Mastering Sony Mirrorless - essential accessories
Just got yourself a Sony mirror-less camera and needing the right kit to make it work?
Or maybe you have had one for a little while and need some new bits to improve your flow?
Hopefully this little startup list will help you out and maybe save you some money too since I’ve tried and tested quite a few other accessories before reaching these successful solutions.
Intro: Welcome!
Since this is the first post of this nature a little intro: After 17 years of Canon SLR and DSLR cameras I switched to Sony in 2015 but that’s a whole other story. The majority of my current photography work is travel and weddings with some commercial too; mostly all documentary rather than styled. I’ve since helped many other professional photographers with their decision to shoot with Sony, including mentoring, workshops and a large group I run of over 1000 Sony professional photographers.
I recently ran three courses on Sony mirror-less cameras at the Photography Farm conference in Brighton; “Farmers Market 2019”. This list is some useful accessories I mentioned in my “Mastering your Sony Camera” workshop. We also went through all the settings and the best camera set-ups for various scenarios in weddings, dancing, low light, flash, landscapes, travel, sports, families…. just about everything! If you couldn’t make it to this workshop and are interested in coming to one or to other courses, practical workshops and travel shooting experiences then please drop me an email and I can make sure you get the updates. Thank you!
Now lets get on with the content: my essential accessories for shooting with Sony Mirrorless cameras.
Flexible non-obstrusive eyecup
I have tried a few different camera eye-cups over the years and these are the best. Unlike the big rounded ones they are non-intrusive of the monitor when it is popped out, yet they still block the ambient light for the viewfinder. They are soft and flexible meaning they can be folded completely away; this also makes packing the camera in your bag loads easier!
Blowers - Quick Sensor and Lens Cleaning
I have a few of the larger more expensive blowers but found myself using these little Camkix ones I bought for travels more. With the smallest nozzle fitted they give a powerful gust (didn’t think I’d use that word in a blog!). The blowers are also tiny and you get two of them meaning one can live in your bag for quick cleans when on a shoot. When you are on the job and just need a quick blast of air to blow away the dust these are ideal. You maybe already found that happens a lot on mirror-less sensors and that’s why they are also on the essential list.
Sony Camera Battery pouch
These battery cases are a must! The Sony NPFZ100 battery (A7iii, A9 etc) fits perfectly. Makes it so simple and tidy to slip your batteries in your camera bag side pocket. Put a sticker on one end of each battery for an organised charged/used system.
The Best Sony Camera Battery Charger
Aside from the Sony charger this is perhaps the best. It can be used in the car with the appropriate lead, has a USB out socket to charge your phone and has a fast charge button; ideal for those shooting weekend double header weddings that need to get everything charged back upquick.
Sony Camera Battery Charger; for travel
I have to admit that I don’t yet have this! I broke my last small charger, it was a very cheap Chinese knock off. At least this one is branded so will hopefully be more useful. The best thing about these is the tiny size and charge from USB so you can charge them using your phone charger or a USB power pack, keeping your pack size even smaller. Of course you can also charge one battery at a time in your camera using this same method for an even lighter pack size.
Don't forget; memory cards for Sony cameras
It is likely that you all know about Scandisk memory cards and probably already use them, as do I, but recently there is a new contender; Integral.
I’d never heard of them before either so tried them with caution but having now used these for the past few months they seem good. Lots of Sony professionals are also finding the same and since they are half the price or less than Scandisk equivalent cards they are definitely worth looking at.
What speed? Since the cameras have fast and large buffers it is unlikely that you will need a super fast UHSII card, I know that I haven’t had any issue using UHSI cards in both slots. Many others doing the same with Sony A9 and A7iii cameras since the buffers are great on these cameras. I use a 128GB in slot one for the RAW images and shoot Large Fine JPGs to slot 2, they form my backup. (In case you haven’t found out yet the Sony JPGs are great with a lot of photographers actually now shooting totally JPG instead of RAW!).
The Outro; stay tuned.
This is all building up to lots more info, so I’ll stop now and run some more in-depth features on the bigger accessories later. Thanks for staying tuned and I hope this is all helpful to you. Looking forward to it all finding its own place on the internet, and then we can do some great things!
Don’t forget, if you are interested in day courses, multi day practical workshops and experiences drop me line to register your interest so I can make sure I take on board what you seek.
Thanks and see you soon.