Accessories
- Alkalines - Inexpensive disposable batteries available in various sizes. By far the most common in photography is the AA size, used in flashguns and some cameras.
- All-in-one - Combined printer and scanner which usually works as a standalone copier too. It will print photos and documents like a regular printer but can turn printed items into digital images.
- Angle finder - An accessory which clips to the viewfinder eyepiece of an SLR and which uses a mirror to reflect the image through 90 degrees to aid shooting with the camera at waist level, say.
- Archival printing - Archival prints are those which are designed to last for decades without fading or deterioration. They usually require 'archival' quality papers and inks.
- Ball (and socket) head - Ball and socket heads are the simplest type of tripod head. The camera is mounted on a ball and turning a knob unlocks this ball and allows it to move freely in any direction.
- Bellows - Bellows were once used to extend the distance between the camera body and the lens for extra-close focussing. They're also used on large format cameras for adjusting perspective.
- Card reader - Card readers plug into a computer and have slots for digital camera memory cards. Many photographers find it easier to transfer pictures this way than by connecting up the camera.
- Cokin filters - A very popular filter system first introduced in the 1980s. It's a modular system based around a filter holder which takes square filters bought separately.
- Colour management - Colour management tools use hardware calibration devices and software to make sure that the colours on different devices like monitors and printers match as closely as possible.
- Colour space - Different devices like cameras, monitors and printers can't all display the same range of colours. A particular device's colour range is called its 'gamut'.
- Compact Flash - The oldest and largest type of memory card, and now used mainly in professional digital SLRs and the smaller and newer SD card format slowly takes over at the lower end of the market.
- Contrast filters - These are used in black and white photography to control how different colours translate into shades of grey, which can make a big difference to the appearance of the photo.
- Digital ICE - Digital ICE is a very effective dust removal system for film scanners which uses an infra-red scan to create a 'dust map' and software to remove it from the final scan.
- DPI - DPI stands for 'dots per inch' and it's used to describe both photo and printer resolution. (Strictly speaking, photo resolution ought to be in 'pixels per inch'.)
- Dye-sub printer - Dye-sub printers work on a different principle to inkjets, heating dyes into a gas which permeates the paper. Photos feel like 'proper' prints but can be expensive to produce.
- Extension tube - An old-fashioned accessory for extending a lens's close-focussing ability that's not really compatible with today's complex electronic lens/body connections.
- External hard disk
- Eye-Fi card - Eye-Fi cards are memory cards which incorporate a transmitter for transferring photos wirelessly and which can use hotspot information to geotag pictures.
- Film scanner - Film scanners are designed solely for scanning negatives and transparencies, and not prints. Their optical quality is much higher and clearly visible in the results.
- Filter (lens) - Some lens filters are still important today, despite the widespread use of image-editing software. These include graduated filters and polarisers.
- Firewire - The Firewire interface is used by camcorders and some high-end peripherals, but it hasn't achieved the same success as USB, which is pretty much the standard now.
- Flash memory - Flash memory uses electronic memory chips for storage rather than moving discs, CDs or DVDs. It's used in memory cards, USB sticks and some digital camcorders.
- Flatbed scanner - Flatbed scanners are ideal for scanning documents and photo prints, and some can produce reasonable quality from slides and negatives.
- Format (memory card) - You can free up space on memory cards by deleting all the pictures, but it's more efficient periodically to 'format' it with the camera to eras it completely.
- Graduated filter - Graduated filters can be used to darken bright skies while leaving the rest of the picture unaffected. They're still very useful even in digital photography.
- Handheld meter - Instead of using the light meter built into the camera, you can use a separate handheld meter and apply the exposure settings manually to the camera.
- Hard disk - Hard disks are the bulk storage devices used in computers, external hard drives and some camcorders. They store data on hard magnetic disks spinning at high speeds.
- Head cleaning - Head cleaning is a process carried out automatically by inkjet printers to remove air bubbles from the print nozzles and maintain even print quality.
- ICC profile - This is a calibration file used by colour management systems for correcting the colour reproduction of printers and monitors.
- Incident light reading - Cameras measure the light reflected by the subject, but it can be more useful to measure the light actually falling on it, for which you need an 'incident' light meter.
- Inkjet printer - Inkjet printers are the most common type, and work by squirting tiny droplets of ink at high speed on to the paper. They can reproduce photos with amazing quality.
- Lithium disposable batteries - Disposable lithium ion batteries are expensive and not widely available, but offer far greater capacity than alkalines in cameras which run on AA cells.
- Lithium-ion battery - The most common type of rechargeable battery in digital cameras. They are compact yet have high capacity, and deliver a consistent level of power until they are exhausted.
- Memory Stick - Proprietary memory card format developed by Sony and used in almost all Sony digital cameras, though Compact Flash or SD cards are used in its Alpha digital SLRs.
