Welcome to my online buying guide for photographers. With over 80 articles it is one of the most comprehensive photography buyer’s guides on the web.
I get lots of photo questions, especially at this time of year, and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone who is shopping for a photographer. If you are shopping for yourself, or for a photographer in your life, this series is for you.
My “best of the best” series recommends the best photo gear, accessories, software, books, DVDs, online photo labs, and a whole lot more. Thanks to the information in these articles I get emails from photographers thanking me for saving them time, frustration, and a lot of money.
This article is reposted annually in November with some updates in between. Reposted: November 30, 2024. Most recent update: December 19, 2024.
PHOTO LABS
How To Get The Best Results From The Best Online Photo Labs
How Long Will Your Photo Lab Prints Last Without Fading?
BUYING ADVICE
Should You Buy “Gray Market” Photo Equipment?
Camera Choices: Using Full Size Test Images from DPReview.com
CAMERA STORES
My Favorite Online Camera Stores
PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR
Gifts for Photographers
Inexpensive Gifts (Starting at $8) for Photographers
Cameras, Lenses, and Lens Calibration
The Best Digital Cameras for 2023 (Including 2015 – 2022)
Get a Quality DSLR and Two Lenses for Less Than $600
Choosing an Inexpensive Canon DSLR and Lenses for Video and Still Work
GoPro: Amazing, Small, Inexpensive, HD Video Cameras
The Best Rugged Digital Cameras for Underwater and the Beach
How to Choose the Best iPhone Lenses
The Chinese Lens Rip Off Series – Overpriced Camera Phone Lenses
Get Sharper Images By Using The Best Lens Calibration Tools
Closeup Gear
The Best Closeup Photography Equipment
Tripods, Tripods Heads, and Related Tripod Gear
Tripod Recommendations: The Best of the Best
Tripod Head Recommendations: Some of the Best of the Best
The Very Best Camera Quick Release System
My Favorite Smart Phone Tripod Mounts
Best Panorama Gear: Living In Panorama Heaven
Keeping Your World Straight With A Double Bubble Level
Microphones for DSLRs and Smart Phones
A High Quality, Compact RØDE VideoMic for Your DSLR and Smartphone
How Do You Know If You Have a Fake RØDE VideoMic?
Speedlites, Studio Lights, and Lighting Accessories
“How To” Series: Off-Camera Flash – Twelve articles that introduce you to off-camera flash equipment and how to use it.
Some of the Best Off-Camera Flash Equipment
Radio Controlled Speedlites: Yongnuo YN600EX-RT vs Canon 600EX-RT
AlienBees: High Quality, Economical Studio Lights
Putting Together a “Studio in a Backpack”. Everything you need to take a small, portable portrait studio on the road. And you may have some of the items already.
Light Modifiers (Softeners) for Speedlites
The Top Three Ring Lights – an article at Digital Photo magazine
Light Meters
The Best Incident Light Meters
Night Photography
Buying a Headlamp for Night Photography: The Essential Feature
Astrophotography with the iOptron SkyTracker
Review and Introduction: the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i
Telescopes
How To Choose A High Quality Telescope
Wireless Camera Control
Wireless Camera Control and Wireless Photo Transfer with CamRanger – one of the best, most economical ways to get wireless camera control and wireless image transfer in one small package.
FILM AND FLATBED SCANNERS
The Best Film and Flatbed Scanners
PHOTOGRAPHY INSURANCE
The Best Insurance for Your Photo Gear
SHORT AND LONG TERM PHOTO STORAGE
The Best Memory Cards for Digital Cameras
The Best Digital Photo Storage
THE BEST PHOTO BACKUP OPTIONS
The 3-2-1 Photo and Data Backup Plan
The Best Online Backup For Your Photos and Other Important Files
THE BEST DATA-RECOVERY SERVICES
My Hard Drive Crashed! Where Do I Send It To Get My Data Back?
SATELLITE COMMUNICATORS
Satellite Communicators: The GPS Messaging Devices That Can Save Your Life
PHOTO SOFTWARE
The Best Image Editing Software
THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS AND DVDs
All Purpose Photography Books
Some of the Best All Purpose Photography Books
Lighting Book
The Best Book On Photographic Lighting
Exposure Books
Tim Grey Recommends Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies. This is my own photography book. It is one of the highest rated photography books at Amazon.com. It is one of the most detailed and comprehensive “exposure” books on the market, and a great introduction to all things photographic with chapters on people, landscape, wildlife, flower, and sports photography.
Jennifer Blakeley Recommends Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies
Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies Receives Apogee Photo Magazine’s Highest Rating
Best Book on Professional Exposure Techniques
History of Photography
The Best Illustrated History of Photography
Composition Books
Photographic Composition: The Essential Book
Advanced Photographic Composition: The Best Books
People Photography Books
Excellent “How To Photograph People” Books
Nature Photography Books
Nature Photography Books: The Three Essentials. If you only read three nature photography books, put these on your “must read” list.
My Two Favorite Introductions to Landscape Photography. If you only get two books on landscape photography, these are the books to get.
The Best “How To” Nature Photography Books
Two Excellent Nature Photography Books by Tony Sweet
A Great “How To” Flower Photography Book by Tony Sweet
Jim Brandenburg: Chased by the Light. Looking for inspiration. A book and video to inspire your nature photography from a National Geographic photographer who had lost his own passion for photography.
Scenic Photo Location Guides and Guides to the National Scenic Byways
The Best Scenic Photo Location Guides
Wildlife Photography
How To Find Wildlife, The Best Books
How To Photograph Wildlife, The Best Books
Night and Astrophotography Books
The Best Night, Astronomy, and Astrophotography Books
Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams: Books by (and About) the Master
Digital Photography and/or Photoshop Books
Some of the Best Digital Photography Books
A Full Year of Photo Projects, Arranged by Season
Photoshop, Lightroom, and Elements Books
The Best Basic Introductions to Elements, Photoshop, and Lightroom
Lightroom and Photoshop: The Essential Books
The Mastering Photoshop Series
The “Mastering Photoshop” Series – Series Overview
Mastering Photoshop & Lightroom: Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
Mastering Photoshop: Advanced Color Correction, Part One
Mastering Photoshop: Advanced Color Correction, Part Two
Mastering Photoshop: Retouching, Part One
Mastering Photoshop: Retouching, Part Two
Photography Magazines
The Best Photography Magazines
Photography DVDs
Great Set of DVDs: Joel Sartore’s Fundamentals of Photography
Jim Brandenburg: Chased by the Light – the story, the book, and the DVD
Photo Workshops and Photo Safaris