During my 30+ years of photography, I’ve wasted way too much money on accessories that were not worth the investment, or were downright unsuitable. In this carefully curated list, I share ideas for the best gifts for photographers based on items I have personally used over a number of years so that you can be sure the gift you’re buying for your favorite photographer will be both awesome, and great value. I’ve also included information on gifts for photographers that should be avoided, along with the reasons why. These practical tips are based on my own personal experience.
Note: This article contains affiliate links. I only recommend products I genuinely love.
I’ve organised this best gifts for photographers list by budget, starting with the lower price items first. Whilst photography is a pretty expensive hobby, and an even more expensive business, there are plenty of gifts for photographers that are both affordable and that can be a practical gift too.
Whether you’re buying a gift for a budding photographer new to this topic, a casual photography lover, or a seasoned professional, I hope you’ll find some helpful ideas for gifts for photographers in this article.
Lens Cloths
All lens cloths are not alike! Some simply move dust around the lens, and suck at removing fingerprints, and it took me a while to find a reliable product that I loved – that brand is Spudz. Spudz lens cloths come in a wee pouch, so the cloth is protected from dust or random bits of confetti (Perfect for wedding photographers!) which is helpful to avoid scratching of delicate lenses, and the microfiber cleaning cloth is great! It feels more grippy than other lens cloths and removes fingerprints and specs of dust with ease. The cloth size is a bit larger than others, and this helps with keeping the camera lens clean. It’s also handy for drying the camera off in damp weather. I carry multiples of these on a wedding day, and even use them on my glasses as the cloths work better than the free glasses cloth included. This is the perfect stocking filler and a really useful gift that will provide years of use.
Buy Product: Spudz Microfibre Lens ClothAvoid: Cheap generic lens cloths that will only end up in landfill.
Expect to pay: Under £10.
Brand site: Alpine Products
Memory Card Holders
Keeping photos safe and protected is something important to every photographer. Your professional photographer friend may also need memory card storage for organization, so I have two recommendations for memory card holders for different purposes that will make great practical gifts.
The Best Memory Card Holder to use Whilst Working
My favorite product for SD card storage on the go is the Think Tank pocket rocket messenger bag. Don’t be confused by the messenger bag description! This product is tiny, and will comfortably hold x9 SD memory cards. The Think Tank pocket rocket has a strong cord and clip that can be attached to your camera back so that it won’t accidentally fall from a pocket or pouch. The clip is really tough, and a little fiddly to remove – but this gives me great reassurance on a wedding day as I know my memory cards are safely attached to my Think Tank pouches that I wear. This product could also be attached to belt loops on trousers, or a camera bag. The storage spaces for each SD card is neat, but flexible enough that the risk of memory card damage is low. There’s a built in business card holder that I like to pop a few cards in, also handy if it ever was to be lost.
Buy Product: Think Tank Pocket RocketAvoid: Cheaper memory card holder wrap cases that don’t offer enough protection.
Expect to pay: Under £20
Brand site: Think Tank
Memory Card Organization
If your photography friend is a wedding photographer, or busy professional photographer with lots of photoshoots, they’ll need somewhere to store memory cards that are waiting to be formatted. I love this 40 slot SD card holder with space for 36 memory cards. I especially like that this case has a soft foam construction as this reduces the chance of damage. The cards can be stored both with and without the plastic cases, and there’s a really good dust proof seal around the organizer.
Buy Product: 40 Slot Memory Card HolderAvoid: SD memory cards are quite delicate and easily damaged. Due to this, I recommend you don’t buy memory card holders with strong rubber or plastic insert spaces, as I’ve damaged expensive cards in these.
Expect to pay: Under £20
Brand site: Kiorafoto
Photography Gloves
If you’re looking for a photography gift idea for a landscape photographer, or wedding photographer who does winter weddings, then this is a great affordable gift option and the perfect stocking filler. There’s quite a few different types of photography gloves available. Key features to look for are that the thumb and index finger need to be exposes, and they need to be as light weight and easy to remove as possible. I personally love these Snowbee Lightweight Neoprene Gloves. They have silicone grips, and they are lightweight enough to not get in the way of snapping photos. Some other makes of gloves available are warmer, but too thick and inflexible to be practical, whereas these seem to offer the best compromise of additional warmth, grip, and practicality. This is the ultimate gift for outdoor photography.
Avoid: Gloves that are too heavily padded
Expect to pay: Around £15-20
Camera Straps
There’s a huge choice of camera straps on the market with lots of colorful designs, but my recommendations are more about practicality and comfort. A good camera strap is not only one that is strong and offers safe and secure attachments, but can also be comfortable to use.
When it comes to camera straps, you’re no longer limited to neck straps, and as someone in the 3rd decade of a photography career, I’d recommend that neck straps are only used occasionally, not for long duration or longterm use. Not realising this was one of the biggest mistakes I made in my photo business, and I’m now paying the price as I have pretty much no cartilage left in my neck. So – to help you avoid making the same mistake, here are my recommendations for a camera strap that will be great to use and safer than a neck strap.
Camera Hand Straps
A hand strap offers additional support when photographing all day and this would be a great gift for a professional photographer. My favorite is the SpiderPro hand strap, and I have one of these on each of my cameras. It has a classy looking leather finish on the outside, with a soft material on the inside that is comfortable to use all day. I’ve completed many 10hr + days using these and they’ve been a joy to use. The wrist support seems to spread the weight distribution, so has reduced feelings of wrist strain.
