Finding the perfect gift for a photographer isn’t necessarily as straightforward as you would think. You can’t always simply buy them some new camera; but, what else is there when their main passion revolves around taking photos?
To help you in your search, we have put together a list of some perfect high-quality gifts for photographers. These gift ideas should help you to narrow your search down and allow you to begin to really figure out what that photographer in your life needs.
The Best Gift Ideas for Photographers for 2023
The following items can make great gifts for both the aspiring and professional photographers in your life. Even the selfie addicts may find something here to love.
1. EOS Rebel T7i DSLR Video Camera
The Canon DSLR camera series are popular for many reasons and they’re incredibly common amongst professional photographers. One of these cameras’ best aspects is the interchangeable lenses, allowing you to put on telescopic, wide angle, fisheye, and other lenses in only a couple of seconds.
The T7i is a 24.2-megapixel camera, with an ISO range of 100 to 51,200 meaning it will operate great in a series of lighting conditions. You can shoot video with this camera at up to 6 frames per second at full-resolution.
While this camera is expensive for a first camera, it is a fantastic gift for any aspiring photographer.
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2. Telephoto Lens for Canon APS-C DSLR Cameras
Speaking of DSLR camera lenses, this is an adjustable telephoto camera lens that makes Christmas gifting (or whenever) for a professional photographer easy. If you know the photographer you are buying for uses a Canon DSLR, and doesn’t already have a telephoto lens, that they will definitely love and appreciate this gift.
This lens allows for incredible close up captures of wildlife, as well as detailed portraits and landscapes and adjusts up to 22.2x magnification with vibration compensation (to reduce jitter in the photo). The lens comes with a flower-shaped lens hood and lens caps.
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3. Premium Microfiber Lens Cleaning Cloth
A must-have for any camera bag cleaning kit is a number of high-quality microfiber cleaning cloths. These delicate and soft pads will allow you to keep the lens clean, and should be used every time you take the lens cap off.
These are premium quality microfiber pieces that are easy to bunch up, fold up, and take along with you anywhere and make practical and useful gifts. Camera gear is not complete without a microfiber cloth and is truly as essential as the camera strap.
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4. Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan
The Adobe creative suite is still the industry standard for multimedia editing. With key programs like Photoshop, Premier, and Adobe Raw, these are still amongst the best gifts for photographers who take their craft seriously. Adobe shifted from individual pieces of software over to a subscription service some years back, but now with an external hard drive and a web connection, you can nearly work from anywhere.
The Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan gives you the essential programs for photographers at a discounted price (so you don’t have to pay for the other Adobe products). The Photography Plan includes Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe Lightroom, allowing you to edit your photos thoroughly and professionally directly from your camera.
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5. Zone VI 4X5 Classic Field Folding View Camera
While cheap gifts for the favorite photographer in your life can include fun items like photography books, and can be much loved, when you want to make a grand gesture for a photographer, think about the Zone VI Classic. These are beautiful, hand-crafted cameras that are built to last for generations and are guaranteed to get attention. The Zone VI Studios in Newfane, Vermont, was the distributor and maker of these amazingly sophisticated wooden view cameras.
This is the perfect gift for the photography enthusiast that likes to get hands-on. This model comes with a 120mm lens.
If you want to gift a classic or retro style camera for less cost, you can think of buying a classic polaroid camera (even though the average iPhone takes a better picture now than an old instant camera) the same goes for old Nikon or Fujifilm cameras which still have a lot of fans.
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6. Panasonic LUMIX G85
This is a modern 4k digital camera that gives you all of the best features of the modern age and provides a relatively cost-effective entrance into point and shoot digital photography. It is a slender and lightweight build that makes it easy to put in a pocket and take along. The camera quality is excellent even in low light with an ISO 100 – 25,600 range and the ability to shoot at ten fps at 16.0 megapixels. It even has built-in Wi-Fi, so you can link it directly with your devices.
The features really do go on and on. If you are looking to gift a truly superb digital camera, this is the product you are looking for.
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7. GoPro HERO7
“Tough, tiny, totally waterproof.” The GoPro has gone from a fun gadget to a must-have travel and adventure item. If you know a photographer who loves to hike or jump out of planes, then this is exactly what they need. The GoPro HERO7 automatically stabilizes your pictures and videos, cuts out ambient noise, reacts to ambient light, and can be taken deep underwater. The entire camera easily functions with a couple of swipes and taps and is very intuitive to use.
It comes with a charger (rechargeable battery), an adhesive mount, and USB-C cable. You will need an additional microSD memory card. The Hero7 also supports live streaming in 720p.
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Quick Gift Guide to the Best Gifts for Photographers
Whether you are buying Christmas gifts or gifts for any other occasion, when you are buying for a photographer, you may be able to use a few universal pieces of advice.
While all photographers will have their own preferences, many of them also seem to have plenty of characteristics in common.
- A photographer will often spend all of their money on fancy lenses from Amazon and never get around to getting a proper camera bag. Investigate and see if they have a less than serviceable photographer bag you may be able to upgrade for them. The same goes for the basics like microfiber wipes.
- SD cards and SD card cases are worth their weight in gold if the camera uses them. We didn’t include them on the list since it isn’t totally universal, but the vast majority of cameras use Micro-SD cards, and there isn’t a photographer on earth who couldn’t do with a few more. A flash drive set or hard drive for extra storage is also always appreciated.
- While photographers love their fancy cameras, they also love to get that perfect shot -and sometimes that may mean using your phone. Nice lenses for a camera phone and carrying cases for those lenses might just open up a whole new world of possibilities to a traditionally purest photographer.