i am the proud winner of a Canon EOS100d.

what things must i have, bag software accessories e.t.c

ash

Spare battery and memory card, also sturdy tripod and head is in my opinion very important

what about a bag/case?

External flash. Makes an amazing difference.

A decent tripod.
Spare battery.
Developing software (Lightroom/whatever) and always shoot raw.

What is the best software out there that’s cheap/free? I have downloaded the stock canon stuff.

What does shooting raw mean?

Flash unit and a tripod.

Memory cards

Spare battery

Lightroom and / or Photoshop Elements

A decent book or two on photography – Michael Freeman’s Perfect Exposure and his Photographers Eye are very good as is Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure

Decent cleaning kit

As for RAW – all digital cameras shoot ‘raw’ but lower end compact cameras and higher end cameras when told to do so convert this raw data from the sensor into a jpeg image (photoname.jpg is the file you will see on your computer) using the program the camera engineers have programmed in to it.

If you tell your camera just to save the raw data you can ‘develop’ it to your liking.

The way to look at it is the raw data contains the ingredients needed to ‘cook’ the final photo. Now, you can send that data off to the camera to cook the way it and its engineers have decided is best or you can do the cooking yourself and get the image a little more to your taste.

One thing to bear in mind when ‘shooting raw’ is that the little preview photo you see on the camera screen is still ‘cooked’ to the camera’s recipe and when you download the raw file to your computer and open it in say Lightroom it may look flat and lifeless. This is because you need to ‘cook’ or ‘develop’ the file – play with the contract, the exposure, saturation etc.

Its a whole new way of working but ultimately very rewarding.

Just to add a little the RAW explanation, a RAW file will typically contain a lot more data than a JPEG, which will also be compressed as well as ‘cooked’ (love the analogy). So when ‘cooking’ your own RAW files, not only will you be able to develop it the way you want, you will also have a far greater range of extension with things like exposure, contrast highlights, shadows etc. All of these things can be tweaked in Lightroom or an equivalent.

Don’t bother with a tripod. They are a right faff, and pretty pointless except for certain situations. I’ve got one and have only used it for nighttime attempts to capture lightening, and for static product photography at home.

Unless you are going out on specific photography trips, the bag is important. If you want to take photos on family days out, a bag that can function as a normal bag is useful, so it can take sandwiches, jumpers etc. Or, you can get a small case and pop that inside a bigger rucksack tha tmight work for you.

If it’s not convenient to take your camera you’ll leave it at home and it’ll be wasted.

But from your questions it sounds like the first thing you need is a good book. And then just go out and shoot. RAW etc is all useful, but not for a beginner really. Just learn how to find shots and get them into your camera first.

Good pictures do not depend on having a tripod or shooting RAW. They depend on composition and insight.

50mm prime lens (about £60 search for “nifty fifty) great for portraits

A decent speedlite and remote triggers (ice been quite happy with some very cheap Chinese ones) again, great for portraits and all manner of fun projects

a cheap sub to a photo mag if/when you see a deal. I got a year’s sub to Practical Photography for ~£18, and 6 (?) issues of digital SLR Photography for a quid. Both have lots of inspiration, tips etc. PP comes with a disc of extra every month, and recently came with a link to a free download of Photodirector 4 software.

But from your questions it sounds like the first thing you need is a good book

Agree with this, if you dont know what RAW is youre obviously a newbie (no offence, so am I). I got the Dummies Guide to the EOS550D (the camera I have) after reading loads of positive reviews, and it does a very good job of explaining what your camera does and how it does it.

If it’s not convenient to take your camera you’ll leave it at home and it’ll be wasted.

again +1. I dont take mine out as often as I should 😳 I should really get something that packs it into another bag.

People seem to obsess about “prime” lenses (ie. fixed length) and from what you read you’d think the “nifty fifty” 50mm lens had saved the world and ended famine (EDIT-not aimed at you Petrie, typed at same time, but kind of makes my point!), but find out what sort of photography interests you before you invest in new lenses, and also take the right lens for the job. I took my camera to Thailand recently with a 55-250mm on it (and left the kit lens at home) it was too big for 90% of what I wanted to use it for 😳 🙄

Don’t bother with a tripod. They are a right faff, and pretty pointless except for certain situations

This is perhaps the worst bit of photography advice I have ever read.

+1 CTM. You can take a great portrait with the kit lens if you know what you are doing. If you don’t, you’ll take crap portraits witha 50mm.

I can’t stress this enough. Primes are great IF you know what they do and can find good pictures to take with one.

You’ve just bought the equivalent of say a Specialized Pitch. Buying gear won’t make a trip down the towpath any different. If you learn how to plan an epic day ride and accquire the fitness to do it, then you have a use for good equippment.

This is perhaps the worst bit of photography advice I have ever read

And that’s the worst piece I’ve ever heard 🙂

Photography is a pretty broad art form. Some aspects of it really benefit from a tripod, many (most?) don’t.

Yes I am a complete novice. It comes with a standard lense, and to be honest it was mind boggling looking through the instruction manual.

I’ve taken a handful of photos trying to work things out. Still unsure as there are so many buttons.

many (most?) don’t.

Landscapes, portraits and wildlife to name but three benefit from a tripod, in fact most forms of photography do

Can you use filters handheld or in fact take anything that requires a a longer exposure.

Guess all those photographers who use tripods have just been wasting their time and nothing a bit of insight couldn’t have remedied

Won’t be binning mine on the strength of your advice, but guess it takes all sorts

My tripod was one of the best things I bought in terms of opening up creative possibilities as it is nigh on impossible to shoot anything below 1/30 sec even with image stabilisation on.

