What accessories would you get for your cam?

[PaulClioSport]

As the title says, what are the must have accessories for a cam. I have a D7000 with, Manfrotto 055 XPROB tripod with 496RC2 Ball head, Nikon wireless remote and a F-Stop Guru backpack to put my (future) gear in.
Now i'm reading a lot about photography and see a lot of accessories coming by. So what do you think about external flashes, battery grip's, cleaning sets filters etc and which ones do you use?
Same for filters, recommend me some circular polarizer (if you thing these are crap please say so!) and ND filter (screw in or with an adaptor on the lens?) or even other ones

Thanks

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Filters are a good shout, some a relatively inexpensive and you can have a lot of fun with them.


Firstly.....DON'T bother with a UV filter.....waste of time.

Circ Pol filters are very useful. They can be used for a lot of things, from landscape to motorsport photography. Get a good brand one, like Hoya, B+W etc.....

ND filters are also very useful, they essentially allow you to have a longer shutter speed. You can get 3 stop filters, which would be useful for waterfall photography, things like that. But if you really want some unusual shots, then you have to get a 10 stop filter. I'm sure B+W do a 10 stop screw in filter.

It really depends on what sort of photos you want to take.......

 

[JamesBryan]

I would say the must have accessories are:

A decent bag for carrying the body and a few lenses, Tripod, Filters, Remote Shutter Release, Rocket/Air Blower thingy for cleaning and some of those lint free wipes.

 

[.Adam.]

This has reminded me - I need to get a remote shutter release.

eBay jobbies any good?

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Wireless or wired?

I bought an ebay job wireless one, hasn't let me down yet.

If you want a wired one, I would get a proper one though.

 

[.Adam.]

Is there any benefit of a wired over a wireless one?

If not, I'll just get a wireless one off eBay.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Well most landscape togs will have a wired one, as they obviously have no benefits for it being wireless....but mainly when they do bulb shots, you can use the remote to 'hold' the shutter open, rather than physically holding it down on the camera, which can be a bit tedious for exposure of a few minutes!!

I just bought the cheap wireless ones for when I do rig shots, and mount the camera on cars. So I can be a few metres away, but still near the camera just in case the worst were to happen.

I don't think you can do bulb exposures with a wireless remote, on the cheap ebay ones that is.....but I may be wrong.

 

[guysy]

From ebay cheap: another battery (not branded and has been fine for the year so far), filter case, another cheap spare wireless remote (again works fine), i already had them but the silica packets to keep moisture away are good, few in the camera compartment and elsewhere (I change them every few months), one of those spudz lens cloths in its own pouch is handy...

Thats all i can think of for the background things that come in use! the only other thing is a decent little LED torch.

 

[.Adam.]

Well most landscape togs will have a wired one, as they obviously have no benefits for it being wireless....but mainly when they do bulb shots, you can use the remote to 'hold' the shutter open, rather than physically holding it down on the camera, which can be a bit tedious for exposure of a few minutes!!

I just bought the cheap wireless ones for when I do rig shots, and mount the camera on cars. So I can be a few metres away, but still near the camera just in case the worst were to happen.

I don't think you can do bulb exposures with a wireless remote, on the cheap ebay ones that is.....but I may be wrong.

Oh right ok thanks for that Dan. I want one to try out star trails, light trails etc a bit more so would a wired one be a better bet then if the wireless ones don't work with bulb mode properly?

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I may be wrong, but I don't think they do. Have a read of the specs (if any!) of them.

From what you say though, a wired one would be best.

Again, whatever you look at, make sure it's compatible with your camera, and is capable of bulb modes.

My Nikon one has a lock switch, so you just flick that to lock, click the shutter (on the remote) and it holds it down, until you unlock it. I assume any non-branded ones will do the same. Just be sure though.

 

[.Adam.]

Cool. Thanks Dan.

I will have a look at a few on eBay and make sure they are capable of the above.

I need to take advantage of living right next to the New Forest for some star trails!

 

[Emma.]

I bought a cheap wired one for mine and works for bulb mode. Has the lock switch

 

[v15ben]

I got a cheap wired one from Amazon a few weeks ago. Seems to work well.

I also got a 10 Stop ND filter to try those cool looking long exposure daytime shots that Dan mentioned. I got the HiTech 10 Stop from a mate, but also looked at B+W ND110 as well.

Other accessories I got were the obvious - more spare memory cards, nice camera bag and a spare battery.

Just trying to decide if I should splash on a wide angle lens or not!

 

[Andy.]

Most has already been mentioned, but a caribener is pretty handy to have in your bag, or on a strap. It means that you can hook the bag onto a fence or something off wet ground if you don't fancy keeping it on your shoulder/ back during a shoot.

 

[SamP]

A 2 stop hard ND grad is pretty useful.

 

[Feirny]

I bought loads of different mounts, including a crane

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Yup, and then you'll start your path on endlessly buying more and more filters.

I wish Lee filters weren't so damn expensive, luckily they are always out of stock so that avoids temptation.

 

[PaulClioSport]

Anyone have experience with these? http://lightcraftworkshop.com/fader-nd-mk-ii.html

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I'm a bit dubious of those, find some reviews to see what people say, and example shots taken with it.

 

[JamesBryan]

Most has already been mentioned, but a caribener is pretty handy to have in your bag, or on a strap. It means that you can hook the bag onto a fence or something off wet ground if you don't fancy keeping it on your shoulder/ back during a shoot.

Never thought of that. I've got a few from climbing too, will come in handy at some point i guess.