Perhaps spending $100 on gifts for your photographer friends was a bit much. It's OK. We've got you. Or rather, UK-based photographer and YouTuber, Jay Ducker, has got you. Here are a few useful tools for under $30 (with one exception).
While Ducker's video bills the items as mostly under $50, it seems for folks in the United States that all of these items fall under $30, and all of them are quite useful. Not all of them are the sexiest photo gear. I mean, I appreciate a good step-up ring to help me affix my expensive 82mm filters to everything, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about one in my stocking on Christmas day.
There are some real gems in the pile though. The SmallRig AAK2213C Multi-Tool with Screw Storage was something I didn't know I needed until I saw it in Ducker's video, where he explains the myriad uses for such a tool.
If you need some screws to use the tool's included screw holders, there's always an assorted bag of mounting screws you can buy just to make sure I have what I need in critical moments. Side note: Should you have a photographer friend who loses mounting screws as much as I do, that bag also comes in under the $30 mark.
Ducker also recommends a combo battery-and-memory card case from K&F Concept that seems so obvious when you see it. I'm still using SD card cases and throwing loose batteries into a bag, and so having everything in one place seems like a good idea.
There are a few other recommendations in Ducker's video, but the last one, the Nitecore Air Blower, seems like a worthy successor to the time-honored Rocket Blower. It's not cheap, but Ducker makes a good case for why it's worth the money.
Check out the full details on the giftable items in Ducker's video above.
I wish a power bank maker would include a flap with a DC output that takes the place of one USB-C port, and simply adds one of those USB PD trigger boards internally thus no need for the external trigger boards when dealing with just one accessory.
Trigger boards can often be found for around $1 - $1.25. I like using them for things like video lights, since I can take battery powered video light that also has a DC-in barrel jack, and wire it up to a trigger board for 12V and then turn a basic video light into a USB-PD light and then use it with my 99 watt hour power bank, while the other USB ports on the power bank are free to power or charge other devices. Only issue is that it is added bulk, especially if you want to place the power bank into an outer coat pocket and run a wire to a light. It would be awesome to have one built in for selecting voltages, and directly powering devices.