Accessories

[Bill Pierce]

We talk about cameras a lot on this site. But I don’t see much talk about accessories. After all, you don’t absolutely have to have a flash, a handheld meter or a bright line finder. And yet, almost all of us have a favorite accessory.

Mine is a tripod. I have table top tripods that fit in a pocket, small tripods that fit in a bag or backpack and big tripods that have to have their own travel bags. I find camera motion one of the big degraders of image quality - not just when you handhold a DSLR with a slapping mirror, but even with a little digital minicam with built-in image stabilization. I think the real problem lies with me. I look at a variety of my images at high magnification on a computer screen, and the biggest degrader of image quality is quite often s slight bit of camera shake. The lower the shutter speed, obviously, the greater the problem.

Not only does the camera on a tripod not suffer from that, if the subject isn’t moving, I can even take advantage of a smaller f/stop or lower ISO that a slower film speed will give me. For me, the tripod is my number one accessory because of the dramatic increase in image quality that it gives me.

So, what’s your favorite accessory? And most important, WHY?

 

[Pablito]

Tripods are useful and necessary. I would not call a tripod an accessory. Most "accessories," however, fall into the "chindogu" category:

Chindōgu (珍道具?) is the Japanese art of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem. However, chindōgu has a distinctive feature: anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social embarrassment, that effectively it has no utility whatsoever. Thus, chindōgu are sometimes described as "unuseless" – that is, they cannot be regarded as 'useless' in an absolute sense, since they do actually solve a problem; however, in practical terms, they cannot positively be called "useful."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chindōgu

 

[maddoc]

light-meter (obviously) and lens-hoods (try to have them for all my lenses). I also have two tripods, a small Leica table-top and a Gitzo but use them either to take close up shots of gear I am going to sell or for my Technika IV. Otherwise I try to avoid as much as possible to bring accessories with me (filters, flash etc.). I end up spending to much time thinking about how to organize them or where to store them while on the road ..

 

[Harry Lime]

1) Sekonic 308 - Obviously I would be dead without this.

2) Black cloth gaffers tape. I put a piece of this on my lens to lock it down when zone focusing.

3) Hoods - I rarely use an UV filter and the hood acts as a bumper guard. I don't like filters because of the danger of reflections. I also believe hoods offer more protection. But I will use a UV filter for protection against saltwater or sand (desert).

4) Leicavit - Unlike the Leica Motor-M the Leicavit doesn't need batteries, is more compact and more durable. The Leicavit is faster than using the advance lever and I don't have to take my eye off the viewfinder.

5) Elastic hair band. I use one of these as a strap loop on my meter. It slings around my pinky and it's neighbor, so I can let my meter dangle while I shoot and not have to worry about it...

6) Small GPS. Allows me to just wander off in to the unknown and make it back home.

7) Washcloth (terrycloth). Protects the camera in the rain and from the elements.

8) Small LED flash light (1 x AA). Puts out roughly 1 watt, runs forever and takes up no space. If you shoot at night you will eventually have to fix something or look for it and unless you're an owl you will be SOL.

9) Rechargeable AA batteries for the the meter, GPS etc

10) Miniature GIOTTO tripod. It's tiny and just big enough to prop up an M or Nikon F2/F3. For self portraits or shooting in the dark (hold it against walls, posts etc). Fits in your pants pocket.

11) Very small Swiss Army knife with a small blade, file, scissors and tweezers. Because you always need to fix or cut something.

12) Spare 76 battery cells for my M6ttl / M7 / F3. I keep 2 or 4 or these taped to the camera strap with some black cloth tape. That way they are never in 'the other bag', when I need them.

13) A good bag, which means a Billingham L2 or Domke.

 

[Chris101]

Filters are my favorite accessory. I have hundreds, and d.b. yesterday, I bought one more (from a $3 bin!) Red, 52mm, but a different shade of red than other red filters I have in that size - this one is a Quantaray R2.

 

[shyoon]

A lens hood. I recently dropped my Rolleiflex from a meter onto concrete, and while the camera needed a complete shutter overhaul, the damage would have been a whole lot more as my hood is now completely bent out of shape!

 

[nikon_sam]

Sorry, but I too would have to say "Tripod"...but I will also add a Cable Release...
When I use the Tripod I am saying "Slow Down", "Look", "Check this, Check that"...
When I use it I'm forced to take my time and think, not just shoot away...
This is very true when using a 4x5 View Camera...you really have to look for the best spot to plant this thing and even after doing that you still might have to relocate it...
I heard or read somewhere that a Tripod remembers your last thought...so true!!!

Polarizing Filter

Camera Strap

Lens Hood

Photo Vest

 

[Chris101]

A tripod is not really an accessory when using a view camera. Well, I suppose one could hand-hold one for fun ... but it wouldn't be! I do love my tripods though - I have 4, and two of them are camera/telescope specific.

 

[Dogman]

There is a difference between professionals and those of us who do not derive our income from photography. My life is much simpler today.

Tripods. I used them with large and medium format and with long lenses on SLRs but hardly ever with Leicas. When I started using digital, I pretty much stopped using them at all.

Light meters. I always carried at least one and used it religiously when I shot film. I never carry one anymore.

