Appliances Renovation

Building up an SLR Cameras Outfit

The biggest attraction of a 35mm single lens reflex camera is its versatility. Not only is it a useful piece of equipment in its own right, but it can be the ‘heart’ of a complete camera outfit. You can add things like extra lenses, filters, a flashgun, a tripod, as and when you feel you need them, to help you get the results you want.

Smaller items—a blower brush for cleaning lenses, or a cable release, for example—also form part of the serious photographer’s equipment as the collection builds up. And, of course, you will need a gadget bag, or a carrying case to keep everything in.

The right priorities

Don’t be put off by the vast array of camera accessories on the market— you won’t need them all. Obviously you need to sort out priorities and decide what to buy now and what to leave for later. This will mainly depend on:

• Your style of photography. Think about the items you really need to help with the type of photography you concentrate on, be it landscapes, portraits, still life or sport.
• Your budget. A cheaper item, such as a filter, can open up new fields, even if you can’t yet afford to invest in more expensive extra lenses.

Inexpensive basics

First, think about the smaller items for the outfit. A lens hood (rubber or metal) not only protects the front of the lens from damage but helps to prevent ‘flare’ when shooting towards the sun. Camera shake can be a problem, so a cable release is useful whenever long exposure times require the camera to be mounted on to a tripod or support. Camera care equipment, such as a blower brush, lens cleaning tissue and even a small screwdriver set for on-the-spot repairs (a loose screw on the lens, for instance) all have a place in the outfit too.

Camera bags

You will need some sort of carrying bag for these first basic accessories. At first a medium-sized soft shoulder bag is enough to carry the camera, lens hood and filter, spare film, lens cleaning tissues and hand-held exposure meter—if your camera has no TTL metering. It is helpful if the bag has an outside pocket of some sort to keep the small items from getting damaged by the bulkier ones. Just make sure the various things are well wrapped in dusters to stop them banging about. Some people keep their camera in its ever-ready case.

As you add more items to your outfit a special camera carrying case is more suitable. Most are made from reinforced real or simulated leather, and contain cut-outs or removable inserts to secure various pieces of equipment. Most have carrying handles as well as shoulder straps, so that the case can be carried easily while you are taking photographs.

There are various ways you can make sure your equipment is securely held in the case, and overleaf we show how a typical camera bag can be adapted to your precise needs.

Finally, and very much for the larger outfit, there is a range of more expensive aluminium attache cases with foam rubber inside, which can be cut to hold the equipment firmly. These offer good protection, but they can be the most expensive. Avoid the cheaper ones made of foil-covered plywood which is lighter, but does not offer as much protection. Bear in mind that, because these aluminium cases are brightly finished, they tend to be conspicuous—and may possibly attract a thief.

Choosing filters

There are many different types of filter on the market, but the basic outfit need only contain four or five. Most photographers start off with a simple skylight I A filter which cuts through ultra violet ‘haze’. Unlike a normal UV filter, it is also colour corrected, so it can be used for black and white or colour film. The skylight filter can be kept on the camera all the time to stop dust and dirt spoiling the lens.

A polarizing filter will counteract reflections from glass or other similar surfaces, darken the sky, and make colours more vivid.

Various coloured filters–red, green, blue, yellow—can be used for effect in black and white work. In a landscape shot, for instance, a yellow filter will make the sky darker, an orange filter will exaggerate the effect, while a red filter darkens the sky still further. With colour film, these filters give an overall colour cast to the picture, which can be effective.

Colour correction filters are useful for either colour negative or transparency film. They enable you to take daylight pictures with tungsten (artificial light) film, and vice versa.

So a few filters will make a worthwhile yet reasonably inexpensive addition to your camera outfit. You might want one or two of the simpler special effects filters, as well. The starburst turns a single light source into a repeated star shape, and a soft focus filter can be used to soften portraits.

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