Fujifilm Instax Mini Link
The Fujifilm Instax Mini Link prints your photos directly onto self-developing Polaroid-style photo paper via your phone’s bluetooth connection. I like using it to print photos I take on my big cameras and pinning them to a tack board in my kitchen. I also print these photos when sending thank-you or holiday cards. People love receiving photos.
Audio Technica ATR2100 Mic
If you’re doing any type of work post-pandemic, you’re likely having to take at least one or two remote meetings. I got this mic pre-pandemic through the course of a long-lost podcasting career. But this mic has been a workhorse and has not failed me yet. It’s a cardioid, meaning it’s very good at picking up noise in a heart-shaped pattern around the mic and isolating that noise. Stated another way: it does a good job eliminating background noise. It seems this mic is out of stock, so you might look at alternatives if you’re in the market for a mic. For example, Audio-Technica makes a couple of other USB cardioid mics. But if I were starting fresh, I might look into the Sure Beta 58A or Earthworks ETHOS. Both of these mics are XLR, meaning you will need another device to convert that signal through a USB to your computer.
Nikon D850
This was the camera I used before I got the Sony. Now, I use this camera for long-distance shots—which is why it has the long lens on it. And if I ever wanted to do astrophotography, you can’t beat an SLR (with my wide-angle lens). Sony is close to releasing the next generation A7Rs, so it’s possible that mirrorless cameras have caught up, but I doubt it. The light that the human eye is able to gather is still far superior to camera sensors. So, if you have a SLR, your eye can do the work of arranging the shot. The times I have used mirrorless cameras for astrophotography, the sensor never seemed up to the task of arranging the shot.
Sony a7R V
This is my regular-use camera. It has a 50mm F2.5 lens on it. Not only does it take stunning images, it has superfast eye tracking. This means that it locks focus on your subject’s eyes and keeps focus there, no matter what your subject does. This is super helpful when trying to take photos of children and pets.
Bodum Double-Walled Glasses
These are mugs made of glass with a vacuum-insulated center. Because they are made of glass, you don’t get any metallic taste in your coffee or other beverages. Because they are insulated, you preserve a hot beverage for longer and, for cold ones, you don’t run into condensation problems. Not only that, they look great. The only complaints I’ve ever received about these were that they don’t resemble traditional coffee mugs. You can only lead a horse to water.