{"id":36032,"date":"2024-12-19T12:20:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T17:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/?p=36032"},"modified":"2024-12-22T00:09:41","modified_gmt":"2024-12-22T05:09:41","slug":"buyers-guide-recommendations-for-the-best-photography-equipment-software-books-dvds-online-photo-labs-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/?p=36032","title":{"rendered":"Buyer’s Guide: Recommendations For The Best Photography Equipment, Software, Books, DVDs, Online Photo Labs, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 If you are shopping for yourself, or for a photographer in your life, this series is for you.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

This article is reposted annually in November with some updates in between. Reposted: November 30, 2024. Most recent update: December 19, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

PHOTO LABS<\/strong><\/p>\n

How To Get The Best Results From The Best Online Photo Labs<\/a><\/p>\n

How Long Will Your Photo Lab Prints Last Without Fading?<\/a><\/p>\n

BUYING ADVICE
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buy What You Can Afford!<\/a><\/p>\n

Great Deal? Don’t Get Burned!<\/a><\/p>\n

Should You Buy “Gray Market” Photo Equipment?<\/a><\/p>\n

Camera Choices: Using Full Size Test Images from DPReview.com<\/a><\/p>\n

CAMERA STORES<\/strong><\/p>\n

My Favorite Online Camera Stores<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gifts for Photographers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inexpensive Gifts (Starting at $8) for Photographers<\/a><\/p>\n

Cameras, Lenses, and Lens Calibration<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Digital Cameras for 2023 (Including 2015 – 2022)<\/a><\/p>\n

Get a Quality DSLR and Two Lenses for Less Than $600<\/a><\/p>\n

Choosing an Inexpensive Canon DSLR and Lenses for Video and Still Work<\/a><\/p>\n

GoPro: Amazing, Small, Inexpensive, HD Video Cameras<\/a><\/p>\n

The Best Rugged Digital Cameras for Underwater and the Beach<\/a><\/p>\n

How to Choose the Best iPhone Lenses<\/a><\/p>\n

The Chinese Lens Rip Off Series – Overpriced Camera Phone Lenses<\/a><\/p>\n

Get Sharper Images By Using The Best Lens Calibration Tools<\/a><\/p>\n

Closeup Gear<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Closeup Photography Equipment<\/a><\/p>\n

Tripods, Tripods Heads, and Related Tripod Gear<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tripod Recommendations: The Best of the Best<\/a><\/p>\n

Tripod Head Recommendations: Some of the Best of the Best<\/a><\/p>\n

The Very Best Camera Quick Release System<\/a><\/p>\n

My Favorite Smart Phone Tripod Mounts<\/a><\/p>\n

Best Panorama Gear: Living In Panorama Heaven<\/a><\/p>\n

Keeping Your World Straight With A Double Bubble Level<\/a><\/p>\n

Microphones for DSLRs and Smart Phones<\/strong><\/p>\n

A High Quality, Compact R\u00d8DE VideoMic for Your DSLR and Smartphone <\/a><\/p>\n

How Do You Know If You Have a Fake R\u00d8DE VideoMic?<\/a><\/p>\n

Speedlites, Studio Lights, and Lighting Accessories<\/strong><\/p>\n

“How To” Series: Off-Camera Flash<\/a> – Twelve articles that introduce you to off-camera flash equipment and how to use it.<\/p>\n

Some of the Best Off-Camera Flash Equipment<\/a><\/p>\n

Radio Controlled Speedlites: Yongnuo YN600EX-RT vs Canon 600EX-RT<\/a><\/p>\n

AlienBees: High Quality, Economical Studio Lights<\/a><\/p>\n

Putting Together a “Studio in a Backpack”<\/a>. Everything you need to take a small, portable portrait studio on the road. And you may have some of the items already.<\/p>\n

Light Modifiers (Softeners) for Speedlites<\/a><\/p>\n

The Top Three Ring Lights<\/a> – an article at Digital Photo<\/em> magazine<\/p>\n

Light Meters<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Incident Light Meters<\/a><\/p>\n

Night Photography<\/strong><\/p>\n

Buying a Headlamp for Night Photography: The Essential Feature<\/a><\/p>\n

The Best Star Trackers<\/a><\/p>\n

Astrophotography with the iOptron SkyTracker<\/a><\/p>\n

Review and Introduction: the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i<\/a><\/p>\n

Telescopes<\/strong><\/p>\n

How To Choose A High Quality Telescope<\/a><\/p>\n

Wireless Camera Control<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wireless Camera Control and Wireless Photo Transfer with CamRanger<\/a> – one of the best, most economical ways to get wireless camera control and wireless image transfer in one small package.<\/p>\n

