Best Beginners Photography Equipment 2021
A question we get asked a lot is, what’s the best photography equipment for beginners in 2021? We have a lot of experience when it comes to buying cameras, tripods and accessories so here we’ve put together a list of recommended beginners photography equipment 2021. We only recommended products that we or our colleagues use so rest assured that this stuff will get you taking great photography and on a budget!
If you’re a beginner photographer looking to control the visual effects of photography you will need a camera that has manual settings and the ability to change lenses, a tripod, a camera bag and a good SD card. Below is a selection of good budget photography equipment to get you off to a good start in 2021.
To make life easy we have links to all the products that you will need to get you started. Simply click here.
Learn all you need to know about photography equipment and much more with our online courses.
Best photography cameras for beginners
Canon EOS 2000D (Rebel T7 in North America)
As a beginner in photography, you need to learn properly from the start. For this, you will need work in manual modes and have the ability to change lenses as and when needed. A good camera for this is a DSLR or mirrorless camera. To learn how to use your camera in fully manual modes click here.
This beginner’s DSLR comes with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 III Lens which has a range that will get you great landscapes and portraits. It is capable of creating high-quality photos and Full HD movies and offers partial and full manual photographic control. The 24 Megapixel APS-C sensor allows you to shoot in low light and allows you to get creative with the ability to use interchangeable lenses. You can also share your photos from your phone using the camera’s Wi-Fi¹ with the Camera Connect app.
Price range £420
Canon EOS 2000D DSLR Camera with EF-S 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 III Lens
Price range £$449
North America Model - Canon EOS Rebel T7 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 is II Kit
Nikon D3500
The D3500 blends build quality with outstanding performance and with this lens will get you great landscapes and portraits. It has a 24.2 Megapixel sensor which is capable of taking detailed photos and Full HD movies. Use Auto modes or take your images a step further with guide modes and fully manual mode. The lenses are also interchangeable for more creative or specialist photography. The SnapBridge app for iOS and Android enables an always-on connection between your camera and your smartphone/tablet so you can share your pictures instantly online.
Fujifilm X-T200
The Fujifilm X-T200 is a great beginner camera. It’s new Face/ Eye Detection AF makes focusing on individuals or groups of people quick and easy. It can achieve focus in dimly lit environments up to -2.0EV and get great image quality with low noise. X-T200 is equipped with a vari-angle 3.5-inch/ 16:9 Aspect Ratio widescreen LCD touchscreen that can be opened and closed between 0 to 180 degrees and rotated between -90 to +180 degrees. The Fujifilm X-T200 combines multiple videos with varied exposure settings to increase dynamic range and make movies with more detail. X-T200 generates 4K (3840×2150) video by recording 6K video with no crop (6032×3392). A gyroscopic sensor has been installed into the camera body, this helps it determine how to account for camera shake and apply its digital image stabilisation algorithm.
Our Choice
These are all great cameras which will help you learn the craft properly. However, my personal choice here would be the Canon as it is the cheapest and I find it easier to use. This is just a personal choice though and Nikon or Fuji people will probably tell you the opposite!
Lens Hood
You will definitely need a lens hood for your camera lenses. This will give more contrast in your images and help avoid lens flare. For more details on why you need a lens hood, click here.
Below are the two lens hoods you will need for the Canon and Nikon cameras mentioned above.
Canon EOS 2000D DSLR Camera with EF-S 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 III Lens and EOS Rebel T7 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 is II Kit
£16
Fujifilm X-T200 with the Fujifilm XC 35mm f2 Lens
£15
https://fujifilm-x.com/en-gb/products/accessories/lens-hood-lh-xf35-2/
Lenses
As you progress through photography you will want to get extra lenses. By far the best lens to get on a budget is the 50mm f1.8, the so called ‘nifty fifty’! Added to the cameras above, it will make a fantastic portrait lens that will compress the face and throw the background out of focus. To learn how to take stunning portraits, click here.
Best Tripod for beginners in 2021
Velbon EF61
You will need a good sturdy tripod to take the weight of your camera. Avoid using cheap flimsy tripods as these could cause your camera to move in the wind or make your set up top heavy. Our recommendation here is easy as in my experience, there is one budget tripod that stands out amongst them all. The Velbon EF-61. I have recommended this to many students over the years and bought them in bulk for many schools that I work with here in the UK.
Velbon EF61
Price Range £35
North America Model - Velbon EX-430/F
Camera bag
Camera bags are specifically designed to keep your camera equipment safe. A good camera bag will have padding to protect your equipment from getting damaged. Your camera bag should have removable inserts to customise your camera bag best to suit you.
Lowepro LP36863-0WW, SH 140
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00U3TQVGU
Price Range - £35
This Bag will carry a DSLR with attached kit lens (such as a Canon/Nikon with 18-135 mm); Extra lens (such as small lens) or flash; Spare memory card and small accessories
Lowepro SH 160
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00U3TQVEC
Price Range - £45
This bag is slightly bigger than the one above and will carry a DSLR with attached kit lens (such as a Canon/Nikon with 18-135 mm); Extra lens (such as 70-300 mm zoom) and flash; Spare memory card and small accessories.
Camera SD Card
You will also need a good SD card to capture the images onto. The difference between SD cards is vast and it breaks down to this; The poor-quality ones will be slow at transferring data and more liable to break or let you down when out shooting.
The other thing to consider is, it’s better to have 2 smaller capacity ones that one large capacity. The reason for this being you will always have one card spare and be able to spread your photography over two cards should one get lost or damaged.
Here is the card we recommend which will be great for photography and filming 4k video.
NB: These are paid links and TSOP will receive a small percentage of any purchases made.
To make life easy we have links to all the products that you will need to get you started. Simply click here.
Get instant access to all our high-quality online courses.
I hope you liked this blog, please leave us a comment and support us by sharing it with your friends and subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page for more.
We also have an excellent learning community on social media so please join us there as well.
Thanks for watching and remember – Learn more at The School of Photography.