The Edge 80 Optic is the newest addition to the Lensbaby Optic Swap System. It’s a tilt-shift optic that, when tilted, creates a sharp area of focus through the photo that’s bordered by a blur. Move the lens left or right to create a vertical area (or slice) of focus, up or down for a horizontal area, and diagonally for, well, you get the point. It takes some practice to consistently achieve the desired results. When pointed straight ahead, it can be used as a traditional lens.

Edge 80 is an 80mm f/2.8–22 lens with an aperture ring on the optic itself, as opposed to the washers that you manually change on other Lensbaby optics. It’s compatible with Lensbaby Composer Pro, Composer, Muse, Scout, and Control Freak lens bodies.

The quality of the optic is very good and Edge 80 shouldn’t be thought of as a novelty lens. The aperture ring shifts securely between f-stops and the focus ring is smooth. Lensbaby claims a minimum focusing distance of 19″ (17″ when tilted). To achieve this distance, manually pull the end of the lens, the part that looks like a filter, to extend it and enter close focus mode. The transition from sharp focus to blur is subtle, yielding pleasing results. To get the full effect of a tilt-shift-type lens, you need to use larger apertures. When at f/16 or f/22, the effect is not too pronounced; however, at f/2.8 or f/4, the results are much more dramatic.

Tilt-shift lenses are expensive; very expensive. The Edge 80 optic is a solid option for photographers who are on a budget, especially if you already own a Lensbaby lens body.

Company: Lensbaby Inc.
Price: $300
Web: www.lensbaby.com
Rating: 4.5
Hot: Quality; built-in aperture ring; price
Not: Learning curve

As many industries and consumers migrate toward cloud-based storage, there are still advantages to physical drive solutions that don’t require any Internet connection, and many offer speeds that are simply not possible for most consumer connections. Factor in drive performance and the addition of an mSATA SSD card (sold separately), and you have the Drobo Mini. It’s leaner and meaner than other Drobo models, but those features come at a lofty price.

Unlike its predecessors, the Drobo Mini has some new technologies that might make you forget about cloud-based storage solutions and think more about the new Thunderbolt connectivity, as well as USB 3, which provides greater portability. Although the Mini doesn’t offer network connectivity, if you have a late-model computer, you may not miss it with Thunderbolt. Drobo provides faster transfer speeds in the Mini than most earlier Drobos, and offers up to 4 TB of storage across four 2.5″ SATA disk drive bays, and an mSATA SSD to boost performance. Like other Drobo models, you can upgrade and intermingle various drive sizes but, for the fastest solution, Drobo recommends 7,200-RPM SATA II or III hard drives, plus a 32-GB mSATA SSD. The model we tested had four Seagate Momentus 750-GB, 7,200-RPM drives and a Crucial m4 mSATA 32-GB SSD with a total street price of around $970.

As a storage device, the Mini works like any other external drive when you drag folders and files. With the Drobo Mini, a 1-GB video-file transfer took more than just the few seconds anticipated, but it was approximately five times (5x) faster than our Drobo S, and nearly 20x faster than our original Drobo. The results were similar with a 5-GB folder of digital images. Although the Drobo’s BeyondRAID setup is proprietary, it’s invisible to the end user because the Drobo Dashboard configures your Mini after installation and keeps everything up to date for you. Drobo’s single- or dual-drive redundancy helps protect data from drive failure, as well. This is plenty of performance for most commercial photographers, videographers, and designers who need this amount of storage space on site. Upgrading drives is easy, and the bays are hot swappable. All of this technology makes for what’s clearly the most reliable Drobo storage solution to date.

Its slim design is pure Drobo, only smaller. At a little less than 2″ high, approximately 7″ deep, and 7″ wide, this smaller (for Drobo) footprint and its weight of 2.2 lbs make it more portable. The Mini also features the beloved Drobo blinking spread of drive-activity lights and an illuminating front-frame perimeter. The rear panel consists of two cooling fan vents, a power port, USB 3, and a pair of Thunderbolt ports for easy daisy-chain connections with additional devices. The undercarriage is where the mSATA SSD hides under a roughly 1×3″ panel.

The Drobo Mini is clearly a leap forward in performance, but it may still have room to improve in speed when compared to similar storage solutions from competitors. Being one of the relatively early Thunderbolt solutions, however, does give Drobo an advantage over current offerings such as LaCie’s 2big 4-TB RAID storage ($599), which only connects via Thunderbolt; and Other World Computing’s 4-TB Mercury Elite Pro Qx2 w/eSATA ($564.99), which doesn’t offer USB 3 or Thunderbolt connectivity. G-Technology offers the 4-TB G-Speed eS with optional RAID card ($899.95), but it has a larger form factor.

