Now that I've ordered the camera, what else do I need?

[JBellomy]

My FZ15 arrives on Tuesday. An extra battery and a 1 GB Kingmax card (maybe 2 512 MB instead) are the next purchases.

Is there anything else that would be a necessity?

Thanks for your help in advance.

[jcon]

I would direct you to the "sticky" posts at the top of this forum. They will be able to help you decide what you will need for your camera. It all depends on what tpye of shooting you will be using your camera for. I think the sticky threads will be of great use to you!

[indiawala]

Some of the basics should include, most of these can be found on ebay:

A proper cleaning kit meant to clean multi coated lenses $10.

A UV protector filter to safeguard that much more expensive camera lens $20.

A tripod $20

A proper carrying case, remember to go bigger than you think just in case you decide to go for more stuff later on $30

A fast writing SD card...the normal ones are useless if you are using burst mode..well not totally useless but you can't take advantage of the faster burst modes. I saw a post in here for a 1GB 60X card for under $90.

Hope this helps

seth

[jcon]

I would caution you to be very carefull about buying these products on eBay. I have heard of too many problems with sellers and the true quality of the merchandise. Most on this forum would agree one of the best places to purchase your camera needs would be B&H Photo and for the memory card NewEgg.com. I can personaly vouch for NewEgg as a GREAT reliable seller, I have bought from them 3 times and will again! Just my educated opinion :)

[indiawala]

I agree with Icon about ebay...although most of my item are off ebay. If you don't know how to navigate Ebay then I would not try to buy any of these items from them. But if you buy from a powerseller, or someone with a feedback of 100% and over 1000 sales then its about as good as buying in the real world. Or maybe i have just been lucky...lol...who knows.
seth

[genece]

A card reader
and I would differ on the tripod if you are thinking of one.
In my opinion if a tripod is called for, a good one is worth its weight in gold.

[Spapoops]

Hoodman makes a great product that serves several purposes..

1) Protect your LCD
2) Makes LCD backlighting less of an issue
3) Superior focusing

http://www.hoodmanusa.com/slr.asp

I've been using the HSLR-3 SLR Pro Shooter Kit (on my FZ20) and it's like watching HDTV. Beats the heck out of the EVF.

Bryan