Dads And Grads Digital Camera And Photo Gift Guide

June 12th, 2008 by

patia

Father’s Day Digital Camera Guide

Few gift-buying occasions are more filled with cliches than Father’s Day and high school graduation. For dads, there’s the ubiquitous necktie - ugh! And for grads, cash is almost an expected rite of passage.

Want to shake things up a bit?

Everyone loves photos. And there are hundreds of camera and photo-related gift-giving possibilities — from cameras to digital picture frames to personalized chef’s aprons perfect for Dad’s summer barbecuing.

Digital Cameras For Dads & Grads
Does your dad or grad need a new camera? If they are still using film, or a camera with less than 8 megapixels of resolution, chances are good that they’ll appreciate an upgrade. Digital camera performance has made outstanding progress in the last couple of years, with resolution going up, speed improving and prices coming down. It’s now possible to get a great little point-and-shoot for less than $200, a higher-end compact camera for under $500 and an honest-to-goodness digital SLR just like the pros use for less than $1,000.

Real men don’t use point-and-shoots. Well, okay, they do - but serious photographers would rather play with their big - ummm - lens. Digital SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras offer better image quality, more speed, and interchangeable lenses.

The Nikon D3 is the current Ferrari of cameras. At a retail list price of $5,000, the D3 is the ultimate professional digital SLR, with a 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, unrivaled shooting speeds of up to 11 frames-per-second and Nikon’s 3D Color Matrix Metering with Scene Recognition. Since $5,000 is for the camera body only, you’ll need to buy a lens, too. A worthy all-purpose lens like the Nikon 18mm-200mm VR will set you back about $675 — and that’s just the beginning of any real professional’s lens line-up.

Nikon’s D300 boasts nearly as impressive a set of features as its big brother the D3, but with a smaller size and price tag. For $1,800, Dad will get to use superb Nikon lenses - and Nikon bragging rights. If $1800 is still out of reach, consider the new Nikon D60 digital SLR kit, which comes with an 18-55mm AF-S VR lens for under $700. That’s Nikon DSLR tech for well under $1,000!

Nikon Digital SLR Recommendations
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Nikon D3
Price: $4,999

Nikon D300
Price: $1,800

Nikon D60 Kit
Price: $749

Canon, Olympus, Sony, and Pentax also make excellent digital SLR cameras. Look for Canon’s EOS, Olympus E-Series, Sony Alpha, and the Pentax K-Series cameras. The truth is - there are no bad digital SLRs anymore. If you’re buying one to replace a point-and-shoot, they’re all wonderful.

More Digital SLR Recommendations
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Canon EOS Rebel
XSi / 450D
Price: $799

Pentax K200D
Price: $799

Sony Alpha DSLR-A700
Price: $499

The next best thing to a digital SLR is a high-end superzoom digital camera with a built-in 10x or longer zoom lens. You’ll trade a little image quality, but compact cameras offer the benefit of being smaller, lighter, more portable and less expensive than digital SLRs. They’re simply more practical.

With powerful, 10x to 20x zoom lenses, popular superzoom digital cameras include the Nikon CoolPix P80, Olympus SP-570 UZ, Canon PowerShot S5 IS, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9, Fujifilm FinePix S9000 and Kodak EasyShare Z1012. Expect to pay between $300 and $500 for one of these.

Editors’ Superzoom Digital Camera Recommendations
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50
Price: $549

Olympus SP-570 UZ
Price: $499

Canon PowerShot S5 IS
Price: $349

Finally, real men sometimes do eat quiche and they definitely use point-and-shoot digital cameras. (So do high-school graduates - lots of ‘em!) If a pocket-sized, easy-to-use, relatively inexpensive camera sounds like the ticket, you’ll find point-and-shoot models from all the major manufacturers in the $100 to $400 price range. Look for 7 megapixels or higher, a 3x or better optical zoom and multiple exposure modes and changeable ISO settings.

Additional useful features include optical or mechanical image stabilization, face detection, movie mode, burst mode, a self-timer and a 2.5-inch or larger color LCD monitor.

Point-and-Shoot Digital Cameras Recommended By The Editors
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35
Price: $349

Sony Cybershot DSC-T200
Price: $399

Olympus Stylus 1030 SW
Price: $399

Camera Accessories, Digital Photo Software and Photo Learning
If your dad or grad already has a great digital camera, the right camera accessory can help them get more out of it. Waterproof camera housings (check the camera manufacturer’s website), carbon fiber tripods, the uniquely bendable Joby Gorillapod, high-capacity memory cards and flash drives (look for 2GB and above) and camera bags all make great additions to any photographer’s kit.

Recommended Tripods & Memory Cards
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Joby Gorillapod
Price: $25

The Pod
Price: $15

Manfrotto 055 Carbon Fiber Tripod
Price: $338

Mass retailers and your local camera store are good places to browse for camera accessories in person. If you already know what you want, you can probably buy it from one of the online camera dealers in the reviews section here on PhotographyREVIEW.com.

