Useless or absurd accessories

[Zv]

you performed a quadruple amputation on your unsuspecting Giottos. How cruel of you! LOL!

;D ;D ;D

Those 'legs/fins' are useless marketing ploys anyway, making it look like a rocket is not a plus in any way, IMHO. I've got two blowers that don't come with these silly fins, they're great. I've got a VisibleDust Hurricane Blower, but the Camgloss Tornado is something excellent.

Stops it from rolling off the table when cleaning lenses. Also for storage on a shelf it stands by itself, smaller footprint.

Good point ... I didn't think of that.

It's a small plus I agree, but not one I've run into a need of. The bellow is ribbed lengthwise by the way, that also stops it from rolling away. Anyway, thanks for clarifying.

Is it just me or does anyone else think it looks like sone kind of sex toy?? And the fact you said it's ribbed doesn't help it's case at all!!

;D

 

[ninjapeps]

One more generically useless one - a camera bag too small for your gear.

So, I'm not the first one

I'm not sure if I should say "Welcome to the club" or "may I please join your club" ;D ... I have countless camera bags, every time I see a new camera bag I get serious GAS ... because they are not very expensive, I tend to buy them quite often, only to dislike them later on and give it away free when I sell my camera gear.
I recently saw a youtube video, where the presenter says that "Photography is a more enduring and expensive addiction than drug and alcohol addiction, because photographers tend to outlive the boozards and the druggies" ;D

Bags are probably what I spend on the most often. I think I've bought 15 since buying my first dslr back in 2009.

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi Folks.
I have one, those cheap hot shoe spirit levels, bought one for my 40D, only took a day to realise my senses were more accurate than the level, it must have been 2 deg out! Crooked horizons for a day! :

Cheers Graham!

 

[RLPhoto]

Cheap filter's.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

you performed a quadruple amputation on your unsuspecting Giottos. How cruel of you! LOL!

;D ;D ;D

Those 'legs/fins' are useless marketing ploys anyway, making it look like a rocket is not a plus in any way, IMHO. I've got two blowers that don't come with these silly fins, they're great. I've got a VisibleDust Hurricane Blower, but the Camgloss Tornado is something excellent.

Stops it from rolling off the table when cleaning lenses. Also for storage on a shelf it stands by itself, smaller footprint.

Good point ... I didn't think of that.

It's a small plus I agree, but not one I've run into a need of. The bellow is ribbed lengthwise by the way, that also stops it from rolling away. Anyway, thanks for clarifying.

Is it just me or does anyone else think it looks like sone kind of sex toy?? And the fact you said it's ribbed doesn't help it's case at all!!

;D

+1 ;D

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Is it just me or does anyone else think it looks like sone kind of sex toy?? And the fact you said it's ribbed doesn't help it's case at all!!

Not a sex toy, but it does resemble a type of medical/hygene equipment.

 

[dgatwood]

The most useless accessory I have spent my money on is a memory card wallet. I have NEVER used it. I'm glad it was cheap.

*shrugs* I use mine all the time. Keeps my flash cards from getting lost in my backpack. Then again, a plastic bag would do the same thing, for a few bucks less.

Tied with the "tripod" that has flexible legs and can supposedly wrap around a fence post or branch. (The brand name has something to do with primates.) Yeah, it might work with a smartphone attached, but not a dSLR of any size or brand.

I have one of those (don't remember which brand). It struggled to even support the weight of a subcompact camcorder. No, such hardware is worse than useless because it gives the false impression that it might actually work, then drops your camera in a smoking, $5,000 pile of glass and plastic....

I'd add all 'lenspens' to useless (or rather 'potentially dangerous') category. (A piece of microfiber fabric cleans a lens more efficiently. Or dry and clean t-shirt when I'm in hurry...)

Now there, I'm going to have to disagree with you. When I'm out shooting, I find that my shirts are anything but dry, and let's face it, a sweat-soaked shirt doesn't get finger grease off your lens very well. And microfiber cloths have to be washed, or they end up being greasy, and then they don't do any good.

Friends don't let friends buy Soft Focus filters.

I would put all filters in that category, with the exception of clear and UV-blocking filters, and with the possible exception of IR-pass filters. You can do pretty much anything else in post, but once you burn an effect into a photo, it's there forever....

 

[privatebydesign]

Friends don't let friends buy Soft Focus filters.

