Photography News | Issue 50 | photographynews.co.uk
58 Accessories test
Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DGHSM Art wide-angle lens A fast wide-angle zoom is perfect for low-light landscapes, street photography or dim interiors, and Sigma’s 24-35mm f/2 Art is a superb example. It provides excellent optical performance across its versatile focal lengths, giving you the quality of three fast prime lenses in a single unit, and no loss of sharpness. As one of Sigma’s Art lenses, it makes no compromises in terms of image quality and uses premium FLD glass, with no less than seven Special Low Dispersion (SLD) elements, while a multi-layer coating controls flare and prevents ghosting for ultra clear details. £759 sigma-imaging-uk.com
Muraro Ranker lighting stand When you buy an entry level studio flash kit you’ll sometimes end up with inferior, bundled stands that can be unstable, lack strength and height, and fall to pieces in amatter of months. Upgrade to a high-qualitymodel like thisMuraro Ranker stand, and you’ll be much better off. This high-grade aluminium stand extends to 2.8m in height giving you lots of flexibility and is strong enough to support larger lighting units up to 10kg. The minimum height is 1.15m, and the stand has three sections and two risers (of 35mm, 30mm and 25.4mm). It closes to 1m for packing and weighs 3kg. £110 photography-backgrounds.co.uk
Rotolight NEO 2 LED light Closing the gap between flash and continuous lighting is Rotolight’s NEO 2 LED. Designed primarily for portrait photographers and videographers on the go, the NEO 2 gives you both high speed sync (HSS) flash functionality and the visible benefits of regular on- or off-camera LED lighting. With no recycle time to speak of you’ll never miss a shot in HSS mode, and the NEO 2 uses a built-in Elinchrom Skyport receiver for triggering at up to 1/8000sec, operating from ranges up to 200m. Colour is also adjustable from 3150-6300K in both continuous and flash mode, and the light runs on sixAAbatteries. £299 rotolight.com
Tamron SP 85mm f/1.8 Di VC USD A fast 85mm lens is a classic portrait option on full frame DSLRs, and if you fancy upgrading to one, look no further thanTamron’s SP85mmf/1.8DiVCUSD.As part of the SP line, the lens has a very high-grade feel with ametal barrel andweather-sealing, and it handles beautifully. Optically, it’s also first class, using Low DispersionandExtraLowDispersionglass tominimise aberrations and improve image sharpness, while suppressing vignetting and fringing. And
it uses Vibration Compensation to steady your shooting and provide sharper portrait details. £499 tamron.eu
Lee Filters Reverse ND grads Brand new from Lee Filters is a range of Reverse ND grads. It’s the first time Lee has produced these filters, which are handywhen shooting the rising or setting sun. The usual problem is that normal grads, which progressively darken to one edge, don’t take into account that the sun will be the brightest part of the scene; reverse NDs are darkest in the middle, and slightly lighter at the top, so you can achieve a better exposure. The new
range is available for the Seven5, 100mm and SW150 systems and in0.6, 0.9 and 1.2ND strengths (equating to 2, 3, and 4 stops in themiddle). From£99.95 leefilters.com
Hahnemühle Cézanne Canvas fine-art inkjet media Listen up, inkjet printing enthusiasts, the latest in Hahnemühle’s range of high-quality canvas papers for fine- art printing is here. Cézanne Canvas contains no optical brighteners (OBAs) and features a finely woven, elegant 100% cotton, natural white surface. The paper’s matt coating provides a first- class printing result with a wide colour gamut and deep, rich blacks, and it dries instantly. Cézanne Canvas has a weight of 430gsm and provides extraordinary elasticity, making it ideal for stretcher frames. Available now, it can be ordered in rolls of 24in, 44in and 60in, with a length of 12mor 5m (for 24in rolls). From£43 hahnemuehle.com
Fotospeed Fotocards Why buy cards when you can design, print and make you own from your best shots? Fotospeed’s range of Fotocards are pre-scored greeting cards in numerous finishes and sizes. Prices start from just £13 for 25 A6 240gsm cards, including envelopes and they’re compatible with all inkjet printers and both dye and pigment inks. Fotocards are produced using Fotospeed’s high-quality papers, so image quality is kept high, and to help you further, a free download of an easy-to-use Photoshop template is included. Grab some before Christmas and share your pictureswith friends and family. From£13 fotospeed.com
Powered by FlippingBook