Sadly, the world in which we’re living has become more polarized, with hatred splitting communities and war tearing countries apart. Many people roll their eyes when the holidays approach, but perhaps we should all be happy it’s only a few weeks away and think about what would help other photographers and brighten their days.
Despite saying that, I’m not a great fan of the commercialism of holidays. Nevertheless, gifts are part of the tradition for many societies. There are small and useful things that can bring a bit of joy. Plus, ours is an art form that relies heavily on equipment. Therefore, what could be better than buying something small for the other photographers in our lives?
Peak Design and Carryology
As I began writing this article, Peak Design announced a new collaboration with Carryology. The items in this new range of gear fit into the category of under $100. They are released today, so I have included the Carryology variations of their existing products in this article.
Capture Clip
Peak Design often collaborates with other manufacturers and the latest is with Carryology. One of their six products is the Capture Clip.
This is a superb device that takes the weight off your neck. By attaching it to your belt or bag strap, your camera can slide into it using PD’s Arca-Swiss plate. I see an increasing number of photographers who don’t use straps, which I understand, so this is an alternative way of keeping their hands free when not shooting.
Camera Straps
Other products in the collaboration include their Slide, Slide Lite, and Leash straps, plus the Cuff wrist strap. They are all in new colorways and are manufactured from stronger, slash-proof materials. But which model strap should you choose?
The better strap for a large 35mm-sensor camera and long lens combination is the Slide. However, I use a Micro Four Thirds OM-1 Mark II, and with the biggest of my lenses, the M.Zuiko 150-400 F4.5 Pro, and the other long zooms like the 100-400mm and 150-600mm, the Slide is what I need.
However, with smaller lenses that weigh less, like my walkaround 40-150mm f/4 PRO and the 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO, I find the Slide Lite is the better option.
There’s another strap I’ve found intriguing, and that is the one made by Kodak. Suitable for small camera and lens combinations, it’s a neat-looking and versatile strap that can be used in different configurations.
Wrist Straps
One word of caution: wrist straps are not designed for dangling and swinging a camera but to act as a failsafe if you drop it. I have seen someone continuously dangling their camera from a single anchor point using a similar wrist strap, and the anchor point broke off the body, causing the camera to hit the ground. Similarly, I have heard of tripod mounts on cameras breaking away after people used wrist straps to hang their cameras. They are great for preventing your camera from getting knocked from your hand or snatched by a thief.
For a small camera setup, The Peak Design Cuff ($34.95) is a wrist strap designed to attach to a single anchor point on the camera. You can also attach it to the camera's base using the Peak Design Standard Plate (available separately) or their Anchor Mount.
Another popular wrist strap is the BlackRapid Breath ($49.95). It attaches using a lockable karabiner and requires the BlackRapid FR-5 FastenR Breathe screwed into the tripod socket of the camera.
Mini Tripods
There is a plethora of mini tripods on the market. The Joby Gorilla tripods are great and the unique design allows the legs to wrap around chair backs, tree branches, and the like.
The Joby HandyPod 2 ($29.95), The Benro PP1 PocketPod ($19.95), and the Manfrotto Pixi Mini ($32.88) tabletop tripods are all great stocking fillers for people with smaller cameras.
Peak Design also makes a Mobile Tripod, which would be a great gift for mobile photographers and comes with the new orange highlight as part of the Carryology collaboration. Although I can stand my large Samsung phone on it, the mini tripod comes into its own when used with the Everyday Case. These are available for different phone brands, including Google Pixel and iPhones.
Urth Filters
One of the reasons I like Peak Design stuff is that it is great quality, ethically made, and environmentally friendly. Another company that has a similar ethos is Urth.
Urth makes astoundingly good filters at a competitive price; look the the Plus+ range. Furthermore, they plant trees in rainforests with every purchase.
I know this is a contentious issue, and some people get needlessly hot under the collar when it’s discussed, but I’ve carried out numerous tests with different UV filters, both with my cameras and with the filters my clients have bought to protect their lenses. Urth is the only brand of screw-in or magnetic filter I’ve tried that had no impact on the image quality.
As a land and seascape photographer, I use the Urth Plus + ND1000 and polarising filters. The prices vary depending upon the lens size.
Small Cases
Years ago, I used to carry many memory cards on a shoot because they soon filled up. Now, with the increased capacity available, I usually have some spares with me, especially on an expedition. Keeping memory cards secure is important and the Wandrd Memory Card Case ($34) is a perfect solution.
Peak Design’s Tech Pouches serve a similar purpose, and these are great for packing and storing all the ancillary ephemera a photographer needs. Mine contain batteries, filters, SSDs, and more.
Camera Cubes are another useful item for storage and transporting gear. Again, I use the Peak Design model, as they are an important part of the ecosystem I use. They securely fit into the various travel bags that PD makes. Although the PD Camera Cubes are designed for their own bags, I’ve found they also fit into other brands of bags, although many of those have their own Cube systems. The prices of Pouches and Cubes vary depending on the size.
Torches
There are two torches I use on nighttime photoshoots. First is a Super Bright rechargeable torch. These zoomable, weatherproof, high-power torch is great for light painting, spotting gear you’ve dropped at the end of a photoshoot, and walking back to your car from being on location.
The second is a red beam rechargeable, LED high-powered headlamp. Red lights don’t ruin your night vision, but many are too dim. This one I find is perfect. It’s powerful and easy to operate.
Camera Batteries.
There’s nothing more frustrating than being on a shoot and running out of battery. Camera batteries are much better these days than they once were, and I rarely need to change a battery on my OM-1 during a shoot. I expect other modern cameras to perform similarly.
Watch out for camera batteries on online marketplaces, as batteries are regularly counterfeited, and the fake batteries can and do catch fire.
Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) batteries seem expensive, but you can be assured that they are high quality and have the correct heat and short-circuit protection circuits. Cheap copies lack those, can discharge quickly, and have a much shorter lifespan.
Furthermore, aftermarket batteries might not give full functionality to a camera or work in the camera’s charger.
Software
There are excellent developing and editing programs out there under $100. ON1 Photo Raw is $99.99 to buy outright and is a fabulous catalog, raw development, and editing tool with lots of extra tricks up its sleeves like AI Noise Reduction and image enlargement. Meanwhile, Affinity Photo is a raw development and editing tool and costs $69.00.
Lighting
There are lots of lighting options available for under $100, including this streaming light from Neewer that I reviewed recently.
Both Neewer and Godox make some great affordable flashes and flash accessories.
Other Stuff
There are lots of much smaller things that people on a low budget can buy you that are always welcome. The Giottos Rocket Air Blaster, lens cleaning kits, hotshoe bubble levels, and memory cards to name but a few.
Hopefully, that has given you some ideas for stocking fillers this year. If you are a photographer reading this, leave the webpage open on the item you would like, and maybe someone in your family might take a hint. Keep an eye open for my follow-up article on larger gift ideas.