I would put all filters in that category, with the exception of clear and UV-blocking filters, and with the possible exception of IR-pass filters. You can do pretty much anything else in post, but once you burn an effect into a photo, it's there forever....

I'd like to see you emulate a polarising filter in post, getting ride of reflections and glare.

 

[ninjapeps]

Friends don't let friends buy Soft Focus filters.

I would put all filters in that category, with the exception of clear and UV-blocking filters, and with the possible exception of IR-pass filters. You can do pretty much anything else in post, but once you burn an effect into a photo, it's there forever....

I'd like to see you emulate a polarising filter in post, getting ride of reflections and glare.

Emulating a long exposure in bright sunlight could prove difficult as well.

 

[Zlyden]

I'd add all 'lenspens' to useless (or rather 'potentially dangerous') category. (A piece of microfiber fabric cleans a lens more efficiently. Or dry and clean t-shirt when I'm in hurry...)

Now there, I'm going to have to disagree with you. When I'm out shooting, I find that my shirts are anything but dry, and let's face it, a sweat-soaked shirt doesn't get finger grease off your lens very well. And microfiber cloths have to be washed, or they end up being greasy, and then they don't do any good.

OK. Sorry. Then probably 'it's just me'.

I almost always have a 'lenspen' somewhere around, but do not bother to fish it out from a bag or shirt's pocket when I need to remove specks of dust or fingerprint from the glass. The pen's area is small, so it takes longer time to clean lens with it (during which you are trying hard to smear one small spot of dirt across whole lens area, and hope that there are no grains of sand caught between pen and glass). For me it normally ends with one more lenspen getting throughout laundry forgotten in shirt's or bag's pocket, after that it just gets thrown away...

 

[Don Haines]

Friends don't let friends buy Soft Focus filters.

I would put all filters in that category, with the exception of clear and UV-blocking filters, and with the possible exception of IR-pass filters. You can do pretty much anything else in post, but once you burn an effect into a photo, it's there forever....

And ND filters.... it is hard to emulate the blurring of moving objects while keeping still elements intact is post-processing, like a waterfall....

I'd like to see you emulate a polarising filter in post, getting ride of reflections and glare.

Emulating a long exposure in bright sunlight could prove difficult as well.

 

[Loswr]

Tied with the "tripod" that has flexible legs and can supposedly wrap around a fence post or branch. (The brand name has something to do with primates.) Yeah, it might work with a smartphone attached, but not a dSLR of any size or brand.

I have one of those (don't remember which brand). It struggled to even support the weight of a subcompact camcorder. No, such hardware is worse than useless because it gives the false impression that it might actually work, then drops your camera in a smoking, $5,000 pile of glass and plastic....

If you don't remember the brand, you probably don't remember the model. Joby makes 8 models of Gorillapods spanning a 20-fold load range (250 g to 5 kg). If you overloaded yours, that's user error, and if your camera falls, that's user foolishness (to be polite). The one I have supports its rated load with no trouble.

Friends don't let friends buy Soft Focus filters.

I would put all filters in that category, with the exception of clear and UV-blocking filters, and with the possible exception of IR-pass filters. You can do pretty much anything else in post, but once you burn an effect into a photo, it's there forever....

As others have pointed out, it's clear you don't understand the potential uses of filters in digital photography.

 

[eyeland]

I have a serious "hobby" (read: addiction) concerning cheap ebay gadgets and thus, I own countless small silly items that get little or no use. As an Avid DIY guy however, more often than not, I end up using the item or part of it later for something else. My Gorillapod knock-off will NOT sustain my 5D3, but it has become my favorite portable microphone stand for my home studio and/or when I perform my electronic singer/songwriter/laptop music
I am still undecided on the white balance lens caps I own - they could be really useful for DSLR video when I get around to tweaking the wb bias settings (the caps I have typically result in a cooler wb than I like)
I can only agree on the horribly designed lens caps hoods.. Bought a screw-in version by mistake for my 35mm IS - I barely needed to mount it to realize that it is a waste of good plastic
Even though the remote shutter release seems like such a usable item it barely gets any use whatsoever.
Funny thread

 

[Rienzphotoz]

If you don't remember the brand, you probably don't remember the model. Joby makes 8 models of Gorillapods spanning a 20-fold load range (250 g to 5 kg). If you overloaded yours, that's user error, and if your camera falls, that's user foolishness (to be polite). The one I have supports its rated load with no trouble.

