Camera Accessories

The most essential camera accessories

     When it comes to buying accessories for a piece of basic equipment I think cameras might be the leader of the pack.  When film cameras ruled the world you needed quite a few accessories to go along with your camera if you truly called yourself a photographer.  When I started using a SLR camera back in the late 1960’s the term automatic, instant focus, and self adjusting were unheard of.  Unless of course those terms referred to how you automatically entered every camera store you encountered, and your eyes instantly focused on the latest most expensive gadget in the show case, and finally how the sales clerk self adjusted the weight of your wallet from full to empty.
     Today I push the shutter button of my SLR and it immediately corrects exposure, speed, focus, depth of field and an ever

Early light meter

increasing array of weapons all aimed at turning you into a would-be Ansel Adams.  What a shame none of you will be able to experience the feeling of trying to hold your camera, aim your light meter, focus the pre-set lens, and frame the shot all before the Golden Breasted one eyed topnotch berry plucker flies south for the winter.  Even when you were sure you had everything just right the chances of you getting a good photograph out of all this work was marginal at best.

If you happened to possess a chemistry degree, a rich father to

buy the dark room equipment, and by the way a room to serve as your dark room where no one would be bothered by noxious smells drifting through the air, then with five or ten years of practice you could produce good looking prints.  If you didn’t have a rich father, spare room, or ten years to spare, you took your exposed film to the local processing center where you stood a better chance of seeing Elvis in person than getting back fine quality prints.  But alas, that was then and now is now, so we will be dealing only with current camera accessories.

     Let’s start with lenses, if you purchase one of the box store camera-lens combinations like the Canon, or Nikon sell chances are it will come with the standard 18-55 mm lens.  While these lenses are adequate for taking photos at your child’s birthday party they are pretty limited everywhere else.  If you are going to have only one lens then save up for one that will serve you well for nearly all your needs.  My advice would be to go with a 18-135 mm lenses made by the manufacturer of your camera box, these lenses are not cheap, ranging from $400 to $600, but they will serve you well due to their light gathering ability.  These lens also produce extremely accurate focus and color reproduction due to their low 3.5 aperture capability.  135 mm is a decent zoom level for an amateur since the greater the zoom the more susceptible the camera is to shake and blur.  I know those combo offers with the 18-55 and 75-300 telephoto lenses are tempting but ask yourself that always joy killing question, why are they so cheap, and also consider that unless you skilled at changing lenses you run the risk of contaminating your image processor and mirror with airborne dust and dirt which is a serious concern.

     Next thing you need is a good camera carrying case, while there are literally thousands of them out there I recommend a good hard case like a Pelican or Ibex.  Yes they are heavy, and yes they are
bulky, but they are also waterproof, nearly crush proof, and will survive baggage handlers at airports, train stations, and border crossings.

     Next camera strap, an absolute necessity, I buy the best and most comfortable camera strap that I can find.  I can’t tell you how many times my strap has saved my
$1200 camera from destruction, and if you travel and don’t use one, then I hope the guy who steals the camera right out of your hand gets some good images of you chasing him.

Tripod overkill

     Tripod, sounds so innocent doesn’t it, well for a modern still camera it is.  Still cameras (unless you are using it as a video camera) are not very picky about a little shake or shimmy, but if you intend to do video and use your telephoto feature then you are going to need a rock steady tripod.  And here in lies the problem, I have never found a so called stable tripod that didn’t require you to hire a porter to carry it around for you.  Believe me the terms light and portable, are not interchangeable with the phrase “vibration and shake free”.  My solution has been to own two tripods, a light weight portable model for random field shoots, and a more substantial model that I am considering equipping with wheels and a motor to make it easier to move.

     Motion stability devices are coming out faster than one can keep up with, they range in price from a few hundreds of dollars to quite
a few thousands of dollars.  For the beginning professional or avid amateur I feel the hand held 3 axis models designed for a Gopro or similar sports cameras is adequate for capturing those moving shots that make videos captivating.  I feel that purchasing one of these stabilizers would be a welcome addition to any photographers .

     Last but certainly not least we have the ultimate camera accessory, “The Drone Copter.”  The advances that have been made in stabilized helicopter flight simply boggle my mind, I have flown RC aircraft for about 45 years and believe me these critters are amazing.   They offer features like stabilized hover, fully stabilized camera systems, return to home, first person view (seeing what the camera is seeing), gimbaled camera platforms, and in some models waypoint navigation (the ability to program the quad to fly autonomously).  From a theoretical standpoint these machines are thrilling, from a practical and legal standpoint they represent a live hand grenade with a partially pulled safety pin.
     The FAA is still trying to come up with a comprehensive plan for handling the drone issue and you should make yourself aware of the rules that are already in place before sinking a lot of cash into one of these awesome flying cameras.  Drones are presently outlawed in all national parks, a great many state parks, and within five miles of any airport, not to mention the court system is beginning to rethink its stance on personal privacy rights concerning unauthorized aerial filming.  I think the money you would spend on a drone could be better used to purchase one or more of the accessories I discussed previously, at least until the government makes up its mind as to how great a threat they pose.