From LensProToGo:
June 15, 2015 - At 8 AM on Monday June 15, 2015, LensProToGo employees arrived to work to find a smashed window; we had been robbed. We hope they at least got to wear cool Mission Impossible outfits, but we sadly aren’t sure of that detail.
For those who have current orders placed with us, rest easy. We will be working with our partners to fulfill all orders. Our customers are our top priority and we understand the importance of getting gear for your shoot. We WILL be in contact if we are unable to fulfill an order. Because we are all hands on deck responding to the matter, we kindly ask that you allow us the day to take stock of the situation. If you have an emergency, we are more than happy to assist you, as always. Starting Tuesday June 16, 2015 at 10AM ET we will be resuming normal operations.
So what exactly happened? An unknown amount of gear mostly Nikon, Canon and Sony equipment was taken out through the new "hole in the wall" and smashed window.
Though this may seem like a large hit to our still growing company, we are in tremendous spirits as a very large amount of our total inventory was out of the building on rentals. We are also truly lucky to have our good friends at LensRentals.com at our side during this time, they're ready to step in and help us fulfill orders as well if need be.
We are now contacting our customers and letting them know about our situation. We will be posting a list of gear that was stolen, along with serial numbers, as we expect whomever committed this crime will be attempting to sell the gear. As a rental company, it’s crucial that we retain all the serial numbers of absolutely every single product that we own, right down to HDMI cables and memory cards. This information will be given to the officials as well as shared through a network used to track gear being sold online.
The good news for our company is no one was hurt during this. Though this is a big blow, our LensProToGo family and our customers are much more important to us than physical cameras and lenses. We are working extremely hard, as always, to make sure that our customers remain our number one priority.
An update will be posted later in the day. We ask that when we post the list of gear and serial numbers you please help us share the story to make sure whoever did this is caught.
For additional information on the matter, please contact meg@lensprotogo.com.
UPDATE: CUSTOMER INFORMATION SAFE
As an update to our above story and to address the small number of you with concerns over customer data, no company computers were stolen and customer data resides offsite. This event seems to clearly be focused on physical gear.
The B&H Live Panel Discussion on the Canon 5Ds / 5Ds R is live right now!
As a reminder, the panel guests include:
You can interact with the panel using the Twitter hashtag #BHPhotoLive.
B&H has the Canon EOS 5Ds in stock with free next day delivery. The 5Ds R model is available for preorder.
From the Canon Australia YouTube Channel:
Sunset photography is simple when you know how. Steve Huddy, from Canon Collective, explains how to capture great sunset shots in this tutorial.
Use his tips and tricks to win a Canon EOS 750D. All you need to do is watch the tutorial and submit your sunset shot at canon.com.au/photobootcamp.
B&H carries the Canon EOS Rebel T6i / 750D.
In this series for Profoto, world renowned photographer Joe McNally explains TTL, lighting ratios and high-speed sync using Profoto off-camera flashes and the Air remote.
B&H carries Profoto B1 off-camera flashes and Air Remotes.
Tamron has created a site dedicated to its implementation of Japanese-style manufacturing – "monozukuri."
The site offers two virtual tours (seen above) which provide details on Tamron's lens manufacturing and assembly processes.
B&H carries Tamron lenses. For more information on Tamron lenses, check out Bryan's Tamron Lens Reviews.
From the Canon Digital Learning Center:
"Did you know that, instead of scrolling through a ton of menu options, you could personalize it with your favorite commands? In your EOS camera, go to “MY MENU SETTINGS,” hit “REGISTER TO MY MENU,” and select the settings you want. Then exit and press the “SET” button to quickly access your new custom menu."Read the entire article on the Canon Digital Learning Center.
TriggerTrap announced smartwatch support in early May with one notable exception – Apple Watch. Now, Apple's popular smartwatch is fully supported in Triggertrap Mobile and Triggertrap Timelapse Pro's "Wearables" mode.
The Triggertrap Mobile Dongle (review) is available direct from Triggertrap.
Sigma has produced several videos over the years highlighting their manufacturing facility at Aizu, Japan. In this particular film, we follow Kyohei Kashiwagi, a technical specialist in Sigma's Customer Service division. Throughout the video, Kashiwagi elaborates on the difficulties of servicing lenses and explains which issues prove most troublesome.
B&H carries Sigma lenses; also check out Bryan's Sigma Lens Reviews for more information.
by Sean Setters
Not long ago I picked up a new monopod and wanted to purchase an Arca-compatible tilt-head for it. And while there were many options to choose from, one particular head and clamp combination proved to be the most economical and versatile choice.
The problem with most tilt-head/clamp combinations is that the clamp is oriented in a specific direction – the direction best suited for using a long telephoto lens with a tripod ring/foot. But what if I want to also use the tilt-head with a camera and lens combination without a tripod foot?