Landscape photography where high ISO is undesirable and you need to stop the lens right down to f11 or above and / or when you stick a nice big ND big stopper on a tripod is essential.

Even at faster shutter speeds if an object is inanimate shooting on a tripod with usually give a better picture

second the “nifty fifty” suggestion, best purchase you can make.

Landscapes – ok fine, if you want to go to the effort. Can still be done without but you may lose some sharpness. This may not matter though 🙂 Best landscapes I’ve seen were handheld, they were good because of where and when they were taken.

Portraits – if you are setting up in a studio setting, yes. I doubt the OP is going to do that though as a beginner.

Wildlife – if it’s staying still yes. If you were going to set up by a nest or bait then it’d be great. Again, I doubt the OP is going to do that (same as most people don’t).

You do need one for long exposures yes, as I said. But there are often alternatives such as walls etc. Generally the faff of a tripod is not worth it imo.

guess it takes all sorts

Yep, that’s my point. If you are setting out to capture landscapes as well as you can, or set up as a budding studio photographer then it’d be essential. But I think the vast majority of people aren’t going to do this, and even fewer beginners.

You should know where one is useful, and IF you find yourself needing one then go and get one. DON’T go and get one regardless, as there’s a 95% chance you’re wasting your money.

Don’t bother with a tripod. They are a right faff,

Hilarious^^
Get a small tripod ,they can be really useful. 🙂

I have found an infrared remote handy with my Canon.

I’ve got the 40mm STM pancake lens for mine. Makes the camera so small for and slr and is a great little all round lens. Takes a top portrait.

As well as a good, heavy tripod…pick up a cheap and nasty travel one which is light.

There’s been loads of times when carrying a proper tripod would have been impossible for me, but a little lightweight one allowed me to get a night time shot that would otherwise have been missed.

Daftusername: thread hijack – what’s your little one sleeping in there + like a sleeping bag type thing? Looks interesting.

Just a big blanket- It’s a totally set up shot! And they say the camera never lies!

Did you use a tripod? If not, it’s a rubbish pic.

if you are looking for a book, try ‘understanding exposure’ by bryan peterson.
a tripod is great, IF you have it with you.
the best piece of kit i have is my slingshot bag, because it makes it easy to carry/use my camera.
much more important than extra kit, is being able to use what you have . .

Sort of with molegrips. I’d say a tripod is pretty useless for portraits using available light. Even in the studio I like to move about a bit.

Wouldn’t be without one for landscape work though.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Complete-Photography-Course-Garrett/dp/0007279922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392856627&sr=8-1&keywords=learn+photography

Seriously.

+1 “Understanding exposure” ^ but that’s quite advanced. You need to learn the real fundamentals first. (Google’s a good place – there’s no need to even spend money). Spend a couple of years learning that before buying accessories

Cool cheers everyone although a bag is a must to protect it!

just read all of this, what a load of guff.

you dont need all that stuff and you really dont need software just yet, just get the camera and learn how to use it with the lens in came with.

Maybe buy a cheap neopreene sleeve for it off ebay (about £3) or if you really want to spend some money get one of the lowepro toploaders, but other than that just go out and learn how to use the camera 1st.

you really don’t need another lens or tripod just yet, Jees!!

EDIT:

+1000

if you are looking for a book, try ‘understanding exposure’ by bryan peterson.

As has been mentioned, now isn’t the time for more kit. Just get using your camera. All the settings can be quite daunting at first but they do become clearer and make sense eventually, you just have to jump in and make mistakes.

+1 on ‘Understanding Exposure’

Once you get past the initial misgivings about his internet persona, I find all the tutorials and advice of Jared Polin, AKA ‘Fro Knows Photo’ quite useful. He publishes lots of free little snippet videos and also does lengthier, in-depth guides for a fee.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHjJIxGU4PQ#t=329[/video]

How to get out of Auto, Fro Knows Photo

Buy nothing…
Read the manual twice ,play with camera,read manual again

Unless your shooting waterfalls
Keep your tripod,just bump up iso to keep shutter speed up

Camera bag ..pah it should never be away ….you woent take many pics that way ….

Hold on ..edit buy a nikon lens cap and keep hood n

Next ..lol

Photography is an arena where kit mistakes are expensive. If you don’t know what you need, you probably don’t need it yet.

The Lowepro bag is good – it’s what I have – but if I were buying again I’d go for some sort of satchel affair that I could just sling the camera into rather than having to play Tetris every time I wanted to stash it.

In all seriousness, I found the “For Dummies” guide to be really good for getting the basics down. Once you get your head round how ISO / aperture / shutter speed all interact, everything else should start making sense.

Best advice I can give though is, on the top right of your camera is a big round button that goes “click.” Take your camera out, and keep pressing it.

Perhaps the best thing I got for my camera was a course!

I had been using it for 10 months and didn’t seem to be getting the most out of it. I could use the pre-sets but couldn’t shoot in full manual mode. I would regularly take pictures and not know why they didn’t come out correctly or I was trying to stretch the limits of the pre-sets and didn’t know how to work around them. I did a one-day “introduction to DSLR” course for £60 that I found on Groupon and whilst it didn’t make me an expert it allowed me to have more control over my photography. I really enjoyed it as well. I then did a follow up on landscapes.

A simple website that helped as well is the classroom section of http://www.morguefile.com/