Seven Christmas gift ideas for filmmakers under $100

Have you already bought your Christmas presents or do you wait until the last minute to do it? I belong to the second group, and believe it or not – I haven’t bought any Christmas presents yet. If you’re anything like me, this video is perfect for you. Sidney Diongzon has come up with a list of seven gifts that will cost you less than $100. These gifts are great for filmmakers, but from my experience – most of these will also make photographers very happy.

1. Sony RMT-P1BT Wireless Remote Commander ($78) – it lets you control a camera wirelessly and choose between shooting video and stills. Sure, it can be done via phone, but a dedicated remote can be much more convenient. Similarly, you can buy a wireless remote control for the photographer in your life, which is even cheaper. Just make sure to choose the right brand, and that they don’t already have one.

2. Rode VideoMicro Ultracompact Camera-Mount Shotgun Microphone ($52) – for 52 bucks, you can help your filmmaker friend or partner to get clean audio in their videos or vlogs. I think that this would also be a great gift for photographers who want to get more into video making. I sure know that I’d like to get a decent mic.

3. Aputure MC RGBWW LED light ($90) – this tiny light has so much to offer to both photographers and filmmakers. It’s portable, yet very bright. It offers dimmable light with color temperature ranging between 3200 and 6500K. It also changes colors and has nine built-in effects. So, it’s a handy portable light that could be useful for both filmmakers and photographers.

4. Aputure M9 LED light ($39) – if you’d rather go with something more affordable than the Aputure MC RGBWW light, you can go for its little brother, the Aputure M9. It doesn’t offer all the fancy effects and colors, but it’s still a bright, dimmable, and portable light, handy for both filmmakers and photographers.

5. Spiffy Gear Lumiee LED light ($45) – Here’s another light that’s handy for both filmmakers and photographers, and it’s also super-fun! Lumiee is an LED light wand that can be turned into a bracelet. It’s a total hit at parties (trust me), but it offers way more than just being fun. It’s also very bright, dimmable, with adjustable color temperature and built-in effects. It comes in two versions: RGB and bi-color.

6. Seagate 4TB Backup Plus Portable Hard Drive ($89.99) – for filmmakers who deal with large video files, a reliable external hard drive is “like candy;” as Sidney says: “the more we have, the happier we are.” So, this is a gift you can’t go wrong with.

7. Peak Design SL-BK-3 Slide Camera Strap ($64.95) – even though this is a very convenient and beautiful strap, I personally would recommend buying it as a gift only if you know the person really well. And if you’re familiar with their taste and you know that they’d want this strap. Otherwise, since there are so many camera straps in the market, you could miss the person’s preferences and taste. So, your gift might end up as one of those items that just collects dust. But that’s just my opinion.

[7 Christmas Gift Ideas for Filmmakers Under $100 via FStoppers]