Flash. I always had at least 2-3 small flashes with slaves and sometimes a portable studio outfit to use on assignments. I currently don't own a flash except for the ones built into the various cameras.

The only accessories I still use on everything are lens hoods and UV filters. I also use accessory optical viewfinders where they can be utilized.

 

[Chris101]

...
Tripods. ... hardly ever with Leicas.
...

Once in a while I do.

I also like close-up filters and cable releases. And foam-core, for reflecting light and creating a simple background.

 

[shimokita]

accessory (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
1. a subordinate or supplementary part, object, or the like, used mainly for convenience, attractiveness, safety, etc., as a spotlight on an automobile or a lens cover on a camera.

so I must say lens cover... ;-) or neck strap or case (cheap padded cover to protect the camera when I put it in my back pack).... but accessory that supports, "improves" my photographic output.... I would have to say flash for digital and filters for film.

Casey

 

[oftheherd]

I have many "accessories" that I use when I think I need them. But I almost find it difficult to consider a hand held light meter an accessory. Same with a tripod of even filters. They are part of the what goes into making photographs, just like the camera versus a camera obscura. And a camera/wrist strap seems to go with the camera as well.

I have a lot of things like everyone had mentioned above, and more. But the light meter, tripod, and filters seem so much part of the tools I have. I don't always use them, but sure like to have them handy when I want them.

 

[myM8yogi]

1. White lens cloth. Cleans the lens. Gives me a decent white balance for digital.
2. Ever-ready case. Mine is an old leather beat up thing. Better than a camera bag. Spare lens or two in my pockets.

 

[Ronald M]

Target rifle stance, elbows in tight, camera hard against the head.

A tight neck strap of perfect length provides opposing tension. One time I pulled off 1/4 sec inside a museum that way.

The sure fire way is my Gitzo CF that get the camera to eye level without center column rise. Leica ball head, med size I bout new in `68 for $25. Still got the box with price on it. Large also works well.

For Dslr, all the same except Nikon has a mirror up so you push the shutter twice or a shutter delay mode 2/10 sec from mirror up. Works good if you are not catching action.

Mirror up on tripod or use an accesory finder to frame after mirror up. Then you have the resposiveness of a RF camera.

Incident and spot meters are great.

Leica brass cassettes for M cameras, a bench winder & ABLON template. Negs are cleaner and look different believe it.

Water and air filter in the darkroom . Between that and the cassettes, I never spot prints.

Quality matt cutter, not a cheapo.

Ruax fold flat carrier for camera gear and luggage. Sold under new name now. Calumet.

Studio lighting gear.

New iMac 27 with i7 processor, 16 GB ram, terabite HD and three external drives, CS5 photoshop.

KM 5400 scanner.

Volt stabilizer for the V35 that brings the bulb up to max bright ness over two sec.

Nova slot processor for color prints.

Full set of BL finders

Viso 2 & 3 with all the lenses and all the adapter rings.

I would buy a M9, but I do not trust long term support for it. I can photoshop around the red/cyan edge. Don`t like it, but not a deal breaker.

I am sure I have more treasures I can`t remember like my B&J print dryer that dries fiber prints FLAT like nothing else and I tried everything else. Salthill will work as well if you can find either. Both are long gone. The old 3 foot dia drums worked as well, not the small home ones.

 

[misterb]

I find the Leica 1.25x viewfinder indispensable for any focal length, but I really, really like the 1.35x magnifier with diopter adjustment from Japan Exposures for the fast 50's and up!

 

[chris000]

One of those little spirit levels that slots into the hot shoe of my camera - particularly useful for landscapes with the X-pan and even more useful for seascapes!

Also one of the cheaper accessories you can buy.

 

[Bike Tourist]

I have a tripod . . . somewhere. I never used it much except in my architectural phase, when I needed all that depth of field with slow film, bigger formats and other irritating constraints. Now, we have VR lenses.

In my fine art phase I used a polarizer a lot. Now, there doesn't seem to be much point with access to Photoshop.

Here's an accessory story: I ordered a lens from Adorama. I ordered it as a kit because it was the same price as the lens alone. There was not much useful in the kit but I figured, "why not"? The lens and kit items was shipped minus a cap keeper, which was back ordered. I phoned them to tell them to keep the keeper because I would never use such a silly accessory. Well, yesterday it turned up, costing Adorama about 20 times the cap keeper's value in UPS charges. They are honorable!

Yes. I use a bag to hold my equipment.

 

[emraphoto]

ziploc
sharpie

i can go out the door without tripods, filters, hoods etc. two things i ALWAYS have are ziplocs and sharpies. are those accessories?

 

[thegman]

Definitely tripod, I was out last weekend, and no exposure I made was shorter than 2 seconds. Also since getting my meterless Hasselblad, my simple Sekonic meter is great.

Infrared filters are a favourite too.

 

[Richard G]

With my tiny digicam I often attach the Leitz table top tripod with small ballhead and leave the legs folded and use it as a grip. At the front row of polite gatherings I'll rest it in my lap where I can see the LCD and get useable shots at 1/2 sec with the combination of VR and the stability of the mass of the tripod.

I should add that my interest in ever trying 1/2 s hand-held or otherwise with people as the subject is wholly on account of your wonderful chapter in the Leica Manual from the '70s. Thanks.