Every camera buff carries a box loaded with accessories that he relies heavily upon while photographing.
Table of Contents
A good camera bag
The moment you buy a camera, you buy a camera bag to protect it from damage and to carry it around easily from one place to another. The process of selecting the right bag is not that straightforward though.
People generally prefer backpacks but other options like sling bags and shoulder bags are also widely available.
Polarising Filter
If you like photographing architecture or are into landscapes. A must-have accessory is the “Polarising Filter.” This filter reduces reflections from objects like water bodies, and glasses and can also be used to darken the skies and get more out of the clouds so that the scene looks more vivid.
A Sturdy Tripod
A quality tripod is another must-have accessory that every DSLR owner must have in his arsenal. If you like to indulge in low light or landscape photography and camera shake troubles you all the time tripod is your saviour.
But remember not to buy cheap tripods with plastic make. These tripods cannot handle heavy loads and are prone to breaking easily. While buying a tripod always ensure that it can handle at least twice the weight of your DSLR and the accompanying lenses.
Remote Shutter Release
If you are using a tripod you should never forget to get hold of a shutter release as well. If you are using a large setup with large lenses and big tripods, camera shake is almost inevitable, even if you use a sturdy tripod.
For example, while working with slow shutter speed, the slightest of vibration can cause quite a blur. A remote shutter release helps you click the image without even touching the camera and hence negating the chances of the slightest of shakes.
Camera air blower
When you are out and about in your pursuit of the next great picture. You often encounter dusty roads along the way. A good air blower does the trick when you need to get this dust out of your accessories and maintain a clean and spanky camera for crisp and clear images.
LCD protector
Most DSLR cameras these days do come with plastic protector but we would still highly recommend a regular screen protector for the rear LCD. The plastic protector sometimes allows the dust to get inside which cause scratches on the screen.
A proper protector works better at ensuring that the LCD screen is guarded well against all dusty torments, and you can always find one that fits neatly to your DSLR LCD screen like the match was made in heaven.
Padded Neck Strap
The default neck strap that comes with the camera is very uncomfortable. This becomes more apparent when you carry the heavy camera with an equally heavy lens on your neck for a substantial length of time.
The standard strap will leave you hurt and bruised. Fret not, a great range of quality neck staps are available in the market which comes with ergonomic design and is padded for maximum comfort.
Lens cleaning kit
Dirt and dust on lens element can reduce lens contrast and you end up with cloudy, grainy images. It is therefore recommended that you keep your lenses thoroughly clean at all times. There are a lot of products available in the market and any optical solution will work just fine. You can also check out the kits produced by your camera manufacturer.
External Flash
The built-in pop-up flash in your camera is one of the most underwhelming source of light ever developed. If ever you are in a situation where you need a flash, don’t use it. You would need a decent off-camera flash if you need to take your photography to another level.
Using light to your advantage is very important in photography and sometimes when natural light is not enough, flash proves to be your only saviour. There are many brands to choose from, each offering a wide array of advanced features and greater control through manual settings.
Memory Cards
Whether you use SD card or a CF for storage, at some time in future one of the two things will happen, either you would run out of space or the card will die. In the last few years the cost of storage has plummeted significantly, also there are more options available in the market for you to choose for.
Having Backup storage will not cost you much, and as a bonus, you will get the much-wanted peace of mind.
Macro Extension tubes
It is exorbitantly expensive to get into macro photography as you require specialist lenses for it, and invest huge sums of money into lenses that you are not sure of using over a longer term puts most people off.
This is where extension tubes come in handy, they can be used between your camera and the lens to increase the distance between the rear lens element and the image sensor thus giving you macro capabilities.
You can adjust the length of the tube to get a different level of magnification. The newer tubes come with electrical supply so that you keep all autofocus capabilities intact.
Camera Rain cover
Shooting in tough conditions like bad weather can result in brilliant images filled with drama and romance, but it also takes a toll on your equipment. Some professional cameras and most mirrorless cameras are hermetically sealed making them weatherproof.
But you still need to keep the rains off your lenses. So if your camera is not hermetically sealed or for your precious lenses protection is an absolute must.
