Most useless photographic accessory

[GregY]

Those non-metered prisms they made for the Nikon F and F2.
It’s difficult to imagine abandoning the convenience of coupled TTL metering.

Not really....if you used Leica (M or LTM), Rollei, any large format cameras.......you're not afraid of using a hand held light meter. On top of that, the plain prism F & F2 just handle better.....

 

[benveniste]

Tripod adapter for my Pentax 110 SLR.

 

[Don_ih]

It’s difficult to imagine abandoning the convenience of coupled TTL metering.

I almost never meter anything, so it's pretty easy to imagine.

 

[Petrochemist]

Tripod adapter for my Pentax 110 SLR.

Why did you want an 'adapter'? Both the camera & it's motor drive have standard (1/4-20) tripod threads.

 

[armadsen]

Why did you want an 'adapter'? Both the camera & it's motor drive have standard (1/4-20) tripod threads.

That’s why he said it’s useless!

Really it’s really a little spacer/riser to allow mounting on a tripod when using one of the larger lenses, which would otherwise interfere with the tripod plate.

 

[Europan]

The crews that worked on films from the 1950s back to the beginnings must have had superpowers. They wouldn’t tape cameras and magazines, didn’t have to read colour coding of such, they even discarded the original (stamped-on) canister tape to replace it with white fabric tape.

How was film production even possible before the video tap one might wonder today when nothing happens without separation?

 

[wiltw]

What is the most useless photographic accessery you could, or have ever bought? Apart from a film squeegee, I would say a soft shutter button is completely useless.

Thinking about the OP question a bit more, someone found a 'need' to fill, so they came up with some device as a solution...the item was far from being'useless'. The need might no longer exist, or later solutions proved to be so much better than the original 'solution' that they became rather pointless to use. So really, the question is, more appropriately, "What is the most pointless thing, that you have found?"

My nominee: any of the countless small flash 'modifier' accessories that effectively do little to 'improve' the light output goal of 'softening'

 

[cliveh]

Buying on the internet is much of the problem: -

 

[BobUK]

A Microwave Darkroom Heater.
You can keep yourself warm all evening in just three minutes.

 

[eli griggs]

Hard plastic tray tongs with serrated jaws.

 

[David Lingham]

I can admit this now, back in the 70s I bought a starburst filter, what was I thinking.

 

[Luckless]

The crews that worked on films from the 1950s back to the beginnings must have had superpowers. They wouldn’t tape cameras and magazines, didn’t have to read colour coding of such, they even discarded the original (stamped-on) canister tape to replace it with white fabric tape.

How was film production even possible before the video tap one might wonder today when nothing happens without separation?

That's giving some really strong "We never had all these safety features back in MY DAY! How do you think we all survived then!" vibes...

Kids died Jim... That's why we have safety features now.

Accidents in the past lead to doing things differently in modern times.

 

[koraks]

Buying on the internet is much of the problem: -

 

[snusmumriken]

Buying on the internet is much of the problem: -]

As a matter of fact, all of my ultimately-useless purchases were made pre-internet. I put it down to the over-enthusiasm of my youth.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I bought my Nikon F from a retired US Air Force fighter pilot who bought the camera new in 1964 in Japan. It has all the boxes, papers, bunch of accessories etc. The box says Nikon F Photomic, but it came with only the plain prism finder and the waist level finder. I asked him where the metered finder was, and he said that soon after he bought it he realized the metered finder was more trouble than it was worth, got rid of it, and bought the plain prism instead.

I've never used an F with a metered head (have used the F2), but particularly for the original Photomic, they're kind of hard to find in good working order, and hard to get serviced. As far as I know, my F won't work with the later T, Tn, and FTn meters without modification (which I don't want), so I've stuck with the plain prism too. It's certainly not worse than shooting with my Nikon rangefinders which are among my favorite cameras.

As for film leader retrievers, I find the little metal ones indispensable, and use one with every roll of 35mm film I develop. On the other hand, the more common plastic ones are terrible in my experience.

When I was in the USAF in Japan in 1965, I bought a Nikon F Photomic T with a 50mm f/1.4. It came with this beautiful leather camera case. If I recall correctly, it was $199.00 off base in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo while going for $450 in America. I also got 135mm lens later on. It was my first real camera and top of the line back then. A few years later I lost the whole kit on a NYC subway. Yikes! I replaced it with a cheaper Nikkormat FT3 with a 50mm f/2.0 lens, which I still have. The Nikkormat's metering is effectively non-operational as well. I bought an even cheaper Nikon N6006 with zoom lens which works perfectly. I;ve been going backwards in models bought over the years. But the cheapest model still works.

Slide from the "F".

 

[grant.goodes]

As a matter of fact, all of my ultimately-useless purchases were made pre-internet. I put it down to the over-enthusiasm of my youth.

Preaching to the choir! I bought a starburst filter, and an expensive camera bag, both "in store" back in the days when aside from NYC mail-order, in-person shopping was the only way to find camera gear. For the price I paid for that (useless) starburst filter I could probably buy a nice Nikon Soft filter from eBay in mint condition, and as I eventually found out the Nikon Soft is probably the only "effects" filter I will ever use.

