10 Digital Cameras, Accessories to Record Holiday Memories

by Nathan Eddy

If you’re looking for a budget-conscious, compact camera that will take great photos, you’ve found your match. The WB350F boasts a host of Samsung technology, including social media upload, email capability, photo beam, Direct Link, mobile link capability, auto-backup to a PC and a remote viewfinder. The 16.3-megapixel camera is also capable of uploading original photographs directly to the file sharing site Dropbox.

This lens system, designed for an iPhone 5/5S, includes a fisheye, wide angle and two different macro lenses to allow you to capture enhanced images and video. The lens connects to your iPhone 5/5S in just a few seconds, and you can switch lenses by flipping it over. As a bonus, you can use the lenses in combination with any apps that utilize the rear-facing camera, and the whole package is small enough to fit in your pocket.

The first-ever GoPro to feature a built-in touch display, the camera also boasts new experience-enhancing features including HiLight Tag, which lets you mark key moments for easy playback, editing and sharing, and QuikCapture, which allows you to power on the camera and start recording with the press of a button. The camera is also waterproof up to 131 feet, in case you’re doing any deep-sea diving this holiday season.

The Promaster “Selfie-Stick” compact camera boom helps you add perspective and excitement—not to mention more friends—to photos and video. Whether you want the flexibility to take great self-portraits, get above the action with video or get better sound when you use it as a microphone boom, the Selfie Stick can be used with any device featuring a standard tripod mount, or you can attach your camera phone with the included phone mount.

The next step up the digital camera ladder is this mirrorless camera from Sony, which lets you swap out lenses. Standout features include its comprehensive video controls and continuous auto-focus performance—trust us, we own one—and a compact form factor so you can take stunning photos without lugging around tons of gear. Sony’s 24.3-effective-megapixel APS-C image sensor means you’ll be able to print huge, razor-sharp images as well.

The newest addition to the Polaroid instant digital camera line, the Z2300 features an integrated printer with the company’s Zink technology, enabling users to capture, edit and in less than a minute print full color, 2-by-3-inch prints. Smudge-proof, water-resistant and tear-resistant, the photos can also be printed in black and white, and best of all, there are no ink cartridges or ribbons to throw away.

Although you only get the body for that price, what a body you get. After taking pictures with the powerful 24.1MP DX-format CMOS sensor, you can then share them instantly with an optional WU-1a wireless adapter. For shots that have both very dark and very bright areas, the D5200 includes built-in high-dynamic range (HDR), and built-in effects and filters isolate a single color, explore black & white, posterize and miniaturize, among other creative possibilities.

If you find yourself far from an outlet this holiday season (hey, it happens), then the Powermonkey solar-powered charger may be just what you need to make sure your digital camera and accessories have the juice they need. To wit, the Powermonkey Extreme houses a massive 9,000mAh lithium polymer battery and is capable of recharging a smartphone up to six times, a tablet up to two times or most SLR camera batteries twice.

A KickStarter success story, with Swivl you can create videos with automatic panning and CD-quality sound using just your iPhone or pocket cam, and it also works with FaceTime and other streaming applications. An integrated wireless microphone captures audio at the source for high-quality sound, and thanks to Swivl’s compact size, it easily fits into a bag or pocket, so you can create video wherever you go.

This portable photo viewer lets you carry more than 4,000 photos and runs on a lithium polymer battery with approximately 5 hours of battery life, and you can recharge the battery with an AC adapter or USB power by connecting it to your computer. You can scroll through photos manually or run automatic slide shows with adjustable slide show interval, multiple transition effects and random options. Its folder structure feature also allows photos to be organized into five different folders that can be selected for individual playback.