In the following page I will outline the gear that I use or otherwise recommend from research and from what I've heard from fellow photographers.
Is this a full list? Probably not. Does it represent anything but my personal opinion? Definitely not!
Enjoy the list, I hope you'll get some ideas for your next gear purchase. Click to continue ›
A few weeks ago we got a pre-availability unit of the Lensbaby Spark. Guy Prives took it for a ride and came back with fantastic images and a detailed report. Final verdict: for the price, it rocks! While Guy is a Canon guy, the Spark is available both with Nikon or Canon mounts. Read the full post for the first online review of the lens. Click to continue ›
I got the Think Tank Airport International V 2.0 a few months back when I had a shoot planned that required me to hop on a plane. If you want the long story, you can find it in the review and video below. The short story is that it replaced my old Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW as my small-shoot go to bag even if there are no airplanes involved. (And I think I may have accidentally slept with it once or twice).
We are also giving one away as part of our How I Took It contest, so go and check it out. Click to continue ›
B&H put the “sent” in century a couple months ago when they mailed me the Impact Master Century C Stand Kit to review.
I’ve been making films in Hollywood for nearly twenty years so I’ve not only used more than my fair share of C (C is for Century) stands, but I’ve also (imagine a hilarious cinematic montage of C stand related violence) tripped over them, received monster finger pinches, and worst of all dropped them more than once on various extremities. Yet despite the abusive relationship I LOVE a well made C stand.
Why? C stands are not exactly portable. Yes, you can move them from one place to another, but they are huge and weigh a ton. But their weakness is also their strength. A well made C stand stays where you put it and can reach for the stars. If you’ve got a huge soft box, movie light, monoblock, etc. that you don’t want taking a dive, C stands are the way to go. Just make sure you sand bag them for safety. Click to continue ›
The good guys over at ioSafe sent us an ioSafe SoloPro 2T hard drive to play with. We took it out for a picnic where we set it on fire. Read the full review after the jump.
We don't usually feature camera tech reviews here on DIYP, but Kevin Good took an in depth look at both the new D800 and the 5D mk3 cameras and made a really comprehensive comparison. (Also comparing various ways to spend $20 on Craigslist).
Among the test: Still resolution, Video performance and rigidness.
Hey guys!
Benjamin Von Wong - Montreal Based photographer here! I recently reviewed for you a set of teleconverters, and this time wanted to follow up with a set of Graduated ND filters from Cokin supplied to me during my trip to Africa by the nice fellows over at B&H!
As you may probably know, a graduated ND filter is essentially a square plate of glass that darkens the image gradually from top to bottom. What's fun about the filter set from Cokin is that it comes with various "densities" of darkness that are stackable. What this means is that you have a pretty good control over how big of a change in dark-light transitions that you can do. Additionally, since the filter rests on a ring, you can rotate the filters to manually control the angle of the gradient! Click to continue ›
Hey guys!
Benjamin Von Wong - Montreal Based photographer here to talk about a couple neat devices I borrowed from the nice fellows over at B&H for my trip to Africa. I figured that a nice little trip around Namibia would be the perfect opportunity to try out some gear that I had never previously had the use for - Teleconverters! (The Sigma 1.4x DG EX APO and 2x EX DG APO spesifically)
Teleconverters are these great nifty little devices that actually add range to your lenses at the expense of losing some light. Depending on how big of a zoom factor you go for, you losie more light as well as focus speed and overall sharpness - a little more on that later. What does that mean in terms of actual numbers? Click to continue ›
About two days ago I returned from PMA. Aside from the big camera announcements going on the main CES showrooms (the Nikon D4, the Canon G1 X and the Fujifilm X-Pro1) there were a lot of innovation and coolness going on the smaller booths and the PMA venue.
Actually, for me as a photographer/blogger/inventor some of the stuff that was displayed on the smaller booths was more interesting than (I said you could touch it not grab it) touching new camera models.
The really nice thing about it, is the most often than not, the inventor would stand in their booth in a way that allows direct interaction. The kind of stuff you can't get on emails. So you get to ask questions, make suggestions and get instant feedback. nice.
Here is a small round up of the stuff that I found cool on PMA/CES, some of it is new, some has been around for a while. Feel free to add more coolness if you've seen it. Click to continue ›
Benjamin Von Wong, Montreal Based Photographer here to bring you guys yet another post for DIY photography!
Recently, I’ve been looking for simple ways to improve the production quality of my Behind the Scene videos and one of the things I noticed that were lacking were some smooth rail pans that you see pretty much in any professional production. Unfortunately, I did not have the 1000$+ required for a set of real professional sliders such as the Cinevate Pegasus so I began searching for affordable alternatives… which is where I stumbled upon the IGUS Camera Sliders. IGUS is a plastic development company and one of their products just happens to be an oil-free low friction camera slider with various DIY options… even better, they were extremely competitively priced varying between 130-210$ for a 3 foot piece of rail/slider system!
