Lenses and accessories

LAS VEGAS--Having trouble attaching your camera to the outside of your plane? Delkin Devices announced a new product, the Fat Gecko camera mount, that could take care of your needs.

The $89.99 device has two large suction cups to hold cameras as heavy as 6 pounds, company Chief Executive Martin Wood said at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) trade show here. The $89 device is strong enough to hold a camera on a plane going 200mph, he said.

The company is also working on two other versions of the device, one with two straps for attaching cameras to larger … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Camera cleaning accessory maker LensPen announced a new product to help remove dust, hairs, specks, and other detritus that sticks to digital SLR sensors.

The $59.95 SensorKlear Loupe, announced here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show, is a magnifying glass that attaches to a camera's lens mount. Its four battery-powered LEDs illuminate the sensor, and unlike rival products such as VisibleDust's Sensor Loupe, a gap in the side allows you to clean off the sensor.

Unsurprisingly, the company recommends use of LensPen SensorKlear II to actually clean off the schmutz. The pen and loupe together … Read more

Lensbaby is bringing a wider look to its line of selective-focus lenses, announcing the 0.42x Super Wide lens that expands its products' 50mm field of view to 21mm. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Offering some higher-end alternatives and expanding image stabilization more broadly, Sigma announced a trio of lenses for digital SLRs Monday at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) trade show.

The three new models, which will work on Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, and Sigma cameras, are a higher-end 10-20mm ultrawide-angle zoom, and 18-50mm and 50-200mm zooms that unlike earlier models come with optical stabilization. The lenses are due to ship this spring, but pricing isn't yet announced, said Christine Moossmann of the company's marketing department. … Read more

Editor's note: From now through the end of December, various Crave experts will be sharing their top five (mostly) tech-related wishes for the holiday season. See what we crave, and maybe you'll get some ideas!

I'll be honest. What I want is Canon's EF 500mm f/4L IS USM telephoto lens, but it costs $5,600, so let's move on to some options that aren't quite so detached from economic reality for a mostly amateur photographer such as myself.

Obviously my camera is a Canon SLR, but I'm reasonably happy with my setup right now, so here are some items I covet that are more modestly priced and that happen to be neutral as regards camera manufacturer.

1. WhiBal white-balance card. I shoot raw images, which means data is taken directly from the camera's image sensor without any in-camera processing. I like it because it gives me more flexibility for matters such as exposure adjustment. Second in importance to exposure, though, is fixing white balance--for example the orangey color cast you'll often see when shooting under incandescent lights or the bluish tinge of pictures in the shade.

The flip side of raw photography is that it's more manual labor than just grabbing the JPEG, but to me it's worth it. I mostly just eyeball the white balance, but sometimes keying off parts of an image--the whites of someone's eyes or gray and black clothing--gives an easier way to set white balance with software. But for more precision, the WhiBal cards from RawWorkflow.com give an easy way to be more rigorous. You take a photo of the durable card, which shows a standard 18 percent gray, then set the white balance in software off that part of the photo. With modern raw-image editing software, you can synchronize the white balance for a series of images off the one you took with the card. The $19 keychain model looks about my speed.… Read more