The Best Christmas Gifts for Photographers

With Christmas around the corner, now might be the best time start shopping for camera and gear related items for your friends, family or even for yourself. These gifts don't have to break the bank as you can buy camera related gifts for as low as 10$, but you can surely treat yourself to something a bit pricier. Below are some gift suggestions for photographers, videographers or anyone with a mirrorless camera or DSLR.

Camera LCD Screen Protector

Screen protectors are a great, low-price way of protecting your camera's LCD screen in the long run. Usually, the LCD screen becomes scratched over time, affecting what you see on screen. Moreover, scratches and dirt can affect the touch-screen capability of these LCDs. For cameras, it's best to find the specific screen protector for your camera since the LCD screen dimensions will vary from model to model. However, most generic LCD screen protectors will work, provided that you first clean your LCD screen before applying the protector. Below are some recommendations

• Get (Pack of 3) Compatible Canon Eos M50 M6D M100 LCD Screen Protector here 
• Get (2 Pack) Tempered Glass Screen Protector for Sony ZV-1 ZV1 A7C etc here
• Get LCD Screen Protectors Compatible for Fujifilm X-T30 X-T20 XF10 etc here
• Get Nikon D3500 D3400 D3300 D3200 Screen Protector here

Camera Thumb Grip

Thumb grips help to make the camera holding experience much more enjoyable. Some cameras are so compact that photographers with larger hands will struggle with holding the smaller device. In some cases, the camera's retro design (like Fuji cameras) and lack of a handgrip make it necessary to add a thumb grip to the overall package.

One disadvantage of the thumb grips is that they usually are attached to the camera hotshoe, making it impossible to use external speedlight flashes or other accessories like external microphones. In addition, to much force on the thumb grip might damage the hotshoe itself. Still, you're more likely to use a thumb grip 99% of the time, and only use external microphones or flashes sparingly.

Like screen protectors, it's better to choose a thumb grip suited for your camera model. Below are some suggestions.

• Get JJC Deluxe Metal Thumb Up Grip for Fujifilm Fuji X-Pro Series here
• Get DSLRKIT New Version Thumbs Up Grip for Fuji X-E and X-M Series here
• Get Aluminum Alloy Thumb Rest Up Hand Grip Replacement for Ricoh GR Series here
• Get Haoge THB-XT30B Metal Hot Shoe Thumb Rest Hand Grip for Fuji X-T10 Series here

UV Lens Filters

In the olden days, UV filters for SLR cameras were used to cut down on the Ultraviolet light and also help reduce haze to produce better quality images from film. Nowadays, lens technology has come so far that even the cheapest lenses will have some way to mitigate this already. In addition, today's lenses also have some coating on the front element to make them scratch resistant as well.

In fact, modern photography and videography vloggers will tell you that UV filters cut down on the image quality, and even impede your workflow by adding unnecessary gear to your camera.

However, browsing countless photography and camera forums, you will read numerous accounts of how photographers accidentally bump or even drop their camera lens down, and it was the UV filter (and in some cases the lens hood) that absorbed most of the impact, leaving the lens and camera intact.

So in our case, think less of UV filters as a way to eliminate UV rays, and more of a form of "insurance" in case you ever drop your camera. Yes, no one thinks to consciously drop their camera, but one accident is all it take for your $1000 lens to become a shelf decoration. Spend a few dozen dollars for that lens insurance thru IV filters.

Tiffen filters are cheap, though not the best quality. For that, consider Hoya and B+W UV filters.

• Get Tiffen UV lens filters here
• Get Hoya UV lens filters here
• Get B+W UV lens filters here

 SD Cards

SD cards are always appreciated by photographers and videographers, and you can never have too many of these for saving your work. Some professional photographers even have a spare SD card in their wallet or photography bag, just in case they forgot to bring their card holders.

While it's now common place to find SD cards with 128GB, 256GB, and even 512GB capacity, it's generally better to go for the lower capacity cards (at least 64GB or below). While you'll have to carry around more SD cards (especially on a professional shoot), you'll less likely lose all your work if your card is corrupted.

Think of it like this, if you need 256GB of storage, you might spring for only one 256GB card, instead of four 64GB cards. However, if that one card gets corrupted, then you lose your entire work. In contrast, if you lose one of your 64GB cards, you'll at least still have 75% of your work saved on the other cards.

Next, you need to consider the speed of the SD card. You'll sometimes see the speed written as 80MB/s, 150MB/s or 200MB/s, but on closer look you'll see that these are actually the read speed of the cards. Check for the write speed which will be around 60MB/s or 90MB/s. While these are more than most high-resolution cameras, a lower write speed will affect how fast you can capture bursts of photographs, or frames-per-second (fps).

For videographers as well, look for UHS Speed Class 3 (or U3). This allows you to capture and save 4K video to your SD card.

You can start with SanDisk 64GB Extreme PRO , which provides great value for money. Lexar also offers it's Professional line. Recently, Sony's Tough series has also received great reviews.

• Get SanDisk 64GB Extreme Pro here
• Get Lexar Professional 1667x 64GB here
• Get Sony TOUGH-M series Card 64GB here

Lens Macro Extension Tubes

If you've been curious to do some macro photography, but don't want to spend too much on a macro lens, then a macro extension tube might be the perfect gift for you. These extension tubes work by extending the distance between the lens and the camera body, allowing for a greater magnification. These are just metal tubes (as the name suggests), and do not have any glass or other optical element in them.

Many of these extension tubes come with electronic contacts, meaning that they can communicate with the camera body and enable autofocus. These electronic extension tubes are usually more expensive though. If you're short on budget, then the non-election tubes are also a good choice, although you will need to do the focusing yourself.

As with any camera gear, make sure that you are buying the correct extension tubes for your camera system. Buying an extension tube for Sony E mount won't work on a Canon RF mount, and may even damage your lens and body. Below are some options:

• Get Meike Metal Auto Focus Macro Extension Tube Adapter Ring for Sony Mirrorless E-Mount here
• Get the JJC X Mount Auto Focus Macro Extension Tube Set for Fuji Fujifilm here
• Get JJC Nikon Z Mount Auto Focus Automatic Extension Tubes here
• Get JJC Canon RF Mount Auto Focus Automatic Extension Tubes here

While you're here, consider these other camera gear related articles:

• Canon Compact Camera Buying Guide
• The Best Hybrid Photo and Video Camera
• The Best DSLR Cameras of 2022
• The Best Vlogging Cameras
• The Best Beginner Cameras
• The Best Compact Cameras
• The Best Camera Phones

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