Obtaining an array of gimmicks, gadgets and other fairly worthless photography accessories happens fairly often with rookies. But fear not in the event that you are new to photography, as even the old hands sit with lots of unused equipment that appeared highly important when they started out as photographers.
It is just about impossible to pinpoint the most favorite gadgets and accessories photographers spend their money on. Just as a product gets old, a new and more exciting one appears on the market causing the whole shopping frenzy to start again. Make no mistake this is planned by manufacturers.
Loads of photographers may not classify lenses as accessories, but some specialized single use lenses like a fish eye lens is nothing more than that. Shift and macro lenses can be placed in that category additionally. That is if you are not a botanical or architectural master photographer that uses these lenses daily.
Usual accessories are things like doublers – a device you screw in between your lens and your camera body that then doubles the reach of your existing lens. In the same category you will find a host of filters that you place in front of your lens to modify the effect on your final image. Most digital cameras do not tolerate filters well.
Discreet shooting is made possible with the use of a device that fires your camera from far. This is called a cable release and numerous models are available. Shooting in a church where you might not get to the front can be done from far with your camera sitting hidden at the front.
Nature photographers make use of a gadget that works on the same distance from the camera principal, however they attach a triggering device to the cable release. Rather than of spending the night flat on your belly waiting, an invisible light beam that gets broken will trigger and fire your camera in your absence. Pretty much like traffic offenders being caught by radar triggered cameras.
Tripods and other modes of supporting cameras represent a large part of must have accessories. Low light conditions ask for longer shutter speeds, which sequentially demand support. The models out there differ from monopods to sophisticated tripods with gas controlled shift heads.
Spend sensibly when you decide on a camera bag and rather opt for larger bags, as your ever-growing collection of photographic equipment will soon spill out of too small bags.
Dawn Enstruthe has written articles on the subject of learning photography at Redlands Color Lab where you will find info on affordable digital photography degrees and best price online photography schools.
