Gitzo GC5101 and GC4101 tripod bags reviewed
When a tripod is needed, a decent one is essential, and most high-end models don’t come with a bag. A good tripod is a long-term investment, so a decent bag is another essential, especially if you use it on location. Kevin Carter takes a closer look. I own both the Gitzo GC5101 and GC4101, which are designed for Gitzo’s Systematic range of tripods. While there’s only around 8cm or so in length between them, the GC5101 is much larger in terms of internal volume and was designed presumably for the Geant (Giant) model, a 5-series Systematic that still measures some 73cm (35 in) even when collapsed. I don’t have that…
Leica Q3 review: the quintessential Leica
Leica’s Q series is the company’s best-selling digital camera to date and it’s not all that difficult to see why. Kevin Carter looks at the latest iteration, the Leica Q3 Small, light and unobtrusive the Leica Q embodies all that’s attractive of the Leica M with added the benefit of a Kabe-designed Leica autofocus 28mm F1.7 lens. This is the closest we have to an autofocus M series camera, and unless you’re adept at using one of those you’ll be more successful shooting at the initial aperture or close to it and far more discrete using a Leica Q. What’s more, the latest iteration the Leica Q3 is the fastest…
SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 SSD review
Super-fast and durable SSDs are commonplace now, but the super-rugged dual Thunderbolt/USB-C SanDisk PRO-G40 SSD is pretty unique and several notches above the run-of-the-mill offerings, as Kevin Carter discovers. Update June 2025: Prices are significantly lower now than when reviewed, making the SanDisk Pro-G40 hard to ignore. Check prices and availability of the SanDisk PRO-G40 [affiliate links] WEX Photo (UK)| Sandisk/WD Store (UK)| Amazon (UK) (Lowest price) B&H Photo (US) | Adorama (US)| Sandisk/WD Store (US) Currently with big savings!Amazon (US) What is it? Offering compatibility with both Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) and USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), this slick-looking bus-powered NVMe SSD is a highly portable…
Canon announces three new RF lenses for the EOS R system
Canon has announced three new lenses for the EOS R system, a high-speed RF 24-105mm F2.8L IS USM Z priced at £3,440 inc VAT, aimed at sports photographers and hybrid operators, an RF 200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM targeting sports and birders which is not unreasonably priced at £2,299 inc VAT and an RF-S 10-18mm (16-35mm equiv.) F4.5-6.3 IS STM designed for APS-C EOS R cameras at £379, inc VAT. Particularly interesting, to me at least, is the high-speed RF 24-105mm F2.8L IS USM Z, a lens that was once expected with an EF mount but was never put into serial production. It makes much more sense as an RF model.…
Leica updates Summicron-M 28mm F2 ASPH with close focus feature
Leica has continued to add the close-focus feature to the venerable Summicron-M 28mm F2 ASPH, first seen with on the rather incredible (and hard to find) Summicron-M 35mm F2.0 APO. The new lens focuses to 0.4m instead of 0.7m, which is a huge plus when including people in the shot. The close focus feature can only be verified on-screen on a Leica M, with a visoflex (EVF) or the Leica app. It’s also a benefit on the Leica SLs, which seems obvious but is often overlooked. My thoughts are Leica is preparing us for a Leica M with a built-in electronic viewfinder, which will most likely be offered as…
Leica announces the M11-P with new editing protection feature
Leica has announced the long-expected mid-cycle ‘P’ (Professional) update to the popular Leica M11, the Leica M11-P. As expected, the new model features the Leica inscription on the top plate and shares the M11 Monochrom’s increase to 256GB internal memory, up from 64GB on the original M11. In an unexpected move, however, Leica has added a copyright protection feature, ‘Leica Content Credentials,’ not previously seen on a regular production camera. By adopting specialised hardware in the new camera, the Leica M11-P can encrypt the image metadata at the time of capture to provide “reliable provenance” that the image hasn’t been altered during post-processing. This new LCC feature allows photographers and…
Fujifilm Fujinon GF20-35mm F4 R WR lens review
Fujifiilm’s lens division Fujinon has introduced an ultrawide-angle zoom for its medium format GFX mirrorless cameras. Kevin Carter looks closer Fujifilm’s GFX medium format cameras offer the compactness of mirrorless with the benefit of a generous 44x33mm sensor, so thumping great big lenses for full-frame 54x40mm 645 DSLRs is becoming less of a thing. Indeed, as Fujinon used to supply the components for Hasselblad’s now discontinued HC/HCD models for the H series cameras (which were then assembled in Sweden according to my contact at Hasselblad), it’s little surprise that they’re not only filling that void but expanding what’s on offer with their brand of lenses. These GF lenses don’t…
OWC add faster Gen 4 spec to certain Atlas CFexpress Type B cards
Further to the report a couple of weeks ago about ProGrade Digital’s introduction of a new 1.3TB CFexpress Gen 4 spec Type B memory card, US-maker OWC announced late last week that they’ve added the same CFA 4.0 (Gen 4) spec to a range of their Atlas Pro and Atlas Ultra cards. The new Atlas Pro 256GB, Atlas Pro 512GB, Atlas Ultra 1TB, and Atlas Ultra 2TB cards now feature PCIe Gen 4 technology to enable (maximum) 3650MB/s read and 3000MB/s write speeds, a claimed 97% increase from the previous generation cards. With the new Gen 4 Atlas Pro 256GB selling at $169.99 and Atlas Pro 512GB at $199.99 they’re…
Canon reveals new ultra-wide zoom: the RF 10-20mm F4L IS STM
Canon today announced the RF 10-20mm F4L IS STM, their intended replacement of the EF 11-24mm F4L USM and the third L-series RF lens that covers the UWA 14-20mm range. What sets this lens apart from its EF predecessor is its small size (112mm vs 132mm in length) and lighter weight (570g vs 1180g). Besides the inherent portability, the new RF lens has IS and features ‘peripheral coordination control’ when used with supported cameras. Currently, this is limited to the EOS R5, however, when used handheld at slow speeds it’s claimed the algorithm-based ‘peripheral coordination control’ mitigates areas of blur (image deformation) in the periphery. I’m assuming here that the…
Fujifilm details support for CFexpress, SD and SSD media with GFX100 II
Fujifilm has published a list of recording media which is compatible with the new GFX100 II (and X-H2) and it’s an extensive resource. It can be found on their website. Unsurprisingly, it correlates with other camera marques’ recommendations for CFexpress cards and SDXC cards with a high minimum sustained write speed, for cameras like the Nikon Z8/9 and Canon EOS R5. You can read more about my thoughts on the matter, here.
