Industry News

Think Tank Launches New Airport Backpack Series

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Santa Rosa, Calif. – Think Tank Photo announced today that in May it will release the Airport™ series, a new line of travel-specific, high-capacity camera backpacks designed with maneuvering through airports quickly in mind. The three backpacks – the Airport Accelerator, Airport Commuter, and Airport Essentials —  integrate quick access pockets for both laptops and iPad, a top pocket for boarding passes, and three robust handles to ensure easy placement and retrieval from overhead bins.
The Airport™ series makes life easier for the traveling photographer. All meet international carry on size requirements.  The two smaller bags, the Airport Commuter and the Airport Essentials, are designed to fit under-seat in regional commuter planes.
Their light, adjustable, contoured harness provides comfort along with lumbar support.  The air mesh paneling keeps backs cool. The height-adjustable sternum strap allows for the perfect fit.  A removable waist belt, side water bottle pocket, tripod/ monopod mounting system and seam sealed rain cover extend their versatility. Adding even more functionality, these backpacks can be used with Think Tank’s Pro Speed Belts for additional support and capacity by adding component pouches and cases from the company’s Modular Rotation Component System.  For photographers who travel by air, these bags deliver on the three “C’s”:  Carry-on size, Comfort, Capacity,” said Doug Murdoch, Think Tank’s co-founder and lead designer.  “Their design, build quality and functionality are second to none.”

The three sizes allow photographers to select the best fit for their needs.

  1. Airport Accelerator accommodates two pro size DSLRs, six to eight standard zooms, a 500 f/4.0, iPad, and up to a 17” laptop. The largest of the three, this one has a padded removable waist belt.
  2. Airport Commuter accommodates a pro size DSLR, four to six standard zooms, (increased depth holds a 400 f/2.8), iPad and 15” laptop .
  3. Airport Essentials accommodates a standard DSLR, four to six standard zooms, iPad, and up to 13” laptop.

Features include:

  • Bottom hinge opens bag completely for quick and unencumbered access.
  • Cable lock and locking YKK zipper sliders for added security.
  • Laptop and iPad stored in a separate locking zippered compartment.
  •  Light, comfortable and contoured harness system.
  • Tripod/monopod mounting system.
  • Top zippered pocket for boarding pass.
  • Removable waist belt for additional stability when walking, running, etc.
  • Easily accessible front organizer pocket.
  • Seam sealed rain cover included.

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Think Tank Special – FREE Laptop Bag With Every Roller

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For the month of May, Think Tank are giving away a FREE Artificial Intelligence laptop bag (worth $59) with every roller bag that you purchase.  All you have to do is click on on of my links below and when you come to check out you’ll get the option to add the laptop bag!  Think Tank’s roller bags are the rollers that all other rollers are judged by, simple as that.  Walk into any press room at any sporting event and all you will see is Think Tank rollers as far as the eye can see, I kid you not.  …

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Think Tank Set To Launch First 4-Wheeled Camera Bag – The Airport 4-Sight

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This morning Think Tank have announced a new first of its kind camera bag.  The 4-Sight features 4 wheels on the base similar to many current carry on luggage bags, designed to make it even easier to get your gear through the airport.  The bag will begin shipping in May for a cost of $299 and readers of my site can as always receive a free gift when shopping through my links to Think Tank products.  The 4-Sight appears to be somewhat similar in size to the Airport Airstream which is my current roller bag of choice and will hold …

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Hands On With RED & 3ality Technica’s Meizler Module For Epic And Scarlet

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The new Meizler module was teased a month or so back on RED’s website but at NAB the nearly finished product was on display.  At the RED booth it wasn’t possible to get up close to it but outside at the 3ality Technica booth they had one just sitting there all wired up and ready to play with.  It seems that not many people knew this and I only stumbled upon it in my final hours at the show. So what’s this module all about then ?  Essentially it’s aim is to streamline your camera rig and remove a number …

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RED’s New Products At NAB

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RED announced a barrage of new products at NAB last week, including the details of the much anticipated Dragon sensor upgrade.  For $6000, Epic owners will be able to upgrade their current sensors to a 6k sensor which will also offer improvements in dynamic range.

