It is hard to believe we only have a month until Christmas. I am sure some of us are starting to think about what we get for our beloved camera geeks for Christmas. Sometimes it is just easy to settle for gift cards; however, it is not always the ideal. Here are some of items I recommend for our camera geeks. Though it is from my own view, it will hopefully give you some ideas. The links in this post include affiliate links.
Some of you may think you should get a new camera for your camera geeks. The issue is most of the cameras us camera geeks want are usually expensive. Also, it requires significant investments in lenses and other accessories. Investing in multiple camera systems is expensive (I did it for a while), and I recommend against giving a camera as a present. Rather I recommend gifting something camera geeks would want, but may not want to buy on their own, or something that will spark the joy of taking photography or creativity in camera geeks.
The main reason I would recommend getting some accessories is most of accessories are useful and improve photography, and there is nothing wrong with having multiples of same accessories. Also, camera geeks are always prioritizing what to get next, and accessories tend to come after new cameras and lenses. Memory cards, camera bags, tripods are some of the accessories camera geeks would invest in. The accessories I recommend are camera straps, lens filters, monopods, and photo editing software.
A camera strap usually comes with a new camera. Many photographers may simply use the strap that comes with the camera. I did that as well, and the experience was not great for my neck and shoulder. Most of camera straps are simply not comfortable, especially when we have to carry a heavy camera and a lens attached. The strap I recommend is CarrySpeed Pro Mark IV. This strap has a wide neoprene bad, and we sling this across our body. This really helps to reduce the weight we feel on our shoulder and neck. Also, unlike the similar BlackRapid straps, the part that attaches to our camera is a plate that is compatible with Arca-Swiss tripod mounts. This helps putting our camera on a tripod easier and quicker.
Taking photograph is essentially capturing lights and shadows. How light reaches camera sensors depends on the quality of lens and camera systems. However, lens filters allow photographers to manipulate the light to a certain extent. Using different lens filters opens up new possibilities for taking different types of photograph.
However, buying lens filters can be difficult. There are filters available under $10, and there are filters that cost few hundred dollars. Also, it is difficult to really understand which ones are good and which ones are not unless we actually take photos. Usually cheap ones end up degrading the quality of photos to a noticeable level, similar to how we may not see outside clearly though dirty windows. My recommendation is to spend some extra money to buy good quality filters. Really useful information is available on Photo Taco Podcast by Jeff Harmon. I agree with the recommendations made in this Podcast and would go with Breakthrough X4 series.
A lot of photographers own a tripod or two, and tripods are something a lot of photographers would invest pretty early on, especially when landscape photography or night time photography is what we are interested in. However, there are not as many photographers who own a monopod. I was one of them for a long time. But once I got a monopod, it has been extremely useful when I take pictures of my kids playing soccer, not having to hold my camera with a long lens attached with my hands all the time. Also, there are some national parks where tripods are not allowed. I would recommend getting a carbon fiber monopod for its durability and lightweight.
One of the best things about taking photographs digitally is the fact we can develop and edit photos on a computer. Most people who take photography seriously are using some sort of photo editing software. Adobe, known for Photoshop, now offers Creative Cloud subscription for Lightroom and Photoshop as Photography Plan. The cost is reasonable at $10/month, and most photographers can benefit from such software package. Those who do not like Adobe or subscription services can look into Skylum Luminar. Luminar utilizes AI power to edit photos easily.
For camera geeks, one camera and one lens are simply not enough. For photographers using DSLR or Mirrorless camera systems, the more lenses, the better it is. I have to say there is certain truth to the statement, and the more lenses or different types of lenses can certainly help expand creative output for photographers. If we are using a full size sensor (equivalent of 35mm film size), 16-35mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm F2.8 lenses are called "trinity" and all serious photographers would love to have all three lenses. These three lenses would cover most of the ranges and types of photography. However, these "trinity" lenses are for professionals and they are as expensive as or even more expensive than a camera body itself.
What I recommend for our beloved camera geeks are creative lenses by Lensbaby or macro lens. Both lenses have particular purposes, and will introduce different ways of approaching photography. One thing to note is that you would have to make sure the lens mount matches the camera system.
