Every year the big camera manufacturers release new cameras and lens options for serious and amateur shutterbugs alike, but accessories can get lost in the hype. Less sexy than the camera itself, cases, straps, triggers, and printers tend to place second in the tech headlines. But photographers at every level know that accessories can make or break a shoot – so it pays to look into what’s new.
Here are some of the latest and greatest camera accessories of 2016 that made their debuts at CES and elsewhere.
The Skooba Cable Stable
Like most tech fanatics, photographers tend to travel with a big array of small extras like memory cards, power cords, chargers, filters and so on. Skooba’s zip up case has a place for everything and puts everything in its place thanks to inner and outer pockets plus straps.
Goal Zero Venture 70
Portable chargers get the job done when the job is juicing up a phone but very few can handle charging up a full-size camera. But Goal Zero’s Venture 70 pack was designed to charge any camera that uses USB charging – seven times! That adds up to a lot more time out in the field.
iPhone Lenses from Zeiss
The classic camera experts at Zeiss teamed up with ExoLenses to create a line of super high-end lenses just for the iPhone. These are screw mount optics with real glass elements that feel hefty and professional – it’s a very cool idea, provided you’re comfortable with the equally hefty price tag.
If you’re not, check out Photojojo’s smartphone lenses. Paired with a phone sporting Snapdragon (best mobile processor for graphics), their selection of lenses can help you create astounding smartphone pics.
The Bevy Hub
Bevy creates little computers that automatically save photos from connected devices to a central location (the hub). While it doesn’t offer much beyond storage and sharing, it does have plenty of space so you can save your whole family’s snapshots without slowing down your computer.
The Selphy CP1200
Canon announced the newest version of their wireless Selphy dye sub printer for 2016, which offers up improvements like faster print times and more battery life (54 prints on a single charge). It’s compact enough that you can bring it on the road and speedy enough that you can use it for events.
Nikon’s SB-5000 Flash
Nikon’s speedlights get the job done, but this iteration goes above and beyond with features like built in radio triggers, a flash cooling system that allows for 100 consecutive shots at full output and TTL metering at a distance.
GoPro Jaws Flex Clamp
The Jaws flex clamp is a simple tension clamp but because the tips of the clamp are adjustable, it can grab on to just about anything securely. An optional neck gives you an even wider range of shooting angles along with a little extra height.
When you’re shopping for new camera accessories, keep in mind what you want to achieve. If it’s crazy action shots GoPro has you covered, or if you want to get the most amazing phone shots possible, it may be Zeiss that helps you achieve that. But whatever your goals, you can rest assured that you can achieve them with the help of the amazing and innovative accessories that are hitting the market all the time.