Digital photography software is also a great gift for photographer dads and grads. How about the unchallenged king of (and most expensive) photo-editing software, Adobe Photoshop CS3, for your aspiring artist? Or if that’s too rich or sophisticated for your photographer, its slimmed-down and relatively inexpensive sibling, Photoshop Elements, is a great alternative.

Recommended Digital Photography Software
Click on products to compare prices, read reviews, or learn more

Adobe Photoshop CS3
Price: $649

Adobe Photoshop Elements
Price: $99

ACDSee 10 Photo Manager
Price: $49

Perhaps your dad or grad would like to continue their education with a photography workshop or online training. For ideas, check our Photography Schools & Workshops links page or the photo technique lessons from Web Photo School. For more ideas, search “photography training” or “photography workshop” to find numerous possibilities. One, the Rocky Mountain School of Photography, offers dozens of intensive training seminars in photogenic locations across the country. Or, give a membership to an online learning library like Lynda.com. For $25 a month or $250 a year, Lynda.com offers online video tutorials on many software titles and subjects like “Digital Photography Principles: The Camera” and “Secrets to Selling and Publishing Photography.” The New York Institute of Photography is another popular online photographic learning resource.

Whether informative or inspirational, books make great gifts. Try one by master wilderness photographer Galen Rowell, such as his acclaimed “Mountain Light.” Other popular titles include “Understanding Exposure” by Bryan Peterson, “The Moment It Clicks” by Joe McNally, or “Digital SLR Cameras & Photography For Dummies” by David D. Busch.

Digital Photo Frames, Prints, and Photo Books
Besides Dad’s monster HD TV, the coolest way to display photographs is a digital picture frame. Imagine a rotating slideshow of family and vacation photos — and the Ferrari he wishes he had — hanging on his office wall. And for your college-bound grad, how about a collection of family and high school memories to hang in his or her new dorm-room?

Multimedia picture frames, offered by Kodak and other manufacturers, can play videos and MP3 music recordings in addition to pictures, while wireless digital frames let friends and family around the world upload and download photos via a standard WiFi computer network. Some digital picture frames can even be bought with pre-installed photos!

Digital picture frames run from $60 to $200.

Even old-school standbys like framed prints, enlargements and posters have expanded to include fun collages and canvas prints that look like fine-art paintings. How about a canvas “painting” from one of Dad’s gorgeous vacation sunset photos? Or a collage made with pictures of your son or daughter and their high school friends?

Photo books are an upgrade to the traditional photo album. It’s fun to upload pictures to sites like the Kodak Gallery, Shutterfly, Snapfish, Lulu or Apple’s iPhoto and use their design templates. Consider a pocket-sized album filled with pictures of your grad’s friends, family and pets, or a glossy coffee-table book showing off the old man’s favorite golf course photos.

Research and Shop For Digital Picture Frames >>

Photo Book How-To Guide >>

Keychain digital frames let your Dad or grad carry photos with them everywhere they go. Find them at Amazon.com or brick-and-mortar retailers like Target, Best Buy and Brookstone.

Other Photo Gifts
A world of fun gifts can be made with your dad’s or grad’s favorite photograph. How about uploading a pic of Dad and the words “Kiss the Cook” for a chef’s apron from the Kodak Gallery? Some other photo gift ideas for dads and grads: Frosted beer steins, commuter mugs, T-shirts, pen/pencil holders, wall clocks and playing cards for poker night. Online photo sharing and printing sites offer an incredible number of gifts that can be made with photos.

And if you’re really traditional (boring!) and really want to get dad a necktie you can order one from Kodak with the photo of your choice printed on it.

Great photo gifts for grads include coordinated desk organizers, mousepads and coffee mugs for the dorm room or that first office job; throw blankets and pillowcases; and thank-you notecards for all those graduation gifts. Snapfish offers a lovely sterling silver photo bracelet that any young woman would treasure.

Dads and grads alike would be sure to appreciate a keepsake box, a keyring or a photo mug accompanied by a Starbucks gift card or Ghiradelli chocolate (both available from Shutterfly).

DIY Digital Photography Gifts
If you’d prefer to make your own present - or enlist the kids to craft one for Dad or Grandpa — here are some do-it-yourself gift ideas:

Hand-painted picture frames and photo mats. (Imagine handprints or footprints from the little ones.)
A photo collage of favorite pictures. (Scanning or Xeroxing old family photographs would be especially heartwarming.)
· A surprise professional portrait of the kids, yourself or both.

Gift Certificates
Finally, everybody loves gift certificates and gift cards. Stop by your local drugstore or photo lab, or buy one from an online service such as the Kodak Gallery, Shutterfly or Snapfish. You could even upload a photograph and order a custom greeting card to tuck the gift card (or that graduation cash) into.

Whatever you decide on, the fathers and graduates in your life will be sure to appreciate the unique gift of photography.

– By Patia Stephens