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Its the most wonderful time of the… Yada Yada Yada. It’s that time of the year again when we tell our friends we love them by buying them gifts and singing songs and… there’s a host of traditions, most of which I’m yet to experience so I won’t delve into that but if a friend, sibling, partner or significant other is into photography and you’re thinking of getting them something photo related but don’t have the budget for a camera, here are the top five things you can get them without breaking the bank;
- Memory Cards: You can never go wrong with memory cards. There are inexpensive and come in various sizes to suit a wide range of budgets. It is important however to note that there are different types of memory cards with the most common being the SD card hence if you’re going to the SD card, DO NOT buy the micro SD cards (those things are trash and their adapters easily get damaged). Get you a standard SD card (preferably Sandisk or Kingston Class 10 cards) or Sandisk CF express card.
- Lens Cleansing Kit: Most commonly, photographers will use cotton wool or soft piece of cloth to wipe their lenses while on the job but to show you care, get the photographer-loved-one a dedicated lens cleaning kit that contains sensor cleaners, a soft cloth for your lens, air blower, brush, wipe solutions, etc to ensure that your camera and lens are always in pristine condition… They’ll thank you for it.
- Speedlight/Speedlite: You can never have too many lights. Never in the history of photography has a photographer complained of having too much light in their backpack so get that friend a speedlite today. Depending on your budget, you could either get them a generic speedlite (those have one fire pin and are good for events and standard portraits) or if you have a little more to spare, could get them the Godox V860 II with ETTL (under 80 thousand naira, has its own rechargeable battery, capable of HSS shooting and a really fast recycle time).
- Light Modifiers: There’s a host of light modifiers in the market (softboxes, light stands, umbrellas, reflectors, beauty dish, reflector pan, etc). And they all come in different shapes, sizes an prize ranges so you can’t go wrong which ever direction you take. I’d recommend the lantern softbox by Triopop; casts very soft light, suits but photo and video needs and is under forty thousand naira (#40,000).
- Nifty-Fifty: Last but definitely not the least, the trusted 50mm f/1.8 lens. The Nifty Fifty is a staple of the photography industry because of its quality yet at such an affordable rate. Almost every photographer owns a nifty fifty but chances are that’s one of the first lenses they got so surprise them with a new nifty fifty that has that new lens smell (is it smell or fragrance?). Irrespective of the brand, the nifty fifty is quite inexpensive and wouldn’t break the bank.
