2020 Holiday Gifts for Filmmakers & Photographers! Under $100 USD
Don’t freak about not knowing what gift to buy your fellow photographer or filmmaking loved ones! Below are a list of holiday gift ideas that are under $100 USD, perfect for any content creators!
NEEWER Carbon Fiber Hand-Held Stabilizer
The popular rise of camera gimbals have made shaking video a non-existent issue, however quality gimbals are still pricey and may be out of a indie-filmmaker’s budget. The NEEWER Carbon Fibre Steadicam helps you achieve the same goal of smooth-steady shots at a lower-budget. The hand-held stabilizer works by utilizing counter weights to your camera setup.
Amazon (US): NEEWER Carbon Fibre Hand-Held Stabilizer
Amazon (CA): NEEWER Carbon Fibre Hand-Held Stabilizer
ND Filters are a must-have for any filmmaker! If you want to achieve a shallow depth of field by using a fast lens on a sunny day, an ND Filter is the go to solution for the problem of allowing too much light into the camera even if you lower your ISO or do not want to increase the shutter speed for choppier motion. The K&F Concept ND Filter is a great budget ND filter that will not break the bank and accomplish the job for you with great results.
Amazon (US): K&F Concept ND Filter
Amazon (CA): K&F Concept ND Filter
YONGUNO 50mm f/1.8
The nifty fifty! The YONGNUO 50mm is a great budget lens to add to your filmmaking kit if you do not already have a 50mm in your arsenal. Achieve amazing bokeh-licious images when shooting wide open at f/1.8 to have that amazing depth of field separating your subject away from the background! Pair this lens with a follow-focus and focus ring to have precise control over the focus.
Amazon (US): Yongnuo 50mm f1/.8
Amazon (CA): Yongnuo 50mm f1/.8
Capture your footage from a realistic eye-level perspective with the use of a shoulder rig. The shoulder rig ensures you get a steady-shot with three point contact, on you body, shoulder and hands. There are numerous budget-conscious shoulder rigs out there, but they all vary based on build quality.
Amazon (US): Neewer Shoulder Rig
Amazon (CA): Neewer Shoulder Rig
FOLLOW FOCUS
Pair your shoulder rig with a follow-focus to ensure you get precise control over your camera lens’ focusing, especially when using a manual lens. Fancier follow-focus come with hard A&B stops to help you achieve those amazing precise rack-focus without going soft.
Amazon (US): NEEWER Follow Focus
Amazon (CA): NEEWER Follow Focus
Amazon (US): NEEWER Follow Focus w/ A&B Hard Stops
Amazon (CA): NEEWER Follow Focus w/ A&B Hard Stops
POLARIZING FILTER
Have you ever tried shooting a car scene through the windows and ended up with an insane amount of reflection completely blocking the actor’s face inside the car? Fix that issue with a polarizing filter to control those reflections, as well as giving you more contrast when shooting blue skies!
Amazon (US): AmazonBasics Polarizing Filter
Amazon (CA): AmazonBasics Polarizing Filter
TIFFEN BLACK PRO MIST FILTER
The Tiffen Pro Mist Filter is a very popular creative filter among filmmakers and cinematographers. Ever since the invention of digital cameras, some filmmakers have wanted to emulate the look and style of film cameras without the cost of actually investing in a motion picture film camera and the whole process of film development, which is costly. The Tiffen Pro Mist filter emulates the soften / bloom look that many film setups produced.
Amazon (US): Tiffen Black Pro Mist Filter
Amazon (CA): Tiffen Black Pro Mist Filter
NEEWER MINI LED
Need a LED lighting kit, but on a budget? The Neewer Mini-LED packs a big punch of brightness in their LED kit considering its size.. Although they may not be a perfect solution for lighting large subjects like in a room, they are perfect for product and macro shots. Included with the LEDs are stands and color filters.
Amazon (US): Neewer Mini LED
Amazon (CA): Neewer Mini LED
NEEWER E27 LIGHTS
The Neewer E27 Softbox lighting kit is a budget friendly softbox lighting kit designed specifically for a studio environment. Although these are extremely low-end budget lights, they get the job done and will increase your production value and cinematography quality if you do not have lights already.
Amazon (US): NEEWER E27 Softbox Lights
Amazon (CA): NEEWER E27 Softbox Lights
SAMSUNG SSD
Stock up on some extra external storage solutions to store your footage, projects and various other media content. The Samsung SSD is a great solid state drive that will ensure you have fast data transfer speeds and never suffer from data bottleneck when working on a specific production in post-production.
Amazon (US): Samsung 500GB Portable SSD
Amazon (CA): Samsung 500GB Portable SSD
NEEWER SHOTGUN
Everyone knows that audio is crucial to any film/video content and it is important to have high quality audio. The NEEWER Shotgun mic is a budget solution to achieving a “decent” quality of audio if you are on a low-budget for your productions. Although it is not a perfect shotgun mic, it gets the job done well at the price point it’s being sold at.
Amazon (US): Unavailable
Amazon (CA): Neewer Shotgun Microphone
*Disclaimer - Prices may vary depending on the seller, stock and current discounts.