Indispensable little accessories

Peli cases are indestructable. They DO float, and don't break. i dropped my P&S in a pelicase off a 20ft cliff, which then bounced into the pond below. when i managed to climb down and get it 15 mins later the insides were dry as a bone.

I saw an auction on Ebay for an add on silicone shutter button for the 7D. I think it was selling for about $13.00 US. I realized I had a whole package of them in my workroom which I bought for $2.99 US. They're little 3/8" clear rubbery bumpers made for dampening cabinet doors or for applying to the bottom of something to prevent scratching a fragile surface or keep it from slipping. Some are flat at the top, some are dome shaped. Mine are dome shaped. I stuck one on the shutter button on my 7D and wouldn't ya know it; it's the coolest darn shutter button ever to grace a camera. It actually feels like I have more "control" and better accessibilty to the button with my finger, especially with the HS1 hand strap applied. Anyway, I'm getting just as much of a kick out of my 30 cent addition than I would be with a $300 lens. Maybe others will find it a neat little improvement also.

tmoreau wrote: Wont help with camera batteries, but works great for a spare set of AA's for my flash. I actually cut one down to just (4) aa's to make it smaller. http://www.toolsaviation.com

Those are EXACTLY what I'm looking for to hold the two sets of 4 AA cells I have for my flashgun!

But they don't sell directly to the UK, judging by their website. :( Has anyone seen these or anything like them available in the UK?

(EDIT) Not to worry, found something similar!

Edited by stroberaver - 06 April 2007 at 21:43

String "monopod". Use the type of strings used to set up a tent with a slider to adjust the size of the loop. Put a foot in the loop. Attatch a metal plate with a hole for the rope and a hole for a camera screw to the other end. Screw on camera base plate. As long as the string is stretched to the limit, the camera is almost as stable as on a tripod. But you can still point your lens in any direction except moving the body up and down.

A 1 meter (3 feet) cord.

Just in case.

2manycamera wrote: My 1st thought on a favorite cheap accessory is the Giotto air rocket. Looks like a fat missile and shoots out a strong blast of air. Works great on the sensorand fronts of lenses w/o touching.

Also my favourite piece of 'recent kit addition'. Mindblowing.

I once had to send a brand-new body for repair fro AF trouble, and it turned out that part of the problem was a tiny bit of (factory induced) grit/grease in the motor drive pin socket for the lens. After that, whenever I took that body anywhere, I took a wooden toothpick to clean the drive pin socket out. It worked fine on the one or two occasions it was needed! My Minolta bodies have never had this problem- I think the design of that other body must have left the area a bit vulnerable for some reason- I don't know why but I rather suspect it may have 'leaked' a bit of grease from time to time, and of course any dust would then stick to it.