The key is to find the storage you need, with excellent performance, but without breaking the bank. In this case, Drobo Mini is faster than previous Drobo models, but maybe not as fast as some of their competitors. With a relatively fair price for this level of RAID quality, fans of Drobo will love everything that’s familiar about the simplicity and design of the Mini. If you need this amount of speed, security, and compact size with a lot of storage space, check out the Drobo Mini. While it may not win any races, it should keep your head out of the clouds.

Company: Drobo, Inc.
Price: $649 (body only; drives are extra)
Web: www.drobo.com
Rating: 3
Hot:  Compact; battery for cached data; Thunderbolt/USB
Not:  Boot-up time; speed vs. competitor’s products, price

The BALLED Pro lights are LEDs that output a fixed 125 lumen. They’re suitable for object and food photography, can help with portrait shooting, and are great as a portable lighting kit when shooting video interviews.

BALLED Pros are aluminum cylinders with a crystal lens. With a diameter of 40mm and a height of 30mm, they’re extremely portable. Their bottom plate is a strong magnet that holds the mini-USB interface and a 1/4″ thread to mount the BALLED Pro directly onto a tripod. The lens is extremely clear and has been cut for a light circle of 70°. The lamps are set to a color temperature of 6500K.

The BALLED Pro system comes in a small, Pelican-look-alike case. Except for the two lamps, the kit contains two ReVolt battery packs, cables, and two steel mounting plates with a 1/4″ thread to click the magnetic lamp base onto it.

Four AA batteries power the BALLED Pro, but I preferred using a sturdy and eco-friendly Power Monkey Extreme USB battery pack with a split cable.

I tried the BALLED Pros while shooting jewelry, a watch, and other small objects. They worked great. I was also enthralled with their performance as fill light for a portrait, and supporting light for a video interview in a dimly lit room. Add-ons to change light characteristics and output, such as the Rogue diffusion filters, greatly expand on creative capabilities, and add to the pleasure of using them.

Company: Bamberger Lebenshilfe-Werkstätten gGmbH
Price: 349 double set; 239 single set
Web: www.balledpro.com
Rating: 5
Hot:  Made in Germany; even light quality; longevity; portable
Not:  Case should have a lock

The ring light look has been popular among fashion photographers for a while, but recently, it’s been making its way into other types of photography. The problem with using flash is that it makes it difficult to create images with a shallow depth of field because you’re usually up at f/8, f/11, or even higher. Thanks to the rising popularity of constant lights like the Kino Flo, Westcott Spiderlite, and others, it’s now possible to create shallow depth-of-field images with lighting that actually looks good.

Flashpoint has released the most affordable option for a constant ring light, the 14″ Fluorescent Dimmable Ring Light. It’s slightly smaller in diameter than the other option that’s on the market, but it’s also more than $100 less. It has an 80-watt compact fluorescent bulb with a color temperature of 5600 K. At its brightest power setting, you can shoot at ISO 100 and f/1.4 easily without worrying about getting blurry shots. Of course, not everyone has a lens that can shoot at f/1.4, so most people will want to be at ISO 200 to shoot at f/2.8 or f/3.5. If you have a variable-aperture lens that you’re zooming in with and going to f/5.6, then you might go up to ISO 400. If you’re brave and want to use the light at its lowest dimmable setting, then ISO 400 will be your minimum, depending on the lens.

What stands out most about this light is the catch light it produces in your subjects’ eyes. Rather than seeing the solid white shape of a softbox, the ring light creates a hollow but glimmering circle that makes eyes pop. The quality of light is soft, even, and very pleasing. It’s not the most versatile light, but you get plenty of bang for your buck.

Company: Adorama Camera, Inc.
Price: $129.95
Web: www.adorama.com
Rating: 4
Hot:  Good light for a great price
Not:  No cover to protect the bulb

The Hähnel Mk200 is a unidirectional microphone for DSLR and video cameras. It comes with two AAA batteries and a dead cat sock in the box. The Mk200 has a –10 to +10dB switch, a maximum SPL of 120dB, and a peak signal indicator.

The first generation of this microphone had shock mounts only on the microphone barrel. The Mk200 also has a shock mount on the hot shoe adapter. This makes a huge difference.

The microphone is a super cardioid design, with a 14mm electret condenser capsule for unidirectional pickup. I tested the Mk200 in different circumstances and found it to perform well. It has a nice, neutral sound quality, perhaps somewhat lacking in bass. The lowest frequency my test mic could capture was 57 Hz. The highest was 18,600 Hz. The advertised values are 70–20,000 Hz. A spectral analysis of my test recording showed a tiny bit of noise with low sound levels.

