Please consider buying your photo (or other) goodies through my B&H link!  It won't cost you any more money, and it helps me to continue adding to the site.  I've been buying from B&H for years, and have been very pleased with their service.  They have the most efficient and convenient return policy, along with the best prices.  Thanks for your support!   For UK and European Union buyers; B&H can automatically calculate the "to the door" delivered price of your item including VAT, customs and tariff charges etc.       You probably clicked on this page because you're trying to find the right Sony camera and related equipment to help you take better pictures, but may not really know what to choose.  Below is a list of items that I find particularly useful, and personally recommend, because I own most of them.  This isn't my personal wish list, it's stuff I use on a daily or weekly basis. I also find the products below offer a high degree of value---price vs performance, both for the novice, and photographers at the intermediate and pro levels.   This page will be updated often, as new gear is released, and older gear is discontinued. Check out the recommendations on flash and accessories gear on this page.

	SanDisk went and lowered the prices on its flash cards recently.  Video junkies and serious shooters might want to check out the 32gb card, it's $52.95 with free shipping.  I bought the same card last year for twice the price.  A very economical choice is the 16gb, $25.95, which records over 1000 RAW shots (941 est by camera) on my A580, (or over 2300 fine JPEGs).  If you're on a budget, or just want a cheap spare card, the 8gb card is only $15.95.  All cards ship free in the US. If you have an older Sony camera which uses Compact flash, go here.
	Check out this neat little Vivitar wireless shutter controller, now called 'Vello'.  It has a much longer range than Sony's wireless remote, and will activate the mirror lock-up on cameras that have that feature.  I bought this item for taking pictures of birds by our fountain, from the comfort of the living room.  Of course, there are many other uses as well.  Check out the review of this remote, and a more expensive one here.   The Vivitar brand is no longer available, but the Vello brand is the exact same thing.   $39.95
	Check out Sony's best flash value, the HVL-F43AM.  This flash has a whopping 22 power levels, along with a fast recharge rate, modeling and multi-flash emission, plus, the ability to act as a control flash for Sony's wireless system.  It does almost everything the more expensive HVL-F58AM does, but at a much lower price.  Works properly right out of the box with Radiopoppers™ flash triggers.    Accessory flashes are very important for adding 'pop' to your pictures, especially when you bounce the light off a wall or ceiling providing soft fill lighting, instead of hard, direct lighting coming from the built-in camera flash.   HVL-F43AM  $349  See my review here
	The Vivitar DF-293 is a very economical flash for off-camera or manual use because of the adjustable zoom and power levels.  Works well with Radiopoppers.  Zooming is not automatic, so you must remember to manually adjust the zoom feature when changing focal lengths.   Vivitar DF-293  $99    See my review here
	This Hoya HMC super UV is an excellent protective filter for expensive lenses.  This filter is pricey, but it seems to do a very good job at retaining image quality without much additional ghosting.  I bought two of these, one for use on the Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 G (77mm), and one for the Sony CZ 16-80mm (62mm), pictured.   77mm   62mm
	You might need a slim filter for the Sony CZ 16-35mm or 24-70mm as they vignette a little bit more with regular thick filters.  I bought a B+W slim because they're made of brass, and sometimes if you tighten down a filter too hard made of aluminum, you can't get it off, especially if the ring is only 3mm thick like this one, but that doesn't happen much with brass.  Slim filters are expensive, but sometimes necessary to avoid additional light fall-off if you shoot a lens at the widest zoom setting, and the largest aperture.   More info
	Everyone should have a polarizing filter, but don't buy these for use on a wide angle lens, as the effect won't cover the entire frame, and it'll look awful.  Use polarizers from 50mm and longer.  These polarizers aren't multi-coated, but I've never had problems in the field.  If you're shooting into the sun with a polarizer, you aren't using it properly.  Multi-coated polarizers are very expensive, and not worth it in my opinion.  Slim, thin, low profile (all mean the same) filters are thinner than regular filters, and will avoid extra light fall-off on certain lenses.   Hoya 77mm    Hoya 62mm    Tiffen slim 62mm    Tiffen slim 77mm
	This is a fun type filter, and produces some interesting color combinations.  You can make a high noon shot look like it was taken in the late afternoon (color-wise).   More info
	These Tiffen color grads are the most important filters you'll ever own, unfortunately, most people don't even know what they're for.    All filters mentioned are Graduated, or "gradual" ND filters, meaning they transition from dark to light from the top towards the middle.  You can use these for keeping the clouds from blowing out in you images, or turn them upside down for high key areas.  They turn just like a Polarizing filter.  I use the .6 or two stop ND filters because anything less and it really doesn't make a whole lot of difference, and any more and the skies start to look scary.   I really like Tiffen, but Hoya filters are about the same in quality.   77mm   62mm   55mm   49mm
	One thing you can do to help reduce the cost of filters for Sony lenses is buy only 77mm, and use a 62mm-77mm or 55mm-77mm step-up ring (or whatever size your threads are) for lenses that use smaller filters.  The downside to this is the original hoods won't fit, but with zoom lenses, hoods don't work very good anyways.  The step-up rings shouldn't cause any light fall-off because the filter is so much bigger than the lens' original filter size.
	I keep two neutral density filters in my bag; one is a Hoya HMC ND8 filter for slowing action, such as water in bright conditions.  A ND8 is 3 stops of light loss, which should be enough for most conditions, but if you're trying to blur the subject background by using a large aperture and trying to keep a slow shutter speed, you'll probably need to add a ND1.8 which is 6 stops, for a stacked total of around 9 stops, that would slow the shutter speed significantly.  Nine stops of light is the same as going from a shutter speed of 1/500 to 1 sec.    Note; if you're going to stack filters, meaning putting one on top of the other, you may need to get a slim type to avoid additional vignetting, and that filter would be put on last, as slim filters don't have filter threads on the front like regular filters do.
	If you want to check out Infra-red imaging, this would be a great filter.   Go here for use ideas and a general review.   Check prices for Hoya R72 filter;  49mm   55mm   62mm   77mm