Nikon D5100... Any basic accessories needed?

[MystrE]

I've got a Nikon D5100 with both 18-55VR and 55-300VR lenses being delivered and I'm deciding if I need any accessories to maintain the camera and lenses.
I am thinking a rocket blower for cleaning dust from the front lens element and sensor may be a nice to have. I am on the fence concerning adding any filters, like a Nikon NC filter to the front of these lenses; I'm wondering if lens hoods provided with the lens would be adequate to help protect the front element from accidental scratches.
I already have a spare battery since I previously had a Nikon P7800. Is there anything I'm overlooking?

 

[Designer]

I don't use any filters on the front of my lenses. If you wish to obtain something useful, get a very high quality circular polarizer. This is not for leaving on all the time, but just when you need it.

The lens hood should be adequate protection for the occasional bump, but mine fits far too loosely, so I don't keep it on. I protect the lens with the lens cap.

 

[Warhorse]

I use UV filters to protect the lens.

 

[robbins.photo]

I've got a Nikon D5100 with both 18-55VR and 55-300VR lenses being delivered and I'm deciding if I need any accessories to maintain the camera and lenses.
I am thinking a rocket blower for cleaning dust from the front lens element and sensor may be a nice to have. I am on the fence concerning adding any filters, like a Nikon NC filter to the front of these lenses; I'm wondering if lens hoods provided with the lens would be adequate to help protect the front element from accidental scratches.
I already have a spare battery since I previously had a Nikon P7800. Is there anything I'm overlooking?

Well if you do what I did and shutoff image preview in the menus then two batteries will most likely be more than enough for you, I can generally get through an entire day at the zoo taking pictures and still have plenty of juice left using just one battery so I doubt you'll need much more there. The filters on the lens thing is a hot topic of debate, some folks use them, some don't. As for me, I use them - but not to "protect" the lens from damage per see.

On my own D5100 I can't see any difference in image quality between having the UV filter on and not having it on - and winter here in Nebraska is rather cold. As a result when I do go to the zoo I often spend time in the Lied Jungle, and when I walk in to that hot, humid environment from outside I get a ton of condensation on the lens filter not matter what I do - even if I leave the camera in the bag for 20 minutes or so, the temprature and humidity change is pretty significant. So when I do go to clean it off I'm cleaning the filter rather thant the lens. Now granted cleaning the lens wouldn't "damage" it persee but I figure if I'm going to be leaving cleaning marks I'd rather do that to a filter.

I think someone else hit the nail on the head earlier in another posting, it's really more about protecting the resale value of the lens than it is about protecting the lens itself. As far as any other accessories I think your best bet is going to be to get the camera in hand, work with it for a while and determine what else you think you might need from there. Sounds like you've already gotten the basics pretty well covered.

 

[Derrel]

Lens glass is much tougher than most people think...

 

[MystrE]

Cleaning lenses is something that doesn't scare me at all. I've got decent money invested in telescope eyepieces and I keep those lenses clean so I figure cleaning camera lenses shouldn't be too difficult. Now, if I accidentally scratched a front lens element, that would royally tick me off! Maybe I'll use the lens hoods until they break which would give me time to determine if filters would be beneficial. If I did use filters, I would lean towards the Nikon NC filters rather than a UV filter. No reason, just what strikes my fancy at this time.
Any opinions on a Giotto Rocket Blower?

 

[robbins.photo]

Cleaning lenses is something that doesn't scare me at all. I've got decent money invested in telescope eyepieces and I keep those lenses clean so I figure cleaning camera lenses shouldn't be too difficult. Now, if I accidentally scratched a front lens element, that would royally tick me off! Maybe I'll use the lens hoods until they break which would give me time to determine if filters would be beneficial. If I did use filters, I would lean towards the Nikon NC filters rather than a UV filter. No reason, just what strikes my fancy at this time.
Any opinions on a Giotto Rocket Blower?

Well to be honest cleaning lenses doesn't scare me either, the amount of craziness you'd have to put a lens through before you would actually effect the image quality is rather insane so that's never been a concern. I just notice that the lenses that are sold used on Ebay go for a much better price if the ad can honestly say, "Glass is perfect, lens has had a UV filter on it since I bought it" as opposed to the adds that say "Some cleaning marks but nothing that affects image quality".

At the moment of course I have not intention of selling off any of my glass, just nice to know that in the future if I do I'll probably be able to get a little extra out of it by going this route. Like I said, opinions on this one vary, a ton.

