5 useful tools for photographers and videographers

An unusual gutta-percha tripod clings to anything with its flexible legs. It can be attached to a tree, a post, a railing, used in a classic role or turned into a kind of selfie stick — all this is done easily and naturally.

The design of the mini tripod is built on 30 flexible articulated joints (10 for each leg) made of high-quality plastic. The legs of the Jobby GorillaPod SLR-Zoom bend and rotate in any position, so that they can be wrapped around an object suitable in diameter or given the required shape for mounting the tripod on uneven surfaces.

Despite its modest size, the model can withstand a bunch of cameras with an object weighing up to 3 kg. It is only necessary to take into account that the stability of the tripod at maximum load is not the most reliable. But with proper folding, the Jobby GorillaPod SLR-Zoom takes up a minimum of space in the transport position, quietly fitting into the medium-sized object compartment on board the photo bag.

When using a tripod, the camera is raised to a height of up to 23 cm above the fulcrum. With a ball head , the trinoga grows up another 7 cm . That's just not always included in the standard package. Together with the tripod, unprecedented camera angles are opened from such positions that it was simply impossible to imagine.

Photo bags are convenient because they allow you to evenly distribute the load when transporting the camera and accessories. In addition, in the case of Case Logic TBC-411, quick access to the camera compartment opens — which means that the probability of missing an important frame is significantly reduced.

The compartment for photographic equipment accommodates a "carcass" of a small DSLR or mirrorless in a "hot state", a pair of objects or a bundle of objects with an external flash. It opens on the principle of a car glove compartment, reclining in the front of the backpack. The internal configuration of the compartment can be arranged for a set of equipment by changing the position of two removable partitions. In general, the form factor of the internal space is not much different from that of the vast majority of photo bags.

backpacking is more of a city walk than a trip to travel. By itself, it is compact and lightweight, respectively, it will not be possible to put a lot of personal belongings in a backpack. The only compartment for clothes is designed for a light windbreaker or a pair of T-shirts, and small things can be laid out in the side pockets. By the way, they are also great for storing photo accessories.

On the back side of the backpack there is a compartment for a tablet (with a screen size of about 10"). When worn for a long time, the Case Logic TBC-411 does not cause discomfort to its owner, allowing his back to "breathe" through the mesh lining. The backpack will fit a photographer with a small set of equipment, while serious pros should look at more spacious models (for example, Case Logic SLR Camera/Laptop Backpack ).

The safety of the footage is an extremely important point in the work of photographers and videographers. A protected external HDD from the world—famous manufacturer of memory devices, the Taiwanese company Silicon Power, will help to get rid of worries about the integrity of files.

The hard drive is clad in a protective rubberized "suit" that protects the internal hardware of the model from failure when exposed to impacts on the body. Silicon Power Armor A15 has been certified according to the American military standard MIL-STD-810F, which indicates its resistance to damage in case of falls from a height of about 1.22 m. Only friendship with water did not go well with the external HDD, but there are also "waterfowl" instances in the manufacturer's model range (for example, Silicon Power Armor A80 2.5" SP010TBPHDA80S3B 1 TB ).

Maximum data safety in the hard drive memory is achieved by using the backup function — by pressing a single button on the case, important user information is copied to a predefined folder. This feature will be extremely useful for those who plan to use the device as a backup storage of photographs, documents or favorite music.

When an external disk is connected to a PC, the activity indicator lights up in the frame of the aforementioned backup button. It shines blue when using the USB 2.0 interface and red when connected via the USB 3.0 port. According to the manufacturer, the data exchange rate in the latter case is up to 5 Gbit /s, in fact, it ranges from 100 MB / s, which is applicable for both reading and writing files. However, everything else outweighs the scales in favor of the Silicon Power Armor A15 and puts it in the light of the preferred option for purchase by everyone who is interested in reliable information security.

The three-axis handheld stub from the young Chinese company FeiYu Tech is able to work with cameras weighing up to 2 kg, whether it is a serious DSLR or a compact mirrorless camera with a pancake object.

The complete set of the model provides two types of handles: for holding the steadicam with one hand (in this form it vaguely resembles a selfie tripod) and a folding design for two hands. In both cases, there is a control joystick on the handles, as well as a key to turn on the device and switch shooting modes along with a shutter release button. The stabilizer and handles have 9 mounting holes with a tripod thread for installing useful accessories (for example, an external microphone, a constant light source, a monitor, etc.).

Steadicam is easy to calibrate — all three of its motors are equipped with a visual millimetre scale for the accuracy of camera position settings. No screwdrivers and other tools will be needed in this case. The "head" of the stub rotates within 360 ° on all three axes, and the thoughtful arrangement allows it to spin even with large objects (without fanaticism, a 70-200 mm TV set will not become a three-axis).

Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not provide a case for carrying the steadicam and did not take care of the possibility of fixing its "head" in the off state. And disassembling the device every time after filming is troublesome. In contrast to what has been said, it is worth noting one important advantage of the stab — support for remote control from a smartphone. Moreover, in the FeiYu On application, you can not only turn your "head", but also change the power of the motors or adjust the direction of movement of the camera when shooting timelaps.

The closest rival to the device is another stub from the Middle Kingdom — Zhiyun Crane 2 . Steadicams compete with each other both in terms of stabilization efficiency and cost, however, Zhiyun's brainchild is slightly behind FeiYu Tech A2000 in terms of ease of control, which can be a decisive factor in favor of the instance in question when choosing a three-axis manual stabilizer.

AH-IPS matrix-based monitors are in well-deserved demand among those who work seriously with graphics. Confirmation of what has been said is the LG 27UD69P model with good calibration "out of the box" and coverage of 99% of the sRGB colour space.

When getting acquainted with the monitor, the eye involuntarily clings to a spectacular snow-white backdrop made of glossy plastic and a weighty leg similar in design. It is made such to provide the ability to adjust the screen position in height (within 12 cm), tilt it back and forth (from -5° to +20°) and flip to the portrait position. Wires and an external power supply are also made to match the general style.

The mission of controlling all the parameters of the monitor is assigned to a single joystick, which made it possible to get rid of the clutter of buttons. The menu has many preset image display modes and a customizable user interface. Moreover, there are three useful functions for gamers: AMD FreeSync (automatic frame rate synchronization for working with Radeon graphics cards, unfortunately, its operating range is extremely small — 48-60 Hz), Dynamic Action Sync (reducing input lag) and Black Stabilizer (the darkest areas of game scenes become lighter so that you can it was necessary to consider the details in them).

Connection to the monitor of third-party devices is implemented through a pair of HDMI interfaces (2 pcs.), one Display Port (1 pc.) and an optical audio output (there are no speakers on board the LG 27UD69P). A cheaper alternative to the model is the closest relative with a similar set of characteristics, including 4K screen resolution, — LG 27UD58 27 " . Its differences lie in the equipment of a not so ergonomic stand and in the ordinary appearance. And the real pros choose LG 27UD88 27 " white — the most "pumped" monitor with excellent factory calibration and a USB hub in its arsenal.