Great Gifts For New Owners Of Digital Cameras
Excellent Gifts For Whom?
Not only are these DrHGuy-Certified Great Gifts for new owners of digital cameras, they are also excellent choices to motivate those who have been digital camera owners for some time but have rarely been digital camera users to actually try out those instruments now languishing in the closet with the exercise equipment, the Christmas tie with real jingle bells, and that six year old gift certificate to Biff’s Beef & Beer Bistro. They are excellent presents to piggyback onto cameras being given as gifts this Christmas. And, of course, they aren’t bad stocking-stuffers for oneself (if the sock fits, … ). Heck, these are cheap; buy these for your camera-owning buddy and another set for yourself. Just keep in mind that these are intended for beginners and would likely prove disappointments to intermediate or expert photographers.
The Book That Should Have Come With The Camera
Digital Photography Pocket Guide by Derrick Story
This is the ideal book for new owners of digital cameras who are casual photographers but want to take impressive, interesting pictures.
It’s a pocket sized manual with 155 pages of generously illustrated, useful and inspirational information about using digital cameras and taking photos written in understandable, non-intimidating prose, handy reference tables and a reasonably useful index.
This morning, the Amazon price is $10.61 (eligible for free shipping on orders over $25). What’s not to like?
Mini-tripods: The Best Camera Accessory To Give As A Gift
Yep, mini-tripods are better gifts than fancy-schmancy filters, leather camera cases, wireless remotes, or photofloods.1 Here’s why:
1. Mini-tripods are instant stability. The most common problem for a new user of a digital camera is keeping it stable when snapping a shot. Pretty good fit, eh?
2. Mini-tripods are small enough to stash in a camera bag, large purse, or even a pocket. A new owner of a camera that is touted for its small size may not be eager to lug a full-sized tripod, however light it may be; such an individual may, however, be willing to take along a mini-tripod that can be conveniently carried. I own, thanks to the guidance of Mr. Science, a genuinely nifty full-sized tripod that impresses knowledgeable photography nerds; I also own a $6 mini-tripod constructed from a few scraps of steel bent into three folding legs that impresses – well, that makes folks giggle, which is important in these somber days. I use one of these tripods 26 times more often than the other. Wanna guess which one?
3. Mini-tripods work well for close-ups of smaller subjects or for items resting on a table.
4. Mini-tripods open a huge realm of possible shots. Longer exposures in dim light are relatively simple to take when the camera is held steady on a mini-tripod. Rather than balancing a camera on a ledge, a sandy beach, or a chair, the mini-tripod can be securely set on such surfaces. Using the timed shutter or remote shutter to take photos of oneself is much easier when the camera can almost instantly be positioned on a mini-tripod rather than precariously mounted atop those 18 books stacked on the TV.
5. Mini-tripods fit almost any regular digital camera. (On the other hand, if the target of your giftitude owns, say, a chunky SLR with a telephoto lens that tips the mini-tripod over the ledge of the Empire State Building where it was perched, destroying the camera and the skull of the guy on the sidewalk, this will not be accorded a dandy gift. Larger cameras, such as older camcorders, require larger mini-tripods.)
6. There is a mini-tripod for every situation. Beyond the variety of routine three-straight-legs mini-tripods, there are specialty items. I lust, for example, after the Gorillapod shown below. (Caveat: I have not personally used this tool; Counter-caveat: It looks pretty straightforward; what could go wrong?)
The ClamperPod, while not technically a tripod, does mount a camera by attaching a clamp to a stable object. To my eye (Caveat: I’ve also never used this tool), it looks even more secure than the Gorillapod but much less versatile.
7. There is a mini-tripod for every budget.
The Digipower-DPS-MTP (pictured on the right) costs less than $5.
The Sima-ST in the first graphic in this section was listed at $9.40 today on Amazon.
The already mentioned Gorillapod of my dreams lists for about $40.
Still not sure any of these are just right? Check out the 17 different mini-tripods, some of which are pictured below, carried at minipods.
Footnotes
- OK, the only reason mini-tripods are better than a second battery or a second storage card is that I define spare power sources and storage solutions as essentials rather than accessories. One could, I suppose, quibble with that logic. Those items are also, however, tricky gifts to buy, requiring knowledge of some details about the camera. ~back~
I’m envious - digital cameras are hugely expensive over here for some reason. I’m thinking of patronising my local Cash Converters, which is a motley place offering a swag of (sometimes nearly new) electronic goods, bikes, whitegoods etc. I don’t know how they do it for the price - I have the feeling though, that it’s burglary. So I’m putting off that venture.
OMG though I love that tripod.
Comment by Helen — December 15, 2006 @ 5:24 am