Gear Update
Our round-up of the latest digital photography must-haves
Slick tripod brackets, lush photo printers, and other Canon-fit kit that will make you take a hammer to your piggy bank
01 3 Legged thing QR11 Universal L-brackets Change your perspective. Fast £60/$60 www.3leggedthing.com
The QR11 bracket is designed to make switching from landscape to portrait on a tripod quick and easy, as you re-mount your Canon, rather than adjusting the head. By keeping the sensor in a near-fixed position, you also get improved compositional continuity. Both the horizontal and vertical mounting plates are Arca Swiss compatible and have strap mounting points. The vertical plate also features a standard ¼in mounting point to attach accessories. The recently released QR11-FB variant boasts a larger vertical plate for compatibility with gripped DSLRS like the EOS-1D X Mark II.
02 Canon PIXMA G printers For high-volume, low-cost photo printing £180/$243 www.canon.co.uk
home printing can get pretty pricey, but Canon’s G-series printers are designed to cost less to run. Instead of replacing ink cartridges, you top up the integrated tanks with ink from bottles. Windows in the front of the printer let you see how much ink remains, and Canon is claiming high print yields of up to 6000 mono and 7000 colour pages. All G-series printers produce borderless A4 photos, while borderless 6x4in prints take just 60 seconds. The G3510 and flagship G4510 also add Wi-fi for wireless and mobile printing.
03 DJI Ronin-s A smooth operator £tba/$tba www.dji.com
DJI has expanded its range of compact gimbal stabilizers with this heavy duty model that’ll support a Canon 5D Mark IV. A 3-axis gimbal will counteract unwanted tilt, roll and pan while shooting handheld, so you get smooth, professional-looking footage. Powerful high-torque motors in the stabilization system compensate for zoom lenses with higher magnification ratios and an external zooming barrel, while advanced stabilization algorithms work with lens stabilization. Using the DJI camera, you can also create advanced camera moves automatically.
04 Nanguang Mixpads Powerful light panels at pleasing prices £120/$164 www.kenro.co.uk
NANGUANG’S entry-level Mixpad 32 packs 328 LEDS into a 145x150mm panel for up to 765 Lumens of power. Move up to the £150 Mixpad 41 for 440 LEDS and 841 Lumens, while still maintaining hot shoe-friendly dimensions. At 356x297mm, the range-topping Mixpad 106 is best used on a light stand, but boasts a whopping 2308 Lumens max output. All three units have 0-100% adjustable brightness, stepless colour temperature adjustment, and a high colour rendering index of 95 for faithful colour reproduction. Their Mixpad’s ultra low flicker rate also means you can shoot in slow motion.
05 Samyang af 14mm F2.8 ef Samyang changes its focus £649/$849 www.samyanglensglobal.com
samyang has a solid reputation for manual focus lenses, and now the company has announced its first autofocus optic. This full-frame wide-angle incorporates 15 lens elements in 10 groups that include two aspherical lenses, four high-refractive lenses and one extra-low dispersion lens, helping to minimize distortion and aberrations. Little is currently known about Samyang’s AF tech, apart from the usual claims that it’ll be fast, quiet, and accurate. The lens is also weather sealed, and Samyang has kept weight down to just 485g (without lens caps or lens hood).
06 tenba Soft Lens pouches Show your lenses some love £15/$17 www.tenba.com
If you’ve invested a small fortune in your burgeoning collection of Canon’s glass, you’ll probably want to take good care of it. These protective pouches are made from super-soft neoprene so they will absorb light knocks and keep scratches at bay. Five size options are available, ranging from a 3.5x3.5in version ideal for smaller primes, right up to a 12x5in pouch that will fit a 70-200mm f/2.8 with space to spare. The pouches feature a simple drawstring opening, which means no noisy Velcro to use.