The Best Camera Accessories for Shutterbug Photography

With the new year approaching fast ahead with full-throttle taking a peek at some of the most cherished hobbies of 2019 is a must. And, if not for the amazing cameras studded at the rear of our smartphones, with some even having up to 5, this has been a year of shutterbugs. Actually, the last 5 years or so has been the same and it is only increasing at a rapid pace today. For the shutterbug friend of yours, here is a list of accessories that will take their work of art from rubbish to above-average-rubbish (just kidding!!).

It is not a typical holiday gift guide of 2019 but more like a tech-article where you can learn the best inventions that were made to the market this year and you can buy them right now. The small gadgets and accessories that can make your photography better with little expense. Today, mobile photography is on the rise and we are covering some cool gadgets to suffice this new hobby.

You don’t have to Spend too Much Here

Not always the gift items have to be ornamental and for show. These can be productive and definitely should be. Gifts should be so that they can be useful for the person. So, for the shutterbug in your life, here are some inexpensive yet useful gift ideas. The first item in this group is the most useful of all. And, since everyone today uses a laptop computer, you would be really gifting something they’ll keep with them all the time.

The USB-C Hub

This is an amazing accessory for a laptop. Since laptops these days are eschewing away a variety of ports leaving only USB C when it comes to ultrabooks meant for on-the-go travelers, you need something else to be able to connect to devices. These days? ultrabooks, except for Toshiba and Vaio, are not meant for people who love connectivity options. They are meant for those preferring thin chassis and zero tolerance to stuff they don’t need. This is where USB-C Hub comes into the picture. If you do not need an RJ 45 LAN cable, there is no need to have it on your laptop all the time. Instead, you can carry a USB-C Hub that has all the ports you’ll ever need. This keeps your laptop light and thin and also does your job.

Though some like this trend and some don’t, photographers will love this accessory. All photographers use MacBooks because they’re light and thin. And, they don’t have any connectivity options besides USB C. This means a USB-C Hub is the perfect photography accessory for your friend, boyfriend, girlfriend or just anybody who enjoys carrying a thin and light laptop everywhere but whines about having no ports to transfer anything. A product from VAVA is just $60 and comes with the very elegant build quality and all the ports you’ll ever need. It has an ethernet, SD card, USB 3, etc. all in one small compact well-built case.

Just stay away from bargain bin products which are always cheap and therefore quite literally useless junk. As long as you buy a decent product in this price range, you’re fine. The above product can be found on Amazon right now.

Hand Strap for the Shutterbug Friend

If your friend is holding the camera is self-sufficient and buys all their accessories themselves, this is still a good gift. Photographers do change their hand straps regularly and gifting them a new one is really useful. Even more, if you can customize it with some ways you would like to give it a personal touch, it makes it even better. Also, you must note that everyone always has a neck strap and not a hand strap. All cameras like DSLRs from all major companies come with their branded neck strap, so it is quite possible, most of the time that your photographer friend does not have a hand strap and this year you can give them one.

However, for a smaller camera like the mirrorless ones, a simple high-quality from Gordy’s is a good option. But, for heavier bodies like the DSLRs with big lenses and all you can find Peak Design’s Clutch is a solidly made product. Also, many camera brands make their as well and sometimes you will find these companies like Peak tend to make their own improvements built upon real field experience and not just elegance. On Amazon, you can get these items for around $10 to $40.

Never Forget the SD Cards and Case

If something photographers don’t like about ultrabooks is that they don’t come with SD card readers. So, shutterbugs tend to use lots of SD cards, and this means a neat carry case is quite useful. It is said that a photographer can never have too many cards and a good case like that from Pelican is a sure beauty. A pair of 32GB SD cards with a nice case worth $20 from Pelican is a good bundle this year. The best brands in SD cards like Sandisk and Kingston. Also, make sure it’s a Class 10 card. Since the lower numbers mean very slow transfer speeds, this is really bad for photographers or anybody for that matter. Remember the days of buffering videos on YouTube?

When it comes to accessories for cameras, the hand strap is definitely an inexpensive gift item. But, these SD cards are the memory of a camera and often a photographer loses track of how much they need just one more for some nice shots. However, an amateur shutterbug will likely disregard buying a nice camera bag for them, this year you could surprise them with a nice bag. If this is for your spouse or partner, a bag will cost merely $250 on Amazon and that covers the best brands across the market. Just to make a point, the lenses used by photographers are also great accessories for cameras but also cost thousands of dollars. A decent and sturdy bag worth $250 to $300 can keep them safe from bumps and drops and also well-organized on any trip.

