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The Zhiyun Smooth Q4: a solid smartphone stabiliser built for travel vloggers

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Whether we like it or not, video has become a part of our everyday lives. We now take it for granted that the ability to shoot good enough quality video resides in our pockets. But shooting stable video is still very difficult to do handheld. That’s where a good stabiliser or gimbal becomes an essential piece of equipment.

I was very excited to try out the Zhiyun Smooth-Q4 smartphone stabiliser and see just how good it was. I ended up taking it on a few short trips to see how it would hold up quite literally ‘in the field’. I tried it using my rather geriatric but still going strong Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 Android phone.

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ProGrade announces fast and tiny PGM0.5 UHS-II SD/microSD card reader for mobile workflows

ProGrade Digital has announced a new memory card reader and this one’s designed for mobile creators to let them quickly copy and shift files two and from their Android and other portable Type-C USB devices. It supports UHS-II microSD and SD cards on the USB 3.2 Gen 1 protocol (which is way more than UHS-II SD cards need), letting you transfer to and from laptops and mobile devices at maximum speed.

ProGrade says that the new ProGrade PGM0.5 reader is in response to the “new wave of content creators [that] has emerged over the last couple of years”, primarily targeting platforms like TikTok and YouTube with many creators working in a mobile environment that doesn’t always afford the luxuries of weight and space that a home desktop solution demands. The PGM0.5 is their way to help support these more mobile creators.

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The XDynamics Evolve 2 is an entry level cinematic drone that shows a lot of promise

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As drones go, the XDynamics Evolve 2 drone sits in an interesting place. It’s an entry-level professional cinematic drone that’s above the likes of the DJI Mavic 3 (even the Mavic 3 Cine) and the Autel Evo II Pro but a hair below the DJI Inspire 2. It’s aimed primarily toward hybrid shooters who use mirrorless cameras on the ground for both stills and video and want to get the same or similar quality of photos and footage from the air.

It comes with a price tag to match, but it does feature an interchangeable lens gimbal-stabilised Micro Four Thirds camera, giving you a lot more filming and photography options than most drones below this price point. And if you’re already a Micro Four Thirds shooter, it can use the lenses you already own. But does the Evolve 2 live up to expectations? Let’s find out…

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I got to field test the new Canon EOS R7 for night photography

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I was lucky enough to get my hands on the brand new Canon EOS R7 camera yesterday, thanks to Canon España ambassadors Paco Farero and Iván Sanchez. It’s Canon’s first offering of a cropped sensor APS-C mirrorless camera, and I was keen to test it out and see what it was like.

Now first, a few caveats. I had the camera in the field for only a couple of hours. I took only still shots so I wasn’t able to try out the video component. This isn’t an in-depth review, these are purely my initial first impressions. And those are pretty favourable, I must admit.

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Moment Strohl Mountain Light 45L Backpack: a camera backpack for serious wilderness photographers

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I feel like I’ve kissed a lot of frogs when it comes to camera bags. Sometimes it feels a little like Goldilocks searching for something ‘just right’. Not too heavy, not too small, room for items besides camera gear, but I need to bring ALL THE GEAR! I’m not sure such a thing actually exists, it may actually be a unicorn. I’ve never yet found The Perfect Camera Bag (yes those capitals are deliberate!).

Perhaps a far better approach then is to find a bag that exactly fits the requirements for a particular type of photography. Most of us do more than one type, and I must say that the requirements of an outdoors adventure photographer will be very different from say, a city-based portraits on-location photographer. With this in mind, I got to test out the Moment Strohl Mountain Light 45L camera backpack and give it a good run through its paces in the outdoors.

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Fujifilm X-H2S: Detailed first impressions

The Fujifilm X-H2S has many new and vastly improved features and capabilities, all in a package that’s different than the X-T lineup of cameras with traditional control dials. I’ve had a few days with my Fujifilm X-H2S and here’s my experience with their new flagship APS-C camera.

Each decision to upgrade or purchase a camera is very personal, and each person has their own priorities for deciding when the time is right to upgrade or purchase. I’d like to share my thoughts and journey that led me to decide to upgrade my Fujifilm X-T3 to the new X-H2S.

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My first impressions of the Fujifilm 50mm f/2

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Following my recent controversial dilemma on the future of my Fujifilm 56mm f/1.2, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to test out both the 50mm f/2 and the 90mm f/2 thanks to the lovely people over at Fujifilm. For those that haven’t read the post about the 56mm f/1.2 (it’s here if you want a read), I was genuinely tempted to trade it in for something that was a little more travel friendly eg the 50mm f/2. I was also tempted by the 90mm f/2 to replace the excellent portrait abilities.

For this post however we’ll concentrate on the 50mm f/2 and my short two weeks with it. Unfortunately, we got off on the back foot as I’d just had two weddings booked in this year and I absolutely love the 56mm f/1.2 for weddings; that was nearly my decision made already but let’s give the little lens a chance.

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Insta360’s ONE RS 1-Inch 360 Edition is a welcome and huge-sensored addition to the ONE RS family – A review

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Insta360 has seen a lot of success in the 360° camera market over the last few years and they’ve arguably become the leader in pocketable 360° cameras thanks to devices like the Insta360 ONE X2 (review here) and the Insta360 ONE RS (review here).

Today, though, Insta360 has announced that they’re going big with the new Insta360 ONE RS 1-Inch 360 Edition. Co-engineered with Leica the new 1-Inch 360 mod lets you shoot 360° footage at up to 6K resolution using, as the name suggests, a pair of giant 1″ sensors.

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You don’t need to buy a charger for this Sony battery

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With a raise of hand, how many of you have more than one battery for your photography gear? More than 2? More than 5? More than 10? I personally have more than 20. Each with its own proprietary charger.  Actually, with all those chargers, I am not surprised that some people build a small shrine to worship all those battery maintenance devices.

With some engineering background, this seems highly inefficient. Why not make one standard to charge all batteries. Well, there is such a standard, it’s called USB-C. And Nitecore just brought a Sony-compatible battery that charges via USB-C, the Nitecore UFZ100 (announced here).  It has some other perks as well. hit the jump to learn more.

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Photographers, don’t miss five planets lined up in the sky in June and July

How often can we see, with our naked eye, five planets of our solar system lined up in the sky at the same time? And what’s more, see them lined up in order of their distance from the sun? You’re right – it’s pretty rare. But this unique opportunity is now ahead of us!

Starting today and for the next few weeks, we’ll be able to see Mars, Jupiter, Saturn Venus, and Mercury lined up in the night sky, along with the Moon. If you’re into astrophotography, don’t miss this opportunity to take some amazing shots, and I’ll share some info and tips to hopefully help you on this mission.

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