Lensbaby is known for unique lenses. Their lenses introduce different perspective and output which force photographer to challenge themselves to be more creative. What I recommend is Composer Pro II system which we can bend the lens to manipulate focus area. With the Composer Pro II system, we can swap optics, the actual lens part, and produce different effects. Though I have traveled to same cities over and over, taking photos with Lensbaby definitely puts little more creative juice in me and see things differently.
Macro lenses allows photographers to get close to the subjects to capture 1:1 size. I am sure most of us have seen really up close photos of insects or flowers. The reason I recommend a macro lens is not only it opens up possibility for different type of photography, it also allows photographers to be creative inside their own room/house. One of the biggest challenge for photographers to keep taking photos is weather/climate. Not many of us wants to drag our camera gear in a really hot weather or in freezing rain. With a macro lens, we can find interesting subjects inside our own house.
If we are still compelled to give a camera to our beloved camera geeks (they should be so lucky), I would recommend getting a camera with specific purposes rather than a main camera system. My recommendations are action cameras, film cameras, and toy cameras.
GoPro has become "the" action camera. I would say GoPro is not for enjoying taking photos, but for capturing our point of view while we engage/enjoy activities. The image stabilization has improved in GoPro Hero 7, and we can really use it as an action camera. As we can use different attachments, we can mount GoPro to many different surfaces such as on helmet, car window, surf board, or kayak to capture whatever we are doing. I would say it is not easy to take a still photo as it is too small and lightweight to hold steady and compose well. It has 12 mega pixel sensor and allows RAW capture. 4K video at 60 f/s. 16~39mm lens. Its HyperSmooth 2.0 image stabilization capability really works well to minimize the vibration and make the video capture smooth and enjoyable. We can see the effect on its official site. Also, it has time lapse and HDR which many of us seem to enjoy on SNS platforms.
A contender to GoPro is DJI OSMO Pocket. DJI is known for their Mavic drones. OSMO series are DJI's answers to GoPro. I would say OSMO Action is the direct competitor to GoPro while OSMO Pocket is an unique design and purpose. Actual camera part of Pocket sits on 3 axis gimbal which really stabilizes the image and video. This gimbal technology is someting DJI has improved through their drones. We can see how it works on their official site. I would say its specs are comparable to GoPro Hero 8; however, its active tracking technology makes keeping a subject in frame even easier.
Another contender and I would say my number one recommendation is Olympus TG-6. While some of us may not consider this as a true action camera, this camera is tough and can be used to take photos in a lot of harsh environment. It is waterproof up to 50 feet, dust proof, shockproof from 7 feet, crush proof (100kgf), freeze proof to 14 degree Fahrenheit and even, anti fog. Its size is just bit bigger than other compact digital cameras. It has 12 mega pixel sensors which may feel like small for true digital camera; however, the limited pixel numbers help with the quality of photos, especially in low light environment. I would say this one is for camera geeks who are more into still photography and not for video capturing.
Even though most of us take photography only digitally nowadays, film photography still has big audience. I also do take film photography using SLR, TLR, Medium Format camera, and toy cameras. Though it can be really costly as we would have to develop and print (and scan into digital format), there is some good in analog photography.
One thing to consider while making a purchase of a film camera is that most of film cameras are old and often used items. I have personally made purchases of used film cameras on eBay without any issues; however, we may not want to take chances for Christmas present. So my recommendation for film cameras at this point is instant cameras using Fuji Film Instax films. I especially like Fuji Film Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic and Leica Sofort. Fuji Film is of course the one responsible for extremely popular Instax films. Leica is also a well established, well known, well respected, and extremely expensive camera manufacture out of Germany.
Another type of film camera I recommend are categorized as "toy" camera. Toy cameras are usually made out of plastic and use plastic lens as well. This plastic lens captures not clean/beautiful images, but unique and analogue images. My recommendations are Lomography Holga, Lomography Diana, and DIY TLR kit from Gakken. Holga and Diana use 120mm medium format film, and it definitely is different from 35mm film. Gakken TLR camera is available in Japan and copied version is available in US as well. Building a TLR camera is also a fun activity.
I hope these recommendations give us some ideas on what to get for our beloved camera geeks. Probably these items are not as fancy as best and newest camera systems available at this point; however, I believe these are useful items that will help us photographers enjoy taking photos and challenge us to be more creative.
Accessories for iPhone/Smart Phones
Lens Thermos/Mugs
Around the desk
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