When you can keep your stuff organized, it will eventually make you a better photographer. So, if you’re reading for yourself, why not gift one yourself?

How about a Shutterbug Magazine?

If something speaks to these photographers more than any book is a book of cameras and gadgets as well as all things related to taking better pictures. This is where magazines come into the picture. It allows one to find interesting topics to read, learn about something new, and find what’s happening in different parts of the world and so on. Sometimes it is enough to inspire your amateur photographer to become a good one and really develop a new hobby for the rest of their life. But, how do you tell which is a good magazine? Also, not all magazines are available in hardcopy. With digital subscriptions becoming the norm, you can find out if they like reading magazines online. That way you can give them a monthly subscription to their favorite magazine.

The magazine called Outdoor Photographer can be spotted at #1 by Google, and you can find this at a yearly subscription for the print version on Amazon (photographers). ! Year auto-renewal only cost under $12, which is supposedly the most affordable and yet most useful gift for your friend. However, the first print usually arrives some 6 to 10 weeks from the date of subscription. It is published by Madavor Media. Also, you can find it for Barnes and Noble and online, but a print hard copy is usually better.

There are also other types of digital subscriptions you can gift, the most notable being the software a shutterbug uses. Mostly, only professionals use them, so they can depend on their taste, and this needs a real understanding of what they use, what they already have and so on. So, sticking to hardware like accessories is usually great. This is where we come to our next accessory.

Portable Lighting Gadgets are Really Cool

While the soft shutter release we just mentioned above is a nice thing and sells on BH Photo for just $25 is a very nice small accessory. It adds on top of the shutter button giving it an ergonomic, nice, soft, easy-to-squeeze on top of the flat button. It will make your job of clicking the pics even more pleasant and responsive.

At the same time, the portable lighting gadget is something for a more serious shutterbug. If you think it is all about the on-camera flash, then you have never been around with your friend on their photo sessions or never done enough experimenting yourself. These smart lights come in great types and offer a wide range of photography ideas to play with. Two great options here are Lume Cube Air and Profto C1 and C1+ which serve different needs. These are mostly deployed by smartphone photographers too because they are tiny and portable. As well as a dedicated camera, they work well. Often, they are used for drone and action photography projects. As with pros, they can use this to simulate the more expensive studio lighting effects when using portable and moving cameras. These are also expensive starting somewhere around $50 and going upwards.

When you have someone you care deeply about in your life, this sort of expense will not matter much for you.

A Little Expensive But for a Pro Videographer

If your friend is a pro and you want a gift reserved for only those who merit big-ticket purchases, this item is surely something. If there is a pro shutterbug in your life you deeply care about, this is likely a gift they will value even if they already have one by themselves. This is a kind of gear that is the more the better. And, these are essentially SSDs for backups. Gnarbox provides easy SD backup and file and photo management so that you can keep shooting without worrying about the field. You don’t have to worry where the files go and this makes your job so much easier. SSD-based storage is much faster for reading and transfer.

However, if the person is a beginner this is really too much gear for them. This is not going to be of any use and you’re better off with the inexpensive but regularly used items like SD cards, shutter release soft grip, hand strap and so on. A perfect gift for a budding shutterbug can also be a yearly subscription to the best magazine. There is no substitute for learning and a shutterbug magazine is of great value.

This expensive item can be purchased for around $1000 on various sites. This is the link for Amazon as well as on their official site (https://www.gnarbox.com/products/gnarbox-2-0-ssd). This is a rugged device meaning it is tolerant to fall and drops, water, rain, bumps, and is a safe backup device of those precious moments they had captured which is never going to return once again. With Folder Presets, you can directly transfer stuff to your backup device without having to copy-paste them over and over again.

Pros

• There are several accessories for cameras like soft shutter release, portable lights, etc. that are really inexpensive but very productive and are immediately and frequently used.
• These products range from inexpensive $12 to $1000 and cover everyone from beginners, amateurs, hobbyists, to professionals running studios and working to earn a living.

Cons

When gifting accessories for a shutterbug, these are gadgets and electronic stuff. If you like, you can also go for customizations on top of it like printing names and marks for personalization.

End-of-Year Thoughts

With the year 2019 coming to an end briefly, everyone is going to celebrate their moments with their loved ones. It is going to be a fitting end to the year and gifting something special is a way to remember all your friends. There are several gifting ideas that we might have missed, but in general, these are some of the most recommended items as per 2019.