Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-10-05)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 5 October 2019 57

Tech Talk

Ask the ex erts

RhinoROVPRO

EverydaySlider

Fitthismotorisedsliderto

yourtripod,affix yourcamera,

andbootupitsapponyour

smartphonetotaketotalcontrol

of yourdevice’smovementand

speedalongitsrail.TheRhino

ROVPROwillenableyouto

slidedevicesof upto2kga

distanceof 8infordynamic

tracking-styleshots.It alsohas

optionsforproducingmotion

time-lapsesanda huge

24-hourbatterylifethatwill

keepyoushooting all day.

FeiyuTechAK4500Gimbal

Theelectronicgimbalis onetool

forstabilisedmotionthat’staken

thecontent-productionworld

bystorm.Cancellingout

unwantedshakeforfaultlessly

stabilisedfootagewithitsclever

gyroscopesandalgorithms,the

AK4500cansupportupto

4.6kgloads(enoughformost

DSLR/mirrorlesscameraand

lenscombinations).Thisset-up

canbeusedwithoneortwo

hands,andfeaturesa follow-

focussystemallowingprecise

focuscontrolof theattached

camerawhile in motion.

DJIMavic2 ProDrone

Producingdramaticaerial

footagerequireda helicopter

anda budgetnormallyreserved

forBBCwildlifedocumentaries.

Nowit’saccessibletoevery

enthusiastvideographerthanks

totheriseof consumerdrones.

TheDJIMavic2 Prois a breeze

tofly withitsfantasticsafetyand

stabilisationfeatures,andwitha

1inCMOSsensorit cancapture

breathtakinglysmooth4Kat up

to30fps.It evenhasa 10-bit

Dlog-Mcolourprofile thatyields

a higherdynamicrangefor

flexibilityin the grading room.

£359

●8inmotorisedslider

●24-hourbatterylife

●2kg maximum payload

£ 749

●Weighsjust1.6kg

●AKF2FollowFocusSystemincluded

●Maximum payload of 4.6kg

£1,349

●Capableof 20MPimagesand4Kat 30fps

●Featuresa Hasselblad28mmequiv

f/2.8camerawith1inCMOSsensor

●Battery life of 31 minutes

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Lookingfora newcameraoraccessoryandneedsomeadvice?TheexpertsatWexPhotoVideo

are here to help. Contact us [email protected] or on Twitter at@AP_Magazine and#AskAP

Q

Arounda yearagoI pickedupa

mirrorlesscamerathathasimpressive

videofeaturesaswellasgreatstillsimage

quality.Gradually,I’vestartedshootingmoreclips

alongsidemyphotosandmakingshortfilms,but

they’veendeduplookingfairlystatic.I’dliketoget

morecinematicmovementin myfootage,asI’ve

hada fewenquiresfrompeoplelookingtohire

meforvideos– butI reallydon’tknowwhatgear

optionsI havetohelpmeachievethis.I could

probablyaffordupto£1,500at a pushfor

somethingthatproducessomedramaticeffects,

butwouldliketoknow about cheaper options too.

Louise Vicars

A

Withsomanymoderncamerasoffering

greatmovie-shootingoptionsalongside

theirphotocapabilities,demandfor

affordableaccessoriestopairthemwithhas

revolutionisedthevideographymarket.Thereare

lotsof optionsforhybridshootersandaspiring

videographers.Threeof themostpopularchoices

aresliders,a shortrailthatenablesa camerato

bemovedsmoothlyalonga horizontalplane;

gimbals,whicharehandheldstabilisationsystems

thatcorrectforshake-freemovement;and

drones,remote-controlaircraftthateitherfeature

aninbuiltcameraorcanhaveonemountedfor

dramatic-lookingfootage.Here are our favourites.

How to get cinematic-looking motion

Quickswitchbetween

landscapeandportrait

Q

I’mbecomingsomething

of anavidlandscape

photographer,spending

manyof myrecentweekends

traversingpeaksandwandering

aroundthecoastin thehuntfor

locations.Onethingthatannoys

meis havingtospendtime

resettingmytripodwhenswitching

betweenlandscapeandportrait

orientationforshots.Surely

someonemusthavethought

of a solutionbynow?

Trevor Noah

A

Indeedsomeonehas,

Trevor!L Brackets

(sometimescalledL

Plates)areaccessoriesthat

replaceyourstandardtripod

plateandallowyourcamera

tobemountedtoa tripodhead

in eitherportraitorlandscape

orientation,enablingyouto

switchquicklybetweenthetwo

withouthavingtoreadjustthe

tripod.Thisset-upalsoreduces

thedownwardstrainonball

headswhenshootinga portrait

thatcanresultin ‘sagging’during

sustaineduse,andmaintainsthe

camera’sfocalplanebetweenthe

orientations.TheEllieUniversal

L-Bracketfrom3 LeggedThing,

pricedat£64,featuresnine

possibleconfigurationsand

two-axisadjustments,allowing

thebrackettofit almostany

camerawhilemaintaining access

to most ports.

Our experts suggest

TheEllieUniversal
L-Brackethelps
toquicklyswitch
betweenportrait
and landscape