Great Gift Ideas for Photographers

We may earn a commission when you purchase through affiliate links. Learn more.

Photographers are not easy people to buy gifts for. Even though many of us love gadgets and technology, we tend to be pretty specific about what we want. As a picky photographer I know how stressful it must be to shop for photography related gifts for someone like me. To help ease some of this stress and prevent a bit of waste this holiday season, I’ve asked many of my fellow photographers what they would want to find in their stocking this year and have put together this guide filled with several gift ideas for photographers.

The more you know about the photographer you’re shopping for the better. Many gifts to photographers end up going unappreciated and unused because the very well-intentioned people giving the gifts didn’t know much about what kind of photography the gift recipient was interested in. To those who aren’t photography enthusiasts, a book called The Beginner’s Guide to Photography might seem like a perfect gift for a photographer, but if the photographer is already a seasoned pro or a hobbyist who has been shooting for years, this gift will sting our rather sensitive egos and collect dust on a shelf. To the non-photographer, a lens might be a lens, but to the photographer, things like brand, focal length, and maximum aperture really do matter. Some people are just tough to please, but the gift ideas listed below are sure to bring a smile to almost any photographer’s face — I know they would bring one to mine!

 

Memory Cards

No matter what kind of camera the photographer in your life shoots with, it uses a memory card. This is one of the easiest gifts for photographers, because memory cards are something that it’s always nice to have extras of. Most compact cameras, mirrorless cameras, and entry to mid level DSLR cameras use SD memory cards, while many professional level DSLR cameras use CF memory cards, so before you purchase a memory card it’s important to find out what kind of camera the photographer shoots with.

Regarding brand, I’m not too picky when it comes to memory cards — I’ve experienced pretty much the same levels of memory card failure rates using the top brands as I have using the more inexpensive brands. If you can, try to find out what brand the photographer typically uses — some photographers are very picky about memory card brand and type, but the majority will be pleased with a card from any of the well known brands like Lexar, SanDisk, Transcend, Kingston, and Sony. While memory cards come in a wide range of capacities, most modern cameras produce images with large file sizes making cards that are 8GB and over the most typically purchased. Stick with a Class 10 memory card, ensuring that the card is reasonably quick and suitable for video recording use as well. If you want to learn all about memory cards to help you pick out the perfect one, you’ll find lots of information in this guide.

 

 

Memory Card Reader

 

If the photographer you’re buying gifts for is still plugging that painfully slow USB cable that comes with every camera into their computer every time they want to upload the photos they’ve taken, a memory card reader is a perfect gift that won’t cost much at all. There are several brands out there to choose from — personally, I like the Transcend USB 3.0 card readers. Backwards compatible with computers still using USB 2.0 (like Macs), they’re small, very inexpensive, and most importantly very reliable and highly rated by other consumers. For photographers who don’t use the larger CF cards and only shoot with SD memory cards, the Transcend USB 3.0 SD card reader is very small and much more convenient than finding the USB cable to plug into the camera after every photo session. If the photographer shoots with CF cards or even CF and SD cards, the Transcend USB 3.0 multi-card reader is the one to go with.

 

External Hard Drives

 

The cardinal rule for photographers everywhere is to backup their work in multiple places. Many photographers tend to forget this rule and end up losing an entire lifetime of digital photos in a single moment when a hard drive fails. The anguish of losing thousands of photos is terrible, but easily prevented, making an external hard drive a great gift that almost every photographer will appreciate. To the non-photographer, a hard drive sounds pretty boring, but the prospect of more backup space certainly makes me happy! Because photographers are constantly taking more photos, you can never have too much hard drive space. Like memory cards, hard drives come in different capacities (measured in Gigabytes {GB} and Terrabytes {TB}) and different physical sizes with some drives designed for portable use and others intended for desktop use. Portable drives are smaller and get their power from a laptop’s USB port, while larger desktop drives require the use of a power adapter plugged into the wall. Most photographers make use of both types of drives, with portable hard drives being perfect to travel with and take along on photoshoots and desktop external drives being best suited to use as a high capacity photo backup.

Kind of like the pricing at a coffee shop, where the difference between a small and a large is often only a few cents, the price of hard drives is very similar and you’re usually better off going with the larger size if it’s still in your budget. For instance, the price difference between a 1TB drive, 2TB drive, and a 3TB drive might only be a few dollars, making the 3TB drive the logical choice. For desktop external drives, the sweet spot in terms of value right now seems to usually be the 3TB drives which are usually just a tiny bit more expensive than 2TB drives. 4 TB drives are still a good value, but jump in price quite a bit from the 3TB price. Most hard drive brands like Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, Samsung, and Hitachi are relatively comparable in terms of price and reliability. All hard drives will eventually fail — it’s just a matter of when, so having at least one and preferably two backup copies of every file is very important, especially for photographers. An external hard drive is a gift that every photographer should appreciate. In fact, I just bought myself one as an early Christmas gift!

 

 

Camera Bag

 

If the photographer in your life is still carrying their camera around by just sticking it under their car seat or in a regular backpack without any protection, a camera bag might be a great photography related gift option. Cameras and lenses are expensive and should be treated with some love and care. If you’re considering buying a camera bag, you’ll want to find out as much as you can about what kind of cameras and lenses the photographer uses as well as what kind of photography they do the most of.

If the photographer has a substantial amount of camera equipment — maybe even two DSLR cameras and several lenses, a camera backpack might be the way to go. A camera backpack like the Ape Case Pro Medium Digital SLR and Video Camera Backpack can hold up to two DSLR bodies with lenses, plus an additional 3-5 lenses, a flash, and a laptop up to 14 inches.

Shoulder bags are another option and are especially well suited for photographers who like to have their gear right at their waist. For outdoor photographers shoulder bags aren’t the best option, but for photographers shooting and working in the city they’re definitely a great choice. Many of these bags are designed to look more like traditional messenger bags, making them a bit less of a target for theft. A bag like the Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise 60 V2.0 can carry two pro size DSLR camera bodies, three lenses, and a 17 inch laptop.

 

A GOOD Tripod

Every photographer needs a tripod, but many end up putting this purchase off because after buying an expensive camera and lens there sometimes isn’t much money leftover. Tripods make a popular gift item, but the ones given as gifts are often very cheap, don’t work very well, and end up breaking quickly. Cheap plastic tripods might work just fine for supporting a tiny point and shoot camera, but serious photographers are better off with a higher quality tripod. While there are good tripods that cost a small fortune there are also high quality ones which are quite reasonably priced.

 

A Better Camera Strap

Sure, virtually every digital camera sold these days comes with a camera strap to carry the camera around your neck, but these straps tend to be some of the most uncomfortable things after a full day of walking around carrying a DSLR and lens. With the standard camera strap, I know I feel like I’ve had a brick swinging from my neck — even lightweight cameras begin to feel like anchors after a few hours. Taking pictures shouldn’t be an activity that causes neck and back problems, and for a modest price a much more comfortable and better designed neck strap can be had. While there are some very cheap aftermarket neck straps, choose one with care — it might not seem like a very important piece of equipment, but keep in mind that it’s keeping several hundred or even thousands of dollars of camera gear from falling to the ground. Highly rated models include the Fotasy NSQF Anti-Slip Sling Neck Strap at the lower end of the price range and the Black Rapid RS7 Camera Strap at the higher end. If the photographer you’re gift shopping for is still carrying around their camera using the default neck strap it came with, this is a great affordable gift to consider that they’ll definitely appreciate!