Image via Shutterstock
Mother’s day is just around the corner and if your favorite mom just happens to be a photography buff, it would be great to get her something that will either enhance her photography or put some more photo-centric fun in her life. Here are ten cool items that mom would appreciate.
Adorama Price: $159.99
While this bag is a stylish and eye-catching way for Mom to carry a DSLR and a couple of lenses, DSLR or MILC and flash, its photographic street creds can’t be beat. Its leather surface is weatherproofed, and its interior has fabric fastener dividers for flexible configuration. There’s a netted pocket inside for memory cards and batteries, and it comes with a detachable pouch for personal items.
Adorama Price: $149
If you are looking for something more colorful for Mom, the Ketti Tulip Designer Camera Bag is a bit smaller but has two adjustable dividers so you can carry a camera, lens and flash or two lenses. It’s fully padded to protect your gear, and comes with a 46-inch removable cross body strap.
Adorama Price: $99
If Mom owns an iPhone 5 or 5s, the Olloclip 4-in-1 Photo Lens widens the range of her smart phone lens in a snap. It includes a fisheye, a wide-angle lens that doubles the built-in lens’s angle of view, and two different macro lenses (10x and 15x magnification) that can be used for either stills or video. A quick-flip case makes it easy to switch lenses and protects your iPhone. It also turns the “volume up” button into the shutter release, which makes more sense, ergonomically. The case also has a removable tripod adapter.
Adorama Price: $199
The Impossible Project does it again: Funded by a Kickstarter campaign, the Impossible Instant Lab uses a low-tech optical copying system and Impossible instant film to create instant photos from your iPhone. Select an image from the Instant Lab app, place your iPhone on the cradle and slide open the shutter to expose the film. Within seconds, the film is ejected, and the image emerges in your hand. Any image on Mom’s iPhone’s display can be turned into an analog instant photo so mom can share her images the old-fashioned way.
Adorama Price: $49.99
If mom is tight on wall or desk space but wants to show off her favorite photos, a digital photo frame is a great option. You can have a constantly-rotating slideshow with hundreds or even thousands of photos. At normal viewing distances, the 800×600 images will look great. The ViewSonic 8-inch Super Slim Digital Photo frame offers great bang for the buck and plays off of images stored on SD, SDHC and MMC memory cards via an intuitive menu system.
Adorama Price: $26.95
Moms who are serious about their creativity will want a display that complements their photographic works of art. The Framatic Fineline series is a modern series of frames with mats, and the 11×14 frame for 8×10 prints is the most popular size. It’s reasonably priced and since the frame itself is silver colored, it is neutral and will go with most images and decor.
Adorama Price: $35
If mom’s a photography fan, on Mother’s day serve her breakfast, and make sure to bring her coffee in this stylish ceramic coffee mug which is designed to look like the legendary Leica Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 lens. This is the closest mere mortals will ever get to owning this $11,000 lens…and of all people, doesn’t Mom deserve it?.
Adorama Price: 54.95
Go analog! The Lomography Diana Mini uses 35mm square film but masks it off to either square or half-frame images. This is a great choice is there’s a darkroom in the house, but even if there isn’t you can have the film processed commercially then scan the negatives for social media sharing, printing and general creativity. Since light leaks are included at no extra cost, the images Mom gets with her camera will have their own unique, imperfect characteristics.
Adorama Price: $9.99
Mom can keep her filters, lenses, eyeglasses and other optics clean while keeping a stylish splash of color. This amply-sized 10×10-inch Spudz microfiber lens cloth tucks away into its own 5mm weather-resistant neoprene bag with a hook so you can attach it to mom’s keychain or have it hang conveniently on the outside of her purse.
Adorama Price: $49.95-$82.95
With the ability to let you control aperture from the camera and shoot in full Auto mode Pro Optic’s Auto Extension Tube sets are an inexpensive way to get started with macro photography. They couple with the camera’s TTL metering and Autoexposure systems, allowing for both auto exposure and focusing. Mom should keep in mind that exposure will be longer when using an extension tube so she will need a tripod and/or a flash. If she doesn’t have these macro essentials, check out this guide.
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