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Writer's pictureJoshua Smith, PhD

5 ESSENTIAL Camera Accessories I’m Using in 2024

I’ve never talked about some of the camera accessories that I use on a regular basis, so today I thought I’d share what I consider as Must Haves in your bag.  

The strap I’ve used for years to carry around my heavier full-frame cameras is the:  

-Use this more when I’m thinking travel photography 

-short trips 

- with the family 

They make the Slide and the Slide-Lite, I have both...  

I’ve had it for years as they’re so durable. 

The quick-release anchors are one of the reasons that I love how all of the Peak Design products integrate so smoothly. I can take it off the strap quickly and then maybe switch to a tripod if I want.  

Which brings me to the next item: 

I have the Aluminum one which is about $200 cheaper than the Carbon Fiber, and don’t get me wrong, I want the carbon fiber, but I do love how compact and still reasonably light the aluminum one is. For me, the top 2 things I love about this tripod for travel are how easy it is to set up and the ergonomics of the ball head. I can easily switch it from landscape to portrait without having to detach anything. It’s also super sturdy. I do carry a little L-bar that I can tighten the locks if necessary, which I had to do a couple of times. But it can steadily hold my full-frame camera and all of my lenses.  

It’s light enough for me but if you really want to lighten your load when you are travelling then I’d upgrade to the Carbon Fiber version. I’m on the fence about it, because if I upgrade it would probably be to a Carbon Fiber more durable tripod specifically for landscape photography, so I’m content with saving the money here.  

I love how this allows me to walk or hike hands-free. It’s a quick button release so it’s always right there when I need it.  

It’s a tight fit on my Lowepro backpack (wide straps), but it’s very comfortable and I don’t even know it’s there, you don’t feel the clip pressing against your shoulder.  

A little on the pricey side, but I would say it’s worth it. The alternatives are much bulkier. What makes this unique is its compact size 

To back up the thousands of pictures that I take I use the Samsung T7 SSD portable drives. I’ve been using the T7 Shield recently and I love the durable rubber casing it’s in. I have a little added sense of comfort from the rubber padding when I’m hiking or traveling with it, but it does make it difficult to label it with stickies like you can easily do with the metal ones.  

It’s absolutely worth the investment.  

Up until now, I’ve used the Elements Portable HDD, External Hard Drive, but I heard a horror story from a photographer friend of mine about how she dropped her HDD drive and all of the files were gone. It makes sense, they have moving parts in it that are bound to fail at some point. So I learned from her mistake and switched to the T7. 

I always keep a sensor cleaning kit with me now. I may not take care of my gear as much as I should, but I’ve learned carrying a travel kit will save me editing time later on. Until Lightroom figures out how to remove dust spots, you’ll want to get yourself a little UES kit. It’s also a Lens Cleaner and it comes in a convenient Travel Kit: Full-Frame Sensor Cleaning Swab, Air Blower, Microfiber Cloth, Lens Cleaning Pen etc. 



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