Digital SLR: Digital camera accessories Digital camera tripods

A tripod helps prevent blurry images

Although the camera might be perfectly focused, sometimes when there's not much light or if you've zoomed right in, your photos might turn out blurry.

This is the curse of camera shake – sometimes even the smallest hand movements can affect the picture. To minimise camera shake electronically, find cameras with optical image stabilisation (OIS), by reading our digital camera and digital SLR reviews.

Tripods

Putting the camera on a tripod is one good solution, and will ensure your photos are as sharp as possible. Pretty essential if your pictures are going to be displayed on a wall or in a digital picture frame. 

Full-size tripods can be pricey accessories and cost from about £15 up to hundreds of pounds, from brands such as Calumet, Manfrotto, Slik or Velbon.

If bulkiness is an issue, get a mini tripod – these sit on a hard surface such as a table top and are cheaper, though they're not quite as steady on the surface.

Monopods

A monopod is another alternative – with one leg instead of three, these are portable, and are popular with sports photographers who may need to move quickly around the field of play, for example.

The Gorillapod offers more flexibility

Gorillapods

You could also consider one of the new breed of camera stands – such as a Joby Gorillapod. A Gorillapod consists of flexible plastic ball joints which can be bent into position around objects such as fences, banisters or tree branches. 

There are different models for compact cameras, bridge cameras and digital SLRs, and the larger models are designed to support the additional weight of DSLR lenses. 

Prices start at around £10 for the small Gorillapod, but expect to pay upwards of £30 for the larger Gorillapods.

Monsterpods

There's also the MonsterPod – an orange 'viscoelastic polymer base' which temporarily sticks to horizontal or vertical surfaces long enough for you to attach your camera and take the all-important photo.

Looking to buy a new digital camera? Read the Which? guide to choosing and buying a digital camera.

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