Buyer's Guides

If you’re looking for the ideal gift for the photographer in your life, or if you’d like to reward yourself for persevering through a challenging 2022, here are five photographic items that any photographer is sure to appreciate.

Wacom Intuos Pro Graphics Input Tablet
Instead of using a mouse to move the brushes, selection tracing tools and other Photoshop editing utensils, you use a pencil-like stylus and draw on a tablet. It’s more precise and way more fun. Not to mention faster. And because the stylus is pressure sensitive, it’s far more useful than a mouse.

We reviewed the Wacom Intuos Pro Graphics input tablet in detail a while back. Link here.

Professional graphic artists routinely use graphics tablets in their daily work. And Wacom is the brand most favored. The S (small) Wacom Intuos Pro, with 7-inch active area, costs $279. The larger M version features a 10-inch active area and costs $100 more ($379). For daily professional (or passionate amateur) use, the L-size has a 12-inch active area and costs $499. You can order directly from Wacom’s online store.

Ansel Adams Framed Reproductions
Inspiring, gorgeous and the world’s best examples of impeccable photographic technique, there’s not a photographer alive who wouldn’t dig owning a classic Ansel Adams print. Reproductions start at $85 and range to a modest $270 or so. You can also order originals from anseladams.com but be prepared to dig a lot deeper in your pocket (minimum price exceeds $10,000).

Reward your photography instructor, mentor or yourself with a print they’ll proudly display and treasure for life.

Personalized Lucky Camera Strap
Lucky Camera Straps deliver a trifecta of strength, comfort and drop dead gorgeous appearance. Have the name of the photographer in your life pressed into the leather for true personalization. We reviewed Lucky Straps last December; read the review here.

Lucky Camera Straps are made of genuine leather and natural cotton with leather trim. They’re made by hand in a wide selection of colors and sizes to fit the wearer, and are available in shoulder strap, cross-body (bandoleer style) and wrist strap configurations.

Prices start around $100 without personalization. Order from Lucky Straps. They’re made in Australia, and with international shipping it may be too late for holiday delivery. But don’t let that stop you from gifting one of the most desirable camera straps available. 

Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod
Peak Design is legendary in the camera bag, photo backpack and camera strap categories. When they introduced their innovative travel tripod is was immediately heralded as the first new tripod design to come along in recent memory. You can read our review here.

The Peak Design Carbon Fiber travel tripod is available from Peak Design for $585. This is a promotional price and as such is subject to change (as all prices are, when you get right down to it). It weighs a scant 2.8 pounds and can support up to 20 pounds of camera + lens. Tipping the scales at 3.4 pounds, the aluminum model currently sells for $382 and has the same maximum load capacity.

Ricoh GR IIIx Urban Edition
The Ricoh GR IIIx packs an abundance of professionally-desirable features into a camera that fits in your pocket. Here’s a summary, and you’ll find Shutterbug’s in-depth review here. The Urban Edition boasts a distinctive metallic gray body accented by a navy blue ring around the lens.

Featuring a 40mm f/2.8 lens (equivalent focal length) and a large 24.2MP APS-C CMOS, the amazing Ricoh GR IIIx can capture images in 14-bit Raw (DGN) format or standard JPEGs. It provides 3-axis, 4-step image stabilization, no anti-aliasing filter (but effectively simulates one for moiré reduction), and a touchscreen LCD monitor. And it offers full Manual operation in addition to automatic settings. You can even control the camera remotely thanks to the built-in wireless connectivity.

In other words, it includes most of the features serious photographers demand of their big cameras, except it’s small, weighs only 9.24 ounces (262g) and has all of the features that make it perfect for street shooting, travel and everyday carry. Priced at $1049, the Ricoh GR IIIx Urban Edition can be ordered from Amazon.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

(As an Amazon Associate, Shutterbug earns from qualifying purchases linked in this story.)