Sony announced its “Step Up To Sony” sales event, with huge discounts of up to $1,000 on their most popular bodies, including the Sony A7II, A7RII, A7RIII and A9. If you’ve been thinking about grabbing a Sony, now is the time, as these discounts run until June 22nd.
Overview : Meet Alter. It's a Rapid Filter System (RFS) that lets you engage and disengage lens filters the moment you need them. It attaches via the universal filter threads your lens has, and then you can screw a ND or CPL filter on to it (between 40.5mm and 105mm filter thread size).
Our good friends over at Peak Design is back with their 9th Kickstarter campaign. As you can see from the title and picture that their newest campaign is still photography related. The Peak Design Travel Tripod is the most portable, packable, and easy-to-setup professional tripod in the world. For years, traditional tripods have suffered a critical flaw: needless bulk and wasted space, the result of a spatially inefficient design. By redesigning the tripod from the ground up, Peak Design created the world’s most portable travel tripod—one that packs to the diameter of a water bottle—without sacrificing height, stability, or load capacity. But they didn’t stop there. Travel Tripod is radically faster to setup/takedown than traditional tripods and features more ergonomic adjustment points, built-in mobile compatibility, and thoughtful usability details at every corner. Plus, it’s built for life on the road: durable, fully serviceable, and backed by the Peak Design lifetime guarantee.
FEATURES: Pro performance. Half the size.
Groundbreaking architecture eliminates dead volume
Packs down to half the size of traditional travel tripods—to the size of a water bottle
No protruding knobs
Lightning-fast setup and pack-down.
Quick-locking cams allow you to unlock legs in 3 swift motions
Legs deploy without flipping over for significantly faster setup than traditional tripod designs
Unique quick-release allows instant, secure camera attachment
Intuitive, ergonomic ball head interface.
Single, ultra-smooth omnidirectional ball head adjustment ring with no bulky/confusing knobs
Simple locking ring for total security and stiffness
Compatible with all PD plates and most Arca-type plates
Removable pins for use with most Arca-type L-brackets
Omnidirectional bubble level
Professional stability and features for demanding environments.
20lb weight capacity, optimized for use with full-frame DSLR + telephoto lens
Stability and vibration dampening comparable to much larger tripods in it’s class
Nonslip, shock absorbing rubber feet
Built-in load hanging hook
Low and inverted configuration modes allow camera to sit just inches off ground
Anchor attachment points for carrying with Peak Design straps
Brilliantly integrated mobile phone mount.
Built-in mobile mount magnetically stowes in center column
Mount sets up securely and holds any phone/case
Durable, fully serviceable, and guaranteed for life
All components are weather and impact resistant
Slim, protective carry sleeve
All parts are fully serviceable, cleanable, and replaceable
Available both in carbon fiber for $479 (MSRP: $599.95) and aluminum legs for $289 (MSRP: $349.95) the Travel Tripod will launch on Kickstarter for a pre-sale discount beginning May 21, 2019 at 7am PST. Kickstarter campaign ends July 18, 2019 at 5pm PST. The tripod will then be available for purchase online at peakdesign.com and through major retailers in time for the 2019 holiday season.
There are magnetic quick release filter adapters available on the market (Breakthrough Photography and Manfrotto XUME). But when you don't need the filters, where do you put them? In your pocket or in your bag? It can be a hassle having to retrieve them or keeping track of them.
Meet Alter. It's a Rapid Filter System (RFS) that lets you engage and disengage lens filters the moment you need them. It attaches via the universal filter threads your lens has, and then you can screw a ND or CPL filter on to it (between 40.5mm and 105mm filter thread size). Yes, it still works with your lens caps but it will not work with lens hoods.
So how does Alter RFS work? Since it's attached to the filter threads on your lens, you simply lift the "window" out to expose the camera lens when you don't need to use the filter you have attached. This is great when you're going from indoors to outdoors. This also keeps your filters close to your lens at all times. The "window" is held in place with magnets so it will not flip open easily.
Two things to note is that the RFS does vignette primes past 18mm and zooms past 30mm and it will not work with lens hood to the way it flips open.
Features:
Adjustable friction hinge
270 degree hinge rotation
Zero light leak
360 degree hinge orientation
Magnetically secured closed
Milled aerospace aluminum with anodize
Alter RFS is available at a discounted price through their Kickstarter campaign and will retail for $79. Estimated shipping date is September 2019. There are a limited number of Early Birds (Early Adopters), so get in on it early before its sold out.
Early Adopter Single - $63 (20% savings)
Early Adopter Double - $118 (25% savings)
Early Adopter Triple - $165 (30% savings)
And if you need more than 3, just add $55 for each additional RFS to your pledge amount.
Also, instead of using step up rings, you can pledge an extra $10 for each RFS you back to get their RFS+. It is essentially a hinged step up ring. The lens ring has a smaller diameter than the filter ring. This solves the need for step up rings and removes vignetting on wide angle lenses. It has the same slim profile and forward depth as the standard RFS and is great for shooters who step up to the same size filters on all of their lenses.
Alter offers a 30 day satisfaction guarantee as well as a lifetime warranty against defects and workmanship for the life of the product when used in normal shooting conditions and for the intended purpose.
