Must have DSLR accessories?

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Just wondering what your must haves are. I recently bought a canon 80d and with it bought the canon battery grip. I also have a camera backpack, canon wired shutter release and two canon branded batteries. You?

 

[petrochemist]

Batteries, spare memory cards, a tripod, more lenses, external flash & TTL flash cable. The shutter release is nice but a 2s delay works OK most of the time.

 

[Advanced Photo]

Batteries, more batteries, a solar charger, and I like using an LCD veiwfinder with magnification for video.

This might or might not be helpful if it is a new camera for you...32 Steps to the Perfect Canon EOS 80D Setup
It can also be used as a guide to tweak your settings as you like.

 

[zombiesniper]

Didn't even think about accessories until I had the lenses I wanted.

But to answer your question it depends on what you shoot. Do you run 10lb lenses? Maybe a tripod. Do you shoot a lot of low light, maybe a flash.

I have some accessories but I usually only leave the house with one body and one lens.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I bought a mefoto road trip when I bought my camera as well, forgot to mention that.

 

[kundalini]

Hot-shoe mounted external mounted flash that can also be remotely triggered.
White/Silver reflector
Wireless or corded remote shutter release

Most important...... a keen eye and sense of timing

 

[petrochemist]

Hot-shoe mounted external mounted flash that can also be remotely triggered.
White/Silver reflector
Wireless or corded remote shutter release

Most important...... a keen eye and sense of timing

Do you have a link for that last one ? It would be useful for so many threads!

 

[astroNikon]

Must Haves? depends upon the type of shooting that you do
Sports has "must haves" which also depends upon the type of sports that you do
Macro, Nature, Portraiture, etc etc etc etc and then the type of specifics of that genre.

But it all comes down to the photographer and the quality, technical abilities etc of the outcome they are willing to achieve.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Any recommendations on straps? Black rapid, etc

 

[robbins.photo]

Any recommendations on straps? Black rapid, etc

I've owned a couple of black rapids, it's a nice strap particularly for heavy lenses like a 70-200mm 2.8. The problem with the black rapid or any strap that attaches to the tripod mount though is that the camera has a tendency to swing while you walk, and with a heavy lens that gets old after a half a day or so of lugging it around.

I tried the optech sling system, since it mounts at two points the camera swings less - however the strap lacks anything close to adequate padding so it really doesn't work all that well for a heavy lens.

The solution I finally settled on was a vest - yes, I do look like a reject from a SWAT team so this wouldn't be the best idea for those who like staying under the radar. However for me it works well. I ordered a custom vest from The Vest Guy - it's their traveler vest with extra padding in the shoulders. The vest comes with it's own carrying straps that I can attach to the camera, I can carry one camera on either shoulder or I can change it so I carry a single camera in the middle, which is what I normally do since I only have the one body.

Works well, if I get tired of carrying the camera in the middle I can easily switch it to either shoulder. The vest does a good job of redistributing the weight, has lots of pocket space for accessories or even additional lenses, and is MOLLE capable so I can add additional storage pouches as needed. I've gotten two molle pouches, one I use to store spare batteries and the odd filter I might want to carry along, the other for my cell phone.

I do stand out a bit at the zoo, but then again being a 6'2" redneck carrying a DSLR with a 70-200mm 2.8 I already stood out a bit anyway, so I don't mind. Lol

 

[table1349]

The must haves for me are the ones I need.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Any recommendations on straps? Black rapid, etc

I've owned a couple of black rapids, it's a nice strap particularly for heavy lenses like a 70-200mm 2.8. The problem with the black rapid or any strap that attaches to the tripod mount though is that the camera has a tendency to swing while you walk, and with a heavy lens that gets old after a half a day or so of lugging it around.

I tried the optech sling system, since it mounts at two points the camera swings less - however the strap lacks anything close to adequate padding so it really doesn't work all that well for a heavy lens.

The solution I finally settled on was a vest - yes, I do look like a reject from a SWAT team so this wouldn't be the best idea for those who like staying under the radar. However for me it works well. I ordered a custom vest from The Vest Guy - it's their traveler vest with extra padding in the shoulders. The vest comes with it's own carrying straps that I can attach to the camera, I can carry one camera on either shoulder or I can change it so I carry a single camera in the middle, which is what I normally do since I only have the one body.

Works well, if I get tired of carrying the camera in the middle I can easily switch it to either shoulder. The vest does a good job of redistributing the weight, has lots of pocket space for accessories or even additional lenses, and is MOLLE capable so I can add additional storage pouches as needed. I've gotten two molle pouches, one I use to store spare batteries and the odd filter I might want to carry along, the other for my cell phone.

I do stand out a bit at the zoo, but then again being a 6'2" redneck carrying a DSLR with a 70-200mm 2.8 I already stood out a bit anyway, so I don't mind. Lol

Just the visual I got from this was worth your time sharing lol. I don't think I'd go this route and as of right now the biggest lens I have is a 75-300. I wish they made camera holsters out of kydex!

 

[Advanced Photo]

Any recommendations on straps? Black rapid, etc

I've owned a couple of black rapids, it's a nice strap particularly for heavy lenses like a 70-200mm 2.8. The problem with the black rapid or any strap that attaches to the tripod mount though is that the camera has a tendency to swing while you walk, and with a heavy lens that gets old after a half a day or so of lugging it around.

I tried the optech sling system, since it mounts at two points the camera swings less - however the strap lacks anything close to adequate padding so it really doesn't work all that well for a heavy lens.

The solution I finally settled on was a vest - yes, I do look like a reject from a SWAT team so this wouldn't be the best idea for those who like staying under the radar. However for me it works well. I ordered a custom vest from The Vest Guy - it's their traveler vest with extra padding in the shoulders. The vest comes with it's own carrying straps that I can attach to the camera, I can carry one camera on either shoulder or I can change it so I carry a single camera in the middle, which is what I normally do since I only have the one body.

Works well, if I get tired of carrying the camera in the middle I can easily switch it to either shoulder. The vest does a good job of redistributing the weight, has lots of pocket space for accessories or even additional lenses, and is MOLLE capable so I can add additional storage pouches as needed. I've gotten two molle pouches, one I use to store spare batteries and the odd filter I might want to carry along, the other for my cell phone.

I do stand out a bit at the zoo, but then again being a 6'2" redneck carrying a DSLR with a 70-200mm 2.8 I already stood out a bit anyway, so I don't mind. Lol

If your camera swings around too much, just shorten the strap, it's too long.

 

[robbins.photo]

If your camera swings around too much, just shorten the strap, it's too long.

Which works to an extent, however when your carrying a heavier lens the shorter strap length puts more pressure on the shoulder, and also puts the camera into my ribs. I don't like carrying the camera that way, makes it hard to reach and the ribs on my right side have been broken several times and cracked several more, so it's not really all that comfortable to have the camera positioned there.

Anything longer than that and it does introduce swing. So it just wasn't a great option for me. Might work better for people who aren't quite so tall, or for folks that don't mind having something against their ribs like that. Didn't work for me.

 

[table1349]

At 6'3" I don't have that problem with my black rapid swinging too much. Two things I did to combat some of the issues as I got mine when they first came out.

I don't use the tripod mount for attachment. I attached the strap to small very strong arca swiss short stub twist screw QR plate. My camera bodies and my 70-200 both have arca swiss mounts on them. I can attach it to either my camera or the lens.

I also swing that body slightly behind me so It is not hanging directly at my side. It is still easy to grab yet does not ride at my side. It took a few minutes to adjust the strap so it is just above my waist, riding on the backside of my hip area. Works for me but then body configurations are different among various folks.