Top 10 Photography Gifts to buy this Christmas
Buying presents for friends and family who love taking pictures and making videos is tough, the kit can be expensive. Not only can cost sometimes be an issue, there’s also a tonne of interesting, useful and fun options to consider.
Here we’ve done some of the leg work for you and rounded up 10 top goodies for photography lovers whether they’re the next David Bailey or you are just obsessed with selfies.
Best Camera: Olympus PEN E-PL7
It might look small but the Olympus OM-D E-PL7 is packed with some impressive image capturing technology also seen in some of Olympus’ most advanced cameras. If you know someone who’s never owned a camera with interchangeable lenses before, this is a great starting place as its controls are simple and relatively easy to master, plus it also has a tilting touchscreen.
Even an enthusiast camera owner will get something out of the E-PL7 as its one of the most capable compact system cameras that can shoot fantastic images in a small body. It’s also compatible with a wide range of micro-four-thirds mount lenses, which tend to be quite affordable so yes, that means more Christmas presents for many more years to come!
Price: £499/$699
SEE ALSO: Best Cameras 2014
Best iPhone Camera Accessory: Impossible Instant Lab
Print images taken with an iPhone straight from the iPhone with Impossible Project’s Instant Lab – a clever device that pops up, allows you to mount your iPhone ontop and expose an image to film to create an instant Polaroid-like photo.
Users have an excellent selection of black and white and colour films to choose from with each pack costing £17 for eight exposures. No, it’s not exactly cheap but the instant results are great with the right image and it would make the perfect gift for a prolific iPhone photographer who wants to be able to print and display their most treasured moments just like Polaroid cameras do.
Price: £129/$189
SEE ALSO: iPhone Camera Test – 6 Plus vs Galaxy S5 vs LG G3
Best Smartphone Tripod: The Glif
Universally compatible, the Glif is a multifunctional tripod/kickstand for smartphones. Each end of the Glif features a 1/4inch universally compatible tripod thread making it great for anyone trying to capture perfect landscape or lowlight pictures or even time-lapse sequences and group photos.
The Glif can be adjusted to fit a range of devices between 58.4-86.4mm wide and 3.1-12.7mm thick by using a hex or ‘allen key’. This means that once adjusted to fit your phone, you won’t need to keep fiddling with it. When you’re not taking pictures with your smartphone, the Glif can be used as a stable stand for viewing media and when on the go it’s small enough to fit in pockets easily.
Price: £20/$30
Best Light Meter: Lumu iPhone light meter
Serious iPhone photographers will be keen on the Lumu light meter that plugs into the headphone jack of an iPhone and via the free IOS Lumu app gives the correct exposure reading for aperture and shutter speed at a given ISO sensitivity setting.
Packaged with a crafted leather case in the style of one from quality light meter specialists Weston Invercone. It also comes with a lanyard for wearing it around the neck and has a socket for the mini-jack plug to protect it from damage. Made from a single piece CNC Milled high Grade Aluminum, it will clearly last well if looked after and requires no battery as it draws it’s power from the sound circuit of the iPhone.
Price: Around £120/$187
Best SD Card: Eye-Fi Card 8GB
A great accessory for digital compact and travel camera owners, the Eye-Fi card can wirelessly transmit image taken from SD card compatible cameras with minimal effort straight to a smartphone or tablet. Unlike the sometimes-complicated setup routine needed to pair cameras for wireless use, the Eye-Fi cards are setup in seconds and transfer pics automatically to Android or iPhones via the free Eye-Fi app. The Eye-Fi also comes with 90 days cloud storage then around £30 for a year of unlimited upload space.
Price: £33/$45
Best Stocking Filler: PhotoPhreezePhun Camera Ice Cubes
A cheap and cheerful gift or stocking filler, the PhotoPhreezePhun Camera Ice Cubes from enlight photo will put a smile on any photography lover’s face. 12 moulds are provided to create miniature camera, lens and flash shaped treats out of ice, jelly or chocolate.
Of course it has no practical use, but it’s cheap and definitely in keeping with the fun spirit of Christmas gift giving. Savings can be made if you happen to know a few photo lovers and decide to buy multiple packs.
Price: Starting from £9.99/$12.99
Best Photography Kit for Beginners: SRB P-Size 3-Filter Full ND Kit
Currently on offer, the P-Size Full ND filter kit from SRB Photographic is a wonderful piece of kit to consider for beginners and enthusiasts. SRB has put together a variety of neutral density filters that reduce the amount of light entering the lens by 1-3 stops, enabling photographers to gain more control over their shutter speed and aperture settings.
The company has included a P-size filter holder and adapter ring, which screws into the thread of the camera lens for the filter holder to clip on to, a cleaning cloth and a filter wallet that can hold up to eight P-Size filters at once. Sizes from 49mm right up to 82mm are available.
Price: £49.95 Use check out code GFT10 for £10 off until 20/12/2014
Best Photo Printing Service: PolaBox
This is a perfect for gifting a collection of images previously shared on social media that you don’t want to try and print yourself. PolaBox is an online/app based print service that are currently offering 30 pola pictures packaged in attractive Christmas themed aluminium boxes for £15.95 and nine square fridge magnets for £8.95.
The great thing is you can use the app and print from your friend’s as well as your own social media timelines including Facebook and Instagram.
Price: Starting from around £14/$22
Best Travel Tripod: Sirui T-005X Tripod
Small, light and very well crafted, the Sirui T-005X tripod is a perfect gift for the travelling photographer, offering a good balance between stability and portability.
At just under £100, this five-section tripod can be angled to shoot at ground level or as much as 124cm tall. It’s easy to setup too, thanks to cleverly designed twisting leg locks and sprung angle selectors. The tripod comes with a removable C-10X ball head, which works with commonly used Arca-Swiss-type tripod plates.
Price: £99/$140
Best Personliazed Cards: ImaJet Fine Art Greeting Cards
This one could be a great gift for a photographer or from a photographer. ImaJet’s range of fine paper greeting cards are a great way to show off beautiful images and memorable moments. Print your own images up to 2880 dpi with the printer set to Photo quality on these heavyweight matt paper cards.
Using photo-quality inkjet coating, these cards have a professional finish, making them the kind of quality Christmas card that won’t end up in the recycling in the new year. Minimum order is 50 x A5 cards, which come with free envelopes. Use check out code AP1214 for free P&P.
Price: Order 50 x A5 cards that fold to A6 or 25 x A4 cards that fold to A5 including envelopes for just £12.98/$20
More Christmas Gift Ideas: New Smartphone Owners | For the Gamers | Home and Kitchen Gadgets | Photography Lovers | For Audiophiles | For Filmmakers
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
