Digital SLR Photography - UK (2020-01)

Accessories ear

January 2020 DigitalSLR Photography 105

Thelatestgenerationof

camerasallowustocapture

stillimagesandvideoin

ultra-high resolutions

which, whilebrilliantin

termsofthequality

achieved,doesmeanthat

an incredibleamountof

information istransferred

whenshooting.Forthose

shooting 30 -megapixelplusimagesand

4Kvideo,usinghigh-performance

memorycardsis a musttoensure

faultlessrecording. TheSanDisk

ExtremeSDXCUHS-IIcardsare

designedforthemostdemandingusers,

providingwritespeedsupto260MB/s

(1733x)andtransferspeedsupto

300MB/s(2000x),withtheUHSSpeed

Class3 (U3)signallingthecardswillgive

problem-freeFullHDand4Kvideo

capture.OurtestsusingtheOlympus

OM-DE-M1Xinburst modeandin 4K

videocertainlyverifiedthecard's

capabilitiesat handlingfastimage

transfer aswellasshooting4Kvideo

withoutanyissues.

TheExtremePROSDXCUHS-II

cardsaredesignedtohandleusein

thetoughestofconditionsandare

shockproof, temperature-proof,

waterproofandX-ray-proof, sowhile

we haven't testedit, we're sureit could

survivetheoddaccidentalcycle

through thewashingmachine.

Includedin the packagingwiththe

cardis a licencekeyfordownloadinga

two-yearsubscriptionofSanDisk's

RescuePRODeluxeimagerecovery

software.It'sagreatpackage thatcanbe

usedtorecoverimages,video,

documentsandothertypesofdigital

filesfromanybrandsofcard.

If youneeda cardwithexceptional

speed,theSanDiskwon'tdisappoint.

Guideprice:£ 75 (64GB)

Readspeeds:upto 300 M/B/sec

Write sppeeds:uppto 260 M/B/sec

Website:www.sandisk.com

Test:DANIELLEZANO

Availablein 32GB, 64 GB& 1 28GB/

UHS-II/Free RescuePRO software

OVERALL

VERDICT

There are many more affordable

cards available that can handle the

needs of most photographers, but

when you're shooting ultra-high

resolution stills or 4K video footage, you'll find the

SanDisk excels when slower cards struggle to cope.

ANDISKEXTREME

PROSDXCCARD

OVERALL

VERDICT

Travel tripods are one of the most

popular areas of camera support

and the Befree GT XPRO is one of the

best. Enthusiasts and professionals

looking for a versatile and sturdy model that's fast and

easy to use will want to consider it, especially if they

regularly shoot close-ups. The 496 head is a great

addition, offering a solid platform for a heavy outfit.

M

ANFROTTOISONEof the

best-knowntripodbrands, with

anextensiverange ofmodelsfor

photographersandvideographers

of alllevelsfrombeginnerto professional,

withoptionssuitedforthestudioandthe

greatoutdoors.ItsBefreeserieshas

developedandgrownovertheyearsto

becomeoneofthemostpopularrangesof

traveltripods,withtheGTTXProbeingits

mostversatilemodelyet.Our review looks

at thecarbon-fibreversion,butan

aluminiummodelis alsoavailablefor£269.

Thekeydifferencebetween thismodel

andothersin therange is themechanism

inits topcastingthat allowsthe centre-

columntoberaisedandtiltedat 90 ° tobe

usedhorizontally.This,alongwiththe

abilityof thelegstobesplayedwidemakes

thismodelparticularlysuitedforclose-up

photographyasit canbeloweredtonear

togroundlevel(9cm).

The four-sectionlegsfeature100%

carbon-fibretubesforrigidityandlight

weight andusetheexcellentM-lock

systemforreleasingandsecuringthelens

at yourdesiredlength.TheM-lockshavea

wide, rubberisedandtexturedgrip that

makesthemeasyandfasttouseandin my

viewarefarmoreappealingthanthe

releaseclips usedonsomeother models.

Silver releaseleverson thecollarallows

thelegstobeadjustedindependentlyto

anglesof 22 °, 54°and 89 °.Thelatterangle

meansthe tripodcanbe settoalmost

ground-level,givingyouthechoiceto

raisethecentrecolumnorsetit

horizontally.This isfastandeasytodo

• withthecolumnloosenedviathemain
  lock,it is raisedanda releasebuttononits
  baseallowsit tobe settoyourdesired
  position,beforebeinglockedintoplace.
  Theprocess takes a matter of seconds.

ThekitincludestheManfrotto 496

CompactBallhead,whichoffers

independentcontrolsforpanoramic

movement,frictioncontrolanda payload

of upto10kg.It usesManfrotto's200PL-

PROplate,whichis compatiblewith

ManfrottoRC2andArca-Swisstypeheads,

witha neatandsimple releasemechanism

forfastattachmentandremovalof

cameras.Anadditionalfeatureworth

notingis theEasylinkconnectiononthe

collar,whichhasa 3/8inthreadthatallows

compatible armstobe attached, allowing

theuseofLEDlightsorreflectors.

TheGT XPROclosesdownto 4 3cmand

weighs1.8kg,soit'snotthemostcompact

andlightweightoftraveltripods,butthe

versatilityandrigidityitoffersgivesit a

distinctadvantageovermorecompact

andlightermodels.Ataround£ 409 , it's

oneofthemoreexpensiveoptionstoo,

but thecombinationof rigidity, versatility,

ease/speed-of-useandsizejustifiesits

costandmakesit oneofthebestoptions

fortravelphotographers,especially those

who regularly shoot macro.

A versatilecarbon-fibretraveltripodkit

witha neatcentre-columnmechanism,

making it idealforlow-levelclose-ups

MANFROOTTTO

GTBEFREE

XPROCARBO

Test:DANIELLEZANO

Price:£ 409

Leggsections:Four

Leggconstruction:Carbon-fibre

Centre-column:Removable,included

Maxheigght: 1 41cm(162cmwithcentre-column)

Min.height:9cm

Closedlength43cm

Maxload: 10kg

Weight: 1 .74kg

Suppppliedaccessories:Carryycase

Website:www.manfrotto.co.uk