Best Consumer Digital Camera Accessories
While there are techniques you can use to increase the quality of your photography (such as photographing in the Magic Minutes of the early morning or late afternoon), there are a number of ingredients or accessories designed to help you make a better photograph. They revolve around light, camera protection, and camera stability. Most of the Best of the Best accessories recommended will help you to increase the quality of light while the accessories recommended as Best Value focus more evenly on the light for your digital camera as well as camera protection and camera stability.
Quality of Light:
The light is either from the sun, reflection, and ambient room lighting or the light from a camera’s flashgun. The challenge with the built-in consumer digital camera flash is its power consumption. While it supplies a small amount of light, it will drain your batteries faster than showing a few of your friends all of your photos via your camera’s LCD. The Best of the Best accessory for your consumer digital camera is to get the Metz 28 CS-2 Booster Flash. It allows you to have an off-camera flash and increases the power of your flash by a factor of four! The great thing about this accessory is you can use it from one consumer camera to the next. Another way to improve the harsh light encountered on many a photographic outing is to add a polarizing filter to your camera bag. The Sony VF-25CPKS 25 mm kit contains a circular polarizer that is small enough to hold in front of your camera’s lens. It cuts the suns glare and intensifies the blue in the sky.
Camera Stability:
You will need to keep your camera steady. During the Magic Minutes, the light is soft, but it also means you don’t have a lot of it. Your flash won’t be necessary, as you will want to take photographs with only the available natural light. As you turn your flash off, you will be faced with the resulting photograph being out of focus. The best way to counteract camera shake and less-than-sharp images is to use a tripod or a monopod. A monopod can also be used when you are taking product photography.
Have you recently cleaned out your attic and found some small and medium-sized items you would like to sell and need photos of them? When you use the Sharpics D-Flector briefcase, you will have a 24 x 18 inch white product background for your photography. You can even use it to create creative still-life photographs for your newsletter or blog.
Think of making photographs being like following a recipe - adding a few must-have and savvy accessories will certainly spice up your photographs by improving the quality of your images.
Metz 28 CS-2 Booster Flash
If you want to improve the quality of your photographs, the best accessory is to upgrade the light source. The Metz 28 CS-2 Booster Flash beams 4x (four times) the amount of light that you get from the built-in flash from traditional digital cameras. It attaches to your consumer digital camera with a small bracket.
metz 28 cs-2
Sharpics DF-30 D-Flector
The 30” Sharpics D-Flector looks like a typical briefcase when closed. When opened it becomes a seamless white product photography background providing a photo studio the size of 30 inches x 40 inches. It’s perfect for taking pictures of small to mid-sized items for your own website or for selling on eBay. It stores very easily and helps you to produce high quality photographs. For a smaller background, try the DF-20 model.
sharpics df-30
Slik Slim Pod
If you want some of the stability and versatility of a traditional tripod, but would like a more streamlined package, consider the Slik Slim Pod. It is a mono-pod (i.e. one leg) unit. When you attach your camera to it, it provides stability and will allow you to take photographs in lower light situations. It is a four section unit and can accept 2.75 pounds.
Slik Slim Pod
Sony VF-25CPKS 25 mm Filter Kit
The Sony VF-25CPKS 25 mm filter kit comes to the rescue when you want to take a photograph when the sun is shining brightly. The VF-25CPKS cuts the glare while intensifying the blue in the sky thereby reducing the harsh effects of the midday sun. You will need to hold the filter in front of your digital camera for the best effect.
sony vf-25cpks
Delkin Devices Universal PopUp Shade
What happens when you want to take photographs during the day and you can’t see the result because the sun is shining too brightly or there is too much glare? You need the Delkin Devices Universal PopUp Shade. It eliminates the glare on your LCD screen and protects it from scratches or cracks. The shade comes in black or silver and you must specify the LCD size of your camera.
Delkin Devices Universal PopUp Shade
Gary Fong’s Delta Point & Shoot Diffuser
In photography, it is all about the quality of light. The Gary Fong Delta Point & Shoot Diffuser will help to evenly spread as well as improve the light from consumer digital camera flashes. This will give you better quality photographs.
gary fong delta diffuser
OpTech Soft Photo Pouch
One of the best things you can do to prolong the life of your digital camera is to protect it at all times. The black OpTech Soft Photo Pouch provides great camera protection with a very snug fit. It also has room for an accessory or two.
OpTech Soft Photo Pouch
Spudz Microfiber Cloth
Every photographer needs a special cloth to wipe away dust and to remove smudges like those from fingerprints. The Spudz Microfiber Cloth also keeps your LCD screen free of obstructions too. It can easily be folded and tucked into your camera pouch or bag.
Spudz Microfiber Cloth
Ultrapod II Lightweight Tripod
What do you do if you want to take photographs in low light, but don’t have a tripod or a mono-pod? The answer is an extremely compact tabletop tripod. The Ultrapod II Lightweight Tripod fits in your back pocket and has a Velcro strap for use around poles and trees. With this handy accessory, you will increase your ability to capture great photographs in lower light situations.
Ultrapod II Lightweight Tripod
Impact Collapsible Circular Reflector Silver-White
This handy accessory reminds us once again of the importance of light in photography. The Impact Collapsible Circular Relector Silver-White is the perfect accessory for shadow lighting detail in portraits or objects. Silver on the one side is for warm lighting while white on the other side is great for indoor or outdoor portraits. This can be used in natural lighting situations and also makes a great accessory to your flashgun or other lighting sources.
impact collapsible circular reflector
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Impact Collapsible Circular Reflector is a great tool, can really save the day for perfect lighting!