Roger Hicks
Veteran
Gitzo's Reporter carbon-fibre tripods; Artisan and Artist camera straps; what other top-flight products do you like? And what useful but unglamorous products? Hood-hats from OpTech; PrintFile neg sleeves; UltraPod table-top tripods; Nova developing tanks...
'Micro-tests' of some of these appear in http://www.rogerandfrances.com/reviews alpha.html but I'd be interested to know what others think makes their photography easier or better or more luxurious, excluding cameras and lenses (and film, paper or other recording media).
Of course, bags could be a whole thread on their own, so maybe we should exclude those too. Or maybe not.
Cheers,
Roger
'Micro-tests' of some of these appear in http://www.rogerandfrances.com/reviews alpha.html but I'd be interested to know what others think makes their photography easier or better or more luxurious, excluding cameras and lenses (and film, paper or other recording media).
Of course, bags could be a whole thread on their own, so maybe we should exclude those too. Or maybe not.
Cheers,
Roger
Last edited:
oscroft
Veteran
Luigi's cases and Gordy's straps. And my cheap, unglamorous, and unbranded film leader retriever.
projectbluebird
Film Abuser
Two indispensable tools for photography: A&A straps, and ziploc bags!
oscroft
Veteran
Oh, and Sharpie pens
mr_phillip
Well-known
Luigi's neck straps, Gordy's wrist straps, Giottos Rocket Airs, the Sekonic TwinMate L-208 meter, the Ilford film retriever, Paterson tanks and reels and a good supply of IXMOO cassettes.
bmattock
Veteran
Q-tips and Ronsonol lighter fluid. For cleaning and clearing stuck shutters on old fixed-lens rangefinders. Q-tips also used to clean digital sensors on dSLR.
Expo-Disc for setting white balance on digital SLR. Really my secret weapon for dSLR.
Gossen Digisix and Sekonic L-358 (w/ 1 deg spot meter attachment) light meters.
Remote shutter release (wireless for digital, standard cable type for film).
Wintec WBT-200 Data-logging GPS.
Kodakcraft developing tanks and aprons.
Diafine and D-76.
Rechargeable CR-V3 Li-on batteries and 2700 mAh Nimh AA batteries.
Linux, Vuescan, Exiftool, Perl, The GIMP, Konica-Minolta Scan Dual IV and Epson PHOTO Perfection 4490.
Small set of spanner wrenches and jeweler's (Wiha brand) screwdrivers from Micro-Tools.
Accessory-shoe clip-on rangefinder.
Columbia 'Bahama III Fishing Shirt' from Cabelas. SPF 30 protection, light-weight, many pockets, ventilated, and does not look like a "I'm a famous photographer" Domke vest. Cheaper, too.
Spyderco Parrot-beak pocketknife.
Mephisto shoes when working indoors.
Any old enlarger lens to be used as a loupe.
Spare pair eyeglasses.
Shantou ERA B&W film.
eBay.
Freestyle Photo.
B&H.
Expo-Disc for setting white balance on digital SLR. Really my secret weapon for dSLR.
Gossen Digisix and Sekonic L-358 (w/ 1 deg spot meter attachment) light meters.
Remote shutter release (wireless for digital, standard cable type for film).
Wintec WBT-200 Data-logging GPS.
Kodakcraft developing tanks and aprons.
Diafine and D-76.
Rechargeable CR-V3 Li-on batteries and 2700 mAh Nimh AA batteries.
Linux, Vuescan, Exiftool, Perl, The GIMP, Konica-Minolta Scan Dual IV and Epson PHOTO Perfection 4490.
Small set of spanner wrenches and jeweler's (Wiha brand) screwdrivers from Micro-Tools.
Accessory-shoe clip-on rangefinder.
Columbia 'Bahama III Fishing Shirt' from Cabelas. SPF 30 protection, light-weight, many pockets, ventilated, and does not look like a "I'm a famous photographer" Domke vest. Cheaper, too.
Spyderco Parrot-beak pocketknife.
Mephisto shoes when working indoors.
Any old enlarger lens to be used as a loupe.
Spare pair eyeglasses.
Shantou ERA B&W film.
eBay.
Freestyle Photo.
B&H.
aad
Not so new now.
My Guzzi. Takes me where I want to go.
pphuang
brain drain...
photobizzz
Speak of the Devil
I use the Deluxe wrist strap from prostrap.com that I like very much.
Naneu Pro Lima & Alpha bags
Naneu Pro Lima & Alpha bags
Steve Litt
Well-known
Kept a good quality Chamois Leather in my camera bag for years for wiping, drying packing and wrapping spare lens in pocket in when out and about.Great smell when new too!Obligatory Moleskine pocket book.Great to see Roger has a place with the experts at long last.
Regards
Steve
Regards
Steve
Ken Ford
Refuses to suffer fools
Tilley hats!
Ben Z
Veteran
-disposable hotel shower caps (instant camera raincoat).
-tiny LED keychain flashlight
-thick, fuzzy-type microfiber cloth
-Leitz tabletop tripod & small black Leitz ballhead
-Older Leitz ballhead w/reversible 1/4"-3/8" on both ends
-Cam-Cane (walking stick converts to monopod)
-Pliobond and JB-WELD (adhesives for fixing almost anything camera-related)
-Set of Leica-M top-plate tools from Micro-Tools.com
-Camlogix shutter speed tester
-Contax off-camera TTL cord (works w/all TTL and non-TTL Leicas, smaller than Nikon cords).
