7 Best Nikon ZF accessories for 2025
The best Nikon ZF accessories for 2025
These are the best Nikon ZF accessories I have found for this amazing camera and the best part is you can buy them all for less than $100.- in total!
After using the ZF for several weeks, I found these are the best accessories for the Nikon ZF especially considering their prices. I would buy all of these again tomorrow morning as they not only made using the Nikon ZF more enjoyable to use but they will also help to prolong its life and functionality.
I have always believed a camera should be a joy to use, it should work smoothly and be your partner on your photography journeys and that’s why I picked these accessories as they just helped me enjoy using the ZF even more.
I have a full Nikon ZF Review here if you want to hear my thoughts on it.
So come on, let’s get into it and I will talk you through them all.
You can watch my video below or read on if you prefer.
Nikon ZF Grip
The first accessory should be no surprise to anyone and that’s a grip extension. This is incredibly handy for a few different reasons…
The first reason is that it adds more of a natural grip to the camera, as someone used to using the Nikon Z8, Z7ii and Z6iii I am used to a bulkier grip. While I love the design of the Nikon ZF one of the things I am not in love with is its grip as it’s just a bit too flat for me. This is something a lot of other photographers have also commented on.
When you use longer or heavier lenses then the cameras grip really does start to become less comfortable and that for me is the reason why I would always buy a grip for the Nikon ZF.
The second reason is that the grip I bought also has a built-in Arca Swiss plate on the base, so you can quickly pop it straight onto a compatible tripod and there is no need for an extra quick-release plate.
So which grip should you go for?
Well, there are two manufacturers I automatically look at straight away and they are SmallRig and Neewer as I have several of their grips and cages here in my studio and I love using them. Neither of these two companies have ever let me down and their products for the price are simply exceptional hence me including them here.
Of course, there are loads of other companies like Really Right Stuff, Kirk, Leofoto, Three Legged Thing etc… but I generally stick with these two as my default accessory brands.
With Neewer being my preference of the two as they also do strobes and studio flashes and they are generally cheaper than SmallRig with the very same quality product and they also have one or two little extras included for the cheaper price, who doesn’t like a bargain 🙂
The grip I went for was the Neewer CA063 grip as it was crazily only $19 at the time I bought it, now that was a real bargain. The reason for the low price at the time was they were changing models of grip and the new grip the Neewer CA079 has a thumb support included in the grip, which is a nice touch too.
The Neewer CA063 Grip also has a 1/4 inch screw mount on the vertical grip so if you want to mount your camera in portrait mode you can do that also.
You can check the price on Amazon and the Neewer website below… If you are buying via the Neewer website you can use discount code HAYES21 to save 21% off the price. Amazon also has special offers from time to time so be sure to check that before you purchase.
If you purchase via my discount code or one of my affiliate links I might make a slight commission but it doesn’t cost you anything in fact you could save money.
Using the Nikon ZF with the grip is a pure joy to use now as it feels a lot more comfortable in your hand while still retaining a relatively sleek design. For the money, this was a fantastic purchase for this camera and it really made it far more enjoyable to use.
My Neewer CA063 Grip also came with A cool little brass shutter button cap, which you can see in the photo above. So that was a very nice touch too.
The right Memory card.
The second accessory is a really good micro sd card and before you skip on let me explain why this is so important.
On the Nikon ZF the secondary card slot is for a micro SD card slot and I use this secondary card to back-up my photographs just in case a card fails and believe me that does happen sadly.
Now there are two reasons for choosing a good micro SD card the first is if you use this camera in burst mode then you need to be able to transfer data to the card quickly so you won’t fill the buffer which will then slow down the burst speed.
So you need a fast Micro SD card and the one I went for here is the Sandisk extreme pro 256GB as it’s cheap and has a relatively large capacity for the price as well as being quite fast with 140mb/s write speed (mb/s = Mega Bytes per second so the higher the better), the 128gb version is a good bit cheaper but it only has a write speed 90mb/s so the 256gb version will help to empty your buffer quicker and of course, it has the extra capacity too.
So speed is the first reason but the second reason is something you will only realise once you own the Nikon ZF and that’s the positioning of the Micro SD card slot makes it difficult to get the card both in and out. So the higher capacity is incredibly handy then as you don’t need to swap it out generally speaking.
Having 256GB for me in a carry around camera is more than enough and as I mentioned above I record images to both the SD card and Micro SD card, so when I am home I back up the images on the SD card to my workstation and NAS drive and once that’s done I format the micro sd card so it basically just sits in my camera all the time and I never take it out unless my SD card fails of course.
