Photo Accessory News

I’ve had to replace a failing computer hard drive more often than I’d care to remember. Fortunately, I’ve learned my lesson: my workstation now includes external drives as both backup and primary storage. I routinely move content from the computer onto one external drive and back up to a second drive. (I usually prefer to transfer memory card files first to the computer, so that my backups will include these; then I move those files to the external drive when a project is completed, making sure that they are synced to Lightroom.) Unfortunately, the cost of all this may amount to the price of a second camera body or new lens, but it’s money well spent, as you’ll realize the first time a drive goes down.

Want to add a little speed to your imaging workflow? Lexar just introduced a new 128GB capacity model of their Professional 2000x SDXC UHS-II memory card. The 128GB Lexar Professional 2000x SDXC UHS-II card will be the fastest UHS-II memory card available at this capacity on the market.

The Lens Bracelet: Transform your passion for photography into a unique fashion statement for yourself or someone you love. The Lens Bracelet is a soft silicone replica of the focusing ring of a lens featuring the embossed lettering you’d normally find there like 50mm, AF/MF and even lens grip ridges. This bracelet is one size fits all (7 inches) and since everyone has a favorite lens type, you can choose the focal length and camera that best represents you: 50mm prime in Canon or Nikon, 24-70mm zoom in Nikon, or 70-200mm in Canon. Two bracelets are included in each set. The Canon set has a retail value of $25, the Nikon Pro set is $25 and the Original set is just $15.

Getting the light right is an essential task whether you're shooting indoors or out, and sometimes this means adding supplemental light to achieve perfect exposures. One choice is using a flash, but some photographers are intimidated by the techniques and settings that are required.

Until now I thought I’d experienced practically every flavor of geotagging device on the planet (“Geotagging Devices And Software: Now You’ll Always Know Where You Took That Picture,” Shutterbug, May 2009). So when I was later introduced to Foolography at a trade exposition, I didn’t pay too much attention to their new Unleashed. Until they offered to send a test...

It's surprising how infrequently some photographer's clean the sensor in their cameras, all the while aiming for the best image quality possible. Dirty sensors cause a variety of problems, not the least of which are ugly dusts spots and other artifacts on every image you shoot.

As the name implies, the Fotodiox LED Studio-in-a-Box is a self-contained tabletop studio that features interior LED lighting that has a daylight color balance of 5600 Kelvin. The CRI, or Color Rendering Index, is 85 (on a scale 0 to 100).