-Voitlander double-shoe adaptor
-tiny LED keychain flashlight
-thick, fuzzy-type microfiber cloth
-Leitz tabletop tripod & small black Leitz ballhead
-Older Leitz ballhead w/reversible 1/4"-3/8" on both ends
-Cam-Cane (walking stick converts to monopod)
-Pliobond and JB-WELD (adhesives for fixing almost anything camera-related)
-Set of Leica-M top-plate tools from Micro-Tools.com
-Camlogix shutter speed tester
-Contax off-camera TTL cord (works w/all TTL and non-TTL Leicas, smaller than Nikon cords).
-Voitlander double-shoe adaptor
Michael I.
Well-known
Dr. Zhou half cases,
Crumpler bags,
watson bulk loaders,
Jobo tanks,
New Balance sneakers\Redback boots(depending on weather)
Crumpler bags,
watson bulk loaders,
Jobo tanks,
New Balance sneakers\Redback boots(depending on weather)
ferider
Veteran
- ND filters
- digital light meter with contrast scale (my favorite is a big old meter from Gossen)
- A&A straps & GMP grips
Did I say ND filters ?
Cheers,
Roland.
- digital light meter with contrast scale (my favorite is a big old meter from Gossen)
- A&A straps & GMP grips
Did I say ND filters ?
Cheers,
Roland.
David Goldfarb
Well-known
You've already mentioned Gitzo tripods, and I'll add the Arca-Swiss B2 head, which has the strength/weight ratio of a ballhead and the control of a pan-tilt head.
Op-Tech Hood Hats are great.
For large format, the Suunto Tandem Clinometer-Compass is a very handy gadget for squaring up any kind of floppy view camera that doesn't have levels, scales and detentes, and if you like to work by calculation (which I don't usually) measuring the angle of the plane of focus and tilt and swing angles. Yeah, I know this is the RFF, but sometimes my Technikas act like RFs and sometimes they act like view cameras.
Somewhat less expensive is an angle finding level for measuring tilt angles and making sure the groundglass and lens are plumb.
Sharpies. Always handy to have sharpies.
Gaffer's tape--you never know when you'll need it.
Little spring clamps--useful for attaching square filters to odd sized things, holding small reflectors, pinning branches out of the way, and such.
Ex-Officio shirts, which are cool in the hot weather, UV resistant, and have pockets big enough for a 4x5" Grafmatic.
Hama rubber 3-position zoom lens shade--very compact way to have the proper shade for a variety of lenses (or for zooms, but that's not an RF thing), if you use step up rings on all your lenses.
The Nikor stainless steel sheet film tank. I process sheet film in the Nikor tank, trays, and using tanks and hangers, and they're all perfectly good methods, but the Nikor tank is really a marvel of manufacturing and would cost a fortune to make today. Jobo makes something similar in plastic, but the Nikor holds 12 sheets and the Jobo only six. They still sell for upwards of $130, though they've all got to be at least 25 years old, and I recently saw one go for over $200 without the metal band that keeps the sheets in place (a rubber band will also work for this purpose, so it's not entirely useless).
Jobo sheet film clips--really expensive now at $5.50 a piece (for a film clip!), but totally worth it if you need to process a lot of film and don't have a lot of room to hang it up. The clip pierces the corner of the sheet with a pin, so contact area is minimal but strong enough for any format, and it holds the film perpendicular to the drying line, so you can hang a lot of sheets of any format in a small space. I've got 40 now.
Op-Tech Hood Hats are great.
For large format, the Suunto Tandem Clinometer-Compass is a very handy gadget for squaring up any kind of floppy view camera that doesn't have levels, scales and detentes, and if you like to work by calculation (which I don't usually) measuring the angle of the plane of focus and tilt and swing angles. Yeah, I know this is the RFF, but sometimes my Technikas act like RFs and sometimes they act like view cameras.
Somewhat less expensive is an angle finding level for measuring tilt angles and making sure the groundglass and lens are plumb.
Sharpies. Always handy to have sharpies.
Gaffer's tape--you never know when you'll need it.
Little spring clamps--useful for attaching square filters to odd sized things, holding small reflectors, pinning branches out of the way, and such.
Ex-Officio shirts, which are cool in the hot weather, UV resistant, and have pockets big enough for a 4x5" Grafmatic.
Hama rubber 3-position zoom lens shade--very compact way to have the proper shade for a variety of lenses (or for zooms, but that's not an RF thing), if you use step up rings on all your lenses.
The Nikor stainless steel sheet film tank. I process sheet film in the Nikor tank, trays, and using tanks and hangers, and they're all perfectly good methods, but the Nikor tank is really a marvel of manufacturing and would cost a fortune to make today. Jobo makes something similar in plastic, but the Nikor holds 12 sheets and the Jobo only six. They still sell for upwards of $130, though they've all got to be at least 25 years old, and I recently saw one go for over $200 without the metal band that keeps the sheets in place (a rubber band will also work for this purpose, so it's not entirely useless).
Jobo sheet film clips--really expensive now at $5.50 a piece (for a film clip!), but totally worth it if you need to process a lot of film and don't have a lot of room to hang it up. The clip pierces the corner of the sheet with a pin, so contact area is minimal but strong enough for any format, and it holds the film perpendicular to the drying line, so you can hang a lot of sheets of any format in a small space. I've got 40 now.
Voigtlander 28/35 mini finder, Gossen Digisix, Y strap, Sandisk Extreme IV memory cards.
John Robertson
Well-known
My Leitz NATRA/NAMAS negative viewer with punch, it belonged my photographer uncle, he bought it new in the 30's. I still use it and have never found anything better for the job!! Still in its original red box with instructions and receipt.
Also, the HK 1.25x viewfinder magnifier.
Dave Wilkinson
Veteran
My 3inch bench lathe, as I can produce just about any adaptor, hood, soft release button, etc, as I need them!
Dave.
Dave.
benlees
Well-known
You people are hardcore! Being a newbie at this I carry a pen and note pad for exposures and such so I can go back and what worked and what didn't. I like the shower cap idea!