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Xencelabs Pen Tablet Medium – A true Wacom competitor?

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In recent years, new pen tablet brands have appeared, some have presented interesting products, but the vast majority of them have tried to gain space in the mora affordable pen tablets, or at least cheaper than the brand considered as the reference, Wacom. As far as I can remember, no new brand was really capable of beating Wacom. But that has changed.

Now, Xencelabs has arrived, which although it is a new company, has a team that already has many years of experience in the development of Pen Tablets, and they are aiming to the premium market. Xencelabs has just launched the Pen Tablet Medium, which can be purchased with or without the Quick Keys Remote. the version with the Quick Keys Remote is the Pen Tablet Medium Bundle, this is the one I have to test.

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Reviewing Sony’s first ever digital camera 25 years after its release

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Even though they didn’t really start to take off as a camera manufacturer until after they bought Minolta in 2006, Sony’s been in the digital camera game for quite a while. They were one of the first companies to release one to general consumers and if memory recalls, they actually weren’t too bad for their time. This one even has a selfie mode!

Of course, the 25-year-old Sony DSC-F1 can’t keep up with their new A1 flagship, as evidenced in this retro-review by Gordon Laing. He puts the camera through its paces to see how it performs and points out some of the issues with using proprietary tech and connections in hardware, making things somewhat inaccessible for future generations.

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The DigitalFoto Tree Frog is an awesome pocket LED light for small products and macro

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Over the last few years, I’ve become a big fan of small pocket-sized LED lights. They used to not be as good as they are now, offering pretty limited functionality and they just didn’t produce great colour. But LED tech has come a long way since in a few short years, leading us to where we are today with products like the Digitalfoto Tree Frog.

I have two DigitalFoto Tree Frog lights that I’ve been using to light my 3D printer for live streams and for shooting small product photos and b-roll. We’re still in lockdown here, so that’s pretty much all I can point my cameras at right now. One of Tree Frogs I have is a pre-production model and the other is a final retail version. For this review, I’m only going to focus on the retail version.

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The Gitzo Légende tripod and backpack offer quality well above their current price point

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The Légende is the newest travel tripod and bag combo from Gitzo, with both products sharing the same name. It’s currently running as an Indiegogo campaign and will go on general sale once it’s over, with the ability to buy either item individually or both as a kit.

I’ve been trying out both the tripod and backpack for a couple of weeks now and putting them through the limited paces I can while we’re still on lockdown here in Scotland, but here are some of my thoughts on Gitzo’s new Légende tripod & backpack combo.

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Organic looking images? The K&F Concept Black Mist filter reviewed

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Can a filter really help make digital images look more organic/film-like?  We take a look at the new Black Mist filter from K&F Concept.

Essentially, the Black Mist filter is designed to add some atmosphere into an image. As if there was a slight fog or mist present. You can see it here in this shot of my son. Taken on a nice clear but overcast day. Using the Black Mist filter makes it look like there’s a slight haze in the distance.

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Nikon 50mm F1.2 S review – Going head-to-head against the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art

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Like how Nikon has been aggressively marketing the internal diameter of the Z mount being 17% larger than the Nikon F mount, the larger mount allows more flexibility in the optical design of the Z lenses just like their newest 58mm f0.95 Noct lens. Today I won’t be testing on the 58mm f0.95 as I’m not really a fan of manual focus. We will take a look into how Nikon latest 50mm F1.2 lens will hold up against the popular 3rd party lens – Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art series.

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The Insta360 GO 2 is an amazing wearable first-person camera (also available in Minions flavour)

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The more I’ve travelled to shoot photos and video over the last few years, the more I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of smaller and lighter kit. Ok, so I haven’t done much travelling in the last year… Ok, I haven’t done any at all, really, but the point still remains that smaller is often better suited to the task when you’re out exploring.

And today, Insta360 has announced something very small to help document your exploration adventures. It’s the update to their popular Insta360 GO wearable FPV camera, the Insta360 GO 2. I’ve been testing one for a few weeks now, and I’ve really come to like it. Oh, and they’re releasing a Minions version, too. Yup, a Minions version.

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The Godox ML60 – The ultimate lightweight and portable interview light?

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The Godox ML60 is an interesting little light. I say little because it’s similar in size to the company’s AD300Pro strobe, which is really tiny. The ML60 isn’t a strobe, though. It’s a 60 Watt continuous LED light and it can be powered either from an AC adapter in the studio or a pair of NP-F style batteries out on location.

For its size, it puts out a whole heck of a lot of light, and with the Godox S2 modifier, you can use it with Bowens S mount modifiers. It’s also near-silent, too, which has been a big problem with a lot of LED lights over the last few years. But how good is it? Let’s take a look.

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Silicon Power 1TB Superior microSD card – Faster than SanDisk at less than half the price

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Many of you know I’m a fan of big memory cards. Sometimes you just need a lot of tiny portable storage. Some of you might have seen my thoughts on the SanDisk Extreme Pro 1TB microSD card (review here), and it’s still going strong as both a portable backup card and for shooting footage in my Insta360 cameras.

So, when Silicon Power reached out to me to try their 1TB Silicon Power Superior microSD card, suggesting that it was just as quick but less expensive than the SanDisk, I had to see for myself. After all, that’s a pretty bold claim.

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Fujifilm X-E4 and XF27mm f2.8R WR first look – Sleek and sensible

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Well well well. It sure looks like the X-E line isn’t dead afterall. One of the most pocketable APS-C Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras just got even more pocketable, and even more sleek and stylish. All of it without compromising features of the models that comes before it.

But is there really a place for a camera in 2021 that doesn’t have any form of weather resistance? Well, I guess we’ll have to find out, cause one thing that Denmark has had a lot of these past 3 months is shitty weather. And I brought the X-E4 into most of it!

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