In the world of photography, every penny saved helps. The price of all the gear, accessories, computer hardware, software, and apps all adds up very quickly as we dive deeper into this passion we love so much. The good thing is that numerous companies offer discounts to students, teachers, active duty military (and their spouses), veterans, and first responders. While the discount percentages range from company to company, any amount saved is better than no savings at all! Some of the educational programs require that the purchaser be actively taking photography classes while others do not.
Listed below are various photography-related companies that offer the aforementioned discounts. While I do have affiliation with some of these companies, I did not use my referral program links. I omitted those links, along with listing them in alphabetical order, so that this list can be viewed as legitimate and without bias. Also, the companies and the requisite links below are not personal endorsements of their products. It is also not an absolutely comprehensive list of manufacturers and developers that offer such discounts, though I intend to append the list as I find more companies that offer discounts and remove those that stop. If you know of or represent a company that offers a student and/or military discount product related to photography and would like to be added, please contact me.
It is my hope that, if you are eligible for any of these programs, you can take advantage of these programs and save some hard-earned money for other gear or travels. Please pass this list on to your fellow photographer friends who might benefit from it! Links open in a new tab.
Adobe Creative Cloud
Educational 60%
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/buy/students.html
Adorama
Educational (Varies by product)
Apple
Educational (Varies by product)
https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop
Active Duty/Veteran (10%)
https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/veterans_military
(Apple products and discounts are available at most military exchanges.)
B&H
Educational (Varies by product)
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/eduAdvantage.jsp
Canon
Educational (Varies by product)
https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/contactus/where-to-buy/k-12-higher-education
Capture One
Educational 65%
https://www.captureone.com/en/student
DJI
Educational (Varies by product)
https://store.dji.com/pages/education
GoPro
Educational (Varies by product)
https://gopro.com/en/us/student-discount
HDRSoft – Photomatix Pro
60% Student/75% Photo Student/Free Photo Professor
https://www.hdrsoft.com/order/academic.html
KEH Camera
Military/First Responders 5%
Contact sales@keh.com
Lensbaby
Educational 25%
https://lensbaby.com/learn/education-discount/
Lomography
Educational 35% selected
https://shop.lomography.com/en/education-deals?country=us
MAC Group
(Benro, Elinchrom, Heliopan, Induro, Novoflex, Sekonic, Tenba, Toyo-View, XRite, and more)
Educational (Varies by product)
https://www.photovideoedu.com/Shop/Enroll.aspx
MEFoto
Educational (Varies by product)
https://www.mefoto.com/students-educators
On1 Photo RAW
K-12 Students/Teachers FREE
College Students/Teachers 50%
https://www.on1.com/landing/special-pricing/
Active Duty Military FREE
Veterans 50%
https://www.on1.com/landing/special-pricing/#milvet
First Responders 50%
https://www.on1.com/landing/special-pricing/#pubserv
Profoto
Educational (Varies by product)
https://profoto.com/us/profoto-edu
Sigma
Educational (Varies by product)
https://www.sigmaphoto.com/sigma-lounge/for-students-educators
Tamron
Educational (Varies by product)
https://www.tamron-usa.com/tamronedu/
Topaz Labs
Educational & Military 25%
Submit a request with a copy of student/mil ID via
https://help.topazlabs.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
Again, I hope that this list of discounts is beneficial for my readers. While most of the links are educational-related discount programs, active duty, their spouses, and qualified veterans can also visit their local Navy Exchange, Marine Corps Exchange, or Post Exchange for various discounts, or, at the very minimum, tax-free variants of many photography products. Oddly, Nikon is one of the biggest names in the business which does not offer direct student or military discounts, but their products are carried at military exchanges and specific products can often be special ordered through the base exchanges.