The Essential Accessories |
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I am not a fan of
accessories. I try to reduce my
equipment to the minimum - I carry with
me only the things that are really
useful, I don't want funky accessories
that looks cool, but they give little or
none practical advantage. There are few
accessories in my bag, but they have an
essential importance.
Memory cards for
file storage
I currently
have two camera bodies, I keep a 32 GB
Compact Flash in each one, and I have
another spare 32GB CF: with almost 100 GB of
flash memory, I have enough room for
thousands of photos. I always recommend to
bring with you some high capacity CF or SD
cards rather than portable HDDs; the flash
cards are more reliable, smaller and they
don't require energy. For more information,
give a look to the article
CF
and SD!
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Spare batteries for
additional energy
The digital cameras are completely
dependent by electric energy. It is always
safe to have at least one spare battery; if
you are going to stay away from power
supplies for long time, instead, you needs
multiple batteries and you have to optimize
battery life.
Usually, a fully
charged battery lasts for 900-1000 photos,
but it varies widely depending by the camera
(the 1D4 batteries lasts for more than 2000
photos) and by the usage (if you use a lot
features as Live View the battery life comes
down to 200-250 photos). To maximize the
battery life, you can adopt some power
saving measures. The LCD screen is the main
battery drainer; don't use it when it is not
strictly necessary, avoid live view if you
are running out of power and you don't have
another fully charged battery. Other than
that, image stabilization reduces by 10-15%
the battery life, if you use it a lot - if
the camera is mounted on a sturdy tripod and
it is perfectly still, you can turn OFF the
stabilization.
The in-camera Flash
reduces considerably the battery life. Use
it only when it is strictly necessary or use
an external flash unit. Last but not least,
the temperature influences considerably the
battery life: it becomes much shorter at low
temperatures. In a cold environment, you can
get still a little of energy from a nearly
exhaust battery warming it up with your body
(i.e. placing it into an internal pocket of
your jacket). In any case, you must never
try to warm up a battery with fire, because
it may explode.
If you travel by car,
I highly recommend to buy a car battery
charger or an adapter to recharge your
battery from the car. I don't recommend,
instead, the solar chargers. Even though the
idea of backpacking away from civilization
with an unlimited energy source is
appealing, the majority of solar chargers
are slow and not much efficient; they are
cumbersome and they need a lot of time to
charge a battery. Hopefully, in future there
with be more efficient models at acceptable
prices.
Blower brush
The dust on the sensor is an annoying and
inevitable issue, even though many times it
is greatly exaggerated: you should never be
afraid of changing lenses due to dust. To
remove dust, I use a small blower brush:
usually, it removes the 90% of dust. I
highly recommend to choose a blower with
removable brush tip: when you clean the
sensor, you must not touch it with the brush
(just blow air). Instead, when you clean the
exterior surface of the camera, you can use
the brush to remove the dust more
effectively. All recent cameras have an
in-camera dust reduction system that shakes
a filter in front of the sensor to remove
dust; this technology helps a bit, but
overall it is not very effective.
The bag to carry
your equipment
Obviously, you need a bag for your photo
equipment. Even though it would be better to
physically try the bag to be sure that it
fits your equipment, I don't know any store
where you can try many bags - so, often you
have to rely on descriptions and measures
listed on the manufacturers websites (as the
excellent
www.lowepro.com).
If you plan to expand your equipment, choose
a bag that has some spare room, to avoid
changing bag every time that you buy a new
lens. Other that that, I'd recommend to
choose a bag with many pockets for business cards,
blower brush, batteries, compact flash cards
and other non-photographic accessories.
Currently, I have a LowePro D550 AW
(42x23x28 cm): it has
enough room for 1DsIII, 12-24, 24-105, 180 macro, 300
2.8 IS and teleconverters. It fits the
carry-on size limited of nearly all flight
companies and it has excellent built
quality; it is weather resistant, and it is
highly customizable. This bag is great if
you don't have to walk around a lot,
otherwise carrying a shoulder bag becomes
painful. For long walks, I keep my photo
equipment in a bit trekking backpack,
together with the other trekking equipment. |
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Macro kit
When I go in the field to take macro photos,
I carry with me the Wimberley Plamp, a
scissor and the wireless remote release. The
plamps allows to place the subject in the
best position for photos; with the scissor
you can cut the grass stem where the insect
is posed, and with the remote release you
can take the shot in the best moment.
Other accessories
Cards, spare batteries, blower brush, macro kit and camera bag: these
are all the accessories I use and I consider
essential...as I told you, I try to reduce
the equipment at minimum :-)
Another
accessory that is not essential, but it can
be useful, are the lens covers for
supertele. Canon superteles are white: the
bright color might scare your subject, in
particular if you are photographing shy
subjects from a hide. LensCoat
(www.lenscoat.com), the brand created my the
nature photographer Scott Elowitz, make
excellent lens covers for nearly all
superteles currently in production from the
major manufacturers. The covers are
available with various camouflage patterns,
from the classic dark green to the very nice
"Realtree Advantage Max4 HD", or even snowy
trees patterns.
What are the
advantage of lens covers (other than giving
a nice "nature look" to your lens)? Of
course, they help your camouflaging, and
with some subject it may really make the
difference. Other than that, the covers are
protection from water, dust and scratches,
and they a "thermal barrier" between the
metal barrel of the lens and your hands in
very cold weather.
Another useful
accessory produced by LensCoat is the
"Hoodie". The Canon superteles have a large
"leather style" lens cap, that is quite
cumbersome to keep on and off from the lens.
The Hoodie is an alternative lens cap; it is
much easier to put on and off from the lens,
thanks to its simple design. The LensCoat
Hoodie is available with the same camouflage
patterns of the lens covers - a very fine
touch! These nice lens caps are available in
various sizes, both for small lenses and for
superteles.
Camera and lenses are
often supplies with various accessories:
some are truly useful, other ones can be
left at home. The neck strap of the camera
is very useful, it has saved many times my
camera from accidental droppings. The neck
strap given with the super tele lenses,
instead, is pretty useless: carrying a 600
f/4 or other heavy lenses with a neck strap
is good only to get severe back pain ;-)
Carry always with you the camera manual
if you have just bought the camera. It is
easy to forget the precise meaning of a
button or a custom function, and the manual
is a great help. Some camera have a
removable LCD cover/protection: I used it
when I had the Nikon D70, then I realized
that its only effect was to make even more
difficult to see the small LCD...it is very
difficult to scratch the screen if you have
a little of care for your equipment. Always keep and
use the lens caps; you must never place the
lens in your bag without cap (the ND filter
is not a substitute). The lens hood is
another useful thing: use it whenever
possible; if it is not supplied with the
lens, buy it. The hood helps to reduce flare
and it protects the front element of the
lens.
Do you have
comments or questions?
If you have comments or questions about
this article, feel free to ask in the
Juza
Nature Photography Discussion Forum!
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