Accessories for G2

I'm a hobbyist photographer, going on a Europe tour and planning to take many pictures with my new G2. What accessories should I buy which you consider a must for the camera? Currently I only have what came in the box, plus a 128 MB CF card. I'll be taking mostly outdoor shots in Europe, both daytime and nighttime. (I dont really want a flash right now, as it will increase the bulk of the camera. Maybe later, when I'm more experienced.)

Also, are the polarising filters and UV filters needed for a digital camera, when I can edit the pictures with photoshop later? I'm an experienced photoshop user.

Is the lensmate adapter worth buying just for the lens protection itself?

A good coated UV filter such as B+W 010 will help reduce daylight blooming which can be a cause of chromatic aberration.

A polarizing filter really does an amazing job at reducing glare off non-metallic surfaces such as water.

Neutral density filters are useful if you want to use a wide aperture or a slower shutter in bright light. If you want to use fill flash in bright sunlight to soften shadows, you will find that the G2 won't go faster than the maximum flash sync of 1/250 second. An ND filter helps in this situation.

I agree that color-tinted filters can be easily replicated in Photshop. However, Photoshop can't add detail that isn't there, and these three filters I believe are better applied optically rather than digital post processing.

A lensmate adapter is worth it not only for lens protection, but it also makes the G2 much easier to hold. Place the G2 on the palm of your left hand, grasping the lensmate from below with your thumb and index finger. Your right hand is now free to work the controls.

also, i find that with my lensmate on full-time, i can start-up the camera faster...i can turn the camera on and then take off the lenscap instead of vice-versa without the lensmate. subtle difference to be sure but it does makes grab shots easier.

well, this thread is old and dead... but there is one big problem here. Filters and such are always nice, but buddy you need storage!!! All the lenses and filters in the world won't help you if you can only save one afternoon's worth of pictures. You can buy all the 128 cards you want, any lengthy voyage just won't fit on 128 cards (unless you are shooting at low res). Being an American student in Hong Kong, I am doing a lot of travelling. My favorite G2 accessory has become my digital wallet (minds@work). The added bonus is that my 3gb digital wallet is actualy a 5gb unit (anyone know the story on this?). So anyway, I don't have to lug around my laptop just to dump pictures anymore. Two 128 cards is the perfect number. I always have one empty and the other one in the camera. Then just dump to the digital wallet No risk filling up 5 gigs.

I agree with the storage argument. If you shoot in RAW mode, a 128 meg card is about like a 36 exposure roll of film. That's not nearly enough for a trip to Europe.

I am a huge fan of tripods, and if I am carrying around my backup, then I am also carrying around my tripod.

For traveling, the least I would do is get a mini table top tripod (less than 8 inches tall) so that you can set the camera on a bench or a wall, and then position it for the shot. They are less than $10.

something like this:
http://www.amazon.com …r_2_1/104-1874604-2038345

Hi

I haven't seen any reports on this but there's a Iomega Zip drive -250 megs that has a built in compact flash reader and I'm assuming battery operated.

I believe it's all wired up and designed to play images back out of the ZIP to a TV set but it's a perfect solution (if it works as I've been told) for traveling with a digital camera.

Believe me I've had a load of hassles when i was in the US/Canada and trying to get stuff off the camera and onto a fast enough PC/Mac etc.

Believe it's called a Photoshow or fotoshow etc.

Anyone had experience with one of these?

Mark

Thanks. I'm buying the lensmate adapter and tripod for now.

2tall wrote:
I am a huge fan of tripods, and if I am carrying around my backup, then I am also carrying around my tripod.

For traveling, the least I would do is get a mini table top tripod (less than 8 inches tall) so that you can set the camera on a bench or a wall, and then position it for the shot. They are less than $10.

something like this:
http://www.amazon.com …r_2_1/104-1874604-2038345

Thanks 2tall. I just ordered the mini tripod from Amazon and it was on sale for only 4.99!