2008 Gift Wish List Ideas Part One: Under $30

In shops and online, this year there are lots of interesting camera paraphernalia that I've never noticed before. If you're looking for additions to your gift lists for the holiday season, let me make a few suggestions from the stuff that caught my eye. Today we'll start with gifts under $30.


Rockland Colloid's Tintype Parlour: How about a little dry-plate ferrotype that you can cut to size so that it will fit in your 35mm or Medium Format camera? Seriously, you can trim the 4x5 plates to lay inside your Pentax K1000 and launch yourself back in time to the 19th Century. The kit contains everything you need to get started for just $26.95: 5 Metal 4x5 plates, tintype emulsion, developer, and fixer (darkroom not included). Available at B&H Photo.


Vintage Photo Albums from Anthropologie: You can find 3 different small books, all designed with unique faces of old vintage cameras and 18 pages for carrying 36 prints. $10 each at Anthopologie.com


The iKimono 110 Camera: Considering most children aren't aware that mini 110 cameras have been around for years, it's a novel experience for them to have a mini analogue film camera on a key chain. The little boxes come colored with drawings of your choice: a bee, hedgehog, cat, or squirrel. Available for $22 (and 110 film is included) at Fred Flare.


Pentax DSLR Sling (Crossover) Bag: To get this great bag, one way is to buy a K20 kit from Amazon and get the bag for free while supplies last, or you can shop around for the best price. Cameta cameras has it here for just $29.95, which is a great deal. I have one and for me it fits a K20D DSLR with a normal zoom lens (attached, both on the middle pocket), a battery grip (detached in the bottom pocket), an extra telephoto lens (top pocket), and your battery charger (back in the bottom pocket), with a bit of left over room to spare for cloths and dust blowers, etc. The padding is just okay, but for small trips around town, it's perfect.