Gear Update
Our round-up of the latest digital photography must-haves
Feel like freshening up your kit? Check out two new lenses from Tamron, photo-editing software with ‘artificial intelligence’, a very fast Compactflash card, and the inevitable more!
Lexar Professional 3500x
Cfast 2.0 512GB Memory to make your mouth water £1733/ $1700 www.lexar.com
okay, so Lexar’s latest memory card may have a price well into four figures and is currently only compatible with one Canon stills camera – the 1D X Mk II. But brandish this baby on a shoot and you’re bound to be treated like royalty. Read and write speeds of up to 525MB/S and 445MB/S respectively mean it’ll shrug off whatever you may throw at it. And if times are tight, lower capacity versions down to 32GB are also available.
Hähnel Unipal Extra Refuel almost any camera battery £35/$49 www.hahnel.ie
Not only can the Unipal Extra charge pretty much any camera battery via its movable contact pins, it’ll also juice up a pair of AAS. But that’s not all. Inside lurks a 5200mah rechargable power bank that enables mobile wireless charging, albeit relatively slowly, and there’s a USB output to charge your smartphone or tablet.
Photolemur Photo editing just became smarter £28/$35 www.photolemur.com
Photolemur claims to be the world’s first entirely automated image editing software for Mac. Artificial intelligence automatically enhances colours, detects and retouches faces, tweaks exposure, removes haze, extracts detail… Raw file support is also present, as is batch image processing. The processing algorithm even learns how to improve future results. A Windows version is in the works.
Syrp Super Dark Variable ND Shoot longer long exposures From £135/$169 www.syrp.co.nz
Syrp is branching out from its clever Genie programmable motion timelapse head to put its spin on the humble variable neutral density filter. Syrp’s filter reduces light transmission by between 5-10 stops (ND32-ND1024), and unlike many variable NDS, the stops are marked on the filter ring. There are also hard limits at each end of the rotation to prevent any uneven exposure at maximum density. The filter can be had in 82mm or 67mm versions, and each comes with two step-up rings to fit other thread diameters.
Vanguard Alta Sky camera backpacks Simply bags of features From £200/$230 www.vanguardworld.co.uk
Vanguard’s new Alta Sky range comprises five backpacks ranging from the 310 x 230 x 495mm Sky 45D, to the long and narrow 290 x 290 x 620mm Sky 66 that’s designed for a full-frame Canon and super telephoto lens. Most models feature a one-third to two-thirds internal storage split. Smaller Alta Sky bags also boast a side opening for on-the-go access, in addition to rear and top loading, and some are designed to carry a drone.
Tamron 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5
Di II VC HLD Wide, wider, widest (almost) TBA www.tamron.com
tamron reckons its new ultra-wideangle zoom boasts the largest focal length range in its class, and who are we to argue? (Well, until we review it properly, that is.) The optical design consists of 16 elements in 11 groups, with one LD (Low Dispersion) lens element, one XLD glass element, one moulded glass aspherical element, and one hybrid aspherical lens. There’s also image stabilization in the form of Tamron’s own VC.
Tamron SP 70-200mm F/2.8
Di VC USD G2 (Model A025) Zooming into the future £1349/$1299 www.tamron.com
this second-gen version of Tamron’s existing telephoto zoom promises bigger, better and more. Autofocus speed and precision has been enhanced, and Vibration Compensation improved. New features include EBAND coating, moisture-proof and dust-resistant construction, fluorine coating and compatibility with tele converters.