Perhaps more than any other variable, including your camera and lens, lighting can make or break an image. And while natural light is all well and good, for truly creative photography and videography you simply need supplemental illumination.

I've used a lot of lights over the years, both for commercial shoots and teaching lighting to photographers. But the best, most adaptable light I've ever used is the Rotolight Aeos 2 Pro.

Not only is it powerful enough to use for stills as well as video, it's also large enough to create soft, flattering, wrapping light. And it's packed with HSI gel packs from professional photographers, as well as special effects from Emmy-winning lighting artists.

This comes at a cost, though, as the Aeos 2 Pro isn't a cheap light, carrying a price tag of $2,049 / £1,799. However, they've been dramatically discounted in the both the US (to just $1,050) and the UK (down to £849) as part of the Cyber Monday camera deals.

Which is still expensive, I know, but honestly – this light is worth every penny even at twice the price (as in, its regular retail price). I've used it in professional environments as well as for my own portfolio work, and there's just nothing like it.

For starters, I love the way they handle. The full-color touchscreen on the back makes using them as simple as swiping a smartphone; just tap the gel you want, or touch the variable you want to adjust whether it's intensity or temperature, and you can drag sliders to get the lighting to taste. Or use the Rotolight app to literally control it with your smartphone.

It makes lighting with gels an absolute breeze, especially if you've never shot with them before. Yes, it's an expensive light, but bear in mind that it packs 2,500 filters from Lee and Rosco – so you'll never need to buy physical gels again.

I also love clever technological tricks like Source Match – a one-touch tool that instantly duplicates the dominant light, whether it's standard indoor room lighting or colorful ambient illumination. It makes it incredibly easy to match and amplify the existing light in the room.

And the quality of both the light and the gels is gorgeous. As you can see from my sample photographs, the colors are punchy and vivid while the light remains soft rather than harsh and overpowering. And obviously, because it's constant light, it's perfect for photo and video in equal measure.

You get what you pay for with lighting, but at half price you really are getting so much more than you bargained for.

🇺🇸 US deal

🇬🇧 UK deal

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I've spent the past week knee-deep in searches and promo pages to round up the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday camera deals. As a result, there have been far too many Amazon tabs open in my browser for far too long.

Well, Amazon noticed. And it was obviously very confused. You know how Amazon recommends you more stuff, based on the stuff you've been looking at? Well, I've been looking at such a bizarre and non-sequitur range of camera gear that clearly Amazon thinks I will buy any old crap.

DVDs and instruction manuals for decade-old DSLRs. Editing software on a Windows 98 CD-ROM. A lime green American Idol camera.

I thought I'd seen some junk on the depths of Amazon before, but this took the back alley bric-a-brac to all new levels. Here are the "highlights" of the crap that Amazon recommended to me while I was trying to be a good person and find deals to save you money…

American Idol Digital Camera ($7)

If you've ever wanted a lime green digital camera on a keychain with a tiny American Idol logo on it, this is the camera for you. There's no indication of its specs, though it promises to be able to take stills and video, as well as act as a webcam.

The highlight here is ostensibly the included software that enables you to "put yourself onto the American Idol stage"… but you'll need a Windows XP computer to run said software – or to download your images, as there's no memory card on this camera. Which means, there's no other way to get your files off it.

The description suggests that you "throw it in your pocket and go". I suggest that you throw it in the trash and forget this ever happened.

Nikon School DVD: Fast, Fun & Easy Great Digital Pictures ($6.96)

How quaint, Amazon is recommending me a DVD! And I say that as someone who still buys physical media (so maybe I brought this recommendation on myself). However, perhaps the only thing quainter than Amazon recommending a DVD in 2024 is that it's recommending a DVD designed for the Nikon D40 / D40X, which was launched in 2006.

So, what can I expect from this digital versatile disc for a camera that's approaching two decades old? Well, I'll get 35 minutes of knowledge bombs from National Geographic Traveler photographer Bob Krist (in 16x9 widescreen, no less).

"Bob will lead you through a fun day of shooting while explaining the advantages of the various Digital Vari-Program Modes," threatens the description. Who knew that insomnia could be cured in 35 minutes.

ArcSoft Camera Suite 1.3 ($5.98)

At last, I can say goodbye to my Adobe subscription! Gone are the days of paying through the nose for Creative Cloud – for just six bucks, I can get ArcSoft PhotoImpression and ArcSoft VideoImpression on one handy CD-ROM.

There's a catch, though. Remember how you needed Windows XP to run the software for that American Idol camera? Well, that's positively futuristic compared to this – because ArcSoft Camera Suite 1.3 requires Windows 98SE / Me / 2000. Or Macintosh 9 / X if you're one of those strange people who owns an Apple Macintosh computer.

