The best accessories for sports photography | 2026

With all the incredible sports photography we’re seeing in the news right now, from the World Cup and beyond, you may want to try your hand at shooting sports for yourself. Perhaps your child is playing hockey this summer, or maybe your friends are avid five-a-side players. Whether you fancy capturing football, cycling, tennis, surfing or whatever else, there are a few inexpensive accessories you can add to your kit bag that will make your life easier – and improve your chances of bagging the shot.

These are the accessories that real pro sports photographers like Eddie Keogh and Phil Hill will take when they’re capturing images. Nothing on this list is hugely expensive, but any item on here could give you just that little extra edge that helps you bag the crucial shot you’re looking for.

If you’re building your sports setup from scratch, you may want to also check out our guides to the best cameras for sports photography and the best lenses for sports photography. Once you’re sorted, read on to see which are the top accessories we rate for shooting sports…

1. Monopod

Sports photography involves long lenses, so some sort of camera support can be hugely useful for keeping your camera steady and your shots sharp. However, tripods aren’t always hugely practical – they make you less mobile, and you may well not have the space to set one up. 

The best solution is a monopod. Providing an extra leg of support for your camera and lens, a monopod keeps you nimble, allowing you to redeploy with ease if you need to move to follow the action.

2. Polariser

The vast majority of sports photography is going to be conducted outside, in the daytime, and ideally, under glorious sunshine. That means you’re likely going to be dealing with a lot of directional sunlight, which you can cut through with the simple application of a polarising filter, or polariser, on the front of your lens.

Polarisers are known for being good for reducing reflections on surfaces like water – however, their ability to cut through light that’s been reflected from any non-metallic surface serves to reduce glare and haze, making for cleaner images with deeper skies and more vivid colours. Next time you’re photographing a game on a sunny day, try it with a polariser – you will be amazed by how much better and punchier your images look.

3. Rain cover

Like I said – “ideally” you’ll get glorious sunshine. But not always. And if you’re photographing the kind of sport where rain doesn’t stop play, you’re going to want to make sure that it doesn’t stop your photography either. A rain cover is a simple, inexpensive accessory that allows you to keep on shooting and keep the rain off your kit. Even if your camera is fully weather-proofed, a rain cover can make operation easier and help prevent droplets from covering the front of your lens.

You can also add a few DIY solutions of your own – many sports photographers swear by having a towel on hand to wipe away excess moisture.

4. Power bank

Many modern cameras are capable of charging directly via USB-C. If yours is, then bringing along a power bank could be just the thing to make sure your battery lasts the whole day (and if yours isn’t, then spare batteries could be a good call instead). With a power bank and a compatible cable, the lack of plug sockets around the local football ground suddenly ceases to be a problem. Simply plug it in at half-time and top up to make sure you have the power to catch an image of that 93rd-minute winner!

5. Lens hood

See all our available lens hoods here.

If you bought your lens second-hand, or from certain manufacturers, you may not already have a hood supplied in the box. A cheap and easy way of reducing glare and minimising lens flare – as well as keeping sudden raindrops off the front element – a good lens hood is a cheap and easy way to improve your sports photography, and should always be in your bag. Speaking of which…

6. Camera backpack

If you’re not already carrying your sports photography kit in a dedicated photography backpack – do yourself a favour. A proper photography backpack with padded internal dividers not only keeps your kit safe, it also makes it readily accessible. You’ll be able to keep your cards and batteries in their own separate pocket, your personal items in another pocket, and you’ll even likely have an external holder for your monopod. It’s much safer and more convenient than throwing all your kit into an old backpack from the back of the wardrobe.

7. Somewhere to sit!

This isn’t something we sell at Wex – but it’s a piece of advice I’ve heard time and again from seasoned sports photographers. A folding stool or camping chair is absolutely invaluable for extending your longevity in the field. Standing up for ninety minutes or more is tiring, never mind toting a heavy camera and telephoto lens. Being able to rest when you can will make you much more able to keep focused and shooting for the duration of the game or event – meaning that when the crucial moment comes, you don’t miss it.

About the Author

Jon Stapley is a London-based freelance writer and journalist who covers photography, art and technology. When not writing about cameras, Jon is a keen photographer who captures the world using his Olympus XA2. His creativity extends to works of fiction and other creative writing, all of which can be found on his website www.jonstapley.com