Photography News 11

Kit reviews

Mini tests

Our regular look at some of the latest photographic kit to land on dealers’ shelves

Words by Will Cheung & Ian Fyfe

LensPen Elite £12

SPECS

PRICES Original £12

Micropro £12 FilterKlear £12 ScreenKlean £16 SensorKlear Loupe Kit £80 CONTACT www.intro2020.co.uk

LoweproNova Sport 17L AW £65 For nearly 20 years, LensPen has offered a quick, effective and fuss-free way of cleaning your lenses. The cleaning tip is coated with a carbon compound, the details of which LensPen keeps close to its chest, which absorbs grease – it works on the same principle as using newspaper to clean windows, where the carbon-based print absorbs grime. Carbon is of course black though, and it goes against your instinct to wipe something black all over the front of your high-quality glass – hence the new LensPen Elite. The new incarnation of the LensPen has an invisible carbon compound on its tip, which is not black – it’s a sort of light grey instead. There’s perhaps more of a psychological benefit to this than a practical advantage, but what’s important is that it works just as well. After smearing my greasy mitts over the front element of my Canon L series lens, the LensPen Elite made light work of polishing it up time and time again. There was no smearing, with little residue except for a few tiny white particles at the point from which the pen was lifted. It’s not just the carbon that’s changed though, and a couple of design tweaks help in using the LensPen, most notably the cap. Inside here is a stash of the carbon compound, and you need to twist the

The verdict LensPen has always been a safe and reliable way of cleaning your glass, and as the range expands, it covers all your needs, from every glass surface on your camera to the screens on your mobile devices. The invisible carbon and white casing does give a slightly cleaner feel to the whole thing, but what’s most important is that there’s no change in how effective it is – with the right LensPen product, you can get any glass you might be using for your photography shining in mere moments.

tip against this to recharge it. Previously, you had to remember to do this before pulling off the cap, but now the cap screws so it happens as you remove it. On the other end is a soft, retractable brush that’s ideal for removing dust before using the cleaning tip. You just need to watch for shedding bristles, which can get annoyingly wedged at the edges of the lens if they come off on the glass. The LensPen itself is just one product in the popular range, and there’s a whole camera-cleaning solution available, as well as cleaning devices for your mobile and tablet.

PROS

Simple, easy and effective

CONS

Brush sheds bristles

SPECS

PRICE £65 CONTACT www.lowepro.com CAPACITY DSLR with 18-105mm lens attached, 1-3 extra lenses (up to 70-300mm), flash, 10in tablet, personal items COLOUR Slate grey or pepper red DIMENSIONS (WXHXD) 35.5x22.5x23.7cm WEIGHT 0.8kg

Lowepro’s Nova Sport range includes three sizes – 7, 17 and 35 litres – I’m using the middle size. It’s designed primarily for outdoor and action/sport

photography. The construction uses lightweight technical fabrics for durability, and this is clear from the covering flap, which is finished with a tough, rip-stop material. Panels at

The verdict

There’s any number of shoulder bags out there, but if you spend a lot of time outdoors, then this one could be ideal for you. It’s packed with features to protect your kit from the elements, while providing neat, organised and compact storage. It’s very comfortable too, and as long as you don’t mind a squeaky strap, everything about this bag is excellent.

the sides of this flap fold in neatly to protect the kit inside, although for further protection the camera compartment has a drawstring storm flap. Built into the back is a fold-out All Weather cover. The camera compartment is self-contained and can be removed with kit in to leave a good-sized day bag. Padded dividers can be repositioned to some extent, and the space is good for a bag that’s fairly compact. There’s a good number of additional pockets too – inside is a pocket for a tablet, or a small laptop, and on the front are two pockets for a portable hard drive, filters or similar accessories.

These pockets are covered by the main flap when it’s closed. On either side are stretchy mesh pockets too, although these aren’t secured. The main flap is secured by a plastic clip on either side, which is fine for holding it in place, but doesn’t give particularly quick access, nor the greatest security. The clips on the straps and the hoops they clip to are plastic, which isn’t ideal because they make an unpleasant moaning kind of sound as they rub together when you walk. That said, it’s extremely comfortable to carry, because it keeps its shape solidly even when full of kit.

PROS

Compact, lightweight, lots of pockets

CONS

Fiddly cover, moaning clips

Photography News | Issue 11