What other equipment do I need with a K-x purchase?

[asimrazakhan]

<p>I'm a film shooter. But for my wife, on her second Mother's Day, I bought her a Pentax K-x with the 18-55 package. Now I don't know much about digital (film for me is a 'dead cold hands' kind of thing). </p>

<p>So now I'm wondering what else will she be needing with the K-x purchase? We have a laptop, a few SD cards, and she can always use my FA 20-35mm, 31mm, 43mm, 77mm.</p>

<p>Will she be needing any software, hardware, or anything else? Our next purchase will most probably be a camera bag.</p>

[michael_kuhne]

<p>Maybe a battery charger for use with rechargeable AAs. I have been considering getting a better one that indicates charging for each individual battery. I have read not to get a fast-charge type, as it will burn out batteries quicker.<br>

The other stuff will be to fill specific needs as they develop.</p>

[jeremy_corbin]

<p>I believe if she's shooting for fun and won't be spending a lot of time in editing (if anything at all) than software should be fairly minimal. Most Operating Systems come with a program that opens JPEGs out of the box... If basic cropping and resizing is needed, I'd suggest <a href="http://www.gimp.org/">GIMP</a>. It's free, and is quite powerful, but relatively simple to use. There are a ton of programs that serve the same function as GIMP but with a different feel to them. Some of my friends like <a href="http://picasa.google.com/">Picasa</a>, while others loathe it.</p>

<p>Other than that, it sounds like a camera bag would complete your basic-starter list. One could always go nuts buying this or that, like a tripod and a remote, but for starters, I think you already have what she needs.</p>

[jean_yves_mead]

A good flash wouldn't go amiss.

[john_shriver]

Sanyo Enelooop batteries and charger. Get the charger with four AA's, and then another four AA's. Only way to keep one's sanity with respect to the batteries, especially if she's an infrequent user. Ordinary NiCd or NiMh batteries will self-discharge within weeks while the camera is sitting on the shelf, leading to great disappointment when she grabs the camera for a shot. The Eneloop batteries will not be dead in that situation.

 

Also, either the USB cable for the Camera, or a USB SD card reader.

[jpo3136b]

<p>Tripod, lightstand, umbrella kit, cactus trigger, and some kind of backup power supply. <br>

You know we're going to recommend 25 years of technique books and plenty of field time.</p>

[MattB.Net]

<p>I'll second the batteries and a charger. I got a Lacrosse charger that has been working very well and it does charge (and indicate) each battery individually.<br>

But it sounds like you have the basics. Send her out shooting and see what she wishes she also had.</p>

[zane1664879013]

<p>I'd get a PTTL flash with a bounce & swivel head.</p>

[JAPster]

<p>here's my suggestions...<br>

- Ni-Mh battery charger & 4 Ni-Mh rechargeable batts, the correct size.</p>

<p>- SD Picture Card Reader - plug your SD card into that, then plug that into the computer. (Saves you from having to connect the camera directly to the computer when transferring pictures).</p>

<p>- IrfanView - free image editing program you can download from the web. Just do a Google on IrfanView and select a download site. Download it and install it in minutes. Then download and install the "Plugins" module so you can access the EXIF data captured by the camera on every shot. (The EXIF data is a whole bunch of parameters captured by the digital camera each time you take a picture. ) IrfanView is a multi-format file viewer, so it will load, view, manipulate, print, and do basic image edits on a very wide variety of picture file formats.</p>

<p>- CD & DVD burning software - for making backup discs of all those nifty picture files. Its a good idea to make backup disks before the computer decides to go belly up on you.</p>

<p>- Photo Printer - for making wonderful color prints of the picture files you especially like.</p>

<p>- Tripod</p>

<p>- Lens hood - for her main lens - for outdoor shooting.</p>

<p>- Extra picture cards - to have on hand when you are shooting in case you run out of space.</p>

<p>- CD & DVD disks (blanks) - for making backups and sharing your pics with others. I like Sony brand DVD-R type disks, but TDK is also a good brand.</p>

<p>- Small portable external USB Hard-drive - Like a Western Digital Passport drive 150GB. - This plugs into the USB port on the laptop, and can go wherever the laptop goes. You can copy a 2nd Set of all the picture files to this external drive, which then serves as an online backup set of pictures. OR, you can use this as your main storage unit for the main copy of all your picture files. (Either way, its a good idea to have more than one copy of your picture files). This drive can also be used to transfer pics from the laptop to another computer.</p>

<p>- Ink packs for the photo printer.</p>

<p>- Nice glossy or matte paper for the photo printer.</p>

<p>- Roxio Easy Media Creator - this software contans both CD and DVD creating software, as well as a Photo Printing Utility that makes it very easy to print pictures to pre-formatted sizes according to the template you select. This ability makes it easy to print any image to virtually any standard photo size, and at the same time, get as many prints as possible from a single sheet of glossy photo paper.</p>

<p>- Camera control software for the laptop - Not sure if Pentax offers this software for that model, but the software I'm thinking of would allow the user to connect the camera to computer, take the picture with the camera, and have the file transferred immediately to the computer for viewing and printing. You'll probably have to check the Pentax website to see if such a program exists for that model camera.</p>

<p>- Raw file editor & convertor - If this model camera will take a picture in RAW format, and you choose to go that way, you need software capable of opening the raw picture, making some adjustments, and then saving it to something like a TIFF. You can then use other programs to open up the TIFF for viewing, edits, crops, etc. The camera most likely came with a software CD. If a raw file editor was included, it will be on that CD. You can install the raw file editor and then play around with taking pics in raw format and using the raw editor to manipulate them. Check the camera's owner's manual to see if it supports taking pictures in a RAW format.</p>

