Photography News issue 17

Latest photography news

Hole in one

speedlights. It’s easy to set up and take down and with a deep 32in profile it’s great for on-location portraits or group shots. Deck out your Rapid Box duo with a 40° grid (£420), giving you more control over the output of the box with cells that control off-axis light in four directions whilst still maintaining a soft quality. For the ultimate in portable lighting accessories, the Pocket Pack 340 (£24) is just that. Included is a one-stop diffuser and reflector which open out to a full 12in diameter but fold away into a tiny six-inch travel case.

Yes it might look a little unusual, but Westcott’s Omega Reflector (£120) is worth getting excited about. Use it as a standard reflector or convert it into a shoot-through unit by detaching the centre 2:3 frame. A ten-in-one design – including reflective white, silver, sunlight and black block fabrics – makes it worth the price tag. It comes with suction cups for mounting onto glass but the Illuminator Arm Extreme (£95) makes for much easier mounting. Westcott has also extended its umbrella- style Rapid Box range to include the Duo (£320) which lets you mount up to two After much anticipation, Tamron has announced the release date and pricing for its new 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD wide-angle zoom. The good news is that it’s available as of now. The suggested retail price is £949.99 and for that you’ll get an outstanding lens with an optical construction of 18 elements in 13 groups, including an XGM (expanded glass moulded aspherical) element and a number of Low Dispersion elements delivering amazing quality from corner to corner. The VC system has been fine-tuned to keep up with the fast f/2.8 lens and the nine-blade curved aperture produces beautiful bokeh effects. We’ll be testing it as soon as samples permit. Adate for thecalendar π To find out more, go to www.fjwestcott.com.

Showyour true colours

Get an almost spot-on colour representation of your work using BenQ’s new and impressive colour critical monitor, the PG2401PT monitor, which reproduces 99% Adobe RGB colour space. The 24in monitor has been put through its paces in the factory, tested for brightness uniformity and hardware calibration so all you have to do is get it out of the box and set it up. Its rotating display means you can view in landscape or portrait mode and there’s a five-year warranty with zero pixel defect for the first six months. It’s currently retailing at £675.

π To find out more, go to www.intro2020.co.uk.

π To find out more, go to www.colourconfidence.com.

The countdown begins

Indulge your passion for photography at the NEC

Bigger and better than ever before, the Photography Show is now a little over a month away. From 21 until 24 March, all the big names in photography – including for the first time Leica, Ricoh and Sony – will set up in the NEC, Birmingham, to give you a chance to get hands on with the gear and get your questions answered by experts in the know. Test out your macro skills at the impressive International Garden Photographer of the Year garden; book yourself in for a Lomography workshop; or learn how to improve your street photography – there’ll be plenty going on. Asa PhotographyNews reader, youcanget yourself adiscounted ticket: buy in advance online using the code PHNWSTPS15 (£10.95 instead of £19). Whilst you’re at the show, keep your eye out for PN and pick up your free copy of the latest issue.

π To find out more, go to www.photographyshow.com .

Photography News | Issue 17