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As the holiday season and Christmas gets closer and closer, it’s time to start thinking about gifts. Photographers and photography lovers can be really tough to gift shop for, and while there are plenty of camera and photography themed gift ideas out there like coffee mugs, t-shirts, and ornaments and no shortage of huge gifts like expensive camera lenses, we wanted to put together a list of smaller, more affordable photography Christmas gift and stocking stuffer ideas that are practical and useful and won’t end up collecting dust or being re-gifted the following year.
If you’re a photographer and see something on this list that you’d love to receive in your Christmas stocking, be sure to share this post with Santa to give him some holiday gift ideas — we hear he checks Facebook and Twitter pretty often!
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1. Portable Power Bank
For photographers on the move, having a camera or cell phone run out of battery is pretty frustrating. Luckily, there’s a way to bring some extra power with you, even when you’re miles from the nearest electrical outlet! Portable power banks like the RAVPower Luster Mini 3350mAh and the others listed below can help charge devices that use USB charging cables and make for a great, inexpensive stocking stuffer gift that virtually anyone can actually use. Portable power banks can be recharged and are generally designed to be as compact as possible, making it convenient to bring along with the rest of your photography gear to have around in case you need to plug something in to charge.
We really like power banks with a 20,000 mAh capacity – big enough that you can charge multiple small devices like smartphones and compact cameras more than once, but not so big that they’re prohibited on airplanes. Airline safety regulations typically prohibit power banks over 27,000 mAh (100Wh) without special permission. Here are our top 3 choices of larger battery banks that all feature more than one USB charging port – really convenient for charging more than one device at a time.
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2. Transcend USB 3.0 Super Speed Multi-Card Reader
USB cables for transferring photos from a camera to the computer make for just another cord to get tangled, and a small USB memory card reader is a great cheap Christmas gift or stocking stuffer for a photographer — the Transcend USB 3.0 Multi Card Reader has slots for a CF card, SD card, and micro SD card, meaning that this card reader will work with both CF cards and SD cards!
- 5 reflectors, 5 effects. Modify and use natural and artificial light to your advantage to obtain perfect shots every time
- 1 panel with 5 possibilities. Includes: Gold, silver, white, black and translucent reflectors
- Gold: Warm up the picture; Silver: Brighten the picture; White: Bounce light into shadows; Black: Block out unwanted light; Translucent: soften light, often used overhead
- Collapsible design - Durable and flexible steel spring frame insures easy spreading and closing, perfect for use on location and outdoor photography
3. 5 in 1 Portable Reflector
Reflectors are one of the most inexpensive lighting tools that a photographer can have in their kit, but for portrait and fashion photography, they can be invaluable! 5 in 1 reflectors come in a variety of sizes and even a variety of shapes like circles, ovals, and triangles but they’ve all got 5 different surfaces — Black, White, Silver, Gold, and a translucent diffuser. The coolest part about a 5 in 1 reflector is that they’re very light and collapse into a very compact size, making them easy to carry around and use on location. Portable reflectors are a great way to harness natural lighting and make for very affordable Christmas gifts – they look like they’d be WAY more expensive than they actually are!
- Easily store and access 4TB of content on the go with the Seagate Portable Drive, a USB external hard drive.Specific uses: Personal
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition no software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
4. Seagate Backup Plus 4TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
This portable hard drive is perfect for photographers on the go — small enough to carry in a gear bag while traveling, and great for backing up huge numbers of photos and videos right away. Digital storage is one thing that photographers are always in need of, and portable hard drives are a great gift for any photographer. The cost of high capacity drives has really come down in the past few years and 4TB drives like the Seagate Backup Plus offer one of the best values right now.
- Everything you need to clean your lens, viewfinder & filter
- The Original LensPen for DSLR lenses
- FilterKlear for lens filters
- MicroPro for viewfinders
5. LensPen DSLR Pro Cleaning Kit
This kit comes with a microfiber carrying pouch and three cleaning tools that use a patented dry carbon formula — the microPRO, for cleaning camera viewfinders, the FilterKlear for cleaning camera lens filters, and the original LensPen for cleaning camera lenses. These pens are small and convenient – a much better option than using an old t-shirt to clean lenses with!
- LONG LASTING PERFORMANCE: Recharge eneloop AA rechargeable batteries up to 2100 times
- POWERFUL NiMH RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES: eneloop AA Ni-MH pre-charged rechargeable battery deliver up to 2000mAh typical, 1900mAh minimum
- PRE-CHARGED AND READY TO USE: eneloop AA rechargeable batteries are pre-charged at the factory using solar power and maintain up to 70% of their charge after 10 years (when not it use)
- ADVANCED CHARGING CAPABILITES: The Panasonic CC17 battery charger individually charges each eneloop AA and AAA rechargeable battery, resulting in a perfect charge every time
6. Panasonic AA Eneloop Batteries with Charger
For camera flash units that use AA batteries, Panasonic Eneloops offer impressive performance with quick flash recycle times. For photographers who use hot-shoe mounted flashes and off camera flashes that use AA’s, Panasonic Eneloop batteries provide a very economical power solution — they can be recharged up to 2100 times. For the photographer who seems to have everything, batteries are kind of like socks — you can always use more!
- Water resistant seal (IPx4)
- Stores 12 SD cards, 6 mini SD cards and 6 micro SD cards*
- Insert liner absorbs shock and protects memory cards
- Made of tough Polycarbonate resin
7. Pelican 0915 Memory Card Case
Keeping postage stamp sized SD memory cards safe and organized can be pretty difficult, which is where the Pelican 0915 Memory Card Case comes in, storing up to 12 SD cards, 6 mini SD cards, and 6 micro SD cards inside a hard plastic, water-resistant case.
- 10 Stop exposure correction.
- Slim: 3.6mm deep (not inc rear threads)
- Ideal for Wide Angle Lenses.
- Double threaded metal frame for additional filters or Hood.
8. ICE 10 Stop ND1000 Filter
For photographers who have ever wanted to experiment with daytime long exposure photography, but didn’t want to shell out the big bucks for a strong neutral density filter, the ICE ND1000 filter offers impressive results at a very affordable price. You can check out our ICE ND Filter Review for even more information. Because camera filters come in a variety of sizes, you’ll likely want to purchase a filter that matches the thread size of the largest lens you use — if you want to use it with smaller lenses, you can use a step up adapter ring.
- Read Up To 95 MB/s/ Write Up To 90 MB/s
- 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160p), 3D, Full HD (1920 x 1080p), Speed Class UHS-3
- Compatible with SDXC
- Shockproof, X-Ray proof, and Waterproof
9. SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB SDXC Memory Card
If there’s one thing it never hurts to have too much of, it’s memory cards. With a read speed of up to 95 MB/s and a write speed of up to 90 MB/s, the SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB SDXC provides fast performance at a reasonable price and would make a great gift for a photographer who shoots video and fast action photography!
- Pad consists of: Nylon mono mesh, TPE foam, polyester and air mesh
- Adjustable length nylon webbing with cam-lock
- Pad Width: 2.2″ – 3.7″ (5.5 cm – 9.5 cm) / Pad Length: 16″ (40.5 cm)
- Strap adjustable length with pad: 66″ (167 cm)
10. BlackRapid Breathe Sport Camera Strap
The camera straps DSLR and mirrorless cameras typically come with are fine for occasional use, but they don’t offer much in the way of comfort and padding. The Black Rapid Breathe Sport Strap is designed to be comfortable even when carrying a heavy camera all day, and goes over the shoulder, with an under-arm strap that provides additional security. This is a serious upgrade from the unpadded straps most cameras come with!