Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa rewinding in their graves as the Leica film era comes to an end after a storied 85-year history. Read more at asahi.com
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Gear
My favorite new piece of cool photo gear is this super-slick Acratech GP Ballhead. It’s great design maximizes function while minimizing weight. Unlike in other ballheads, the Acratech ballheads have no excess metal so no excess weight and no place for dirt or sand to get trapped. Scott Dordick and the guys at Acratech are always coming up with great designs and this one is not just highly functional engineering, it’s Positively a Work of Art!
The Acratech quick-release works nicely will all Arca-style QR Plates even those with slightly rounded dove tails from Really Right Stuff.
The Acratech GP Ballhead has become my new favorite.
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Grover Sanschagrin of PhotoShelter put together this great article about Professional Photographers who also shoot with Point-and-Shoot cameras.
It’s great to see that so many of my friends also carry a small camera with them everywhere they go. Afterall, the best camera you can own is the one you’ve got with you…
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Sony has launched it’s E-mount NEX-VG10E camcorder, the worlds’ first consumer-grade HD camcorder with interchangeable lenses. Although appearing under Sony’s Handycam brand, rather than Alpha, it retains a lot in common with the Alpha NEX series. It features the same 14.6MP Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor but is capable of recording 1080i video at a higher, 24mbps, bitrate. The NEX-VG10E also features an electronic viewfinder and ‘Quad Capsule Spatial Array Stereo Microphone’ that uses four microphone elements to provide better channel separation and cancel unwanted noise. In every other respect it is essentially a NEX 5, featuring the same user interface (though with more external controls) and both SD and MemoryStick storage. It will sold as kit with image-stabilized E18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS lens and will be available a suggested retail price of $2000.
* 14.2 effective megapixel ExmorTM APS HD CMOS sensor (19.5 times larger than conventional camcorder) for stunning HD movies with beautiful background defocus
* Accepts E-mount interchangeable lenses plus A-mount α DSLR lenses (via optional adaptor)
* High quality audio with Quad Capsule Spatial Array Stereo Microphone and external mic input
* 7.5cm (3 inch-type) Xtra Fine LCD and electronic viewfinder
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The Newest Coolest iPhone ever rolled out today.
Tagline: This changes everything. Again.
Does this mean I can now actually make PHONE CALLS with my iPhone???
Oh wait, still on ATT…
So, can finally actually go on Flash websites???
Ooops, iPhone still don’t do Flash…
So, I suppose they simply mean that you can actually buy and iPhone 4 instead of just hangin’ out in a bar in Redwood City to get one…then again, that one came with free airtime…
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Sony NEX-5 with 18mm/2.8 lens
I finally got my hands on the new Sony NEX-5 digital camera this morning, when FedEx showed up with a pre-production model. Though I saw prototypes at PMA this year, it’s shocking to hold it your hand and try to figure out how Sony was able to fit an APS sensor into such a small a package. The NEX-5 has the same size sensor that’s in Sony and Nikon APS-C DSLRs and it’s actually larger than sensor in Canon 7D, yet it easily fits into the palm of your hand like a cybershot – making it the smallest and lightest interchangeable lens camera in the world and the first APS-C camera in the world to offer Full HD video recording with continuous auto-focus.
I love this camera because it’s small enough that I can carry around all the time. It won’t replace my DSLRs, but I can keep it with me all the time for a grab shot that I might have otherwise missed. Best of all, for street photography it allows you to shoot without attracting attention. This camera really raises the game.
Sony NEX-5 with 18-55/3.5-5.6 zoom
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Can’t wait to get my hands on the new Sony NEX-5 that puts an APS sensor into a tiny point-n-shoot body. With the 16mm/2.8 lens, it’s got the makings of a perfect walk-around camera…
The 1080 HD Video is very impressive as well…
Sony also announced this cool new E-mount interchangeable lens HD camcorder
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One of the cool things I came across at the WPPI Trade Show in Vegas was personalized Hard Drives and Flash Drives from Pexagontech. Super cool way to always be sporting the BRIANSMITH.COMbriansmith.com logo while I work…
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Flying into Marsh Harbor, Bahamas on a shoot and those tiny American Eagle jets are always a challenge when it comes to getting your gear from Point A to Point B. In particular as that relates to cameras that you don’t want to send into the luggage hold. Gate checked a roller bag only ensures that it gets banged around fewer times…
But this time, I’m traveling with my new Lowepro Pro Roller x200 which is kind of the perfect combination of a photo backpack tucked inside of a roller shell. I gotta tell the truth. I was wrong about this bag the first time I saw it. I failed to see the advantage of a pop-out backpack. But getting on my flight today, instead of gate checking my gear, I pulled out the backpack and sent the empty roller shell underneath. I still figured that at the very least, I’d still have to pull out my laptop to get this thing to fit on the tiny Eagle turbo prop. But I was wrong again, the backpack slipped right in with my MacBook Pro in the laptop pocket on top.
Smart Design. The prefect bag for challenges of the road.
What’s Inside:
(2) Sony a900 Cameras
Sony Zeiss 24-70/2.8 lens
Sony Zeiss 16-35/2.8 lens
Sony G 70-400/4-5.6 lens
Lensbaby Composer
Sony HVL-F58AM Flash
Sony NP-FM500H Batteries
13″ Apple MacBook Pro 2.53 Ghz with 500gb hard drive
(12) 8Gb SanDisk Extreme IV Compact Flash cards
(3) Gepe Card Safe Extreme Watertight Cases
SanDisk Extreme FireWire CF Card Reader
(2) PocketWizard Transceivers
Sony Cybershot DSC-WX1
Giottos Large Rocket Air Blower
Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly
Delkin Sensor Scope
(8) AA Batteries
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One of the cool things I came across at this year’s PhotoPlus Expo was this Interfit Strobies Portrait Kit light modifiers for shoe mount flash. The great thing about studio flashes like Profoto is that you have lots of great choices of light modifiers, but most of the modifiers for on-camera flash either look like a Tupperware jar jammed on the end of the flash or are the some form of white card taped to the back of the flash for bounce. Neither option provides for particularly sexy light. The cool thing about Strobies is that somebody finally figured out a way to shrink light modifiers down to size. The kit sells for about $150 or you can buy most of the modifiers indivually for about $30 each. Flex mounts are available for most any kind of shoe mount flash are another seven bucks. The Sony HLV-58AM uses Flex mount SGM400. If you have several brands of flashes, you just buy an extra $7 adapter.
Strobies Portrait Kit: Barndoors, Grid Spot, Snoot, Globe and Beauty Dish
Interchangable Strobies Flex Mount Adapter
Strobies Beauty Dish
Strobies Grid Spot
Strobies Globe
Strobies Snoot with Grid spots
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