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of mount options out there now with Nikon and Leica having been added to the lineup.  I was able to briefly try out one of the first Leica mounts with a Noctilux 50mm lens one evening, it is quite bizarre to have such a small lens on such a big camera but to have the option at all is pretty neat.  Feature application is pretty limited due to the inability to add any kind of follow focus though but for hand held travel shooting it would be a lot of fun.

The Pro IO module is ‘shipping soon’ for $3750.  These are all the Is and Os on this one side, these are no more on the other side.  It’s quite bulky really and you’ll need to add a module adapter to it to allow you to put it onto the camera body as well as you can see in the next picture.

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Sony Demo 8K Stitched Video Of Soccer Match

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Ok this was one of the coolest things that I saw at NAB last week.  Sony demoed a setup with 2 of their F65 4K cameras shooting a soccer match and outputting a stitched 8K wide image which could be used in HD production.  Very cool stuff.  Check it out on ProVideo Coalition.

Post-NAB DSLR Gear Wrap Up

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I’ve just got back from Las Vegas where I spent a few days hanging out with some friends and checking out all the latest HDSLR and video production gear.  NAB brings in around 100,000 people from all around the world and all the major players in the production industry show up to show off their latest and greatest hardware and software.  Over on ProPhoto Coalition I’ve written up a run down of some of my favorite DSLR related gear that I found at the show.  It’s almost impossible to see everything though, and only a tiny proportion relates to DSLRs …

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Canon Brings 4K To The Cinema EOS Lineup With 2 New Cameras – C500 and EOS-1D C + Lenses

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In the week proceeding the 2012 NAB show in Las Vegas, Canon have unveiled two brand new Cinema EOS cameras that take their new line right into the world of 4k video capture.  The C500 will build on the platform that the C300 launched on back in November 2011 but offer RAW 4k recording via 3G HD-SDI output and up to 120fps at 10 bit and 60fps at 12 bit. Back then I interviewed one of the technical developers from Canon and it was immediately obvious that this was just the beginning for them.  I don’t think that anyone would …

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Canon Launches A New Specialist Camera – EOS 60Da

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Canon have just launched another one of their specialist astophotography cameras providing “a modified infrared filter and a low-noise sensor with heightened hydrogen-alpha sensitivity”.  Given that this isn’t the first astro camera that Canon have launched there must be a market for it I guess!  It’s pretty cool that they would make such a specialist product though.

If this is your thing then B&H have the camera ready for pre-order already.

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Canon 24-70 f2.8 L II Availability Slips To July ?

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UPDATE: This has now been confirmed by Canon themselves via their website. They also confirmed the 1DX is delayed until mid-June.  Why can’t they figure out timelines recently ?  The 5DIII launched on time and in impressive numbers, it seems that was a huge exception. Disappointingly (and once again) one of Canon’s most anticipated new lens releases seems to have slipped down the time line.  Initial reports had it shipping on April 17th but upon inquiring to my local camera store about CPS pricing, the local Canon rep informed the store that this lens will not ship until July! A …

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Canon Launches New 600EX Flash And Radio Trigger System

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Alongside the unveiling of the 5d Mark III, Canon have also unveiled a brand new flagship flash, the 600 EX.   Pricing and availability The Speedlite 600EX-RT and Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT are scheduled for availability at end of March 2012. The Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E7, GPS Receiver GP-E2 and Battery Grip BG-E11 are scheduled to be available by the end of April 2012. Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT US: $629.99 / EUR: €699 / UK: £679.99 Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT US: $470 / EUR: €320 / UK: £309.99 Canon Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E7 US: $849.99 / EUR: €759 / UK: £789.99 Canon GPS Receiver GP-E2 US: …

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The Canon 5D Mark III Is Finally Here!

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Is this the most anticipated camera launch of all time ?  It would not surprise me at all.  The often rumored and much speculated Canon 5D Mark III is finally announced.  Three and a half years ago the 5D Mark II changed our expectations as to what a DSLR could do.  It delivered not only stunning image quality and Canon’s best low-light performance yet, but also 1080P video from an imaging sensor that was physically bigger than even any Hollywood camera. The results demonstrated by people like Vincent Laforet, changed the low to middle end production industry for good.  Even …

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