What Camera Lens Accessories Should You Get First?
If you are a hobbyist in photography, you would be familiar with the various camera lens accessories available in the market. Of course, you would most like need these if you are using a DSLR. Some accessories are quite specific to a certain lens while others can of course be used for any type or brand of lens.
Lens Caps and Lens Cleaning Pens
Lens caps are usually supplied together with the lens when you purchase it. There is usually a front cap and a rear cap. They are basically there to protect and cover the surface of the lens so the lens will be protected from impact, scratch and dust. While the front cap has a snap on mechanism, the rear cap has a screw on method. While camera lens accessories will not directly improve the quality of your images they are quite essential in protecting your lenses which serve as the eyes of your camera. So if you ever you lose any of these caps be sure to get another one fast.
Dust, fingerprints and debris inevitable goes into your lenses after some time. That is why you also need to clean the surface of the lens. However, you should be careful about the materials you choose for cleaning your precious lenses. If you happen to use hard and abrasive brushes and materials you could end up scratching your lens instead. The camera lens accessories that you need are lens cleaning pens. These cleaning accessories are specially made for cleaning lenses so you can be sure that they are safe and effective to use. They are also pretty easy use since they are basically soft brushes used to get rid of dust and fingerprints.
Camera Lens Filters
Among camera lens accessories, lens filters are the first people think about. That’s because lens filters can actually greatly improve the quality of your images in many situations. Of course, you would need to choose the right lens filter for your specific needs. For instance, if you are into landscape photography colored filters would help you moderate certain tones and hues. Astronomy photographers would also need colored filters in their work. Ultra thin filters are also for vignetting problems. This usually occurs when taking wide angled shots where edges and corners usually appear darker in photos. A neutral density filter would be most helpful cutting back light without affecting the color. But if you want to put emphasis on the color of the sky and reduce the glare of the sun, what you need is a polarizing filter. Many more filters are there for special effects purposes too.
Camera Lens Hoods
Lens hoods are also essential in photography. At times you observe color distortions and streaks of light in photos. These are light flare and that’s when the glare of a light source like the sun reflects through the lens. Because of this many photographers consider the lens hoods the most essential among camera lens accessories. Most lenses are supplied with a lens hood. However, most serious and professional photographers would get various lens hoods for different shots.
