Month: July 2012

Think Tank Sling Test Drive Program. Try Bags For Free!

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My friends at Think Tank Photo have just announced that they are launching one of their popular Test Drive programs.  This one is for their revolutionary Sling-O-Matic sling bags.    With Think Tank Photo’s Sling-O-Matic™ line-up of bags you have the photo industry’s first sling bag that can be easily switched back and forth to either shoulder. The Sling-O-Matic’s adjustable, fully padded shoulder strap “automatically” slides along a set of rails to change which shoulder the bag can be worn on. You can try a Sling-O-Matic for free for 30 days!  If you don’t want to keep it, ship it …

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Tamron 24-70 F2.8 DI VC Review

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I’ll admit to being a bit of a Canon lens snob, it’s fairly obvious if you look down my gear list anyway.  In my career I’ve only owned one non-Canon lens and that was a Sigma 15mm Fisheye.  The Tamron lens caught my eye, and the eyes of many others because it is the first (and still only) 24-70 f2.8 lens to feature image stabilization or Vibration Compensation as Tamron call it.  Canon’s original 24-70 did not include it, in fact that lens may even have pre-dated the invention of it, but many people assumed that it would feature in

Olympus E-M5 Firmware Update

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Olympus has posted the first firmware update for the highly acclaimed E-M5. Firmware changes – Improved sleep recovery operation. – AF target is indicated when using C-AF+TR while shooting sequential images using Sequential L setting. – Added function to automatically move focus to the following zoom positions when underwater macro mode or underwater wide mode is selected. (Only when M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-50 mm F3.5-6.3 EZ is attached) – Underwater wide mode: Wide setting – Underwater macro mode: Telephoto setting

Nikon Announces Development Of 800mm f5.6 Lens

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Oh dear….. Nikon has started to do what Canon has been doing with these semi-announcements, or ‘development announcements’.  In other words we are told that this lens is coming but other than the fact that it has an 800mm focal length, an f5.6 aperture and VR we have no further info.  No idea on price or when it might be shipping and we’ll likely see a ‘proper’ announcement later in the year, most likely at Photokina where the lens will be on display. Canon have had an 800mm f5.6 for some time now and given that Canon has played catch

Lexar Announces Intentions To Produce XQD Cards

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Lexar has today announced plans to join Sony in producing XQD cards.  Back at CES Lexar indicated to me that they didn’t have any interest in the new format but it seems that opinions have since changed.  Probably because Sony’s new XQD cards surpass the theoretical maximum achievable by Compact Flash cards.  At the moment the Nikon D4 is still the only camera to support the format but with Lexar jumping on board I’m sure we will see Sandisk follow by the end of the year and then every professional camera next year include support for the new format. Press

Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt / USB3 Drive Review

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On a recent trip to Europe I underestimated the amount of drive space I would need to take with me.  I was forced to go to the nearest computer store and purchase another drive.  If I was going to have to do this I wanted to make sure that I picked up something that would at least be useful in the long term.  I use a Macbook Air when I travel and I hadn’t yet purchased any Thunderbolt drives to go with it.  At the time of writing (June 2012) Thunderbolt drives are still few and far between and those