The nine, in detail
What each accessory does, what to look for, and where to go next. Seven of the nine now have a full guide with six picks.
Memory cards
Photo spaceA memory card and its packaging beside a camera with the card door open.
The accessory nobody should skip and the one most often bought carelessly. A card that cannot sustain the write speed a camera demands will stop a recording partway through, and it will do it when something is happening rather than when you are testing it.
Capacity is the number on the front of the packet and the least important thing about it. What matters is sustained write speed, expressed as a Video Speed Class. V30 guarantees a minimum of 30 MB per second, V60 guarantees 60, and V90 guarantees 90. For 4K video, V30 or the equivalent U3 rating is the floor. For high bit rate or 8K capture, look for V60 or V90.
This is also the single most counterfeited product in photography. Fakes report a capacity they do not have, pass a quick test in a shop, and fail under sustained load. Buy from the manufacturer or from a retailer you would happily return a faulty card to.
What to look for
Both guarantee 30 MB per second sustained write, which is what 4K recording needs.
Required by 8K and by the higher bit rate modes on current flagships.
A card failure loses half a shoot rather than all of it.
Counterfeits are common and indistinguishable from a listing photograph.
SanDisk Extreme PRO
Widely stocked in the UK, rated V30 in the microSD line, and available directly from Western Digital, which removes the counterfeit question entirely.
V30 / U3 on the UHS-I line
4K on cameras, drones and action cameras
Western Digital or a trusted retailer
Typical UK price
Around £15–£45 for 128 GB
Full guide:
Best Memory Cards. Six picks, a comparison table, what to look for and the questions buyers ask.
Batteries and chargers
Photo spaceThree camera batteries seated in a multi-bay charging hub with one spare alongside.
The purchase that changes a day of shooting more than any other. Manufacturers quote runtimes measured at low resolutions with the screen off, and the figure you get in the field is a fraction of it. Cold weather takes another bite, because lithium cells lose capacity as they get colder.
Three packs in total is the number that changes the experience. One is a demonstration. Two leave you rationing. Three lets you shoot, review, adjust and shoot again, which is how anyone gets better.
A multi-bay charging hub matters once you own three, because charging in the camera means the camera is not being used. On third-party cells, the honest position is that the good ones are fine and the bad ones are a fire risk, and a listing will not tell you which is which. For anything with an intelligent battery system, which covers most drones and current cameras, buy the manufacturer’s own.
What to look for
The limit on most shoots is power rather than skill or sensor size.
Charges in sequence from one cable while you keep using the camera.
Drones and current cameras negotiate with the battery. Third parties often cannot.
A cold pack recovers most of its charge once it warms up.
The manufacturer's own battery
Unfashionable advice and the right advice. Buy the camera maker’s cells and their charging hub, from the camera maker, and the compatibility and safety questions disappear.
The camera manufacturer’s own store
A multi-bay hub, not the camera
Swollen packs, which are scrap rather than repairable
Typical UK price
Around £20–£90 per pack
Full guide:
Best Camera Batteries. Six picks, a comparison table, what to look for and the questions buyers ask.
Microphones
Photo spaceA wireless microphone transmitter clipped to a jacket with the receiver mounted on a camera.
Viewers forgive a mediocre picture and switch off bad sound. If your voice appears in your footage, a microphone will improve your videos more than spending the same money on a better camera, and it is not close.
Built-in microphones are small, often sealed behind a waterproof membrane, and pointing wherever the camera is pointing rather than at you. Wind across the port produces a roar that no editing removes. Both problems are solved by getting a microphone closer to the speaker and out of the wind.
A wireless system with a transmitter clipped to you and a receiver on the camera is the most useful shape for a solo creator. Bluetooth microphones are simpler to pair and have a lower quality ceiling. A recorder in a pocket, synced later, is the free option that always works.
What to look for
Nothing tethers you to the camera and the sound is recorded at source.
Foam handles a breeze. Only fur handles actual wind.
The transmitter records its own copy in case the link drops.
Cold shoe fitting and whether it needs an adapter for your camera.
DJI Mic Mini, or DJI Mic 2 for more range
The Mini is small enough that you keep it clipped on, and the Mic 2 adds onboard recording and longer range. Both work with cameras, phones and DJI’s own hardware.
