Equipment Reviews
Film & Film Cameras
Here’s another in our series of reports from photokina 2012. As you will have noticed we do not attempt to create a laundry list of new products and companies from the show, but prefer to report on what struck our eye and thought might be of special interest to Shutterbug readers.
SIGMA DP3 Merrill
The Sigma DP3 Merrill is the latest Sigma camera with the new Foveonsensor.
With this sensor, the camera can capture complete RGB information for every single pixel and doesn’t need to interpolate colors like all other digital cameras with Bayer pattern sensors.
Accessories, Albums & Presentation Products
While photokina could be considered a distant memory, we have a number of reports yet to run that deal with products that were new to market and caught our reporter’s eye, and that in many cases are just becoming available now. Here’s a report on useful items filed by Roger Hicks that covers interesting accessories and other products he found at the show.
Nikon D600
The Nikon D600 is the smallest of the company’s full-format sensor cameras yet due to the same seals and protections as the Nikon D800 and its very robust body, it can be used outdoors under rugged and rainy weather conditions. The camera has a standard SLR design with a bright and large optical viewfinder. In addition, it offers a live preview on its 3.2” LCD screen, which has a high resolution of 921,000 RGB dots.
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Techniques
Web Profiles
Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, reports that a study of online retailing in 2006 found...
Personal Project
Actor Richard Gere is best known for his roles in over 40 films, but few may be aware he is also an avid photographer and collector.
Pro's Choice
Mark Katzman has been shooting professionally for over 25 years. Originally, he studied filmmaking at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Picture This!
Our Picture This! assignment this month was Patterns, a subject near and dear to every photographer’s heart and eye.
More Techniques
Techniques
News
Pelican ProGear
Pelican Products, Inc. has introduced the Pelican ProGear™ S130 Sport Elite Laptop/Camera Divider Pack, the newest addition to its consumer products line, Pelican ProGear.
Hensel International Photo Contest
The prize is a special Hensel Expert D anniversary lighting kit including all accessories. This has a value of $5000.
Shutterbug Reader Wins TIPA Prize
TIPA would like to thank all the readers who took part in the TIPA Readers’ Survey for 2013 that was published in the members’ magazines.
Samsung NX1100
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. announced that the new NX1100, compact system camera with built-in Wi-Fi and AutoShare, is now available nationwide for a MSRP of $599.99.
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Latest Additions

Flashpoint Ring Light Complete Kit 400 w/s
News
Press Release • Jan 30, 2013 • 0 comments
Adorama is now selling the Flashpoint Ring Light Complete Kit 400 w/s. In addition to the Ring Light, the kit ships with AC, cords, camera mounting hardware, sync cords and a carrying case. Flashpoint is Adorama’s product line featuring high-quality photo accessories and gear such as the Complete Ring Light Kit at price points lower than the competing name brands.
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A Look Back: Tools and Techniques
George Schaub Blog
George Schaub • Jan 28, 2013 • 2 comments
Early photographers were bedeviled by the slowness of their sensitized materials. Though exposure times were eventually shortened to workable lengths, early studios used neck braces and confining chairs to keep their subjects still while the exposure was being made.
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A Book In The Making In Wyoming: A Photo Story Of Three Ranches
Personal Projects
Lou Jacobs Jr. • Jan 28, 2013 • Published: Dec 01, 2012 • 0 comments
Will and Deni McIntyre spent the first 25 years of their photographic lives shooting magazine stories and subjects for books in 70 countries. When international travel was curtailed after 9/11, they segued into movie work and long-form storytelling. In 2000, a friend in the equestrian community moved to Wyoming to become head wrangler at the A Bar A Guest Ranch. “We went out as guests to the A Bar A,” Deni says, “and fell in love with the rugged landscape and glinting light. That and the ranch folk we met drew us back over the next few years to give photographic workshops and create a website for the ranch.”
