Jon Sienkiewicz

Today I received a Happy Anniversary wish from Peak Design. No, this has nothing to do with wedding bells—apparently it’s the anniversary of one of my purchases of meticulously engineered Peak Design photo products. Naturally, they expressed their hope that I’m “…still loving it…” Then they boldly stated, “But if that's not the case, let's do something about it.” Now, THAT got my attention!

Peak Design just introduced a trio of professional tripods, co-developed with Nat Geo photographer and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin. Shutterbug was loaned a sample several weeks before their crowdfunding event concluded. Here's our hands-on review along with a crisp unmasking of the scurrilous tripod hobgoblins referenced in the title.

Peak Design just launched a Kickstarter campaign for a travel tripod. Packed with innovative features, this extremely compact marvel is available in aluminum alloy or carbon fiber, supports a payload of up to 20 pounds and is not much bigger than a Philly cheese steak sandwich—or the footlong hot dog shown above—when folded up (3.1 x 15.5 inches). We had a chance to put an early sample through the paces; here’s our hands-on report.

Amidst heavy speculation, Ricoh unveiled the Pentax 17, the first new 35mm film camera from a major manufacturer in several years. Here's the rundown on the features and a couple sample images.