FILM AND FLATBED SCANNERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Film and Flatbed Scanners<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTOGRAPHY INSURANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Insurance for Your Photo Gear<\/a><\/p>\n

SHORT AND LONG TERM PHOTO STORAGE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Memory Cards for Digital Cameras<\/a><\/p>\n

The Best Digital Photo Storage<\/a><\/p>\n

THE BEST PHOTO BACKUP OPTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 3-2-1 Photo and Data Backup Plan<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Online Backup For Your Photos and Other Important Files<\/a><\/p>\n

THE BEST DATA-RECOVERY SERVICES<\/strong><\/p>\n

My Hard Drive Crashed! Where Do I Send It To Get My Data Back?<\/a><\/p>\n

SATELLITE COMMUNICATORS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Satellite Communicators: The GPS Messaging Devices That Can Save Your Life<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO SOFTWARE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Image Editing Software<\/a><\/p>\n

THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHY BOOKS AND DVDs<\/strong><\/p>\n

All Purpose Photography Books
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the Best All Purpose Photography Books<\/a><\/p>\n

Lighting Book
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Book On Photographic Lighting<\/a><\/p>\n

Exposure Books<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim Grey Recommends Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies<\/em><\/a>.<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Blakeley Recommends Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies<\/em> Receives Apogee Photo Magazine’s <\/em>Highest Rating<\/a><\/p>\n

Best Book on Professional Exposure Techniques<\/a><\/p>\n

History of Photography<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Illustrated History of Photography<\/a><\/p>\n

Composition Books<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photographic Composition: The Essential Book<\/a><\/p>\n

Advanced Photographic Composition: The Best Books<\/a><\/p>\n

People<\/strong> Photography Books
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Excellent “How To Photograph People” Books<\/a><\/p>\n

Nature Photography Books
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nature Photography Books: The Three Essentials<\/a>. If you only read three nature photography books, put these on your “must read” list.<\/p>\n

My Two Favorite Introductions to Landscape Photography<\/a>. If you only get two books on landscape photography, these are the books to get.<\/p>\n

The Best “How To” Nature Photography Books<\/a><\/p>\n

Two Excellent Nature Photography Books by Tony Sweet<\/a><\/p>\n

A Great “How To” Flower Photography Book by Tony Sweet<\/a><\/p>\n

Jim Brandenburg: Chased by the Light<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

Scenic Photo Location Guides and Guides to the National Scenic Byways<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Scenic Photo Location Guides<\/a><\/p>\n

Wildlife Photography<\/strong><\/p>\n

How To Find Wildlife, The Best Books<\/a><\/p>\n

How To Photograph Wildlife, The Best Books<\/a><\/p>\n

Night and Astrophotography Books
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Night, Astronomy, and Astrophotography Books<\/a><\/p>\n

Ansel Adams<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ansel Adams: Books by (and About) the Master<\/a><\/p>\n

Digital Photography and\/or Photoshop Books<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the Best Digital Photography Books<\/a><\/p>\n

A Full Year of Photo Projects, Arranged by Season<\/a><\/p>\n

Photoshop, Lightroom, and Elements Books<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Basic Introductions to Elements, Photoshop, and Lightroom<\/a><\/p>\n

Lightroom and Photoshop: The Essential Books<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mastering Photoshop Series<\/strong><\/p>\n

The “Mastering Photoshop” Series<\/a> – Series Overview<\/p>\n

Mastering Photoshop & Lightroom: Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)<\/a><\/p>\n

Mastering Photoshop: Advanced Color Correction, Part One<\/a><\/p>\n

Mastering Photoshop: Advanced Color Correction, Part Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Mastering Photoshop: Retouching, Part One<\/a><\/p>\n

Mastering Photoshop: Retouching, Part Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Photography Magazines<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Photography Magazines<\/a><\/p>\n

Photography DVDs<\/strong><\/p>\n

My Favorite Photography DVDs<\/a><\/p>\n

Great Set of DVDs: Joel Sartore’s Fundamentals of Photography<\/a><\/p>\n

Jim Brandenburg: Chased by the Light<\/a> – the story, the book, and the DVD<\/p>\n

Photo Workshops and Photo Safaris<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Best Photography Seminars, Workshops, and Photo Safaris<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,4,19,30,7,13,10,32,9,5,14,18,11,8,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-cameras","category-computing-and-software","category-flash","category-iphone-photography","category-lenses","category-lighting","category-metering","category-night-photography","category-photo-accessories","category-photo-gear","category-photo-labs","category-photo-locations","category-photo-storage-and-backup","category-tripods","category-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36032"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36062,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36032\/revisions\/36062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blog.jimdoty.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}