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Pentax Q10 in 100 Different Color Combinations
News
Press Release • Jan 28, 2013 • 1 comments
Pentax Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation is now offering consumers the ability to custom order the Q10, the world’s smallest, lightest mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (ILC) system, in 100 different color combinations. This unmatched offering of color variations will enable consumers and photo enthusiasts alike to find new and limitless ways to express theirindividualism through photography.
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Photogenic PL5R-Fresnel: A Special Purpose Light Modifier
Lighting Equipment
Steve Bedell • Jan 25, 2013 • Published: Dec 01, 2012 • 0 comments
Fresnel lenses are used to focus light. Many of the Hollywood glamour photographers of the 1930s and ’40s used them, most notably George Hurrell for his portraits of many of the screen legends of that era. Hurrell used 8x10 cameras, uncoated lenses, and bulky Mole-Richardson hot lights. You don’t have to go that route, but you can now replicate some of the lighting effects with this new offering from Photogenic.
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The Pentax K-01: It’s A Hybrid But Not A Prius
Compact Digital Cameras, Equipment Reviews
Joe Farace • Jan 24, 2013 • Published: Dec 01, 2012 • 1 comments
The Pentax K-01 belongs to a class of cameras generally known as “mirrorless”—Pentax calls it a hybrid—that combine large LCD screens with interchangeable lenses and more often than not a retro look. Marc Newson, the Australian industrial designer who crafted the Pentax K-01, works in a style called biomorphism that uses smooth flowing lines, translucency, and an absence of sharp edges. The camera is available in black, white, or Newson’s signature yellow with the designer’s logo on the bottom.
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LumiQuest "Ready for Anything" Kit
News
Press Release • Jan 24, 2013 • 2 comments
LumiQuest is introducing the Ready for Anything Kit … making it easier to get that shot ... anytime, anywhere. The Ready for Anything Kit includes their original ProMax System (80-20, Diffusion Screen, White, Silver and Gold Inserts), along with an FXtra for color balance and colorizing the light as well as an UltraStrap, the most secure, nonadhesive flash accessory mounting strap available, all in a convenient storage wallet.
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Graslon Speedlight Lighting Modifiers: It’s All Done With Mirrors
Lighting Equipment
Joe Farace • Jan 23, 2013 • Published: Dec 01, 2012 • 0 comments
There are lots of companies making speedlight accessories but what makes Graslon’s different from the others are the mirrors. Most speedlight diffusers work in a similar way: translucent material is placed in front of the flash head to scatter light and soften shadows, but many times that light doesn’t scatter and some gets lost. Graslon’s Flash Diffusers use a series of patent-pending mirrors that enlarge the light source before sending it through the diffuser. This allows the light to travel to the corners of the diffuser so that light coming through the diffuser is balanced and, well, diffuse. Two types of diffusers, or lenses, as Graslon prefers to call them, are available: the dome spreads the light everywhere (think bare-bulb effect) to take advantage of bouncing light off walls and ceilings; the flat lens is more directional and useful when you’re using the flash as fill in no-bounce situations. Much like a Zeiss Softar filter it’s covered in hundreds of mini-lenses or bumps that spread the light evenly across its surface.
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Donald Graham Makes Eye Contact: Establishing A Visual Connection
Pro Techniques
Jack Neubart • Jan 22, 2013 • Published: Dec 01, 2012 • 2 comments
“Many of my portraits come out of the sense that it is a conversation with the person being photographed,” Donald Graham observes. “It’s important to look deeply into a person’s eyes and, in so doing, to understand better who that person is.”

Graham, who works around the world but primarily in Los Angeles and New York, did not arrive at this viewpoint overnight. A pro shooter since 1983, he focuses on fashion, movies, music, and advertising. “My specialty is clearly people.”
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Pixel Soldier Wireless Flash and Trigger
News
Press Release • Jan 22, 2013 • 7 comments
Argraph Corporation, the exclusive distributor of Pixel Professional Photo Accessories in the U.S., is pleased to announce the Pixel “Soldier” - a wireless flash and camera trigger that can fire flashes or DSLR cameras up to 1000 feet (300m) away!
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