I realize the name of this here website is Andy’s Travel Blog but I enjoy writing about photography and hopefully giving you tips on how you can share your adventures with family and friends a little better. I already posted my Cyber Monday Travel Deals and figured it was a good idea to post photography deals as well!
- If you’re looking for a new camera, check out my updated Camera Recommendations page
- To see my current equipment, check out Andy’s Camera Gear
[disclaimer: Some of these links are to affiliate partners with whom I have a commercial relationship. At no cost to you they may pay me a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking a link. Thanks for your support!]
As a reminder, you can get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime by clicking the following link, which gives you free 2-day shipping on all items and access to Amazon Prime Video where you can watch things like The Grand Tour (you could also watch a variety of TV shows and movies, but why would you watch anything other than The Grand Tour?): Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
Camera Bundles
Canon EOS Rebel T6 DSLR Kit with 18-55mm and 75-300mm lens
The T6 camera kit is on sale for $449 today! This is a great deal on an entry-level camera if you’re interested in taking up photography. While there is a newer version of the camera body (the T6i), the T6 is a capable entry-level camera. Many people are interested in entry-level kits so they can take pictures of friends and family and they also want to take pictures of their kids playing sports. The 18-55mm lens should cover friends and family and the 75-300mm lens will take care of the sports side, that’s why I like this deal so much.
Nikon D3400 DSLR with 18-55mm and 70-300mm kit
This is pretty much the Nikon version of the Canon deal above. This one runs $496, so a little more expensive than the Canon deal but the D3400 is ever-so-slightly better than the T6. The difference will probably be immaterial to most users, so either Canon or Nikon are great picks.
Canon EOS 80D DSLR kit with 18-135mm lens
The 80D made my list of camera recommendations for 2016. It’s one of Canon’s premier crop sensor cameras. It takes great video (it’s one of the cameras Casey Neistat uses), has good autofocus for still images, and is an all-around solid choice. If you want to save $200, the 70D with 18-135mm lens kit is available for $1199. The 70D is the previous generation but is still a good camera. I’d say the 80D is worth the extra $200.
Sony Alpha a6000 with 16-50 lens
The a6000 is one of the best all-around entry-level cameras out there even though it’s a couple of years old. The mix of a small form factor, 11 frames per second hi-speed shooting, and insanely fast autofocus make this such a powerhouse. The prices have stayed relatively stable, going on sale during times like these, so for $548 it’s a good deal but not a great one. For $150 more you can get the 18-55 and 55-210mm lens combo, which might be worth it if you want a little extra reach from your lenses.
Memory Cards
Memory card deals happen off and on throughout the year, and today is no exception. I tend to use Lexar and SanDisk SD cards, but the Sony ones are reliable as well. SD cards are extremely cheap now, it’s amazing how much memory they can store!
SanDisk 32GB Ultra Class 10 SDHC Card
I’ll just cut to the chase: if you get one of the camera bundles above go ahead and pick up a couple of these cards. They are $10 apiece. If you just absolutely are sure you’re going to take tons of video you can pick up a 64GB card for $8 more, so knock yourself out. A note: if your camera shoots 4K video, doublecheck the type of card you need, it most likely will be an SDXC card.
Portable Hard Drives
Western Digital My Passport Ultra 1TB USB External Hard Drive
I live and die by my portable hard drives, which is why I’m including this deal in both my travel deals and photography deals. They’re great for backing up your pictures on the road (you should absolutely do this when you’re on a trip) and have gotten much cheaper in the past few years. This 1TB drive is a great deal at $49.
Photography Tutorials
Fstoppers.com makes some of the best photography tutorials out there. I own many of them and find each one to have high production value and easy-to-follow instructors. I can personally vouch for these tutorials and many of my favorites are on sale today!
Photography 101 – A brand new guide for beginners that will show you how to use your new camera.
Mike Kelley: Where Art Meets Architecture – Two amazing tutorials that cover architectural photography from creating the shot all the way through the post-processing. Use code BF100 to save $100 on Where Art Meets Architecture 1 and code BF30 to save $30 on the newly-released Where Art Meets Architecture 2.
Elia Locardi: Photographing the World – Two of the best tutorials I’ve ever watched, not to mention they are beautifully filmed in locations all around the world. The first tutorial covers landscape photography in Iceland and New Zealand, while the second tutorial covers cityscape and astrophotography in Hong Kong, Cambodia, Rome, and many other places. Use code BF50 to save $50 off each tutorial.
Peter Hurley: The Art Behind the Headshot – Peter Hurley is the premier leader in headshot photography and this shorter tutorial walks you through his system for taking amazing headshots and lets you see him in action. It’s a great tutorial even if you do not take headshots of people, Peter teaches you a lot about interacting with human beings and helping them look amazing in front of a camera. It’s a HUGE discount on this one, use code BF200 to save $200 on this tutorial!
