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DIYP reviews the Manfrotto Befree Live Twist travel tripod – A great travel companion for video

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I’m going to save you all a lot of time and tell you from the start that I really like the Manfrotto Befree Live Twist (BLT – Yes, I’m calling it the BLT) video tripod. If you’ve been on the fence about buying one and wondering whether or not it’s decent… Well, for the most part, I think it is.

In many ways, the BLT a lot like its predecessor, the regular flip lock version of Befree Live. But it has received a couple of significant changes. The flip locks have gone in favour of twist locks (hence the new name), and the adjusters at the top of each leg have had a much-needed redesign. But let’s take a look at how it handles overall.

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The best iPhone vlogging microphone under $80 – DIYP reviews the RODE ME-L vlogging mic

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When it comes to vlogging with just your phone, the first thing you should buy is a microphone. The native audio from the iPhone is not stellar, to say the least. And a good microphone is the fastest way to bump the quality of a phone video. While for work we use RODE’s  $289 Videomic Pro Plus, we got to test its little vlogging buddy, the $79 RODE ME-L.

If you are a TL;DR kind of person, here is the short version, the ME-L is a stellar microphone for $80. Heck, it was still a stellar piece if it was costing $100, but hey! Rode decided to leave some money on the table. Good for us! (If you are not an iPhone person, there is a similar mic, the Videomic-ME that connects to a standard Android/TRRS/headphones connector, and it even costs less money!)

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The best motorised mini slider we’ve tried – DIYP reviews the Smartta SliderMini

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Of all the tools and devices on which we can place cameras, sliders have always been the one that intrigued me the most. I’ve used quite a few of them over the years and I still really enjoy using them whenever I shoot with one. Especially motorised ones. I’ve even spent some time over the last few months working on motorising one of my own sliders.

For the last couple of weeks, though, I’ve been trying out the new Smartta SliderMini. It’s a mini motorised slider for video and timelapse with remote app control from your Android or iOS smartphone that just launched on Indiegogo. So far, I quite like it.

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DJI Mavic 2 Pro review shows a substantial upgrade over the original Mavic Pro

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Announced only a few days ago, the Mavic 2 drones already have their first reviews appearing. This one’s from the folks at We Talk UAV. They take out the Mavic 2 Pro and put that 1″ 10Bit Hasselblad camera to the test. DJI gave themselves a tough act to follow with the original DJI Mavic Pro or even the Mavic Pro Platinum, but it looks like they’ve actually outdone themselves.

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Are control consoles the future of photo editing? DIYP reviews the Loupedeck+

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Since Adobe switched from perpetual licenses to a subscription model, I’ve been trying to make my photo and video workflow as Adobe-free as possible. As a result, I don’t use Lightroom. So I never really had a need for the original Loupedeck.

But when the announcement came for the Loupedeck+ with support for Skylum Aurora HDR and Capture One, and more software support coming in the future, I thought it was time to take a more serious look at it. I’ve been using the Loupedeck+ for a few weeks now, and I think it’s safe to say that it’s won me over.

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First impressions review of the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 Art lens – The “Bokeh Master”

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There’s no way around it, the new Sigma 105mm f/1.4 Art lens is freakishly huge. Compared to the Nikon 105mm f/1.4E lens released a couple of years ago, it just looks ridiculous. The Sigma is substantially bigger and weighs about 70% more than the Nikon. It even weighs more than my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom.

But how does it actually feel to shoot? And how good are the images? I’ve had the opportunity to play with one over the last few days, so this post goes through some of my initial thoughts, and what I think of the lens so far. If you want the short version, though, I love it and hated having to give it back.

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Promise Pegasus3 R8 Bay RAID review

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With more and more of us shooting 4K footage, fast, large storage is becoming a must-have for those of us editing this footage. For the last few years, I’ve been using the Promise Technology R2+. It’s a two-bay thunderbolt 2 RAID array with a cool feature that it has a third bay that you can swap out. I normally have a card reader in there as it allows me to copy footage from cards at the fastest speed.

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DIYP reviews the Novoo AC power bank – A location shooter’s best friend

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I’ve been keeping an eye on portable power options for probably about a decade now. Most of my work is on location, I’m often away for several days at a time, and much of my equipment requires power or some kind or another.

Recently, I was asked if I wanted to check out the Novoo AC Power Bank. It looked an intriguing little unit so I agreed to have a look. While I waited for it to arrive I was expecting to be entirely underwhelmed, but it’s actually really impressed me.

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