Essential add-ons?

[Luke]

I've got an S9500 which (now that it has been replaced) is a decent bit of kit - granted, not as good as a DSLR, but good enough for me.

I've now got a little money (£300) to buy some bits and bobs. I know that for the money I paid for the S9500 the extra £300 would have easily taken me into DSLR territory, but the money wasn't around at the time.

I'm currently using a very cheap <£10 tripod, and Jessops UV filter. I've also got a cheap shutter release cable.

I'm looking to use this camera as much as possible to get as good as I can, so wonder what are the essential bits that people reckon would compliment the camera.
I've already got some books on order to help me get up to speed on the theory, but what else could I look at?
Tripod?
Flash?
Filters?
etc etc...

Cheers all.

 

[Luke]

The Fuji does have a hotshoe and I've heard good things about Sunpak flashes as being a comprimise between price and quality. Any suggestions?

I've got a tripod, but it is a very lightweight one and pretty flimsy. Again, Manfrotto seems to have a good reputation, but I'm not sure what models are good, and how much I can spend to ensure I get a good one. Also, I'm confused by the different heads you can get for them.