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The Deity S-Mic 2 shotgun microphone punches well above its weight

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Amongst the various types of microphone that are available, a good shotgun microphone is probably my favourite. It’s certainly the type of microphone I use most often. Their design allows them to pick out very specific directional sounds while ignoring the rest of the world around them – at least, that’s the theory.

You might remember that a while ago, lighting company Aputure decided to get into the microphone business with their new “Deity” microphones. Well, Deity Microphones is now it’s own separate company and I recently received their new Deity S-Mic 2 shotgun microphone. Priced at a fairly modest $359 it’s quite the bargain if it lives up to its claims, so I wanted to put it to the test.

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The Godox XPro-P flash trigger is a “game changer” for Pentax photographers

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I’ve reviewed the Godox XPro trigger before, a little over a year ago. Normally, I wouldn’t review the same product again just because it comes out with compatibility for a different camera system. My original review was with the XPro-C, but I didn’t review the XPro-N, XPro-F, XPro-S or XPro-O. So why am I posting a review of the XPro-P for Pentax?

Well, to put it simply, it’s kind of a big deal – at least for Pentax shooters. Pentax has traditionally had very little 3rd party flash support. It’s had some from Cactus with the whole X-TTL thing, but the recent demise of the RQ250 has left Pentax shooters with very little confidence in Cactus’ future. Other options have been iffy at best. But now there’s a new kid in town. The Godox XPro-P.

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The Godox AD400 Pro is the best value for money strobe Godox has ever made

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The Godox AD400 Pro is the newest portable all-in-one strobe from Godox. It’s basically a 400Ws version of the AD600 Pro. It has a few design differences and a little less power, but basically an identical feature set.

I’ve been playing with the AD400 Pro over the last couple of weeks to see how it handles and how it compares to some of the other portable strobes in the Godox product range.

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This roller case is one feature away from being perfect

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If there’s one thing about camera bags and cases, it’s that we never seem to have enough. Like the cameras they contain, they just build up and multiply over time. We justify the collection of bags and cases by saying that each has a different purpose. That they’re all used when shooting in different circumstances.

And while “the perfect camera bag” can never exist, there can be perfect examples of particular types of bags for each of those different circumstances. And when circumstances call for a roller case, the Lowepro PhotoStream SP 200 comes pretty close.[Read More…]

DIYP reviews the Wacom Intuos – The ultimate editing travel companion for photographers

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I’ve been a big fan of Wacom tablets for years. Whenever anybody asks me what tablet to buy, my response is usually “Whatever’s within your budget that has Wacom written on it”.

So, when Wacom announced their new entry-level Intuos tablets earlier this year, I was intrigued. It’s seen a few updates over previous generations. And now I’ve spent the last few weeks getting to know one.

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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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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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Yongnuo’s new 50mm f/1.4 lens keeps up with Canon at less than 2/3rds the price

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Yongnuo has been coming pretty thick and fast with lenses over the last couple of years. Sure, they’re generally copies of somebody else’s lens, but they’re cheap and, for the most part, seem to perform fairly well considering the price. Announced last month, the Yongnuo 50mm f/1.4, though, looks to be of their own design.

The first review of the new lens has now been posted to YouTube by Christopher Frost, and it appears to be pretty favourable. It not only keeps up, for the most part, with Canon’s 65% more expensive 50mm f/1.4 USM, but it even seems to beat it in some aspects.

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