Photography News Issue 46

35 Accessories test

Photography News | Issue 46 | absolutephoto.com

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Hahnel Extreme HLX-E8 camera battery £35

GGS Camera Strap FS-4 Fox £55

10 FujifilmX100F premium compact £1250 Part of Fujifilm’s X Series, the X100F has a host of brilliant features, making it a superb travel companion, either alone or as a backup to your DSLR or CSC. The camera’s 24.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS III sensor employs Fujifilm’s tried-and-tested design; no optical low-pass filter and a special pixel layout on the sensor give full-frame- rivalling image quality. The X100F mixes traditional manual handling with very modern features, such as hybrid EVF/optical viewfinder, 8fps burst shooting, a 90-point phase/ contrast detection AF system, full HD video and easy wireless connectivity. The fast 23mm f/2 lens is perfect in low light, too, and can be used with a built-in three-stop ND filter to help deal with strong light. fujifilm.co.uk

11 Camera insurance from Photoshield from£99 If you’re sensible, you’ll already have travel insurance for your holidays, but if you break a bit of your valuable kit on tour andmake a claim, youmay be disappointed. Standard insurance will only cover you up to a certain point, so it’s fine for cheap compacts, but not your pricier cameras, bodies and lenses. That’s where specialist companies such as Photoshield come into their own. Photoshield specialises in camera insurance for enthusiasts and pros, and packages start from as little as £99. A £199 package sees you covered for up to £5000 of equipment worldwide, as well as for up to £100,000 of legal expenses, and public liability of up to £2,000,000 in case someone is foolish enough to fall over your tripod and blame you for it. photoshield.co.uk

ManfrottoManhattan Mover-50backpack £130

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Being away from home means you won’t be able to charge your camera’s batteryas easilyas normal, so if you’ve booked yourself on a photo-friendly trip, it’s a good time to buy a spare (or three); you can shoot with one, take a spare with you, and leave the other charging at base. Hahnel produces a superb range of batteries for all leading brands under the Extreme banner. The Hahnel HLX-E8 rechargeable Lithium-ion battery pack, for instance, fits many of Canon’s enthusiast level EOS DSLRs including the 700D, 650D and 600D. Twin this with a Hahnel Pro Cube DSLR battery charger (at around £65) and you’ll be able to charge two batteries at once and see the level of charge as it increases. hahnel.ie

Buying a new camera strap might not be top of your shopping list, but it has advantages. After-market straps can bemore comfortable than those supplied with your camera; they often have special features, and don’t display the camera maker’s name, which can attract unwanted attention. The GGS FS-4 Fox strap is a durable slider style model, meaning when released, your camera will slide smoothly up the strap to eye level for shooting. An integrated brake holds it to the strap when not required, and a spring loaded quick-release mechanism removes the camera when required. Completing the picture, the FS-4 has a comfortable shoulder pad of soft neoprene, kept in position by an adjustable under-arm strap. cameraclean.co.uk

If you want to take a decent amount of kit on your travels you need a durable, fully-featured backpack. Step forwardManfrotto’s Manhattan Mover-50. The bag has a modern look, so isn’t immediately identifiable as a photo backpack, and, if required, its protective Flexy Camera Shell insert can be removed turning it into a regular bag. Size-wise, it’s carry-on safe, and with internal dimensions of 49x30x18cm, it’s big enough to fit a large DSLR with a 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom attached, plus four or five extra lenses or accessories. Its top section allows even more storage, and you can slide in a 15.6in laptop. A tripod can be strapped to the rear, the outer is water-repellant, and a raincover is included. manfrotto.co.uk

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