No time to worry about that, though – Amazon warns me in bold letters that there's "Only 1 left in stock – order soon"…

Nikon D700 User's Manual ($22.99)

Who even knew that Amazon sold camera manuals? Is this why the last camera I bought had the manual missing from the box? Come to think of it, who even knew that camera manuals were worth so much… I should dig all of mine out and make a nice chunk of change!

Still, I've never owned a Nikon D700 (a rather fine full-frame professional DSLR camera that came out in 2008), so maybe I should pick up the manual to see what I was missing out on.

The question is, do I pay $23 bucks for this paper manual, or download the PDF from Nikon for free? Hmm. Well, I did say that I still collect physical media…

Kenko Digital Mini Camera 9300 ($20.95)

Far and away the most intriguing thing Amazon tried to get me to buy was this James Bond-looking watch camera – which I would no doubt have gone bananas over as a kid, though I'm not quite as enamored with its 0.3MP resolution and 320 x 240 video today.

In true 007 fashion, it looks like there's a quick release mechanism to deploy the camera from the wrist strap, take a couple of covert shots and then put it back before you're noticed by SPECTRE or Smirnoff or whoever your arch nemesis is.

Unlike the wretched American Idol camera, this one comes with a USB cable – so you may well be able to transfer your files without having to install ancient software that requires a decades-old operating system. The only thing I can't figure out is that it somehow requires three AAA batteries. How big is this thing?

Olympus Silca-5S Silica Gel ($13.56)

You know sometimes when you buy an expensive piece of electronic equipment, it comes with a little cloth or paper packet of silica gel? Most people dump those straight in the trash. Other people apparently pay 13 bucks to buy them from Olympus / OM System.

It looks like this is intended for owners of underwater camera housings or waterproof cameras – and since I was looking at deals on the latter, I guess this is how the Amazon algorithm decided that I need a bag of silica sachets.

In case you're curious, these packets of dessicant are drying agents used to prevent moisture – so they're obviously ideal for kit that's designed to be used in water. However, as someone who always keeps his packets of silica gel, this is 13 bucks that Amazon won't be getting from me.

Minolta Background Priority Card ($12.95)

In fairness, this thing is actually pretty fascinating. Back in 1988, Minolta introduced the Maxxum 7000i – an innovative film SLR that introduced the concept of Creative Expansion Cards, which could be inserted into the camera to power special shooting functions.

Some of these were quite clever, such as the Exposure Bracketing and Intervalometer cards, along with truly creative cards like Fantasy that shifted focus during exposure to combine a misty soft focus effect with zoom-like effect.

This Background Priority card is a little less interesting, enabling the camera to maintain background sharpness if the focal length or distance changes. However, this Expansion Card feature is pretty ingenious for a camera from 1988 – and makes me miss the glory days of Minolta.

Been on the lookout for a really good action camera deal? Look no further because the best one has got a massive discount.

The GoPro Hero 12 Black is available now for just AU$487 from eBay thanks to a checkout code that slashes AU$60 off the listed price which, incidentally, happens to be quite less than the official RRP of AU$649.

While it shares a lot of features with the GoPro Hero 11 Black – including the same sensor resolution – the GoPro Hero 12 Black has some upgrades that make it a worthy upgrade. Namely, a new mounting option, Bluetooth mic support, dual-channel audio, and HDR video. This makes it the ideal choice for the pros and editors and also giving it a spot in our best action camera roundup.

Still featuring a 27MP sensor as the Hero 11 Black, and capable of allowing several aspect ratios including 8:7, you can capture stunning 5.3K/60p video. It's best results are when the lighting conditions are great as it still struggles in low-light, as has every other GoPro before it. You can also use a lens mod that allows for up to a 177º field of view.

Bluetooth audio support, which is new here, means you can use any wireless headphone that has a built-in mic to record your narrations or voiceovers – AirPods will do the trick. Also handy for the pros is the addition of Timecode Sync, as well as GP-Log and LUT support. 

What is misses out on over the Hero 11 Black is GPS. If you really want to record motion metadata and gather metrics like speed, you'll need to look at the GoPro Hero 11 Black, available for AU$456 from The Good Guys on eBay using the coupon code HGTNOV (down from AU$579).

• Check out more discounts in our dedicated coverage of the Black Friday camera deals in Australia.

Is Cyber Monday as good as Black Friday? More and more people ask that question every year, especially as both American sales events take root across the globe. 

Once upon a time, the two events served very different purposes. You'd find the best Black Friday camera deals, for example, at bricks and mortar stores like Walmart and Best Buy (usually accompanied by news broadcast-bating footage of shoppers stampeding each other while battling to grab physical products). 

By contrast, the best Cyber Monday camera deals would be found exclusively at online e-tailers (accompanied by crashing websites rather than crushing crowds) such as Amazon and Etsy.

You see, Black Friday marks the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season, since it takes place the day after Thanksgiving. And, in order to enable online stores to compete (oh, how times change), Cyber Monday was established in 2005 to promote internet shopping.

