Q&A: What were those Phone Accessories?

You asked, we have the answers

Google’s Nano Banana rendition of digital questions, and despite how good Nano Banana is, it still can’t spell Departures.

Twenty of my best travel photo tips, part 2.

After yesterday’s edition, many people, as they usually do, had questions about the accessories I like to use with the phone to make Photowalks, and they wanted some specifics about the exact models.

Thanks for asking. A reminder that if you have questions too, I annually do new gear guides—the most recent was published in November.

Since we picked up so many new subscribers after the New Year’s Photowalks marathon on Scripps News (thanks everyone!) the gear guide may be new to you.

So I’ve included a link to it directly below. Hopefully the answers will be there for you.

By the way, every edition of the newsletter is free, but if you want to read older ones, they go beyond a paywall, one of the perks for paid subscribers. However, Happy New Year—I’m more than happy to share this for free.

As I mentioned in the Tips episode, I travel with multiple phones, as well as accessory cameras like a GoPro, Insta 360, and my drone. I bring along four USB-C cables for the hotel room chargers, as well as two extra ones for the rental car.

When you shoot video and stills and you’re on the road, you use a lot more juice. And I’m usually dead by 11 a.m. or 12 a.m. every day when I’m on location. So, I bring along four battery packs with me. And I have another charger in my backpack just in case. I love these little accessory batteries which can fast charge a phone. The models that snap magnetically slip onto the back of an iPhone or Android case are great, but for faster charging, the ones with the built-in USB-C cables go even quicker, like as fast as like a half hour.

I swear by the Anker A1259, which sells for around $50 and has that built-in cable that I love.

I bring along an external solid state drive with me on location to move video files from the phone to make room if I need it. My go-to drive is the Samsung T7. They’re tiny, have no moving parts, and they sell for as just over $100 for 1 terabyte of storage.

If you’ve seen Photo Walks before, you know I love my selfie stick, which is made by Insta360. Holding it helps me get a smoother video shot than just handholding it. And the beauty of this $25 device is that it also doubles as a 4-ft tripod, which is great for doing, say, an interview at a diner.

Many people buy a gimbal, which is a stabilizer to get you smoother smartphone video. But I’ve never come across one that I liked. The improvement is just really slight.

I feel the same way about accessory lenses. They’re great in theory, but the slight image bump from the Reeflex telephoto lens doesn’t get you any closer on the iPhone 17 Pro than the 8X lens from Apple. And what if you have an older phone? Would a lens help you? If it’s pre-iPhone 15, then yes, but again, it defeats the beauty of using the phone for photography, which is not having to worry about extra gear.

For the Reeflex lenses to fit on an iPhone, for instance, you need to invest in a special case from Reeflex that you may or not want, and remember to always have it with you.

• The two most important accessories for me are the Selfie Stick , tripod and microphones.

The built-in mics on phones are okay, but for professional sound, which is what I need, you can buy these $100 microphones from Rode, the Wireless Micro, and get great audio. They connect right to the phone, without wires, and I can’t say enough about them. (I always travel with at least 2 pairs.)

For tripod, I had been using the $699 Peak Design Travel Tripod, which I loved, but I ended up losing it on a train. For the replacement, I picked up a really light ProMaster Scout that I paid under $100 for, with the intent of just using it in emergencies, but as it turns out, this bargain tripod wasn’t so bad. It’s light, relatively sturdy and it does the job. It’s now my go-to tripod.

Did I get all of your questions? If not, continue asking away. I love to help.

Jeff