are really out there, spending more than about $30 on one is probably a waste of money. I bought a pretty sturdy Sunpak to use for big (and small) family photos and because I want to try to take a time-lapse sequence of my daughter as she squirms around in her cot while she sleeps.

Similarly, a remote has its uses. I like Nikon's itty bitty ML-L3 infrared remote:

http://www.nikonusa.com/template.ph...30&cat=1&grp=56

It's not fancy (you push the button and the shutter fires), but it does the job for taking family shots with the camera on said tripod. It's also cheap as chips ($15 or so) and it's tiny (smaller than my thumb).

You probably don't need a cable shutter release unless you're going to get into really long-exposure photography, with the camera set in bulb mode.

As to where to buy from, I reckon you couldn't go far wrong with B&H. I recently bought a D80 plus a pile of stuff from them, and couldn't have been happy about the way they handled my order.

Don't just take my word for it, though - check out their writeups and score on Reseller Ratings:

http://www.resellerratings.com/stor...Video_Pro_Audio

Up until recently I would also have suggested Amazon.com, but given they tried to screw me over on part of my last order and the subsequent refund (it's a long story), they're pretty much dead to me unless I have no other reasonable option.

Oh, and finally, it's worth stating that the going rate for a D40X is significantly less than $1000. B&H is asking $700 for one iwth the 18-55mm kit lens. Even with a pile of junk in your shopping bag, you should easily be able to keep the total down to less than a grand shipped.