The normal solution to the problem is to use the supplied hex key to loosen a bolt, rotate the clamp, then tighten the bolt again. Then once you want to use a lens featuring a tripod foot again, you've got to rotate the clamp all over again.
I wanted an easier solution that was also easy on my wallet. With most Arca-compatible tilt heads priced north of $100.00, I was hoping to find a head/clamp combination that came in under that budget.
Here's what I came up with:
The Desmond Tilt-Head is designed with square, Arca-compatible dovetails on both the top and the bottom of the head. This design feature was key to my purchase decision. Why? Because with an Arca-type dovetail on top, I could use the second item – a bidirectional quick release clamp – to easily change the orientation of the clamp on the fly without the need for a hex key. This makes the monopod much more versatile because it can be conveniently used with any camera/lens combination that the monopod will support. All you need to do to change the direction of the clamp is loosen the lower quick release knob, rotate the clamp 90 degrees and retigten. How simple is that?
And as far as the budget is concerned, the two items combined are well under $100.00 (just slightly more than $70.00, actually) and they seem to work great so far. If you're like me and want to be able to quickly change the orientation of your monopod head's clamp, then the items listed above may be just what you're looking for.
From the Canon USA YouTube Channel:
“Battle of the Ages,” shot on the XC10 4K digital camcorder, is an action-packed comedy from YouTube filmmaker Scott Winn, whose channel ScottDW has amassed more than 59+ million views. Riffing on the 1980s crime drama trope, “Battle of the Ages” features two young thugs who learn the hard way that appearances can be deceiving and age is nothing but a number. Scott captured his fearless cast of three professional parkour athletes through an exhilarating chase and an epic fight scene with the XC10 mounted on a Freefly MoVI M5. They also mounted the XC10 on a DJI Spreading Wings S1000 drone with a MoVI gimbal to get a bird’s eye view of all the action.
Behind the Scenes Video
B&H has the Canon XC10 Compact Professional Camcorder available for preorder.
From Canon:
Canon WFT-E7 Wireless File Transmitter
Firmware Version 1.2.0 incorporates the following improvement:
Please note that an interface cable is required in order to update the WFT-E7 to Firmware Version 1.2.0.
Connection Requirements:
In order to connect the Canon WFT-E7 with the Canon EOS 5Ds / EOS 5Ds R the following items are needed:
Items | WFT-E7 |
Firmware Version installed | 1.2.0 or later |
Interface Cable" | IFC-150AB II or "IFC-40AB II" |
Firmware Version 2.0.0 incorporates the following fixes and improvements:
To update the firmware of this product, Canon’s Map Utility software that is bundled with GPS Receiver GP-E2 is required. Furthermore, before updating the firmware, use Map Utility to save any GPS log files in the GP-E2’s built-in memory to your computer. After the GPS log files are saved to your computer, make sure to delete the log files from the built-in memory of the GPS Receiver GP-E2 before updating the firmware.
Download: Firmware Version 2.0.0 for the GPS Receiver GP-E2
B&H carries the Canon WFT-E7 Wireless File Transmitter and GPS Receiver GP-E2.
Roger Cicala has posted about an interesting little critter he found in a recently returned Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.
From the LensRentals Blog:
"I've been blogging about testing and taking apart camera equipment for almost a decade. Lensrentals.com has many thousand lenses these days, and they all get used frequently. When you have lots of lenses and they get used frequently, stuff gets inside them.Check out the amazing, illustrated article on the LensRentals Blog.Usually the stuff that gets inside is dust. Our repair techs open up and clean dust out of more than 100 lenses a week. Not because the dust matters a bit in a photograph; it doesn't. But because people still seem to think it does. People also, for reasons I can't understand, seem to think that weather sealed lenses are less likely to get dust in them than non-weather sealed lenses. I'm not sure why they think this, but they do.
Sometimes the stuff that gets inside them is interesting and we get to blog about it. We found a spider, complete with web, inside a lens once and yesterday we got to add a new item to our 'found inside lenses' collection; a nice, fat, fly. And not just a fly inside a lens, but one way down deep inside a weather sealed lens. So deep that it took 4 hours of work to get it out."
Just posted: Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens Review.
This lens is a strong contender to the extremely popular Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens.
B&H has the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens (Canon mount) in stock. The Nikon and Sigma mount versions are available for preorder.
From B&H:
Legendary portrait photographer Gregory Heisler is joining B&H for a live discussion involving his hands-on experience with Canon's latest groundbreaking DSLRs, the 50-megapixel 5Ds and 5Ds R.
Panel Guests
Live Streaming Date & Time:
June 15, 2015 @ 3pm EST
Be sure to bookmark the event streaming page.
Image quality results from the EOS 7D Mark II have been added to the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens review.
I know, the image in this post includes a 1D X body, but ... I don't have any product images with the 7D II mounted. :) I'll have the full 150-600mm Contemporary review completed this week.
B&H has the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens in stock.