EXPLORE ESSENTIAL ACCESSORIES
Enhance your kit with these optional extras and unlock professional handling and image creation
A quick look online will reveal a seemingly unlimited array of photographic accessories, ranging from the low cost and essential, to the obscure and sometimes expensive. When carefully selected, accessories can transform a camera system by extending the range of what is possible with the core products. They can be used to alter the handling, functionality and even the image quality possible with your cameras, lenses and flashes, and provide tremendous opportunities for you to be innovative in how you use your gear. They can enable you to use kit in new ways, by adapting how it interacts with other items in the system. To truly realise the potential of your core gear, look at ease of handling and storage, sharpness, colour, lighting, composition and all other aspects of a successful image in turn, to identify where the main weaknesses in your photographs lie and which optional extras may help rectify these.
Before making a purchase, consider how much use you are likely to get from it on a regular basis and be sure that it will integrate seamlessly with your existing system. Remember that brand-specific items are often incompatible with other camera systems, so the more of these you invest in, the harder it will be should you need to switch brands in the future. Whenever looking to expand your system, you should first be confident that an accessory is essential for the images you expect to take.
As you add items to your collection you inevitably make your setup more complicated to manage. Incorrect use of an accessory can reduce image quality or the ease with which you can achieve the results you envision, negating any advantage it may have offered your workflow. Photographers often show interest in an accessory without fully understanding what its main purpose is, so that they are never able to extract the full benefit. It is also worth revisiting those already part of your regular kit, to explore potential further training on their proper use – even the more common items such as tripods are frequently mishandled.