Camera accessories: what they do, what you might need

Photography starts with a camera and a lens, but that’s not where it ends. With a basic camera/lens setup you can start taking handheld photos using available light, but there are many photographic genres which will need some additional equipment. Here’s a run-down.

Tripods do more than you think

A tripod will keep the camera still for long exposures, and is essential for light trails at night, astrophotography and anything else that requires exposures longer than a fraction of a second. How long an exposure can you manage handheld? The minimum safe shutter speed for hand-held shots can vary a lot, but as a guide, check out this article on camera shake. Many cameras and lenses also come with image stabilization, which can allow slower shutter speeds without shake.

Even so, for any exposure nearing a second or longer, you need a tripod. Check out these articles on tripods and tripod heads for more information. But tripods aren’t simply for low-light photography – they have other important uses too.

• They are used in landscape photography in daylight with ND filters designed to extend exposure times to blur moving water and clouds.
• They keep the camera locked in position for multi-exposure HDR merge techniques and can help pan the camera in controlled increments for panoramic ’stitchers’.
• They are invaluable for video to help create smooth panning and tilting camera movements while filming via specially designed video heads.
• They leave your hands free – seriously, that’s important! It makes it much easier to swap lenses, change filters, take a swig of water from a flask, and so on.
• Your tripod remembers the last decision you made – that’s a quote from famous photographer Joel Meyerowitz. Once you’ve decided how to frame a scene, a tripod fixes your camera in that position while you wait for the light or just the right moment.

Gimbals offer unique stabilization but can be tricky

Stabilizing gimbals are widely used in filmmaking and vlogging for smooth camera movements and dynamic angles while moving. You can get tiny gimbals for smartphones and larger gimbals for compact and mirrorless cameras. They are extremely effective at smoothing out movement, but they are tricky to set up because you have to make a series of small adjustments to ‘balance’ the camera so that the gimbals motors can move it smoothly and effectively.

Gimbals are also quite heavy and awkward to use. You have to adapt to the camera following your movements at its own controlled pace, not yours, and your forearm muscles will certainly. get a workout.

Filters can’t necessarily be replaced by software

Of course, many special effects are now easier to do with software than with lens filters, but there are still some filter types that do things that software can’t. For more, see this article on camera filters and what they do, but here’s the gist:

• ND filters cut down the light passing through the lens so that you can use long exposures to blur movement, even in bright light.
• Variable ND filters are often used in video to control the exposure in changing conditions without altering the shutter angle (shutter speed) or iris (aperture) setting, both of which would change the look of the video.
• Polarizing filters are used to deepen blue skies and reduce reflections off shiny surfaces. They are used widely in commerical and landscape photography to reduce glare and increase clarity and saturation.

There are many other filter types that still have uses today, but these three demonstrate a key point – that filters act on the light before it reaches the sensor, and achive optical effects which just can’t be replicated later in software.

Added lighting is no longer just about flash

Flash photography has been used for decades to control lighting in the studio and add supplementary lighting on location. Its advantage is that it provides a very short, very intense burst of light that allows short exposures, small lens apertures and no risk of camera or subject movement. Check out this article on flash photography basics for more detail.

However, the effect of flash is hard to visualize in advance, and while you can see how the shot looks after you’ve taken it on the camera’s rear screen, it still takes a little know-how, experience and practice to get good/predictable results with flash.

Flash is no good for video, of course. For this, you need continuous lighting, typically using LCD panels today, from units small enough to clip to the top of a camera to huge, cinematic lighting panels for TV and movie productions. Continuous lighting does not have the same power and intensity as flash, but it has the advantage that what you see is what you get, and you don’t need to worry about recycle times and flash sync spees and other flash complications.

Continuous lighting is also very useful for stills photography. As digital camera high-ISO performance increases and ultra-fast lenses become more common, its lower power compared to flash is becoming less important. It’s also the best light source for hybrid creators who may be shooting stills and video on the same shoot, especially if they want both to share the same lighting style.

You will need a camera bag, and often more than one

Anyone who carries camera gear around needs a camera bag, even if it’s just a small padded pouch. You don’t need to pay a fortune, but you do need something that will keep your bits of equipment separated so that they don’t grind together, held tight with padding so that they don’t rattle around, yet still accessible so that you can get to what you need quickly.

You can read this more detailed article on camera bags and types, but the main options are as follows:

• Holster bags are designed to hold just a camera and lens and come in many different sizes
• Shoulder bags hold more gear, perhaps a camera and a couple of lenses, or even more, depending on the size you choose
• Sling bags are like a shoulder bag designed to swing round to the front of your body for quick and easy access to your gear. I don’t really get on with them, but you might
• Messenger bags are like shoulder bags but specially adapted for work/commuting with a slimmer profile, a padded laptop compartment and places for notebooks, phones, pens, chargers and so on
• Camera backpacks hold a lot more camera gear and spread the weight so that you can carry more stuff over longer distances without discomfort. Their only snag is that it’s harder to get at your kit when you need it
• Roller bags are designed specifically for travel. They have semi-rigid designs, extending handles and wheels on the base – just like a regular roller case, but with padding and compartments for camera gear
• Hard cases are for hostile conditions where your gear may be thrown around, dropped or left sitting in water. They are mainly for storage during travel, but open to provide easy access to gear on location.