However, from single-day sales events, we now have sales bonanzas that seem to envelop the entire week either side of the two days. 

Are Cyber Monday deals better than Black Friday?

Apple Black Friday deals
Black Friday camera deals
Instax Black Friday deals
Canon Black Friday deals
Nikon Black Friday deals
Sony Black Friday deals
Olympus Black Friday deals
GoPro Black Friday deals

Back in the day, you'd have to physically go to Walmart on Friday to get Black Friday prices because they were in-store only. And if you went there in person on Monday, you wouldn't be able to get Cyber Monday prices because they were web-only.

Now, it's largely all just a free for all. Black Friday pricing is the same in a physical store as it is online, and many stores offer Cyber Monday deals even if they don't have a website! 

All of which begs the question… which is better? Are Cyber Monday deals the same as Black Friday? It's not quite that straightforward a question to answer. 

By and large, the best bargains and most headline-grabbing offers take place on Black Friday – such as Verizon's mindboggling deal where you can buy an iPhone 14 Pro and get a free iPad, Apple Watch and Beats headphones. 

The thing is, though, Black Friday offers increasingly run all the way through Cyber Monday, as the two events become less separate selling occasions and more punctuation points on the same extended sales parade. 

Many retailers do hold back specific deals for Cyber Monday that aren't available on Black Friday. Sometimes these are as good as or better than the Friday deals, sometimes they're not. Sometimes stores slash prices a bit more to clear inventory that didn't move over the weekend. Sometimes you've waited too long and you miss the best prices.

So, there's no hard and fast answer. Our best advice is, if you see a good price on something you're interested in, jump on the offers right away! Trust us, you don't want something to sell out because you're waiting for the price to drop even more!

Adobe Cyber Monday deals
Cyber Monday telescope deals
Cyber Monday drone deals

We're only halfway through the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend and I've already spent $3,896.12.

And, with the Cyber Monday camera deals still throwing up more and more ridiculous savings, that's a figure that could easily continue to rack up before Tuesday rolls around and I finally put my credit card away. 

It's a bit of a joke among the DCW team that I'm addicted to buying camera gear. And it's hard to argue; I did, after all, spend $300 in October importing a Pokémon-themed version of the Canon Ivy Rec from Japan – a camera that only costs $49, if you just buy one in the States that isn't yellow and doesn't have a Pikachu on it. 

So, admittedly, I have a bit of an issue. However, in years past I haven't approached Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a shopping list in mind; if there were any ridiculously good deals, then cool, I'd buy something. (Last year I ended up buying a dishwasher, but nothing for my camera bag.) 

This year, though, was a little different. There were a couple of things that I knew I wanted, and that my Spidey Sense told me were going to be on offer, so I bided my time. I waited with ninja-like patience to see if the deals rolled in – and, sure enough, they did. So what did I get? 

Well, amazingly, I spent almost four thousand dollars on just three things. That's what being a Canon EOS R5 owner gets you… 

Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM

This is, hands down, the best portrait lens I've ever used. You could make the argument that a great 135mm might have it outclassed (though if it does, don't tell me as I can't afford anything else right now), but it's certainly the best 85mm lens out there.

I actually intended to buy this lens last year, before Canon teased me with the R5 and I knew I'd be shelling out for that first. It was a toss-up between this and the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS, the Defocus Smoothing version of the lens that renders unfathomably smooth bokeh. 

Thankfully, while this lens is an eye-watering £2,799 in the UK, I took advantage of the double cashback in the Canon Cyber Monday deals to save £400. Fun fact: I'm also REALLY tempted to buy the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, since that's got a crazy cashback offer as well… 

Moment CineBloom diffusion filters

If you're anything like me, you love digital cameras and modern lenses for how crisp, clean, sharp and precise they are. However, you also long for the days when cameras and lenses had real character. 

I love nothing more than whacking an old Helios or Super Takumar lens on the front of my camera because modern lenses just don't have that softness to the skin, that smoothness to edges, that haze and bloom surrounding bright areas of light. These are, technically, imperfections and shortcomings, of course – part of the reason that 85mm f/1.2L lens is so expensive is precisely because it is so clinical. 

Still, I miss that character, that soul, that cinematic richness of my old film lenses. Which is why I picked up a pair of these brilliant Moment CineBloom diffusion filters – both in 20% strength (because I ain't buying these things to be subtle), one 62mm to fit a couple of lenses for my Olympus cameras, and one 82mm to fit my new RF 85mm. Each filter is discounted by $10 right now, so you can grab a few guilt-free.

Will I be buying anything else over the next couple of days? Well, I've already got an Xbox Series X, but if there's a PS5 in stock in the Sony Cyber Monday deals, hmm…

Read more: 

Cyber Monday camera deals in the UK
Best Canon RF lenses
Canon EOS R5 review