It is that time of year when we smack the brow and ask ourselves what will we get Uncle Cyril, who has everything, for Christmas.
Uncle gets pleasure from his photography, so we take ourselves to a large camera store, confident that it will have useful doodads that will evoke the proper appreciation: "Just what I always wanted". And here's what we have spotted for the stocking.
![Australia-made: The Rode VideoMic Go.](/web/20161201034543im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/k/7/x/f/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsk7i0.png/1479327901311.jpg)
We are much taken with the ProMaster Tripod Mount for mobile phones. For $20 you get a phone clamp that expands and contracts to fit a range of smartphone sizes, either in or out of cases. The clamp has a tripod screw socket on the base, and fits onto any standard tripod. The mount will fit Aunty Edna's old iPhone 4 or Cyril's new Google Pixel XL.
For any family member going travelling next year, the ProMaster Weatherproof Extreme memory card case ($29.95) will go down nicely. It holds eight SD or 16 micro SD cards – there are inserts provided for each type – in an indestructible clamshell case. The "weatherproof" claim presumably means a bit of rain won't get in.
![Huge success: The Fuji Instax camera.](/web/20161201034543im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/k/7/w/s/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gsk7i0.png/1479327901311.jpg)
The Benro Mini Tripod Selfie Stick costs $69.95, and as the name suggests consists of a small table-top tripod in which the centre column telescopes out to a stick. It comes with a ball-and-socket head, a phone clamp and a GoPro action cam attachment. Walk around Paris with yourself constantly in the video picture. Bonzer!
What makes the Benro particularly attractive is the built-in, but detachable, Bluetooth switch. This means that the phone can be mounted on the tripod and fired remotely from up to 10m away. It seems like a lot of gadget for the price.
The ProMaster LED Light ($39.95) is interesting. Instead of relying on harsh and uncontrollable flash this device provides steady always-on light from eight LEDs. It is rechargeable from any USB charger and is intended for use with phones and tablets, plugging into the headphone socket. (Not so good for iPhone 7, then.) With a conventional camera it fits into the hot shoe. It is ultra-small and has variable power to let you determine the right amount of light for the situation.
One of the cheapest cameras around is the Fujifilm Instax Mini 8, a Polaroid-like instant film camera. Right now there is a cashback offer that makes the price for the camera $79. The Instax outputs small prints that cost two bucks each from the 10 shot pack. The colour print image quality is best described as "retro", but the black and white "film" has an intriguing appeal.
![Pro Master Tripod Mount.](/web/20161201034543im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/k/7/w/y/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gsk7i0.png/1479327901311.jpg)
The Instax is such a phenomenal success that it has spawned an entire range of boutique accessories, such as frames, stickers, cases, mounting cards, mounting album corners and so on. The idea is that you buy a couple and let the Christmas Dinner guests use them to take photos of the occasion, and then you dress up the little prints with witty stick-on labels and mount them on the special Christmas boards and everyone has a good laugh at themselves and Uncle Cyril has the time of his life churning out expensive instant pictures. You had better buy the 50 print box ($60) as it works out a bit cheaper.
We didn't want to break the $100 barrier on our spending spree, and the Rode VideoMic Go just makes it at $99.95. This microphone has two things going for it – firstly, it is a fine microphone for use when shooting video with any stills camera, and secondly, it is designed and made in Australia. It could well be the only present you give this year that is not made in China. Just heed these words of warning: make sure that Uncle's camera has a microphone jack (not all cameras do) and know that the mic hangs out over the back of the camera so that the eye-level viewfinder can't be used.
Have a snappy Christmas.
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