Amazing Canon Accessories

Quite by accident I went hunting on Amazon for Canon parts. I’d read somewhere that SanDisk memory cards are cheaper when bought online rather than through Adelaide retailers. Turns out I was quite right.

Somewhere amongst the list below of other interesting Canon accessories, you’ll find a 8gig memory card at a really great price:

Understanding the Canon Speedlite 580EX / 430EX

As an owner of the 580EXii, I am often amazed by the features that are so difficult to draw out of it. It allows the user to push all manner of buttons, but the results are always the same: You just don’t know if what you did changed anything.

This DVD is here to set us straight. One would hope that enlightenment (scuse the pun!) and a better understanding of how to use the flashgun would be forthcoming.

Canon STE2 Speedlite Transmitter

I WANT ONE! Reading from the amazon description,

This great device works in conjunction with the Speedlite 550EX and the EOS-3 camera. This master control device for a wireless Speedlite flash system meets and exceeds professional and advanced amateur standards.

Its dedicated transmitter controls an unlimited number of 420EX or 550EX Speedlites as slave units up to 33 feet away outdoors and 49.5 feet away indoors. It is mounted as a clip-on with shoe lock lever and locking pin.

Did I say this already? I WANT ONE!

Manfrotto 322RC2 Horizontal Grip Action Ball Head with RC2 Rapid Connect Plate

I have the vertical version of one of these, and I must say they are a godsend. Locking your ball-joint tripod head into any position is a must.

This version is probably better though. The vertical one doesn’t like a lot of weight topside, so having the hand-grip off to one side alleviates that issue slightly.

With a built-in bubble spirit level, landscapes are picture-perfect. Also with a quick release camera plate, the user can switch to rapidfire and manual control in a heart-beat.

Deluxe Power Grip for Canon Rebet XT and XTI

At my last birthday my wife got me one of these, with much surprise because we’d said NO GIFTS. She’d saved up specially for me, because I’d had to give up my savings to buy something for the house.

I can now say it is the BEST and most IMPORTANT asset any photographer can have attached to their camera.

If you ever plan to upgrade to the 5D, 40D, 50D, or any larger camera, this hand-grip will acclimatise your wrist muscles to the weight.

Trust me, get one today.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D Digital Field Guide

Any paperback is worth its weight in gold. Being able to flip through a book whilst on a field trip is always a good thing.

This is being added to my MUST PURCHASE list.

As the amazon description says,

You’ll find step-by-step techniques that enhance exposure, composition, and perspective, plus professional advice for photographing children, pets, sporting events, concerts, street scenes, landscapes, even fireworks.

Wherever you take pictures, take this book along.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens

All hail the most amazing lens this side of Willy Wonka’s factory. Bow at its feet, adore its six, count it out, six diaphragm blades, sigh heavily when reading through the following specifications:

Equipped with an Image Stabilizer and high zoom ratio, the Canon EF 28-135mm standard zoom lens delivers sharp, natural-looking pictures virtually ever time. Handy where flashes are prohibited, it excels in dim lighting. Includes a ring-type USM for swift, silent autofocusing and full-time manual focusing. More…

Focal length: 28-135mm
Maximum aperture: 1:3.5-5.6
Diagonal angle of view: 75 to 18 degrees
Focus adjustment: Rear focusing system with USM
Closest focusing distance: 1.6 feet
Filter size: 72mm
Dimensions: 3.1 inches in diameter, 3.8 inches long
Weight: 18.9 ounces

Bow again. Open your wallet. Spend your savings. Buy this lens now. You’ll thank me sooner rather than later.

SanDisk 8GB CF Card Extreme III

The last SanDisk card I paid for was about $200 and only 4 gig. So when I find one priced at only $51-ish, I’m inclined to buy them online from now on!

Amazon Description:
SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash is designed for serious professional photographers who demand one of the fastest, most rugged, and most durable memory cards on the market. Professional photographers who work under less than ideal conditions expect more from a flash memory card. More speed. More performance. More reliability. SanDisk’s new Extreme III card delivers everything you want plus a whole lot more. This card features 30 MB/s read/write speed.

B&W 58mm UV Haze Multi-Coated Filter

There’s no easy way to describe this, so just read the Amazon Description:

This UV Filter blocks the invisible UV component of light from the sky, which can cause blur and to which many color films react with a blue cast. UV Filters are ideal for photography in high altitudes (in the mountains), by the sea and in regions with very clean air. The pictures gain brilliance and disturbing blue casts are avoided. The glass is colorless, color rendition is not altered, aside from the elimination of the unwanted blue cast, and no increase in exposure is required. That makes a UV Filter very suitable as protection of the front element of the taking lens against dust, flying sand, sea water spray and the like, and it can be kept on the lens at all times.

Sto-Fen OMEY Omni-Bounce Diffuser

About a year ago I made a simple simlar device using the top of a cream-can. White plastic upturned lid held over flash meant the light was spread out over the area I was lighting up, rather than straight onto the subject.

This handy device is great because it slips over the top of your speedlite or flashgun. Another gadget I have to have!

So that’s it today. Did you find the 8gig Memory Card? Are you going to buy it? I would like to buy a few of them, most definitely!