The microphone records most sound from up front with a typical falloff from around 90° left/right. For most purposes, the mic’s sensitivity is quite satisfactory, even at a 0dB setting. The included dead cat sock worked great in windy conditions.

The sound quality of the Mk200; its small, lightweight design; and battery stamina (up to 100 hours, it’s claimed) make it a good choice for most video sound recording purposes or for plain sound capture (e.g., to create your own background sound bank), but I wouldn’t recommend it for pop/rock concert recordings.

Company: Hähnel Industries Ltd.
Price: £106
Web: www.hahnel.ie
Rating: 4
Hot:  Neutral sound; small; lightweight; dead cat sock included
Not:  A little bit noisy with low-level sound

High-Speed DSLR

Many people talk about the battle of the brands for digital photography, but Pentax loyalists know that their contenders are in it for the long fight. After some serious R&D, and what seems to be some technology help from the recent Pentax/Ricoh integration (April 2012), the updated Pentax K-5 II is ready to make its mark.

As a first impression, this tough, compact (5.2×3.8×2.9″) DSLR is rock-solid, with a rugged, stainless-steel chassis covered by a magnesium alloy. It also has a weather-sealed, coldproof design that makes it resistant to moisture, dust, and more. After a long shoot, its weight-for-size isn’t overwhelming or tiresome, but it’s heavy enough with the DA 18–55mm WR zoom lens (model tested) for some shakiness to occur if you’re not careful.

The metering and exposure accuracy were immediate standout improvements in every lighting situation. From morning mist at sunrise to intense LED spotlights in a live concert venue, the K-5 II delivered well-balanced images that have excellent density and low-to-mid noise levels at every ISO.

From all of the features, there are a couple of standout surprises: First, the excellent image quality, natural contrast, and saturation from the less-used, fully automatic shooting and Program modes. A high-resolution, 16.3-megapixel CMOS sensor with integrated AD conversion circuitry and advanced autofocus system captures great image detail.

The second surprise is truly stunning, widescreen HD video quality at 1080p resolution and 25 fps that has a slightly increased contrast level. This also includes sound via a built-in microphone or external 3.5mm stereo microphone jack and an HDMI port to output high-definition images, video, and sound to HDTVs.

Some other features include an 11-point SAFOX X autofocus system that offers a wide EV focus range that’s ideal for focusing in low conditions. Improved HDR image capture features more blending options and better pixel registration for easier operation without a tripod. And, there’s a wide range of in-camera image processing and special effects filters.

The price for the K-5 II is $1,199.95 (body only). There are, however, plenty of options for body and lens combination packages at the sub-$2,000 price, for example the $1,349.95 kit with the DA 18–55 WR or $1,549.95 with the DA 18–135mm WR zoom lens.

When comparing the Pentax K-5 II kit at $1,549.95 with its closest competitors—the Nikon D7000 (18–105mm lens, 16.2 megapixels, 6 fps, up to 25,600 ISO) at about $1,500, or the Canon EOS 60D (18–200mm lens, 18 megapixels, 5.3 fps continuous shooting, up to 6400 ISO, expandable to 12,800) at approximately $1,400—the Pentax comes out ahead with a speedy 7 fps continuous shooting and an ISO range of 80–51,200.

The K-5 II also has some convenient RAW imaging functionality, allowing retrieval of RAW data from JPEG. The LCD preview was certainly bright, it didn’t have the clarity of Canon’s displays. This is actually important to help determine image clarity on the fly when shooting in the field.

Overall, this update to the Pentax K-5 family is a long-awaited one. It addresses many of the necessary changes that make this K-5 II generation a serious contender in the DSLR arena.

Company: Pentax Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation
Price: $1,199.95 (body only)
Web: http://www.pentaximaging.com
Rating: 4
Hot:  Autofocus under extreme conditions; continuous shooting; video
Not:  LCD clarity

Nikon carved out a new niche with the release of the Nikon D600, which targets new-to-intermediate DSLR users who want a full-frame (FX) sensor camera but don’t need all the features and functions of a pro-level DSLR. I’ve been shooting with a D600 since September 2012, and there’s a lot to love about this camera, but there are a few things to consider before making the plunge.

The D600 is a great fit for me. As someone who shoots mainly outdoors in natural light, it has been a pleasure working with those gorgeous 24.3-megapixel files, which I think is a nice total pixel size for a wide range of uses without being too much of a burden on memory cards and drive space. RAW files average around 30 MB and I can easily fit more than 500 photos on a 32-GB memory card. The fact that it has dual SD card slots is a welcome feature that provides the ability to back up to the second card while shooting, or just use the second card for overflow.

