Camera. What should I get to go with it?

[2LittleMonkeysJumpingOnMyHead]

I had a Sony A6000 compact system camera for my birthday. I have a case and the lense that comes with it but that's it.
Any suggestions for things I would find useful to go with it? Either for me to buy or for relatives who are asking for hints.
And is this the right board?

What kind of photography do you do? A tripod is always useful, either a mini one or a full size depending on what you want to use it for.

Some filters for the lens if they do such a thing can change the way a shot looks.

Lens filter - UV one is a good one to start with, and protects your lens too
Additional lenses
Good quality, higher memory, memory card
Good bag for it with room for extra lenses, etc
Tripod/monopod
Photo editing software
Flashgun
Cleaning kit

I mostly photograph the DCs at the mo but am interested in macro photography.
I'll take s look at some of those, thank you.

There's a bit of a craze for tilt shift photography (where the objects/people in the photos look like toys). Gimmicky, but if you like it, there might be some gizmo that lwts you do it with your camera. Can't help with suggestions sorry.

The tilt shift is fascinating, but not for me at the moment. My googling did lead me to some interesting sites where I've learnt some basics I've been lacking. It's so hard to learn what you need when you don't have time to read a whole book.

For macro I would go for a tripod, possibly a gorillapod or a tabletop tripod. Another idea is a macro ring for lighting when taking macro shots.

I have a gorilla pod. Would there be anything to gain in getting a small tripod too, or not?
Is there a different lense that's good for macro shots? I'm pretty clueless at the moment...

I have a macro specific lens for my dSLR and I notice a huge difference when using that compared to my usual lens which has macro ability (does that make sense? I have had about 4 hours sleep after a night shift and I am not sure I am particularly coherent at this point).

That's interesting. How do I work out what lenses I might want to get?

Just googled your camera and it looks like there's the option of a zoom lens to go with it (not sure how close that comes to 'macro' performance).
It's not a digital slr (think this type is a 'bridge' camera), so there won't be as many options as with the dslrs as the idea is that the camera does everything you'd want (to a degree) by itself.

Given that you photograph mostly your children, you might like to consider a specialised portrait lens. An example such as the Sony SEL35F18 (eMount) would provide several advantages over the standard A6000 lens for this type of photography:

• Increased sharpness. Because the lens doesn't zoom, it can be designed without compromise for the one magnification level it offers.

• Better "bokeh". For shots of people, many photographers like a combination of sharp foreground and blurred background - throwing attention on to the subject and giving the result a professional feel. The large maximum aperture of the SEL35F18 allows better bokeh than with the standard lens.

• Fast shutter speeds even in low light without loss of picture quality. Because again the lens has a large maximum aperture, you'll be better able to capture fast moving objects in dim light without resorting to flash (eg, children running around in a moderately lit room or outside at dusk). This is because a large aperture lets in more light so the shutter doesn't have to be open for as long.

How do I work out what lenses I might want to get?

Work out what sort of photos you want to take

Lens filter - UV one is a good one to start with, and protects your lens too

Ignore this, a UV filter was the biggest waste of money I spent (actually that's a lie, they're fairly cheap - but they're still a waste).

A UV filter does nothing to improve the image. Any benefit that might apply (and CCD/CMOS sensors usually have IR and UV filters anyway) is negated by having an extra piece of (usually cheap) glass to distort the image. Prime lenses get very very expensive in order to have fewer pieces of glass the light has to pass through and achieve the best image quality.

Protection: your lens has a protection system already, it's called the lens cap.

I used to keep a filter on my lens for "protection", then one time dropped my camera. The body was rock solid and practically undamaged, the lens was decent quality and survived; however, the filter shattered into millions of tiny little pieces of glass, most of them covering the front element of my lens. It cost me about £80 to send it away to get them all cleaned off properly without scratching the proper, useful bit of glass. An unnecessary filter just adds more risk, not protection.

Just googled your camera and it looks like there's the option of a zoom lens to go with it (not sure how close that comes to 'macro' performance).

Macro is a 1:1 reproduction of an image on the image-recording media, so a zoom is not, by itself, going to achieve the effect. A macro image requires a lens to be moved away from the medium far enough, in order that it can focus close enough. E.g. a 50mm lens with its focal point 50mm away from the sensor/film will be focussed at infinity. At 100mm away from the film/sensor, it will be focussed at a point 100mm away from its focal point, and an object 20mm tall will be 20mm on the film/sensor.

Would there be anything to gain in getting a small tripod too, or not?

Always useful for macro shots, but if you're getting close to something a gorilla pod is probably good enough to be getting on with. They are handy for posed portraits and landscape shots or anything with a slow shutter speed, but you need something light (so you can be bothered to carry it) yet stable enough. Fewer leg extension sections make the tripod more stable and stronger, yet more cumbersome; more sections makes it more compact but less stable.

When out and about, I used an aluminium Manfrotto tripod with a ball head (I found it much quicker to align than a three-way head) with a quick release system (much easier than trying to screw the camera in every time).

If you're going to use a tripod (or the gorilla pod), get a remote shutter release if your camera supports one. If you're trying to reduce camera shake, you might as well go the whole hog. In the absence of that option, use a shutter delay.

Mittens - thanks for that info, all so useful.
I have so much to learn but don't really know where to start.

I just read a load of stuff on the internet. The Deviant Art photography forums were very useful, and I read a lot of articles from photo.net/learn/ and luminous-landscape.com/category/tutorials/.