The holiday season is upon us!
Here in Finland, the Christmas markets are open and people are out selling homemade crafts, woolen socks, seasonal foods, and other goodies. We’ve already had to brush away a few layers of snow from our cars and roads, too. It certainly is very festive around here, which got us thinking about gift-giving.
We know that buying gifts for photographers can seem difficult or overwhelming. There are a lot of technical terms and specific models that may seem overwhelming to someone who isn’t familiar with photography. We’re happy to help you narrow down your search and find a thoughtful, helpful gift for your photography-inclined loved ones.
If you have any questions during the holiday season, don’t hesitate to reach out to our customer service team! Now let’s talk about some specific gift ideas.
Gift Cards
As with other stores, we offer gift cards that act like cash on our site. You can find them here, available in increments from 20 to 500 Dollars / Euros.
Even if your loved one seems to have all the cameras, lenses, and accessories they want, chances are they’ve had their eye on one more piece of equipment that could expand/enhance their photography. With over 12,000 products available on our site, we’re confident that we have something that can pique their interest.
A gift card will allow the recipient to decide exactly what they want and make sure that the gift is something that’s compatible with their camera. We’d recommend something like this for a photographer who knows quite a bit already.
Used Items
This year, why not consider buying something pre-owned for your loved ones?
Buying used items is better for the environment because you’re not facilitating the production of new items. We have enough stuff on this Earth and we should try to use what we already have rather than building new things. We’re dedicated to that here at Kamerastore.
It’s also better for your wallet since most of the time used items are much cheaper than a new equivalent!
Cameras & Kits
A camera kit can be an ideal gift for a beginner. We put together these kits to remove the guesswork or technical knowledge that may be required to build a kit yourself. Usually, a kit consists of a camera and a lens that work together. We build them at various budgets to make your buying experience as easy as possible. With these kits there’s no need to worry about compatibility, just getting the right film and batteries!
Let's a few specific examples to show what you can get at different budgets:
Under 100 Dollars / Euros
Photography can be intimidating for newcomers, so we find it helpful to recommend cameras that can take some of that burden away from the photographer. These autofocus cameras do exactly that by controlling things like focus, exposure, film winding, and anything else! They can be used almost like a point-and-shoot or set up entirely manually.
You’ll notice a lot of Minolta Dynax and Canon EOS cameras in this price bracket, and honestly, they’re great deals. You get a camera that’s technically much more capable than many of the more expensive vintage models without having to commit hundreds of Dollars or Euros.
If a kit seems complicated, I’d also recommend a point-and-shoot camera for a beginner. If your loved one seems most interested in taking photos of friends or at events, something small with a flash might be the perfect choice. Click below to see our available point-and-shoots.
In terms of options, going with something from Pentax or Minolta would give you a good mix of value and quality. These two companies were shoulder to shoulder with Canon and Nikon at the time but have since fallen in status a bit. This makes their cameras relatively cheap but still quite good!
100 – 300 Dollars / Euros
This mid-point gives us quite many different options. In terms of kits, there are both higher-end autofocus and lower-end manual focus cameras available.
In these higher-end autofocus kits, you’ll get a nicer lens, usually a prime, that should give better image quality than the under-100-Euros kits. We try to keep a supply of Canon EOS 300s (or similar cameras) with 50mm f1.8 lenses on the site for this exact reason.
With the manual focus cameras we’ll see options, just like before, from Pentax and Minolta. These are great choices for value because they offer comparable features to the more well-known brands at lower prices. Something like a Minolta X-300 or Pentax P30 can deliver excellent images and great experiences without breaking the bank.
The reason you may want to go with an older manual focus camera is to preserve the older style of shooting. Without automatic focus, film winding, exposure control, etc. the photographer is expected to do a lot more. This can be intimidating but also, if done carefully, can lead to a feeling of deep connection with the images. You may mess up some shots, but there’s an intense validation that comes from knowing that you controlled every bit of a well-made photo.
300+ Dollars / Euros
This is where things get very interesting. We have camera kits going up into the thousands of Euros / Dollars. In this highest price bracket, we can get anything from a nice mid-range manual SLR to a fully serviced medium-format camera kit.
Let’s start with those super high-end kits, like a Hasselblad or Mamiya RB67 for example. These are almost always fully serviced by our professional mechanics and come with an extended warranty as well as the peace of mind that your gear has been calibrated, checked, and made to work as well as possible.
At a bit of a lower price, we can find some quite nice 35mm SLRs. Things like Minolta X-700s usually come in at around 400-500 Euros depending on the lens and condition. You can also get something like a Nikon FM/FE and a 50mm lens for around that price if you’re willing to buy the lens and body separately.
If we don’t have anything that strikes your fancy, or you have something specific in mind, reach out to our customer service team and they’ll be happy to put together a kit for you with items we have for sale.
Accessories
There are tons of photo-related accessories that can make for great gifts. Things like creative filters, adapters, or lens hoods can add to the shooting experience but may not be something a photographer would buy for themselves. Let’s go over a few examples of products that can be fun gifts.
Filters
Filters are super versatile tools for photography. There are filters for all sorts of purposes, from protecting the lens to changing the color profile of the image to adding cool creative effects that can’t be easily replicated otherwise. With the right set of filters, a photographer can really turn an image into art.