Buy Product: SpiderPro Hand StrapAvoid: Cheaper versions with poor build quality that won’t last
Expect to pay: Around £70
Brand site: Spider Holster
Camera Shoulder Strap
For professional photographers shooting with one camera all day, a great gift ideas is the Peak Design Slide Camera Strap. Реаk Dеѕіgn’ѕ Ѕlіdе Саmеrа Ѕtrар іѕ аll аbоut соmbіnіng funсtіоn wіth ѕtуlе. Тhіѕ 4.5сm wіdе, іntеrnаllу раddеd nуlоn wеbbіng ѕtrар hаѕ а ѕmооth ѕіdе thаt glіdеѕ оvеr сlоthіng іn ѕlіng mоdе аnd а grірру ѕіdе thаt рrеvеntѕ ѕlірріng іn ѕhоuldеr mоdе. Іt fеаturеѕ duаl quісk-аdјuѕtеrѕ thаt рrоvіdе іnѕtаnt ассеѕѕ аnd еаѕу rесоnfіgurаtіоn tо bеѕt ѕuіt thе ѕіtuаtіоn, аnd іt uѕеѕ Реаk Dеѕіgn’ѕ ѕtrоng, rеmоvаblе аnсhоr соnnесtоrѕ thаt аttасh tо thе еуеlеtѕ оf уоur саmеrа оr thе іnсludеd mоuntіng рlаtе. Тhеѕе аnсhоrѕ саn hоld uр tо 90kg оf gеаr, еаѕіlу ѕuрроrtіng mоѕt DЅLR аnd mіrrоrlеѕѕ ѕуѕtеmѕ. The perfect gift for a wedding photographer.
Buy Product: Peak Design Slide Camera StrapAvoid: Budget options that may fail and result in damaged photography gear.
Expect to pay: Around £80
Brand site: Peak Design
Camera Neck Strap
If you’re looking for a gift for an amateur photographer pal who likes taking photos whilst out and about on location, then I’d highly recommend the OpTech Pro camera strap. Significantly more comfortable than a basic neck strap, this product features soft and padded neoprene, it is suitable for all-day comfortable shooting. I owned one of these and it lasted years! As it’s a neck strap though, it’s best avoided for longterm use.
Buy Product: OpTech Pro Camera StrapAvoid: Budget canvas fabric straps that are uncomfortable.
Expect to pay: Under £20
Brand site: OpTech USA
Camera Bags
There are so many different camera bag options available, and the best type will be influenced by what photography niche the gift recipient is interested in. A great camera bag choice for destination weddings won’t be the same as a camera bag for street photography, or landscape photography.
In a recent poll of 79 wedding photographers in one of the photography facebook groups that I’m in, the style preferences were:
- 68% preferring backpacks
- 22% preferring wheeled cases
- 7% using wheeled backpacks
- 3% using shoulder bags.
Camera Bags for Wedding Photographers
As a wedding photographer, my requirement for camera bags is going to be a little different to that of a commercial photographer or budding amateur, but as I’m sharing my personal experiences, here’s what I use: I use a Lowpro backpack if I’m carrying a lot of gear, but if not, I use the Spider Holster system belt with Think Tank pouches. I’ve had the Lowpro backpack for somewhere in the region of 15 years. It’s excellent, and my photography equipment has remained protected and dry in all weathers, thanks to the weather resistant finish. The Lowepro model I purchased is no longer available, but the nearest equivalent is the Lowepro Flipside Backpack 400.
Backpack Option: Lowepro Backpack
Buy Product: Lowepro Flipside BP 400 AWAvoid: Cheaper brands that may look the same but fall apart in no time.
Expect to pay: £200+
Brand site: Lowepro
Alternative Option: Spider Holster Camera Belt
Buy Product: Spider Holster Camera BeltAvoid: Anything else that’s not the Spider Holster. The build quality of the genuine product is phenomenal.
Expect to pay: Over £150
Brand site: Spider Holster
Photography Skills and Training
All the equipment in the world won’t help if the area you really need to focus on is your photography skills. With that in mind, investing in online training can be a great gifts for photographers. There are many free and paid-for online resources.
Photography Software
Pretty much all serious photographers will benefit from an Adobe subscription. If you’d like to provide a photography software gift, Amazon typically do a great deal on Adobe software for photographers every Black Friday. The Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan includes both Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop, plus 20GB of cloud storage. A subscription to this software would be amongst my top recommendations of best gifts for photographers.
3 Gifts for Photographers to Avoid
Camera Lens Coffee Mug
If your photographer friend has been a photographer for longer than 5 minutes, the chances are that they already have one of these. Possibly more than one! Whilst it is one of many fun photo gifts, it’s not very practical, and most photographers will already own this.
Lens Caps for Professional Photographers
Whilst we can all agree a lens cap is great for protecting a lens, there is, in my humble opinion, no point buying these for a professional photographer. Confession: I don’t use them, and they just get in the way. I don’t know any other professional photographer that uses them either, so if you’d like to ensure your present is amongst the best choice of photography gifts, avoid lens caps.
Photography Magazine Subscription
There are many great resources for learning photography online that are more eco-friendly than a magazine subscription. I’m a big believer in photography gifts, much like any other type of gift, not contributing to landfill, so if you have seen a magazine subscription that your photographer pal would like, it’s worth investigating online alternatives.
Photography Gift Ideas Summary
That concludes my list of best photography gift ideas! I hope you’ve found some helpful inspiration, and your favorite photography friend has a lovely photography equipment gift to enjoy.