You can check the price of the Sandisk 256GB extreme pro card below or even better a few fellow photographers have suggested the Lexar Silver 256GB Micro SD card which is only around the same price if not slightly cheaper at times and has a slightly faster write speed of 150mb/s. I just personally haven’t tried it myself as of yet but I have heard great things about it from several people.
Extra battery power options
Spare batteries are of course very important and useful but if you are on a budget you can get yourself a power bank and recharge the battery in the camera when you are out and about.
That’s a serious bonus to have with you when you are halfway up a mountain and you suddenly remember you never charged your camera battery or your battery starts to die when you are out on an extended shoot.
The Anker powerbanks are very good and they are the brand I usually go for and this model is only $24.- roughly.
Of course, several extra batteries would be the preferred option but ENEL15C batteries are not cheap so the power bank is a great option to have as you can charge your phone also if needed. It’s a very handy failsafe to have and near vital to have one or the other.
Keep it clean
Accessory number 4 is a rocket blower to help clean off your sensor when you are out and about and changing lenses. There is nothing worse than getting home from a shoot to find loads of dust specs on your images so I always have a rocket blower in my bag with me.
If I find myslef changing lenses a good bit I just turn the camera upside down and fire the air from the rocket blower onto the sensor to remove any large particles of dust that might have lodged on the sensor.
Your sensor can and does build up a static charge while it’s being used so it attracts dust particles and when they land on the snesor they like to stay there.
A quick squeeze of the rocket blower will release that debry and clear out your images for you again. This is also useful for lenses and filters too.
I normally buy the Giotto brand of rocket blower like the A1910 model or the larger A1900.
You can also buy cheaper models from other brands depending on the budget you have of course.
Wet weather use.
This is an odd one now but accessory number five has to be a shower cap, no, I have not gone mad trust me this is a wonderful accessory for the Zf as your camera is not going to like rain or water of any form.
So picture this you are out taking photographs in the most dramatic and amazing weather when those dark moody clouds decide they want to rain on you (living in Ireland this happens a lot) so you have to take the camera off the tripod pack it all up and keep it dry.
No you don’t, you just reach into your camera bag and throw that shower cap over the camera and now the camera is protected from the rain. So you can leave everything ready for when the rain stops and if you shoot in conditions like this you will know just as the rain stops is often when you can get the most amazing photographs.
If you have your gear all packed away you are going to miss the shot then, with a shower cap you will get the shot and you won’t even have to refocus or recompose (if you already did that). They are incredibly cheap, lightweight and best of all they take up no space in your bag, so you really have no excuse not to have one in your camera bag.
You could find these for sale individually in your local pharmacy or supermarket also. I use them a lot for workshop clients and out on shoots so I buy bigger quantities of them.
A bit more protection for the ZF
Speaking of wet weather use now and wishing for a longer working life of not just your Nikon ZF but also your Nikon lenses you really need to have Silica gel patches in your camera bag and if you don’t then go get some and put them in there today.
Without doubt, the best item you can put in any camera bag are silica gel patches as they soak up water so they help to not only help to dry out your camera but also more importantly the help to dry out your lenses as you see one of the biggest problems with lenses is fungus growing inside them.
This happens when the lens gets wet and the moisture stays inside the lens, after a few weeks and months that then starts to breed fungus and this will destroy your lenses over time.
So do yourself a favour and grab some silica gel patches and throw them into your camera bag. You buy them via Amazon but you probably already have them at home, as they come in the packaging of electronics, camera equipment and even shoes to name just a few things so this accessory is actually free.
Silica gel patches can also be reused, you can place them on baking paper and put them in the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes and this will dry them out again.
Extra Backups
The final item you need is something you probably already have and that’s a spare old SD card that you put in a pocket of your camera bag and never take it out unless there is an emergency.
If you bought the micro SD card then you might be ok but if for some reason that card is full or you also left that at home that rubbish old 4GB or larger card is going to be a life-saver as at least you can put a good few photos on it and your trip halfway up a mountain wasn’t in vain then.
So trust me that rubbish old SD card really save the day for you some day. The best part is though it’s again free as nearly all of us have them lying around somewhere in a drawer just not being used.
To add up the prices of everything if you were to buy them at the time of writing this article
Neewer Grip $35.99
Lexar Memory Card $26.99
Anker Power bank $23.49
Rocket Blower $8.99 (Giotto model is $17.99)
Shower cap $1 in store or $5.99 (pack of 50) on Amazon
Silica Gel Packs Free as you already have them at home or $6.49 (pack of 50)
Old Memory card $0 (should have a few of them around)
So in total that comes too…. $96.46
So all in all for less than $100.- you can seriously increase not only the comfort but also the use and hopefully the lifespan of your Nikon ZF.
I hope this article helped you and enjoy your Nikon ZF.
See you out there,
Kieran.