 

[grant.goodes]

When I was in the USAF in Japan in 1965, I bought a Nikon F Photomic T with a 50mm f/1.4. It came with this beautiful leather camera case. If I recall correctly, it was $199.00 off base in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo while going for $450 in America. I also got 135mm lens later on. It was my first real camera and top of the line back then. A few years later I lost the whole kit on a NYC subway. Yikes!

Yikes indeed! Leaving my camera gear behind somewhere while on the move (bus/train/airplane) has always been my worst nightmare. I usually transport my gear in an anonymous looking compact backpack, and practically chain it to my wrist so as not to forget it. I've lost a lens hood or two in the field, but I can't imagine how it would feel to realize you'd lost your bought-from-new F setup on the subway..

 

[abruzzi]

The funny thing is there seems to be a common opinion over on the Pentax forum that the SMC version of the 15mm limited is better than the HD version because for the HD version Pentax curved the aperture blades for better bokeh, but killed the starburst effect. I never liked that effect because it is so unnatural, and it surprises me that it’s still popular.

As far as useless stuff, I have to second the never-ready cases and power winders. These had good reasons to exist I’m sure, but:

The never ready cases come from the same mentality as the clear glass “UV” filters. Protection even if it makes the camera or lens worse. In 1972, a Nikon F2 and 50/1.4 together probably cost a months wages for many people so the need to protect it was very high. Today, I have 4 of them and rarely shoot 35mm any more. I probably have a couple dozen of the never ready cases in a closet that came with cameras that I never touch.

Small svelt power winders like the one for a Pentax MX probably isn’t so bad. It gives you a small grip and only makes the camera a little taller (and it’s a pretty small camera to begin with.). On the other hand the winders they made for the F2 are absolute monstrosities. I’ve never held one myself, but given ‘70s battery tech, they probably doubled the weight of the camera. They came close to doubling the size. In the ‘70s I’m sure they earned their keep, but today I think if you need one, despite all the size drawbacks, you probably picked the wrong camera. And if you bought an F4 with the faster winder/grip, so you can shoot 9 frames a second (4 seconds to go through a single $50 roll of Velvia—thats $12/second) you should probably be shooting digital.

Ok, I know the power winder are popular here, so I’ve probably offended someone, I just don’t see their purpose or usefulness in the modern world.

 

[chuckroast]

I bought a (now sold) Zone VI viewing/preview filter to "help visualize" monochrome tonality. It was initially slightly useful but I soon was able to see what I would get without yet another thing hanging around my neck. Mostly, it was an unnecessary gadget.

Fred Picker, the proprietor of Zone VI was a master marketer. His products varied between really high quality stuff (the field camera, modified Pentax meter, compensating development timer, VC cold light heads ...) and complete snake oil like the aforementioned filter. The original graded Brilliant paper was the finest silver paper I have ever used, bar none.

I have a full set of the Zone VI newsletters and you can see the same there. Some great ideas, and some hawking of silly things.

Fred was a strongly opinionated fellow who wasn't shy about sharing his views. But, at least based on my one phone conversation with him toward the end of his life, he was a super nice guy, genuinely passionate about photography. I miss him and Zone VI, snake oil notwithstanding.

As an aside, Richard Ritter, the guy who did most of his view camera stuff, is still around building, fixing, and modifying field cameras of all kinds.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Yikes indeed! Leaving my camera gear behind somewhere while on the move (bus/train/airplane) has always been my worst nightmare. I usually transport my gear in an anonymous looking compact backpack, and practically chain it to my wrist so as not to forget it. I've lost a lens hood or two in the field, but I can't imagine how it would feel to realize you'd lost your bought-from-new F setup on the subway..

Well, I was celebrating something or another with too many beers. So there is that.

 

[Korbel]

A tiny hot shoe umbrella

 

[RalphLambrecht]

What is the most useless photographic accessery you could, or have ever bought? Apart from a film squeegee, I would say a soft shutter button is completely useless.

For me, it was the footswitch for the enlarger timer. I stepped on it accidentally so often that I had to get rid of it. Also, I bought a few professional equipment cases as used by the movie industry. They were extremely robust (probably would have survived the worst airline baggage handling, a plane crash, and a nuclear attack all at the same time), but they were also twice as heavy as the equipment they were supposed to protect. They had to go!

 

[MTGseattle]

One of those big square Linhof lens hoods -- the one that uses spring pressure to stay on the lens and has a slip-in circular filter holder. It doesn't fit any lens I own, large format or otherwise. It also wasn't cheap.

We may be talking about slightly different Linhof products, but the tension held Linhof holder for 70mm filters is the only thing I could find for the old Ilex-Calumet wide angle caltar 90mm f8 lens. If you have the holder and hood assembly, I think the hood can be removed leaving you with just the holder.

 

[chuckroast]

A Lee Compendium Shade/Filter system with multiple adapters. I used it two or three times and never again for 20 years until I sold it.

 

[MCB18]

Those non-metered prisms they made for the Nikon F and F2.
It’s difficult to imagine abandoning the convenience of coupled TTL metering.

I have had multiple people say they prefer them, I think it’s certainly an odd choice but some people seem to prefer them.

Gaffer tape on cameras and magazines is useless. Either the equipment is well maintained and correctly used or everything is in the hands of ignorants.

I can see someone has never accidentally opened a loaded film magazine… I have! Wouldn’t recommend.