Transmitter and receiver, wireless
Talking to camera, interviews, walk-and-talk
Charging case capacity and windshield included
A pocket recorder synced in the edit
Typical UK price
Around £65–£190
A dedicated Best Creator Microphones guide is planned. It will link back here, and this section will link out to it.
Filters
Photo spaceA set of neutral density filters in their case beside a lens and a drone.
The cheapest way to make video look deliberate rather than accidental. Most action cameras and drones have a fixed aperture, so in bright light the camera has only one way to control exposure: raise the shutter speed. A fast shutter freezes each frame, and the result is motion that stutters and looks over-sharp.
A neutral density filter is dark glass that cuts the light without changing the colour, letting you use a slower shutter and restoring natural motion blur. Sets are usually sold in strengths such as ND8, ND16, ND32 and ND64, matched to your camera’s mount.
A circular polariser does a different job: it cuts reflections from water, glass and wet roads, and deepens a pale sky. It cannot be replicated in editing, which is what makes it worth carrying.
What to look for
Filter sets are model specific, particularly for drones and action cameras.
ND8 through ND64 covers most daylight conditions.
Cheap filters introduce flare and a colour cast that has to be corrected later.
Reflection control is the one effect no editing software can add afterwards.
Hoya HD nano Mk II CIR-PL
A polariser is the filter most kits are missing, and this one costs only about a stop of light while Hoya publishes sixteen coating layers on both sides and a hardened, water repellent surface.
ND 2.2, about 1 stop (Hoya published)
16 layers, both sides (Hoya published)
Ultra-thin aluminium (Hoya published)
49 to 82mm (Hoya published)
Typical UK price
£100 to £145 (67mm to 82mm)
Full guide:
Best Camera Filters. Six picks, a comparison table, what to look for and the questions buyers ask.
Tripods and supports
Photo spaceA travel tripod folded and extended side by side, showing the packed size.
A tripod earns its place the moment you want a long exposure, a timelapse, or to be in your own shot. Until then a wall or a beanbag does the job, which is why it sits in the middle of a sensible buying order rather than at the top.
Two numbers matter and they pull against each other: packed length and load rating. A tripod that folds small enough to carry is one you will actually take, and a tripod rated well above your kit weight is one that does not creep during a long exposure. Carbon fibre buys you lightness at a price; aluminium is heavier, cheaper and perfectly stable.
The head matters as much as the legs. A ball head is fast and right for stills. A fluid head is right for video, because it lets you pan and tilt smoothly rather than in jerks.
What to look for
The tripod you leave behind has a load rating of zero.
Rated headroom is what stops slow creep during long exposures.
Ball head for stills, fluid head for video.
Twist locks pack smaller and survive sand better. Flip locks are faster.
Peak Design Travel Tripod
Designed around packed diameter rather than headline height, which is the specification that decides whether a tripod comes with you. Available in aluminium and carbon fibre.
Packs to roughly the diameter of a water bottle
Aluminium or carbon fibre
Travel, hiking, anyone who has abandoned a tripod before
Typical UK price
Around £280–£400
Full guide:
Best Camera Tripods. Six picks, a comparison table, what to look for and the questions buyers ask.
Camera bags
Photo spaceA camera backpack open on a bench with dividers, a body, two lenses and a drone inside.
The most expensive accessory mistake is a bag too awkward to carry, because the kit then stays at home. Buy for the trip you make weekly rather than the one you make once a year, and accept that most people end up owning two.
A backpack carries a full kit comfortably and is slow to get into. A sling holds a body and one lens and swings round to your front in seconds. A shoulder bag is for working from one place. The right first purchase is usually the smaller one.
Look for dividers that actually hold their shape, a laptop or tablet sleeve if you edit on the move, and side access so the camera comes out without putting the bag on the ground. Weatherproofing matters more in Britain than the specification sheets suggest.
What to look for
Side or back panel access is the difference between getting the shot and missing it.
Floppy dividers turn a camera bag into a sack within a month.
A built-in cover or a genuinely water-resistant shell.
A large bag used rarely is worse value than a small bag used constantly.
Peak Design Everyday Backpack, or the Everyday Sling for less
Origami dividers that hold their shape, dual side access, and weatherproofing that copes with British weather. The Sling is the honest recommendation for anyone carrying a body and one lens.
