The kit you do not need yet

Somebody asks this on almost every first evening. They have a camera, they have the lens it came with, and they want to know what to buy next before they properly start.

The honest answer is nothing, for now. Not because kit does not matter — it does — but because you cannot tell what you are missing until you have hit the limit of what you have. Buy the answer before you have the question and you tend to buy the wrong thing.

What we would say is this. The lens that came with your camera is better than its reputation. It is slow in low light and it will not give you a creamy out-of-focus background wide open, but it is sharp enough to make photographs nobody would question. Most of what looks like a kit-lens problem is a light problem.

If you are going to spend, spend on the two things nobody puts on their wishlist. A tripod that does not wobble, and a spare battery. Both of them let you keep shooting in situations where you would otherwise pack up.

After that, wait until you notice yourself reaching for the same thing repeatedly and not having it. Shooting indoors constantly and fighting the light? That is a fast prime. Everything you photograph is a long way away? That is a telephoto. The frustration tells you what to buy, and it is a much better guide than a forum.

Bring what you own to your first session. Part of what a tutor does on the night is look at what is in your bag and tell you honestly what it can and cannot do.