tripod

Peak Design Launches Innovative New Travel Tripod

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Peak Design have launched a new travel tripod on Kickstarter and based on their past successes with the crowd funding platform, it should come as no surprise that they blew past the $2million funding mark in a single day. Smashing their $500,000 goal with 57 days still to go. “During my travels in 2008 I began wondering why on Earth my tripod was so big. The thing was full of negative space and knobs, and I felt like something designed for portability could do much better,” Peak Design CEO, Peter Dering. During the campaign the new Peak Design Travel Tripod

Gear Check: Really Right Stuff TFC-24L Mk2 Tripod

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Long-term blog readers will know that I’ve relied on tripods and heads from Really Right Stuff for many years. For a long time the TVC-24L was my primary tripod – I just loved the height to which it could extend, even for a tripod of relatively modest weight. With it’s 40lb load rating I trusted that tripod with the heaviest of Canon super telephoto lenses and greatly appreciated the light weight while traveling. Then along came the TFC-14 which had a fixed apex (the platform on top of the tripod) at the top of the legs, compared to the removable

Can You Fly with a Tripod?

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I have often wondered what the official stance on this is, but it turns out there’s a simple page on the TSA website that tells you the answer. Clearly it says that monopods and tripod are ok to travel with, as long as they fall within luggage dimensional limits. Of course those vary from airline to airline, but roughly speaking I’d say that it gives you room for a 21″ long tripod, as long as when strapped to the side of your bag it doesn’t then push your other bag dimensions over the limit. Seems reasonable. The CATSA (Canadian version

Gear Check: UniqBall iQuick Plate

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I came across this interesting ballhead accessory when I was writing a guide about L plates for Shutter Muse. Typically an L plate for a camera is a big bulky thing that wraps around the end of a camera to allow you to switch between portrait and landscape orientation very quickly. One of the disadvantages of the traditional design is that the plates can be quite heavy, so I was intrigued when I found the iQuick plate solutions that are being manufactured by UniqBall. At first glance these iQuick plates appear to be pretty typical universal Arca-Swiss plates for use

Gear Check: Really Right Stuff TFA-01 Ultra Tripod

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I just packed my bags for a trip to Ottawa and for the first time in a very long time, I’m getting on a plane without a camera bag. This trip isn’t about photography at all, it’s about celebrating the holiday season with loved ones. Whilst I’m not taking a big camera bag as I usually do, I’m still travelling with a basic photography kit in my regular Arcteryx Brize 32 daypack. I chose to take the 5D Mark IV, the Canon 11-24mm f/4 L (unboxing) and the 24-105mm f/4 L IS.  The 11-105mm range between two lenses is a

Manfrotto Deluxe HDSLR Remote Review

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At NAB this year Manfrotto launched a couple of interesting new products to compliment their SYMPLA rig lineup, the Deluxe HDSLR Remote and the Clamp On HDSLR Remote.  My interest piqued because there are relatively few other options out there that can accomplish the same thing and none from a company with Manfrotto’s experience.  So what are we talking about here ?  We’re talking remote control of your Canon HDSLR when shooting video.  Not just simple record Start/Stop functionality but control of aperture, shutter speed, ISO and even focus.  Sounds pretty cool right ?  I immediately contacted my friends at

The Search For My Ultimate Tripod Setup – Really Right Stuff TVC-33s

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Having broken my tripod recently I decided to look at what the high end of the market has to offer.  A cheap tripod rarely does you any favors and whilst my previous one wasn’t exactly cheap, I’d often wanted a bit more stability and a generally nicer feel to things.  I did a lot of research, read a lot of reviews, blog posts and forum threads and narrowed things quickly down to Gitzo and Really Right Stuff. I’m a big fan of Really Right Stuff products in general and I use their BH-40 ballhead as well as an MH-01 on

New Budget Friendly Fluid Head From Sachtler

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I’m a big fan of Sachtler fluid video heads but they don’t come cheap.  With more and more budget conscious DSLR film makers out there Sachtler have decided to address the lower price point with the launch of a new full fluid head called the Ace , which comes partnered with a tripod for an expected price of only around $500. This price would make it the cheapest proper fluid head on the market and initial reviews of the heads build quality have been glowing.

Manfrotto 055 Mag Photo-Movie Head Review

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DSLRs with HD video capabilities have changed the way many of us shoot and many photographers are being asked to return from assignments with videos, or simply making that choice themselves to make their business stand out from the crowd.  The problem is that DSLR video is incredibly susceptible to camera shake because in-body image stabilization has yet to be implemented in these larger cameras.  Combine that with the tendency to create rolling shutter artifacts when panning too fast and you quickly realize that a good video head (fluid head) is necessary to get even a reasonable job done unless