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So I am somewhat of a beginner photographer and this will be my very first DSLR purchase. I have taken photography classes in which I've used really older models of DSLR but that was about 10 years ago, before my camera got stolen (first one was given to me). So I feel like I am starting from square one since it has been so long. I like event, landscape, abstract, and candid photography. I am also interested in mics because I plan to start learning videography and dabbling in that a bit.

I plan to purchase the canon 80D. What I am struggling with is the accessories that come with the bundle. My most important questions would be:

  • Am I getting the best bang for my buck?
  • Will this last me a relatively long time or will it break in like a year?
  • Am I completely off and just worried about the wrong things for the kind of photography I will be doing?

Lastly, I plan to get the 50mm/f1.8 lens separately ($125).

This kit is the most expensive but includes a Rode VideoMic. I am not sure if it's worth it since it looks to be for professionals and I am a beginner. Should I just get a lower cost mic and play around with that first? Or should I see this as an investment that would be worth it?

This kit is $150 cheaper but it does not come with much of the other accessories, and has a Kodak MIC-711 Shotgun Microphone. I can buy a pretty cheap cleaning kit but I'm more concerned over it not having the wide angle and telephoto lens. Or the 67mm 3pc filter kit. Will these be important later on?

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    \$\begingroup\$ What you really need (in my opinion of non-videographer): camera, lens, mic, memory card, bag. What you might want to have: cleaning kit, sturdy tripod, regular lens protection (not a UV one). What you absolutely don't want to buy: low-quality stuff, which you don't even know if you will use them someday... or that will fail on the first use (such as no-name batteries, no-name flash, no-name memory cards). You can't even find the "beach camera" item being sold by itself. In this regard, the second kit seems to be the best one. \$\endgroup\$
    – Olivier
    Jan 30, 2017 at 18:32

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I think the quality of most of the stuff you are getting in that first kit is dubious. You don't need the UV or FLD filters. The polarising filter is probably a very cheap one. The tabletop tripod and flash look like junk.

The wide angle and telephoto "lenses" are not lenses. They are screw-on adapters. They won't give you good quality shots. See more here: Is it worth buying cheap lens attachments for my camera?

If the add-on cost compared to just body and lens is not much, I guess you can go for it, but the rest of that kit is very low quality. A quick look on Amazon shows me $1649 for the body, lens and all the extras that (your link), and $1248 for the body and lens alone. The mic might be worth $100. $300 extra for a lot of low quality stuff, most of which you don't need, in my opinion.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ The mic is, I think $60. The extra battery, assuming it is a real one and not a knock-off, is probably around $70. Probably about $8 for the lens pen, and another $8 for the rocket blower. You'll probably spend $10 on a flash card wallet, $15-20 on the flash card reader (if you don't already have one), and $40 for the included flash cards. So that's maybe $216 worth of useful stuff. The lens filters you'd get in a kit like this are probably awful. The included flash is apparently only $11, which means it is probably awful, too. Save the $200 and buy what you need. \$\endgroup\$
    – dgatwood
    Feb 5, 2017 at 5:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ @dgatwood You can pretty much bet the battery is a cheap knock off. \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael C
    Apr 1, 2017 at 16:46
  • \$\begingroup\$ In which case it is worth approximately $0, because it will stop working after 1–8 weeks when the battery's microcontroller crashes and can't be restarted. Adjust the numbers as needed. :-) \$\endgroup\$
    – dgatwood
    Apr 1, 2017 at 17:22

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