For this holiday season, I wanted to share some of the best gift ideas for the photographer in your life. We’ll leave the camera and lens purchases to them. Instead, this list will focus on low-priced gear that will make a big impact.

Super Clamp

The super clamp is the most useful piece of grip ever made. In short, it allows photographers to attach anything to, well, anything. Want to attach a light to a steel beam in the ceiling? Super clamp. Hang a background from a C-stand grip arm? Super clamp. Use your camera bag as a sandbag? Super clamp (plus a J Hook). It’s incredibly useful, they last forever, and are very affordable.

Bonus: the Flashpoint Super Clamp is available in multiple colors. I buy mine in Yellow so I can easily spot them in our studio.

SD Cards

SD cards are the photography version of receiving socks. We might not brag to any of our friends about receiving them, but we’ll use them until they no longer function. That being said, there may be an opportunity to give that photographer friend a life upgrade.

SD cards come in all sorts of speeds and sizes. A lot of times, photographers will upgrade their camera but keep using older memory cards since they still work. But, by giving them the fastest memory card for their camera, they will enjoy a more responsive camera and shorter wait times when copying photos.

SanDisk, Sony, and Prograde all make excellent SD cards. Find out what camera they have and search for the fastest write speed that is compatible with their gear using this helpful guide.

Wacom Tablet

Basic photo editing doesn’t require much physical finesse. It all starts with applying adjustments and moving sliders. However, as photographers slide further down the rabbit hole, they will enter a whole world of photo manipulation that requires precision and grace. Enter the Wacom tablet. This shifts the mouse control to a pressure-sensitive pen, giving photographers a new dimension of control which improves accuracy during complex local adjustments. This is ideal for portrait photographers who spend a lot of time retouching faces. The heading links to an affordable starter tablet but if you really want to wow them, opt for the Wacom Intuos Pro.

First Speedlight

Photography is all about light. If the photographer in your life has yet to explore flash, it’s time to open the door for them with a speedlight. Thankfully, nowadays, some of the most capable lighting equipment come at very accessible pricing — such is the case with the Zoom Li-On III linked above. It is powerful, fast, and versatile. The best part is, it’s part of a system of lights that photographers can grow into as they progress or have increased demands. Make sure to pick the one that is compatible with their camera brand. If you’re looking for more of a budget-friendly option, the Zoom R2 Manual is still quite capable at the low price of $65.

DJI Pocket 2

At the beginning I said no cameras, but I promise I’m not suggesting the latest full-frame mirrorless camera body. Instead, I recommend the DJI Pocket 2 for the photographers who enjoy capturing video as well. It’s a pocket-sized camera with a gimbal, so even the shakiest of hands can capture steady video footage. It has a ton of accessories available such as an ultra-wide lens, mini tripod, and wireless microphone. This is great for travelers, vloggers, or anyone interested in taking the first step towards making videos.

Article written by Robert Hall.