Memory

Most of the memory cards included with your new camera are throwaways. They're simply too small in capacity to serve any useful purpose. These small cards fill up much too quickly. One of your first needs for that new camera will be a memory card with more capacity.

Larger memory cards allow you to store more images at higher quality settings. But don't run out and buy the most expensive card with the most memory. The larger cards on the market are typically priced high on their release so that R&D costs can be recouped. The people who really need them can afford to pay the premium price they fetch. After those sales, prices typically begin to free-fall. A good way to watch the memory market is this: If the largest card on the market is an 8 gigabyte card, look for the 4 gigabyte cards to be reasonably priced. Even better though, you'll find great prices on 2 gigabyte cards and amazing prices on 1 gigabyte cards.

There are competing thoughts on large vs. small memory cards. Should you have one large capacity card or a few smaller cards? There are advantages to both choices.

One Large Card (for example, one 8 gigabyte card)
Pros: Greater photo capacity in camera. You can shoot for longer periods and you're less likely to miss moments switching to a fresh card.
Cons: You're putting all your eggs in one basket. If your single card is damaged, you'll lose more images than if you had them spread onto a few different cards.

Multiple Smaller Cards (for example, four 2 megabyte cards)
Pros: Less expensive. And more secure. If one of your cards gets corrupted, photos on your other cards won't be affected.
Cons: You'll be switching cards more often as each one fills up. And cards can be easy to lose. As new types of memory cards appear they are often smaller and smaller physically, making them much easier to misplace.

Today's memory cards are very durable. Stories abound of compact flash and SD cards going through the laundry and still working without a hitch. Since they contain no moving parts there is very little that can go wrong. Provided that you remember not to remove a card from your camera when it's being written to, your images should be safe. To remind you of this danger most cameras have a light that illuminates when the camera is writing to the card.

Batteries

You can never have too many spare batteries. If you run out of power there's no more photography. A spare battery is one of the most important accessories you can carry. Every camera bag should have one, kept charged and ready to go. The same rule applies for every piece of equipment that uses batteries. If you're carrying a flash that uses 4 AA batteries, keep at least one replacement set of AA's in your bag. Don't learn this lesson the hard way.

Cleaning Supplies

There are a variety of camera and lens cleaning kits on the market. Of most use is a good dust brush and a pack of lens cleaning tissues. If you decide to clean your camera's digital sensor, make sure you follow the manufacturer's recommendations. At first glance these always seem to be written by the most overprotective parent imaginable. But that caution is for your sensor's own good. Damage or scratch your sensor and your camera is due for for some expensive repairs.