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Friday, July 26, 2013

Review: Retractable 3-Section Magnalium Tripo


Not quite a table stand and not a floor stand, and I would have loved to have had the feet rubberized and cut at an angle for more stability, or some other solution for the feet.

Full name: Retractable 3-Section Magnalium Tripod Mount Stand for Lamp - Black
Webshop: DX.com (Deal Extreme)
Price: $25.70 (Free shipping)

Pros:
This is a lightweight stand with what seems to be good plastic parts in the locks and so on. The main parts are magnalium. It has good height for a table stand, but is still small when you fold it back. All in all it seems solid and durable.

Cons:
Maybe not a con, but still, this stand is sort of a in-between light stand. It's a bit big for a table stand and a too small for a floor stand. When feet are extended they spread out about 35 cm so it takes up a bit of space on a table, then again this makes it fairly stable. The feet are cut right off, meaning there are very small parts of the feet that is touching the table or floor and the feet are not rubberized (just plastic). This can make the stand slide a bit too easily.


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Friday, July 19, 2013

Review: Lens Filters Cleaning Pen


Pretty good and quite useful lens cleaning tool to have in your photo bag.

Full name: LP-1 Lens Filters Cleaning Pen - Black
Webshop: DX.com (Deal Extreme)
Price: $4.90 (Free shipping)

Pros:
I guess the price is OK. It has both a soft brush and a leathery plate for cleaning lenses, making it a flexible cleaning tool. Small enough to put in your pocket or in the penholders in your photo bag.

Cons:
The first thing I noticed was some loose hairs on the brush and then some uncut hairs - meaning they were twice as long. Loose hairs aren't so nice when it comes to optics. Some of the same at the other end, the leathery part gave off some loose "stuff". But after cleaning and trimming both ends of this cleaning tool it seems to be OK. The cap could have had a better locking mechanism to prevent it from going missing.

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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Review: Nylon Lens Filter Pocket Bag



Good and roomy, but soft filter bag that could have been better with an inlay to stiffen it.

Full name: Nylon Lens Filter Pocket Bag - Size L (Holds 3-Piece)
Webshop: DX.com (Deal Extreme)
Price: $4.00 (Free shipping)

Pros:
More than big enough for my 77mm filters, with room to spare. It has an OK price, it is easy to use and it is made of good material and has a good Velcro lock.

Cons:
It could have benefited from a hard separator to keep it from bending, but this is not a big deal. No place for labeling the filters, but do you really need that? It could have had some sort of strap to keep each filter inside their pocket.

The material feels good and the Velcro appears to be of good quality. If you don't need 3 pockets, maybe use one for a plate of plastic or cardboard to stiffen it.

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Friday, July 5, 2013

Review: Lens Filter Carrying Bag



Not the best solution for your biggest and most expensive filters.

Full name: Dual Pockets Anti-Shock Lens Filter Storage Carrying Case Bag - Black
Webshop: DX.com (Deal Extreme)
Price: $3.30 (Free shipping)

Pros: The price is OK and the pouch does what it is supposed to do with an OK padding for the two filter pockets.

Cons: It is a tiny bit too small for 77mm filters, you can get them in, but you have to use a little bit of force. Not what you want to do with expensive filters. The carabiner clasp is plastic and the ball joint that connects it to the pouch feels cheap an unreliable. Again, not something you would like to put your most expensive filters in if you're going to hang the pouch on the outside of your jacket, bag, on your belt or whatever.

Works best with filters smaller than 77mm and/or as a bag you carry inside a pocket or something like that.
Not quite what I hoped for.

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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Review: Video Slider Track Dolly


Good, but not perfect little table dolly. You might want to use a ball head on top of this one anyway to deal with the size problem.

Full name: Floor Table Video Slider Track Dolly Car for DSLR Camera / Camcorders - Black
Webshop: DX.com (Deal Extreme)
Price: $28.60 (Free shipping)

Pros:
Relatively cheap and build quality is OK. The build materials seems good and solid and parts are easy to replace if needed. It doesn't take up any space in your camera bag.

Cons:
Not exactly the same dolly as in the pictures above, but only minor differences. Tightening screws needs some kind of washers to keep the wheels from turning too easy. The dolly is a few centimeters too short to fit a DSLR directly on the plate.

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Reviews of affordable film and photo equipment. Cheap prices doesn't always mean cheap quality.
We test and review low-priced photography gear and gadgets.