Best Digital Camera Accessories

Geotaggers

Next time your vacation slideshow viewers ask exactly where in Costa Rica the waterfall in your photo is, you’ll be able to tell them. Down to the exact latitude and longitude. By logging GPS coordinates as you shoot, geotagging devices are able to automatically attach location data to individual pictures by syncing up the time code on the GPS log with the time code on the picture. Afterward, you can upload them to the likes of Flickr, or Picasa, and view them on a map. Plugging an SD card into ATP’s Photo Finder after turning it on while shooting will automatically tag the pictures on the card. Pros can also use a device like Jobo’s photoGPS to record coordinates via a hot shoe while shooting.

Digital Photo Frames

Can you really consider a frame a digital camera accessory? Absolutely. Because unless you’re sending all 1,492 shots from your trip to Italy off to a developer for printing, a frame is the next best way to show them off. Inexpensive models like Samsung’s SPF-71E will get the job done, but high-end frames like Kodak’s W1020 really bring things to the next level with built-in Wi-Fi. In the case of the W1020, this allows it to pull photos directly from online galleries like Kodak Gallery, keeping your photos constantly refreshed.

Card Readers

Your camera already came with a USB cable to transfer files, so why bother with a card reader? Besides being an almost negligible expense, they’ll accept up to 20 different types of cards (depending on the model you buy), prevent you from having to fire up the camera to transfer files, and in many cases, work faster. Kingston’s brick-like 19-in-1 model makes a good option if you need overall compatibility, but a smaller SD-only reader like this model from Transcend will fit into a much smaller package.

Flash Cards

Buying a larger memory card probably has a better cost to return than any other accessory in this round up. Gigabytes are your ammo as a photographer, and they’re cheap to stock up on. An enormous 4GB SD card that will easily store hundreds of high-resolution photos can be had for as little as $10. Just keep in mind that storage capacity isn’t the only spec to pay attention to. Speed classes determine how quickly each card can write data. A Class 2 SD card, for instance, can move 2MB per second, while a Class 6 handles 6MB per second. Point-and-shoot cameras recording compressed JPEGs usually won’t run into barriers, even slow cards, but high-end DSLRs writing RAW image files in quick succession will need pricier cards to handle the output.

Docking Stations

You need a spot to store your camera when you’re not out shooting anyway, so it might as well charge and connect to your PC while it’s there, right? Much like the aforementioned Eye-Fi card, a good dock eases the process of dumping photos from camera to computer. Just plop the camera down in it, press a button, and the photos are transferring to your PC while the battery automatically fills back up. Though HP formerly manufactured a handful of docks, it has since discontinued them, leaving Kodak as the only company continuing to produce and support both cameras and the EasyShare docks that go with them.