Unlike most introductory level DSLRs, the D600 has an internal focus motor, which greatly expands the number of lenses you can use with autofocus. Speaking of lenses, the D600 also has a DX crop mode for use with any crop-sensor (DX) lenses you might have in your bag, and still produces a respectable 10.5-megapixel photo. The 39-point AF system is more than adequate for most situations, though I wish it covered a larger area of the viewfinder. The viewfinder is large and bright, as is the LCD display on the back, which is a great step up from any other enthusiast-level camera.

Dedicated sports photographers may be disappointed by the maximum of 5.5 frames per second continuous shooting, but I didn’t mind it at any of the amateur sporting events I’ve used it at so far. Another area of potential disappointment is the maximum 3-frame limit for bracketing exposures, but you can adjust the exposure compensation +/- up to 3 full stops. While on the subject of potential deal-breakers, the D600’s flash sync speed is 1/200 and it doesn’t have a built-in sync jack. One of the biggest little things I miss is that there’s no one-button-push way to zoom to 100% to check for focus. I love that feature on my D700. I was also initially surprised by the fastest shutter speed limit of 1/4000, but when I checked my catalog of 90,000 photos, I found that fewer than 1,000 had been captured with a shutter speed faster than that.

Those issues aside, the D600 has many other things I’ve grown to love. I’ve been impressed with the quality at high ISOs and don’t hesitate to dial up to ISO 2000 when I need to keep the shutter speed fast. The placement and integration of Live View shooting and video recording controls is intuitive and a pleasure to use. The quality of the 1080p video is outstanding, and if you’re into video, you’ll be glad to find there’s a dedicated external mic jack, headphone jack for monitoring audio, and even HDMI output. An offshoot of the video functionality is the built-in Time-Lapse recording feature that allows you to configure the interval between shots and total duration, and at the end saves out a MOV file (no stills) that’s ready to play. If you need a series of stills taken over a period of time, there’s a built-in interval timer mode, too. A deeper-dive into the menu system will reveal a feature-rich and highly configurable camera.

Company: Nikon Inc.
Price: $2,099.95 (body only)
Web: http://www.nikonusa.com
Rating: 4
Hot:  Full-frame sensor; excellent image quality; video
Not:  Price is a little high for the target market

The AMG of computers

I was asked once again to review the new Cerise Workstation, and I knew from my prior review (a few years ago) that this machine would be a great performer, well put together, and set up for maximum production, but I was still surprised when it arrived.

Let me start by saying it’s a performance workstation, so it’s not small by any means. You’ll need a bit of space for it; but it’s well worth making room for. As for the surprise, the new case is simply a work of art in both design and functionality! It’s a sleek silver case that has all of the ports on top (no bending down to plug in drives, headphones, or microphones), and even the monitor and speaker cables are channeled through the unique case for a top-mount solution. Okay, I know that sounds a bit odd, but this allows the boards to be mounted in the most efficient way, and lets the fans push air through the case to keep everything nice and cool (including your workspace). This also keeps the machine running whisper quiet. Unlike many other machines of this caliber, it doesn’t sound like a jet taking off when you hit the power button. It has to be the quietest machine I’ve ever heard, and that alone helps when recording tutorials and videos.

But why did I call this the “AMG” of computers? As with the Mercedes-AMG (the high-performance brand of the Mercedes Car Group), each machine is handled from start to finish by one technician, which ensures the utmost quality control for every workstation. Each piece is matched to the client’s specs and maximized for the client’s usage needs, so no one-box-fits-all mentality here. And it really shows in the quality and performance of this machine!

I threw them a bit of a curveball, because I use my workstation for photography, video, animation, and graphics—a challenge, for sure. I needed a very fast processor that’s quick and responsive to get my photos into Lightroom and work in Adobe Photoshop. I needed to import video, working heavily on the timeline. And, I needed to be able to work in Maya to create models and short animation sequences. So what would the company come up with? Well, to be honest, something very impressive.

Everyone knows that you need speed and processing power to be productive, so it starts with the horsepower, provided by the 6-Core Intel i7 Sandy Bridge (3.2–3.8 GHz Turbo) processor with 32 GB of RAM, which really puts the “power to the pavement.” Add to this a 480-GB SATA III Solid State drive for the Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit operating system and programs, and then you have the ultimate machine for speed! And it doesn’t disappoint.

