There’s a new trend in camera carriers that appeals to photographers who want to look chic while still maintaining the core functionality of the bag. In terms of style they are at polar opposites to rugged backpacks or gear-laden roller bags, yet even the most stylish camera bag has to carry gear in a practical and organized fashion. That includes being built to withstand the rigors of being jostled or bumped in crowds, and being constructed to protect against spilled drinks, or rain at the very least. At the same time, the ideal bag should be built to carry everything we may need on a shoot, and then some.
My impression of a tabletop tripod was probably like yours—a squat, three-legged support that collapsed down to handily fit inside a camera bag. After unpacking the 17 camera supports that arrived, I had to modify my definition of the genre to include designs that mushroom to roughly 2 feet when fully open—and some with considerable girth and heft. That also meant extending my thinking to models with a center column and multiple leg sections, which might be more correctly termed “mini” tripods. Either way, in contrast to a standard tripod at its full height, the tripods under discussion, when fully open, have a small footprint and should effortlessly fit in tight spaces.
When it comes to lighting tabletops, professional photographers often opt for the sweep table. A sweep table looks like an oversized chair, but, instead of cushions, it comes in an assemblage consisting of an upward curving, or ...
Tabletop photography can be a small product or it may be a fantasy world in miniature. It can be used to make flattering images of things you want to sell online, as a way to catalog a collection you own or as a photographic exercise for a rainy day.
The difference between a “constant” aperture zoom and other standard zooms is that when you increase the focal length on the standard zoom the maximum aperture narrows. This might make the difference between being able to hand hold or not when zooming in, and may indeed force the use of higher ISOs. Known as “fast” lenses, constant aperture zooms are pricier and bulkier than their variable-aperture counterparts. And to sweeten the pot, we’ve seen more and more fast lenses with built-in image stabilization, which gets you even more low light and steady shot capability.
The new Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) joins a growing community of wide-zoom lenses. In contrast to an earlier version of this lens, which is available in several mounts, this APS-C Tamron optic (designated Model B005/$649 street price) is only available in Nikon DX (with built-in motor) and Canon mounts. Given that I mated this lens to a Nikon D300, that effectively...
For the first time, Tamron has incorporated an Ultrasonic Silent Drive, or USD, with full-time manual override in this zoom lens, making it a competitive technology with Nikon’s Silent Wave Motor, Canon’s Ultrasonic Motor (USM), and Sony’s Super Sonic wave Motor.
Every manufacturer has a slightly different take on how to do it and David Honl has come up with his own original solutions in the form of some nifty and very portable light shapers that fit practically any shoe-mount flash without recourse to special adapters.
Collapsible light tents of various sizes and configurations have been all the rage of late. The precursor to many of these designs is the sweep table. Now, JTL has brought back this stalwart still life/small product shooting table in high style, adding portability and fairly easy setup.
Conventional sweep tables are usually set up and left in a corner of your studio...
I 'm always looking for new solutions to light small things. Change that. I'm always looking for easier and faster solutions to light small things. Let's face it: lighting tabletops is never easy, although you'd think it should be. And sometimes, formulaic lighting is exactly what's needed. Then along comes the Gem eBox, from MK Digital Direct.
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Jack Neubart
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