+1

 

[Quasimodo]

Someone once said (may have been my Father), when you have a great idea, wait awhile, it generally goes away.

The attached is one of the most useless pieces of equipment I've ever had a good idea about.

I think in these Images the "joints" must have been super glued.

I actually bought the ballhead version of this. After trying it and concluding that it doesn't work, it's been collecting dust.
But when I saw this thread started, I thought we would see loads of useless crap, but after close to 40 years, I have a hard time thinking of any really useless and/or absurd gadgets.
The area where I have wasted most money is probably on tripods and heads. Always trying to cope with something cheap, always ending up buying something better and more expensive.

It is actually not a bad idea, imho.. I have never had a Gorillapod, but I bought the tiny Manfrotto table tripod with a ball head. I can hold my 5D II gripped plus 70-200 II steady without a problem. I bring it when I travel far away for the possibility to capture nighttime long exposures. The Gorillapods I have seen, have not pretended to be supportive of DSLRs.

My most stupid buy was a cheap ring flash. Its recycling time is horrendous, and the quaity of light is really ugly. There are no such things as a real cheap good ring flash. The plastic thing that you mount to your flash can be fun.

 

[mpphoto]

Expodisc.

Ouch. I think we have all, at one time or another, briefly considered buying one of those.

Why the regret? Is it that bad?

I bought a Vello white balance disc. One with a handle. Hold the disc in front of the lens, take a picture, then set custom white balance. My results were inconsistent to poor. In one circumstance, white balance was perfect. Then there were the three times I used the disc and my images were on the cool side. A slight blue or green tint that just looked bad.

I thought about keeping it, hoping to find a situation where it would work well. But I decided I'd rather have my $30 back and will return the thing.

Actually, this topic inspired me to return the white balance disc. I already have enough purchases that seemed like good ideas at the time, but didn't pan out well. Too-small camera and tripod bags, spirit levels I never use. Might as well get my money back while I can, instead of adding to my inventory of useless accessories.

 

[dgatwood]

Friends don't let friends buy Soft Focus filters.

I would put all filters in that category, with the exception of clear and UV-blocking filters, and with the possible exception of IR-pass filters. You can do pretty much anything else in post, but once you burn an effect into a photo, it's there forever....

I'd like to see you emulate a polarising filter in post, getting ride of reflections and glare.

Emulating a long exposure in bright sunlight could prove difficult as well.

I personally think of both polarizers and ND filters as being in the "clear" category. The whole point of both is that they don't substantially alter the shot other than reducing the amount of light and/or glare.

With that said, I can emulate a long exposure by averaging several shots with the same framing, and there are ways to tame reflections as well, though they're a much bigger pain in the ***.

 

[Loswr]

I personally think of both polarizers and ND filters as being in the "clear" category.

So, you personally think a 10-stop ND filter should be referred to as 'clear'? I do not think that word means what you think it means.

 

[Ben Taylor]

I personally think of both polarizers and ND filters as being in the "clear" category.

So, you personally think a 10-stop ND filter should be referred to as 'clear'? I do not think that word means what you think it means.

Jon I think you should head off to your local optometrist for a check up. Obviously your pupils don't dilate enough to make a 10 stop ND appear clear when you hold it up to your eye.

This entire thread if full of absurd decisions rather than absurd accessories. Except that tiny camera attached to the cat, that's both useless and hilarious!

 

[eyeland]

My most stupid buy was a cheap ring flash.

Mm, had totally forgotten about that one.. Was planning to do a few heads-shots of some DJ friends for their social media profiles and such and figured that this would be the proper use of the sometime corny "ring-shaped-catch-lights-around the pupil", so I picked one of the few cheap models that claimed compatibility with 77mm filter thread. When it arrived, I realized: (i) that the circuitry gave off a high-frequency noise that was very unpleasant and (ii) whereas the device was physically compatible with 77mm, you could actually see the ring in the frame - even at 105mm Wrote a sad mail to the ebay seller and he refunded my 50$ and told me that I could keep the device...

Except that tiny camera attached to the cat, that's both useless and hilarious!

I remember seeing a video somewhere using one of the cat cameras that was absolutely amazing.
I'd get one (and a cat)if my wife wasn't allergic ..