We’ve all been there right? You’re in the local camera shop, sizing up a new camera bag, only to bring it home to realise all the bits and pieces you have don’t fit in there all together! If you’re anything like me, then by now you probably have a camera bag for all occasions!
Here’s a run-down of my 10 Camera Bag Essentials - things that are always in my bag, almost all the time (whatever bag i happen to be using!), whatever the mission!
1. FOTGA Professional Rocket Air Blower
A little cheaper than it’s famous competitor; i’ve also found the FOTGA to be a little more hard wearing! It’s not just the perfect accessory for getting dust off of your lenses, filters and sensors. It’s also great for people writing blogposts whilst eating toast!
2. Hama Micro II Lens Pen
Hama are pretty much the go-to choice for lens cleaning pens. I’ve had many of them down the years and i think every one of them was a Hama. Hardwearing, long lasting, and does the job. The cleaning tip is also small enough to get in the viewfinder of your camera, or clean the lens of your smartphone. Good job Hama!
3. JOBY GorillaPod
These little monkeys, sorry, Gorillas are awesome! They come in a range of size and load bearing capacities (up to 5kg), and are perfect for Vloggers as well as conventional snappers! Particularly useful for shooting time-lapses from motorway flyovers!
4. K&F Concept 77mm Variable ND Filter
Winter is coming, and snowy landscapes with low sun will soon be before our lenses! In fact, a good ND filter is perfect any time of the year when shooting in sunny conditions, especially if you’re shooting video too! The best thing about the K&F is that it’s a variable filter, which means it can be adjusted to your light requirements. A must have piece of kit for anyone shooting outdoors!
5. Anker Power Bank
If you’ve got teenagers at home, roaming the streets with their smartphones, then you know all about power banks already! The funny thing is thought, they really are an essential piece of kit - especially if you’re out shooting for a day or more. I’ve used high-capacity power banks for some time now, and in many cases when i’m away from home for just a few days - i don’t even take a phone charger with me. These things will charge anything with a powered usb connection - phones, gopros, tablets etc etc
6. Western Digital Portable Hard Drive
Backing up data on the go is becoming an essential part of any photographers day. And a portable hard drive really is a does fall in the category of camera bag essentials! Available in a variety of capacities, it’s always useful to have one with you on the road. Some models are also available with a memory card input so you can back up images for editing later, without having to worry about data loss. Now….while we’re on the subject of backing up - you’ll need some of these first…
7. Sandisk Extreme PRO Memory Card
Yeah, well, this one is a bit obvious isn’t it! But, it never hurts to have a bunch of cards in your bag (i keep one in my wallet too - just in case i forget to pack some - believe me, i’ve done it!)! These things do go kaputt, so spares are essential! SanDisk cards are however super-reliable, fairly priced, and very fast!
8. Apple Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader
If you happen to be a true on-the-fly editor, then this is for you!! No more uploading to clouds or whatever so that you can edit on your iPad in the car home - just pop this in to any iOS device and the files on the card will automatically appear for import in the iOS photos app. What you do after that is up to you!
9. Manfrotto Universal Smartphone Clamp
This handy smartphone holder is the perfect companion for your Gorilla Pod or travel tripod. This phone clamp is grippy and sturdy, and can be threaded on to almost any small tripod. Again, really useful when you need to keep your phone completely steady when shooting at night or time-lapse.
10. DJI Mavic Mini
Yeah, i know what you’re thinking! A drone isn’t really a camera bag essential, is it? But why not? The latest drone from DJI has a new sensor on board, can shoot 2.7k video, and is under the weight limit for most countries requirement for registration! You just need to fly the thing responsibly!
A great piece of kit for landscape shooters that just can’t get into the right position for the shot they want! Don’t think that’s because it’s a drone you have to go on some record breaking flight and photograph that castle you’re in front of from 10,000ft! Most things look sooo good with just a slight change of perspective - sometimes just a few meters!