Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

External Flashes and Other Attachments

Most digital camera owners don’t see the need for external flashes, filters, tripods, and other fancy attachments. But if you have a hardcore film photography background, you probably can’t imagine life without your beloved accessories. In general, digital cameras that look like full-size, traditional film cameras can accept all the traditional attachments. Most tiny, sliding-cover, subcompact pocket cameras can’t.

Filters and accessory lenses often mean fitting your camera with a tubular lens adapter (Figure 1-6). Usually the smaller the adapter and the finer the threads, the more patience you’ll need. Nothing is more frustrating than stripping the threads on your camera body because you couldn’t screw in the adapter ring properly.

Figure 1-6. Some digital cameras can accommodate accessory lenses and filters using an optional adapter. You can extend the power of this Olympus, for example, by adding telephoto, wide angle, and macro lenses.

Even if you’re not an accessory kind of person, check out your camera’s tripod mount—a small, threaded hole in the camera base. Nobody likes lugging around a tripod, but there are moments when it’s the only way to get a beautiful artistic shot, like streaking car lights across a bridge, or almost anything at night. Many of the professional techniques in the next two chapters require a tripod. (And if you don’t have a tripod, see the box in Section 1.11 for some buying advice.)

Flip the camera over and find where the socket is located. A tripod mount near the center of the base is easier to work with than one way off to one side or another. A sturdy metal socket is better than a cheap plastic one. A camera’s tripod mount may not be a deal breaker, but when you’re buying a new camera, it’s worth inspecting the socket before you head to the checkout counter.

BUYERS’ GUIDEHow to Buy a Tripod

A tripod has two parts: the legs and the pan head. The camera attaches to the pan head, and the legs support the head.

You can buy a tripod with any of three pan head types. Friction heads are the simplest, least expensive, and most popular with still photographers. Fluid heads are desirable if you’ll also be using your tripod for a camcorder, as they smooth out panning and tilting. They’re more expensive than friction heads, but are well worth the money if you’re after a professional look to your footage. Finally, geared heads are big, heavy, expensive, and difficult to use.

The tripod’s legs may be made of metal, wood, or composite. Metal is light and inexpensive, but easily bent or damaged. Wood and composite legs, which are sturdier and much more expensive, are better for heavier professional broadcast and film equipment. The bottoms of the legs have rubber feet, so they won’t slip on hard floors.

Good tripods also have spreaders that prevent the legs from spreading apart and causing the entire apparatus to crash to the ground. If your tripod doesn’t have spreaders, put the tripod on a piece of carpet, which prevents the legs from slipping apart.