Camera Gear I’m Glad I Purchased

In this blog I will cover some gear purchases that I’m glad I made. Some of these items have been around for years while others are fairly recent. Either way all these items have helped me in some way.

The first item is a sling. There are many slings out there and some are better than others however if you’re carrying only a small amount of gear, especially if it’s light, then a sling is so much better in city environments. First of all it’s more secure because you can have it in front close to your chest when walking through busy areas thus reducing the chance of pick pocketing. Secondly it’s always on you no matter what. Thirdly if you’re swapping out lenses, a sling can act as a small table and is more convenient than a backpack. Finally on a hot day you avoid a sweaty back. Of course it’s not for everyone and if I plan to carry a lot of gear then a backpack is more ergonomic, however for lightweight city trips, a sling is amazing.

This is the newest edition to my kit however since using this for a few months, I have no idea how I lived without it. Magnetic lens caps. I have the ones made by Urth and they consist of a tiny ring that screws into the lens and a thin magnetic lens cap. The profile is smaller, the lens cap doesn’t randomly fall off and it’s so much easier to put it back on. The added bonus is you now can easily attach magnetic filters too.

I couldn’t make a list of gear I’m glad I purchased without mentioning the 50mm prime. It doesn’t matter what aperture it is as long as it’s a small and light 50mm prime. This is an amazing walk about lens and so many of my favourite photos have been taken on one. It’s not too wide to lose the subject but not too tight to lose context. One of my favourite pieces of gear.

A solid neck or wrist strap is a must. I see so many photographers without it and I have no idea how they can feel comfortable. I’m all for my camera showing wear and tear but dropping it due to being careless is not something I want. A simple neck or wrist strap will remove a lot of anxiety when shooting.

Finally we have the trusty SDD. When I travel I always bring a waterproof and shockproof SSD with me for backups. Losing all my work from strip is not something I ever want to experience so at the end of each day I offload all the images on an SSD as well as my laptop. Only when I’m home, have edited all the photos and backed them up do I remove them from the SSD.