Kata Casket - Studio In The Field

Anyone who has ever tried to carry an entire set of studio monoblock flash units, stands, cords, and light shapers to a shoot outside their own studio knows how difficult it is. Everything has sharp edges, delicate parts, and a mind of its own. You CAN be tripped up and strangled by inanimate objects, particularly if they have discussed it amongst themselves beforehand...

Beat them. Store them safely and securely in the Kata PALMS-2 rolling casket. It will hold three monoblock heads, three stands, folded umbrellas, cords, and reflectors - in short a complete studio light setup. It is padded and armoured on the edges that will hit the ground, and the rolling wheels are extendable to the side for extra satability. Look at the sad pictures - the editorial studio is currently full of people and I have to use the yard... - the casket is a big blue one with the characteristic yellow Kata lining.

If you are a constant user of a field studio, you might elect to replace one of the monoblock heads with a camera and one of the tripod spots with a folding backdrop. Then you can really be portable - everything in one case.

Note that the casket is also big enough to hold earth from your own country if you need somewhere to sleep during the day...

Strange Creatures - Glimpsed Briefly Though The Mist

I cannot decide whether the macro bracket featured in the lead image should be marketed as the " Muhammud Ali" or the " St. Hubertus". It seems to replicate the characteristic postures of each of these legends...Suffice it to say that it is actually a pretty useful way of suspending a couple of small flashes out in front of your camera and macro lens to light up the closer subjects. It has a metal coupling foot to let it slide onto your Arca-style ball-head block and is quite light. A clever idea for macro workers.

The big black angular objects looming out of these images are Custom Brackets flash holders with camera rotation mechanisms built into the base. They are perfect for weddings or reportage - also fine for Steampunk. The quality of the machining on the brackets and the materials used are of such a quality as to shame their competition. I must be honest - these brackets have been here as long as I have  and I have a decided ambition to outlast them so will someone PLEASE come in and buy them at a very low price. You will benefit, and so will I.

The Velbon bracket is younger - it is a device to allow you to couple big telephoto lenses and small DSLR cameras into one structure for better balance on a tripod head. Why it has not gone yet, I do not know, as there are people all over Western Australia struggling with odd rigs that would benefit from this accessory.

The black Tokar brackets were originally designed to allow pirates to keep a sandwich and a bottle of beer attached to their wooden legs while they watched television. Photographers have adopted them as a good means of keeping accessories attached to tripods in a studio during a shoot. People really are ingenious these days.

And finally, the SOB bracket. I've met many SOB's in my time, but it has been rare to find any that actually advertise themselves so clearly. Those of you who want to hold a speed light and fire it into an umbrella while mounting it on a light stand will recognise the design. Good product. Good price. Love to talk to the executive of the JJC company who thought of the name...

Losing It - With SanDisk, Promaster, And Hoodman

Did you know who the largest supplier of digital camera connector cords, camera chargers, and mobile phone charges the world is?

Hilton Hotel chain. They source them from the things that travellers forget in their rooms when they
check out.

We get daily calls for camera cords and chargers, and nearly always we advise the frantic tourists to get a universal charger and a memory card reader. The card readers transfer the data much faster than most cords and the camera batteries are not depleted in the process. They are also much cheaper than replacement cords, particularly when you find a manufacturer that picks a totally unique socket for their camera

Herewith please note three readers in stock now. The tiny Promaster for SD only, the mighty Hoodman for SD and CF and the SanDisk for SD, CF, and Memory stick. If your camera uses the Guatemalan FDQ/X-3 card with the reverse frammis, don't lose your cord.

On another topic, look through the viewfinder or screen of your camera and point the lens at the Eiffel Tower. If the tower looks fuzzy and pink, you either need to stop drinking before lunch or clean the lens of your camera. And the viewfinder and the screen - get yourself a set of LensPen maintenance tools and set to work.

The Filterklear and the Lenspen will do the front of the camera and the tiny little Micropro will get the back clean. They have  a cleaning compound and specially shaped applicators as well as fine brushes to lift off particulate matter.

If you have a grungy iPad or tablet look at the LensPen Sidekick cleaner - same idea with a big square replaceable cleaning pad. Your Facebook surfing will never look so good...