- MFD (Multi-Function Device) - A combined printer and scanner which, usually, can also work as a copier without the need for a computer. Very useful in domestic or small office environments.
- Micro SD - A miniature version of the SD card format which is widely used in mobile phones but is starting to appear in some compact digital cameras too (Samsung).
- MicroDrive - A high-capacity alternative to Compact Flash cards which used a miniature hard disk drive. Fragility, cost and increases in memory capacity have made them obsolete.
- MM (MultiMedia) card - An older and simpler predecessor of the SD memory card format, now obsolete but sometimes mentioned in digital camera specifications.
- Monopod - Portable camera support popular with sports photographers. It helps with the weight of heavy telephoto lenses and cuts the risk of camera shake.
- Neutral density - These reduce the amount of light passing through the lens to allow creative slow shutter speed effects or tone down bright skies in landscape shots.
- NiMH batteries - NiMH batteries are rechargeable alternatives to regular disposable batteries. Photographic devices which use AAs will normally work perfectly well with NiMH cells, which will last longer too.
- Pan and tilt (three-way) head - Three way heads can be moved independently on three axes for a 'panning' movement, up/down tilt and sideways rotation. This allows careful and precise positioning.
- Photo printer - Photo printers may use a larger number of inks than ordinary printers, or have special features like CD/DVD printing and memory card slots
- PictBridge - A standardised way of connecting up a camera to a printer so that you can print photos directly without the need for a computer.
- Pigment inks - Most printers use dye-based inks because they produce deep, intense colours and are easy to manufacture, but some makers prefer pigment inks because they resist fading.
- Polarising filter - Polarising filters cut glare and reflections, and this has the effect of increasing colour saturation. They also darken blue skies.
- Portable storage - Any storage device designed to be disconnected from the computer and carried around, ranging from USB sticks to compact external disk drives.
- PPI (Pixels Per Inch) - PPI (pixels per inch) refers to the resolution of a scanned or printed image. These days, though, ‘dots per inch’ has taken over, though it's not really correct.
- Print size - The physical size of a print in inches or centimetres. You can print a photo at any size simply by changing the print settings or by adjusting its size in software.
- Quick release head - Many tripod heads come with a quick release plate which lets you detach the camera from the tripod to take handheld shots without having to unscrew it from the head.
- Rechargeable battery - Rechargeable batteries can be used, recharged and used again. They're more cost-effective than regular disposable batteries and nearly all digital cameras use them.
- Red filter - Red filters are used in black and white photography to darken blue skies and increase contrast. It's possible to recreate the effect when converting colour shots to mono.
- Ring flash - Ring flash units use circular flash tubes mounted on the front of the lens to produce a soft, even light or close-ups, though they're sometimes used for portraits too.
- Scanner - A scanner is a device which turns printed photos, slides or negatives into digital image files. They come in two main types: 'flatbed' and 'film' scanners.
- SD card - Now the most popular memory card format amongst digital cameras, and starting to take over in low/mid-range digital SLRs too.
- SDHC - SDHC cards have now more or less taken over from the older SD format. They offer faster speeds and higher capacities but do need compatible hardware.
- SDXC cards - SDXC cards are the latest variation on the SD memory card format. They're designed for super-high capacities of 32Gb right up to 2Tb, but only with compatible hardware.
- Sensor cleaning - Digital SLR sensor can pick up specks of dust, fibres and smears, and do sometimes need cleaning. This needs special materials and a certain amount of skill.
- Single-ink printer - Some printers use inks in a combined 'tri-colour' cartridges, which may prove inefficient. Single-ink printers store inks in individual cartridges, one for each colour.
- Skylight filter - A filter popular in film photography, cutting through distant haze in landscape shots and adding a slightly warm tone to the pictures.
- SmartMedia - This is an old type of memory card that’s no longer in use, though there may still be a few older digital cameras in use around which take them.
- Spirit level - Spirit levels are useful for keeping horizons level in landscape shots, especially when shooting panoramas. You can get tripods and heads with spirit levels built in.
- Tripods - Tripods might appear to be simple three-legged camera supports, but in fact there's rather more to it than this, as the tripod design, materials and head are all important.
- TWAIN - TWAIN is a standard protocol for connecting a scanner to computers and image-editing applications so that you can start a scan within the program.
- UV filter - UV filters cut the ultra-violet haze sometimes seen in distant landscapes. They're related to skylight filters, but lack the skylight filter's slight colour adjustment.
- xD Picture card - The xD Picture card format was developed by Olympus and Fujifilm but has never really caught on and there are signs that it's now on the way out.
- Yellow filter - Used in black and white photography to enhance landscape shots. It does this by darkening blues (skies) without affecting the yellows and greens of vegetation.