Backpack, sling and shoulder in one family
Dual side access without setting it down
Fold-over origami shelves
Mixed kits: camera, drone and laptop together
Typical UK price
Around £85–£280
Full guide:
Best Camera Bags. Six picks, a comparison table, what to look for and the questions buyers ask.
Cleaning kits
Photo spaceAn air blower, a lens pen and two microfibre cloths laid out beside a lens.
Perhaps twenty pounds of equipment that prevents the one fault which ruins every frame you shoot afterwards. A scratch on the front element is permanent, and most scratches are put there by the owner cleaning the lens badly.
The order matters more than the products. Blow the loose grit off first with an air blower, because wiping grit across glass is exactly how scratches happen. Only then use a lens pen or a microfibre cloth, working in small circles from the centre outwards. Never a shirt, never a tissue, and never start with a cloth.
Sensor cleaning is a separate discipline and a riskier one. A blower and the camera’s own sensor-shake function clear most dust. Wet swabs work but are unforgiving, and if you are hesitant, a service is cheaper than a replacement sensor.
What to look for
Rocket-style blowers move grit without touching the glass. Never use compressed air cans on a sensor.
The carbon tip lifts fingerprints without liquid.
One kept clean for glass, one for bodies and screens. Wash them, do not use fabric softener.
A blower and the camera’s own cleaning cycle handle most dust safely.
ZEISS Lens Cleaning Kit
One bag covering the four stages of a lens clean: blowing, brushing, dry wiping and wet wiping. It carries nothing for the sensor, which is a separate job with separate tools.
Blower, brush, solution, cloth, 10 wipes (ZEISS published)
18 x 18cm (ZEISS published)
Lenses with anti-reflective coatings (ZEISS published)
Typical UK price
£25 to £35
Hard cases
Photo spaceAn open hard case with foam cut to hold a drone, two batteries and a controller.
Protection is the stated purpose. The real benefit is that a kit which lives in one box gets taken out of the house, because everything is in one place and nothing has to be gathered up first.
A hard case matters when equipment travels in a car boot, in a hold, or on a boat. Look for a rated seal if it will get wet, a pressure valve if it will fly, and foam you can cut or a divider system you can rearrange, because the kit will change.
For everyday carry a padded bag is more practical and far lighter. The hard case is for transport rather than for use.
What to look for
IP ratings on cases mean something, unlike vague water-resistant claims.
Equalises cabin pressure changes so the lid still opens on landing.
Pluck foam or movable dividers, because your kit will not stay the same.
A case that will not fit in the locker defeats the purpose.
Peli protector cases
The reference point for hard cases, with a lifetime guarantee and sizes from a phone up to a full kit. Widely available in the UK and easy to fit foam to.
From pocket size to full flight cases
Pluck foam or padded dividers
A pressure valve if the case will fly
Drones, action camera kits, anything that travels
Typical UK price
Around £40–£150
A dedicated Best Camera Cases guide is planned. It will link back here, and this section will link out to it.
Power banks and charging
Photo spaceA power bank charging a camera over USB-C, with a multi-port charger alongside.
Most current cameras, drones and action cameras charge over USB-C, and many will record while charging. That turns a long static shot from a battery problem into a cable problem, and it means one power bank can keep an entire kit alive on a day away from a socket.
Look for USB-C Power Delivery rather than a bare USB-A socket, and check the output in watts rather than only the capacity in milliamp hours. Capacity tells you how much energy is stored. Output tells you whether it can actually charge a laptop or a camera at a usable speed.
One practical constraint: airlines limit power bank capacity and require them in hand luggage rather than the hold. Check the limit before flying, because a confiscated power bank at security is an expensive lesson.
What to look for
Not just a USB-A socket. PD is what charges cameras and laptops properly.
A large battery with weak output charges slowly and may not charge a laptop at all.
Charges the bank and the device at the same time from one wall socket.
Power banks must fly in the cabin, and there is a stated capacity ceiling.
Anker Prime, or a smaller Anker PD bank
Anker is the default recommendation for a reason: high sustained output, clear specifications and a warranty that is honoured. Size it to the kit rather than buying the largest one.
Output in watts as well as capacity
Confirm the airline capacity limit
Typical UK price
Around £80–£140
A dedicated Best Power Banks guide is planned. It will link back here, and this section will link out to it.