gifts

Polaroid Camera Models Made with Paper

Mel Stringer (aka girliepains on Etsy) keeps dreaming up cooler and cooler camera papercraft decorations. Her latest creation is a Polaroid model that include fake Polaroids to stick in the slot.

Printable Vintage Box Camera Papercraft

Remember the pastel baby box cameras that we featured a while ago? Well the seller, Mel Stringer (girliepains on Etsy), has a new design for vintage box cameras that's inspired by cameras such as the Brownie, Bakerlite, and Ensign. These could make nice table decorations for when you hang out with your photography-lovin' friends. The templates come on A4-sized PDF files and a cost $4 through Stringer's store.

Sharan Cardboard Pinhole Camera Kits

Sharan pinhole cameras are Japanese-made cardboard camera kits that you buy and build yourself. All the parts are pre-cut, and can be assembled using tape in about 1 to 2 hours with the help of step-by-step instructions. The STD35 is a standard 35mm pinhole camera, while the Wide-35 allows you to take panoramic photos.

“We Just Click” Valentines Day Card

It's a little to late to get this card in time for Valentine's Day this year, but maybe this can give you some inspiration if you're looking to create one by hand for a special photography-lover in your life. This "We Just Click" card sells for $4.50 from dudeandchick's Etsy store.

Pint-Sized Toy DSLR Complete with Swappable Lenses

Ordinary DSLR cameras too big and bulky for you? Check out the CHOBi CAM ONE, a DSLR-style toy camera the size of an eraser that actually has lenses you can swap in and out. It shoots 1600×1200 still photos and VGA video at 30 frames per second.

PetaPixel Photography Gift Guide 2010

Sorry that this year's list of awesome photography gifts comes even later than last year's... we'll try to have it ready earlier in 2011. This year we have 10 fun, novel, and/or useful gifts for photography-lovers you love...

Luma Introduces the LoopIt Sling for Lighter Cameras

The LoopIt is a new camera sling by Luma designed to be smaller, lighter, and more affordable than the Luma Loop. Both slings use a lanyard and connector that slide along the camera strap and connect to cameras via any available strap mount point. The push-to-release swivels are manufactured at the same factory that invented the swivel used by the US military, with tolerances that supposedly exceed the ones used in combat.

Cross-Stitched Polaroid Dark Slide Cards

Check out these super-special Polaroid-themed greeting cards by Heather Champ. They're made using two dark slides from expired Polaroid 600 film:

The five colour bars (celebrating the new PX 70 packaging) create a negative space heart surrounded by the idea of a instant film frame.

Once the front dark slide is cross-stitched, the front and back are dry mounted with rubber cement to folded white card stock. The inside is blank. The card is accompanied by a matching blank white envelope.

Try making these yourself as a do-it-yourself project. If arts and crafts isn't your thing, you can buy them for a special Polaroid-lover in your life for $25 from Heather's Etsy store.

ShutterBuddy is like a Tractor Beam for Baby Eyes

Apparently babies can't resist a good checkboard pattern. ShutterBuddy is a camera attachment that surrounds your camera or lens with a checkerboard pattern, causing babies to stare uncontrollably at your camera (whether in fear or fascination, we have no idea). You can order your own for $15 through the ShutterBuddy website, or you can spend some time creating a do-it-yourself version by printing out or drawing your own checkboard pattern.