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Unboxing and first look of the Zhiyun Crane 3 LAB

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During IBC last year we caught a glimpse of the oddly shaped Zhiyun Crane 3 LAB. It’s Zhiyun’s new flagship 3-Axis gimbal. With a price tag of $899.00, 1.8kg weight, and 4.54kg load capacity it’s not a gimbal for everyone. But if you need a gimbal for a heavy rig, this is a gimbal you’d want to consider.

Even before balancing and running the gimbal, you can see that it’s oddly shaped. Well, oddly by 2018 standards, I think that this form factor is going to become the norm soon enough. Our initial tests proved that it’s more comfortable that the “stick” configuration and allows holding the gimbal and camera closer to the body, as well as better distribute weight on both hands.

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Get a ring flash for only $14.99

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Almost eight years ago we set out a lofty goal, put a ring flash in the hands of every hot-shoe-strobe photographer in the world. This is why we made the best DIY ring flash in existence and sold it for a low price of $35 (including a flash bracket).

Alas, all good things must end, and once the current batch of rings lights runs out, we will not make another. On the other hand, I see that many photographers still do not have a ring flash. This is your opportunity to score a ring flash for $14.99 only.

Why am I telling you this? Because this will be your chance to try out a ring flash for $14.99 (both ring and bracket). All you need is a hot shoe flash and a way to trigger the flash off camera.

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Atomos Shinobi goes head to head with SmallHD FOCUS 5″ at $75 less

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For me, the separation between SmallHD and Atomos was pretty clear. Atomos made recording monitors (mostly) and SmallHD made monitors that do not record. This is changing with Atomos latest Announcement, the Atomos Shinobi. The Atomos Shinobi is a 5.2″ on camera monitor that has (give or take) all the fancy features that the Atomos Ninja V has, sans internal recording and $300.

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How I prevented a Godox speedlight from setting my studio on fire

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Yup, is a harsh title, clickbaity even. Sadly, it’s true. I do think that this story (and lesson) could have ended up very differently. Luckily, no one is hurt and no harm as done to my studio aside one dead battery.

I am a big Godox fan. I shoot quite a bit with the AD600, AD200 and the V860II for Sony. Well, mostly with the AD600 and AD200. The 860II is many times waiting in the drawer for when we need an extra light. Since it is rarely used, I don’t top off the battery. It usually stays in the drawer next to the strobe. I charge it before a shoot and sometimes after a shoot as well. Now, before I talk about exploding homes, let’s take a look at the tech that powers the V860II.

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The Rhino Motion Kit is not cheap, but it’s one heck of a motorized slider

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We are a small crew, this is why it’s handy to have one moving camera that needs no attention when we shoot. It means one less crew person while getting top notch B cam footage. And our slider package of choice for that is the Rhino Ultimate Slider (Amazon | B&H).

Having an automated motorized slider is a powerful tool to have in your box. It allows the same camera moves that your typical slider will allow. But it also adds an array of abilities to the team that a normal slider does not:

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Why you shouldn’t buy new camera gear

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The truth is never easy to swallow. Take for example to answer for the oh-so-popular question, what camera should I buy? Most will suffix this questions with something like “I heard that the new Canon 5dmk4 is awesome” or “I am considering starting with the Sony A7III” to add some background.  This is a weird thing to ask, considering that gear does not make your photography better. Sure, some gear makes some types of photography possible, but it rarely makes it better. The right answer to this question will probably save you quite a lot of money, but also force you to take responsibility for your final photos.

In this short video, Pye Jirsa of SLR Lounge explains why the best investment in gear is never buying new gear. (ok, there is a point when that latest model does make sense, but it is usually far, far down the road).

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Here is the Sony a6400 you’ve all been waiting for with Real-time Eye Autofocus and Tracking, and timlapse mode

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We know that you are constantly hitting refresh to see if the new Sony a6400 has been announced yet. It has!

Here is the executive brief, but hit the jump for the full scope:

  • World’s Fastest (i) 0.02 seconds (ii) AF acquisition speed plus 425 phase-detection and contrast-detection AF points covering approximately 84% of the image area
  • Advanced Real-time Eye AF
  • New Real-time Tracking for object tracking
  • 24.2MP(iii) APS-C Exmor™ CMOS image sensor and latest-generation BIONZ X™ image processor
  • 180-degree fully tiltable LCD touch screen for self-recording
  • High-speed continuous shooting at up to 11 fps(iv) mechanical shutter / 8 fps(iv) silent shooting with continuous AF/AE tracking
  • High-resolution 4K(vi) movie recording with full pixel readout and no pixel binning, plus advanced AF speed and stability
  • Interval recording for time-lapse videos

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5K RAW 24p is coming for the $150 Canon EOS M

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If you are a fan of Magic Lantern, you know that this piece of software can greatly enhance video on Canon cameras. Why shouldn’t you be a fan, it can give your 5dmkIII 4K raw?). But now, Magic Lantern is reported to enabling 5K RAW on the (older, $150 on Amazon)  Canon EOS M. (see the ML post here)

If you take a look at the screens below, you’ss see that there is now a new option for 5K 3×1 24FPS recording. 5K, stands for 5K footage, 3×1 stands for 3 pixels binning and 24 is the FPS, not bad for a sub $150 camera.

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Man says Laser from self driving car nuked his Sony a7R II

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We know show lasers are dangerous to cameras. Heck, we all remember that RED sensor getting fried from a direct laser hit in a light show. With self-driving cards anticipated to rule the roads, the world may become a totally unsafe place for cameras.

Ars Technica reports that During CES  Jit Ray Chowdhury, an autonomous vehicle engineer at the startup Ridecell, took some photos of a car equipped with lidars made by AEye. He used a $1,998.00  Sony a7R II. Later, Mr. Chowdhury noticed that all the photos he took after taking that car photos had a couple of bright purple spots on them. Each spot being the center of a cross-like purple pattern.

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How to save $50 on a Seagate Barracuda 8TB drive while completely voiding its warranty

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If you need to get an 8TB disk and fancy a Seagate, we have a way for you to save $50 per drive, while getting a free enclosure and a 100% void warranty. The disk in question is the Seagate Barracuda Internal Hard Drive 8TB SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch. Long name, I know. The 8TB flavor sells (new) for $180 on Amazon, or you can get the faster spinning 005 flavor for $319.95 over at B&H. Either way, there is a way to get this drive for $139.99 and still have some spare parts.

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