 

[Derrel]

Giotto's Rocket Blower is fine. Nikon's clear NC filters are well-made, and you're right, UV filters are not needed with digital slrs. You're probably the 50th person to ask this same question in my five years here on TPF. If you want to buy the Nikon NC filters, if it will make you feel safer, by all means, spend the money and get the peace of mind. But, please, take a look at the SEVEN consecutive hammer blows to the front of a cheap Canon 50mm lens and the lack of damage...after the pen strikes and so on.

 

[Warhorse]

Does it hurt, or is it detrimental to an image, to shoot with a UV filter on the lens of a digital camera?

 

[robbins.photo]

Does it hurt, or is it detrimental to an image, to shoot with a UV filter on the lens of a digital camera?

Another "depends on who you ask" type questions that is subject to endless debates. From the testing I did with my own D5100 - I couldn't tell a difference in the test shots I did, however some people will say it does make a difference and some will say it makes a difference under certain conditions, etc. Perhaps it might be noticeable on a higher MP camera with better IQ than mine, that I can't really speak too - but from a dozen or so test shots that I did, I couldn't find any significant difference between the shots with UV and the shots without.

YMMV of course.

 

[Derrel]

Does it hurt, or is it detrimental to an image, to shoot with a UV filter on the lens of a digital camera?

At times, the FLAT front and FLAT rear surface of a filter can cause bright flares in the picture. This shows up mostly when shooting toward point sources of light; birthday candles, street lamps, Christmas lights, car headlights, stadium lights, and so on. Whenever shooting right toward light sources is the time that a UV or NC filter is most-likely to cause a very obvious visible degradation of the image quality. It can also happen at the beach, or while skiing, or wherever there is a bright light source, and the camera is aimed in the direction of the bright light source.

 

[MystrE]

I picked up a Lowepro Adventura 170 shoulder bag but have held off on getting filters for the moment. I still need to get a rocket blower which should take care of most everything I need for the time being. We also purchased Adobe Elements 12 yesterday and I'll load that onto my IMac to see if I like that program over IPhoto. My wife wants to load Photoshop Elements onto her windows pc so she can get a little experience using that program... one way or another, the program will be used.

 

[sashbar]

You will need a remote. You can buy a genuine Nikon one, but a generic Chinese ML-L3 from ebay works and looks the same.

 

[sonicbuffalo]

SO I bought the Manfrotto MB MP-BP-50BB Pro Backpack 50 from Amazon, and it really gives you a ton of space to store your lenses and accessories. I really like it but suggest you get a smaller bag for carrying
less for short field trips. I got a really good deal though that coukldn't be beat.

 

[JoeW]

I've got a Nikon D5100 with both 18-55VR and 55-300VR lenses being delivered and I'm deciding if I need any accessories to maintain the camera and lenses.
I am thinking a rocket blower for cleaning dust from the front lens element and sensor may be a nice to have. I am on the fence concerning adding any filters, like a Nikon NC filter to the front of these lenses; I'm wondering if lens hoods provided with the lens would be adequate to help protect the front element from accidental scratches.
I already have a spare battery since I previously had a Nikon P7800. Is there anything I'm overlooking?

Depends upon what you are likely to be shooting...for instance, if your'e going to shoot a lot of extended exposure shots outdoors than a GNDF is a good thing to have. Agree with the circular polarizer. Here are a couple of other ideas:

1. A good tripod. As a rule of thumb, anything under $150 is probably a waste of your money. It's better to have no tripod than a cheap tripod that isn't really stable but you think is helping somewhat.
2. Extra SD cards.
3. A book about your camera not published by Nikon. No offense to the manual but my advice to new camera owners is to read your manual twice and then go buy a book about your camera body by someone OTHER than the company that made it...you'll get new insights, recommendations, tips.
4. Rain gear. That could mean anything from a rain sleeve to a waterproof backpack to a large ziplock bag. You may not plan on shooting much outside but with a 300MM zoom, you could get some lovely youth soccer or bird photos assuming you have some good light to shoot in.
5. Speedlight with cheap portable soft box and stand. Since D5100 doesn't have commander mode, you will need a way to trigger an off-camera flash. You can get something like a Yongnuo 460-II with wireless triggers for less than $80.
6. D5100 with it's articulated view screen can be particularly good for macro nature photography so think about a macro lens.
7. Get a reflector. Your two lens aren't especially fast and for shooting indoors, a portable reflector (or a 5-in-1 so you also have a scrim with you) is your best friend until you get good portable lighting options.