Be careful when choosing filters, though. There are many different sizes out there, so it’s important to ensure that the recipient has the right lens for a certain filter. You can check by asking them, googling the lens (or the information you find on it) along with “filter size”, or by comparing it with other filters they may have. Once you have the size locked in, you can browse all the filters on our site here.
I’d recommend taking a look at the photos your loved one takes to decide which filter might be a good choice. If they do a lot of black & white photography, maybe a color filter would be good. Colored filters change the contrast of the photo when used with black & white film and can have a major effect on the final image. A yellow or orange filter would be the most common choice, followed by a red or green filter.
If they take a lot of color photos, maybe a creative filter would provide them with a spark. Something like a softness filter or a star filter will give a unique effect that can make their photos stand out and provide some inspiration for sure.
Adapters
Okay, this article has been focused mainly on film photography. This one, though, is squarely for the digital photographers. One of the best ways to take advantage of used/vintage gear is by adapting old lenses to modern cameras. And adapters are the way to do this!
Adapters convert the mounting mechanisms of an older lens to the mechanisms of a newer camera and make sure the lens is held the right distance away from the digital sensor so that the photos will be in focus.
Adapting lenses is fun, interesting, cost-effective, and creative! Vintage lenses are usually much cheaper than modern alternatives and provide a unique look that modern lenses can’t often replicate. Lens design has improved drastically over the past decades, which has caused us to have many lenses that are optically incredible but perhaps a bit clinical in their rendering. In pursuit of optical perfection, many people feel that modern lenses have lost character or personality. This isn’t the case with vintage lenses!
Take, for example, the Helios-44M. This 58mm f2 lens made in the Soviet Union has become a cult classic lens because of its swirly bokeh, meaning the quality of the out-of-focus areas in photos. Technically speaking, this swirly look is the result of poor-quality optics, but the results are striking to say the least.
Putting a lens like the Helios on your modern digital camera can offer a look that’s otherwise impossible to get. Adapting is the only way!
When buying an adapter, we need to know two things: what mount the camera is, and what mount the lens is. Ask your loved one what camera system they use (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, etc.) or take a photo of their camera. Our team can help you find a suitable adapter and a fun lens to use it with, too!
Read our Lens Adapting article here.
New Products
While we do specialize in used products that we check, test, and clean meticulously, there are plenty of items that can’t be reused or weren’t produced back in the day. We don’t carry too many of those at Kamerastore, but when we choose to carry something you’ll know it’s a good product that’s built to last and meets our standards.
VALOI
For the uninitiated, VALOI is our in-house film scanning/digitization brand. We offer a series of products designed to help you scan your film at home using a digital camera. We have products designed specifically for different film formats as well as modular systems with flexibility for just about any format!
One of the main complaints levied against film photography is the cost of developing/scanning film at a lab. The costs can indeed add up quite quickly if you’re shooting many rolls per month. VALOI is here to help!
By doing scanning at home, a photographer can hypothetically save up to 50% on each roll they shoot. It’s trading a recurring cost for an upfront one, so this is a recommendation for someone who already shoots quite a lot of film and knows what they’re doing.
The VALOI easy35 system is a great entry point into camera scanning since it’s cheaper than the more flexible 360 system or the newly-released easy120. It’ll also likely be the best fit for most photographers since 35mm film is far and away the most popular format in the modern day.
Pentax 17
The Pentax 17 is the first new film camera from Pentax in many years and would be a great choice for a beginner or intermediate-level photographer.
There are a few reasons why we’d recommend the 17 to photographers. One reason is that it’s half-frame. This means the photos it takes only cover half of the film space of a normal 35mm shot. This means you can take twice as many photos (up to 72!) on each roll of film. For people that may be scared off by the cost of film, a half-frame camera is a great option.
Another reason to recommend the Pentax 17 is that it’s new. The 17 is made with modern manufacturing techniques and electronics and should, ideally, last for a long time without needing repairs. Even if it does have an issue, though, Pentax has a network of repair centers and technicians ready to fix the 17 if something goes wrong. The same can’t be said for a camera from the 1980s for which spare parts haven’t been produced in decades.
The third is that it’s a good camera. It has its quirks, for sure, but it offers a unique experience and delivers great image quality. We have a full review of the camera on our blog if you’re interested!
Did I mention that the camera is also 50 Euros off right now? Click here to get your Pentax 17!
SantaColor Film
SantaColor is a 100 ISO film with a slightly warm color profile and fine grain. It can produce some really lovely images in the right situations, especially with reds and greens. It also works well with a flash, so it can be a great choice for holiday photos!
We’ve been producing Santacolor film in-house for years now! It’s a hand-spooled 35mm color film made from a Kodak-produced stock that’s otherwise not available for consumer use. We took it upon ourselves to buy master rolls from Kodak, cut them to the right size, and spool it into recycled 35mm canisters so that everyone could enjoy it.
Conclusion
This holiday season, we encourage you to choose art and buy used. By supporting the creative hobbies of your loved ones, you encourage them to participate in the world around them and see things differently. By trying to understand why they love the things they love, you get closer to them. By buying used, you prevent new products from being made and prevent old products from ending up in a landfill.
We’re happy to help facilitate all of these things. As photographers and family members ourselves, we know that our hobby can be a bit opaque or intimidating to outsiders. We love the little nuances of this hobby and revel in the chance to help someone get into it themselves. Our team would be delighted to help you find the perfect gift for your photographer loved one, so don’t hesitate at all to reach out to us.
Happy holidays, everyone! We hope you capture lots of memories and spend time with those you love.