But it doesn’t stop there. I needed storage too, and it comes with three 1-TB, 7200-RPM, 64-MB cache drives with a RAID Controller card for all of my multimedia editing. Next, I needed a graphics card that will keep up with all of this, so they added the GeForce GTX 580 with 1.5 GB of DDR5 RAM that has HDCP-ready SLI support. That means I can use my HDMI-compatible monitors with this “monster.”

They also included a 27″ Samsung Widescreen LED monitor that’s mated perfectly to this setup. I know this is a lot, but there’s more: It includes a Blu-Ray burner/player for maximum flexibility for my output formats, four USB-3 ports, six USB-2 ports, one FireWire 800, and surround-sound capable audio.

For the price and capabilities, the Cerise Workstation is definitely a machine worth considering for your workspace. They can set you up with a box that meets all of your needs, not something that’s made for the masses.

Company:  Cerise Computers, LLC
Price: $5,940 (with 27″ monitor)
Web: www.cerise.com
Rating: 5
Hot:  Horsepower; solid-state drive; design; RAID
Not:  Price is up there

High-Speed Standard Zoom Lens for Your Full-Frame DSLR

The Tamron SP 24–70mm f/2.8 Di VC lens is a fast lens designed to work with full-frame cameras (but it will work with smaller sensors, too). It’s available for Canon, Nikon, and Sony; however, the Sony version doesn’t include vibration compensation (VC) because Sony DSLRs already have that feature built in.

When attached to the camera, the Tamron lens measures 4.3″ in length compared to 5.2″ for the NIKKOR version. The main difference is that the NIKKOR supports internal focusing, whereas the Tamron extends to a little more than 5.5″ when zoomed all the way in. The Tamron has a diameter of 3.5″ and weighs 29.1 ounces (a couple ounces less than the NIKKOR), so the Tamron is a hefty lens and has a solid feel.

We tested the Tamron 24–70mm on a Nikon D3s, and it delivered good contrast and sharpness throughout our test images. At f/2.8 the depth of field creates very pleasing blurred backgrounds that bring the attention to where it belongs, your subject. At the extreme ends of the focal range, there was some very slight vignetting and distortion, which was easily corrected by selecting the Tamron lens profile in the Lens Corrections panel of Lightroom. It was only looking at the before and after images in Lightroom that the vignetting and distortion became evident.

Vibration compensation also worked well. We were able to capture sharp images in low light with shutter speeds as long as 1/6, but we recommend keeping it above at least 1/15 for most scenarios. Strangely enough, the NIKKOR 24–70mm lens doesn’t include VR (vibration reduction), so this is one advantage of the Tamron over the NIKKOR (not to mention that it costs nearly $600 less).

Scott Kelby borrowed the lens to test it on the sidelines of an NFL game and he was impressed with the results, as well. Check out his comments at http://kel.by/RDCAg2.

Company:  Tamron
Price: $1,299
Web: www.tamron-usa.com
Rating: 4
Hot:  Image quality; VC; price
Not:  Very slight vignetting and barrel distortion

Dual Element Stereo Condenser Microphone

Clearly, the latest technologies offer more portability and quality, but some of the greatest products already exist in other markets or applications. One of the hidden treasures of professional live audio engineers is the RØDE NT4 stereo microphone that brings stunningly realistic audio to DSLRs and video cameras.

The NT4 is actually two microphones on a single body, adding natural dimension for superior audio reproduction. The NT4 connects to your camera or recording device via either two XLR cables (2x mono left/right) or a single 1/8″ stereo jack. The jack makes it compatible with many later-model DSLRs or advanced consumer digital video recorders.

For live music, outdoor scenes, or ambient sound sampling, this dual-headed condenser microphone will make the final audio accurate and vivid without harshness. The package includes a product-specific mic clip and molded basic foam windscreen to reduce noise. It also includes a rugged carrying case and cabling. The NT4 requires a single mic stand (a heavier base and boom extension are recommended) for placement.

As a condenser microphone, it requires a 48v power supply, but also can run on a 9-volt battery. This 200-ohm mic offers 20–20,000 Hz frequency response, but with a more natural audio curve that’s consistently warm at most proximities to the sound source.

For those more familiar with audio production for video, using a separate multitrack audio recorder or digital recording suite on a computer with multiple inputs allows the NT4 to be “flown” over a wedding crowd, in the audience at a concert, or just mixed into your headphones to hear the ambient sound during an event. By adding the NT4 to other microphones, and mixing the levels later, your clients and customers will enjoy viewing the final video in home theaters and surround-sound systems with dramatically better audio quality.

Company:  RØDE Microphones
Price: $899
Web: www.rodemic.com
Rating: 4.5
Hot:  Audio quality; stereo image; single stand requirement
Not:  Slightly larger than traditional microphones