The Essential Accessories

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!

 

 
 

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.
 
 

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.