<p>- Internet connection - for transferring resized copies of your favorite pics to web-based picture hosting sites. You can use IrfanView to easily resize a full-size digital picture to a smaller dimension size more suitable for the web. Or for attachment to emails sent to family and friends.</p>

<p>- At least one or two good book on Digital Phography. There are a LOT of books out there on digital photography. The "Missing Manual" series of books put out by O'Reilly are pretty good, in my opinion. Here is a link to the one for digital photography...</p>

<p><a href="http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596154042">http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596154042</a></p>

<p>Another good book is Tom Ang's Digital Photography Handbook...<br>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photographers-Handbook-Tom-Ang/dp/0789489074">http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photographers-Handbook-Tom-Ang/dp/0789489074</a></p>

<p>BTW, the "Real World" series of technical books are also very helpful and informative..<br>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Digital-Photography-2nd/dp/0321223721">http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Digital-Photography-2nd/dp/0321223721</a></p>

<p>These books, which used together, would give you a broad-spectrum coverage of many topics related to digital photography.</p>

<p>Of course, there is much overlap between digital photography and film based. So a lot of good information found in non-digital books can still be used in digital photography.</p>

<p>These are 'nice to have' type things that will help the digital shooter do more with their shooting. I think you will find them helpful...</p>

<p>AP</p>

[steve_t.1]

<p>I'm fond of my Manfrotto tripod and monopod. And my new Lowepro Slingshot 202 AW sling bag, this is the mid-size bag, comes in one smaller and one larger size, too. The smaller one (same size as the Pentax accessory sling bag) will hold that camera with lens mounted plus a couple extra lenses. I bought the 202 because I keep the battery grip on my K20D, needed that extra space for the body/grip/lens. I poo-pooed the sling bags until I tried one, and now I'm hooked, so much easier than a back-pack style. The Lowepro sling bags are great, and the small/medium sizes are under $100. Best for her to haul her gear to a camera shop and load up the bag she would want to buy and walk around the store wearing the loaded bag. Bring along her cold-weather outer wear, too (jackets, etc) to make sure the bag fits with bulky clothing.</p>

<p>2-3 sets of Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries and a slow charging charger that charges individual cells. Fast chargers kill batteries- too much heat in rapid charge. Get this charger from Duracell, $21. About a one-hour charge, comes with a car charger adapter, charges cells individually (4 AA or AAA, or a mix of each size). http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=184284&catid=140305 This is where I bought mine from and it works perfectly. I leave the cover off when charging to keep the batteries as cool as possible.</p>

<p>Scott Kelby's 3 volume set of books, "The Digital Photography Book- I, II, and III".<br /> Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure".<br /> Freeman Paterson's "Photography and the Art of Seeing".<br /> Michael Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye, Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos".<br /> Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Close-up Photography, Creative Close Encounters With or Without a Macro Lens". Fun stuff in the world around you less than 3 feet away!</p>

[dan_tripp]

<p>The Digital Photography books by Scott Kelby are great. They require NO experience what so ever. They are not technical books that go into the physics of how things work, but more of cook book for how to get great shots. http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Photography-Book-Scott-Kelby/dp/032147404X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273636326&sr=8-1</p>

 

[sjgcit]

<p>Well you could start with a pair of nice warm mittens for those cold dead hands. :-)<br>

Nothing else, just remember that your flashes ( assuming you have film flashes ) stand a good chance of frying the K-x, because digital flash systems use a low trigger voltage ( whereas film flashes can quite cheerfully kick out 400v without pausing for breath ).</p>

 

[asimrazakhan]

<p>thank you for such great responses. i've learned a lot from all the responses even though everything is intended for my wife. i think i'll get the rechargeable batteries and the usb/sd reader thingy now and see what else she'll need as she uses the camera.</p>

<p>we just received the camera yesterday and when i saw the thickness of the instruction manual i thought it must be in 12 languages. but nope, it was all english!!! so definately no mittens for me... i like the simplicity of... choose your film, choose your aperture, choose your shutter speed.... shoot. </p>

<p>but here's the catch for me. my wife is also overwhelmed by the instruction manual. so she's asked me to go through it and explain it to her. she doesn't have time with a 1 year old latched on to her all the time. :)</p>

<p>thanks again for all your help</p>

[michael_kuhne]

<p>Asim, tell her just to put the camera on "P" program mode and have fun shooting for now. The camera will have to be set up, according to the instructions, setting time, date, etc. etc. The SD card will have to be installed into the camera, and formatted to use it. Just get to know some basics as to using the camera. One step at a time, rather than trying to understand the entire manual at once. It essentailly works much like a modern film SLR camera, but with much more possible control adjustments. We are always here for any specific questions.</p>

<p>As to downloading the photos, the card reader makes that much more convenient. When you plug it in, an icon should appear at the bottom of your screen indicating its presence. When you are all finished, you double click the icon to bring up a disconnect screen before you can safely unplug the device. My system has me click "stop" on this screen, then I can disconnect. Same is true if downloading directly from the camera.</p>

<p>The supplied Pentax software also makes downloading much easier. After plugging in the card reader, I create a new folder into which I will put the photos, and I name it. Then I bring up the Pentax browser screen. At the top is an icon for quick download. Upon following the "next" prompts, a screen will appear allowing me to choose where the photos will be downloaded, and I select the new folder. That is all, and in no time I have my photos available to view and to manage. </p>

<p>For re-using the same SD card, to erase all images, just again format the card, using the camera's setup menu. </p>

[t._masp]

<p>Don't forget to get a microfiber cloth and a blower. Have fun!</p>