PDN PhotoPlus Expo
Once a year, camera geeks gather in New York to check out some of the latest in gadgets and gear. Here's some of what we saw at the 2016 show.
Peak Design
Peak Design just wrapped up a very successful Kickstarter campaign for several bags made for cameras and life in general.
Spider Holster SpiderLight Holster
Another company that's no stranger to crowdfunding is Spider Holster. The camera accessory maker is currently on Kickstarter with the SpiderLight, a more compact version of its original Spider Holster.
ArcaSwiss plate
Attach the ArcaSwiss-compatible plate to your camera and use the attached pin to drop into the small, all-metal holster that clips to a belt or one of the company's camera belts.
Backpack clip
You can also get a mount for your bag strap that lets you just clip the SpiderLight Holster to your chest. A Velcro lens strap helps hold bigger lenses.
GoPro adapter
A separate clip plate will be available to use with GoPro cameras. You can check out the Kickstarter here.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 70
Fujifilm showed off its full line of instant Instax cameras including the Mini 70.
Leica Sofort
Leica launched its own high-end instant camera this year, the Sofort.
Sound Shark
The Sound Shark is a parabolic audio collector for lapel mics.
Sound Shark
The company claims it's good enough to record a speaker from 6 feet away as if they were wearing a lapel mic.
Wacom MobileStudio Pro
The MobileStudio Pro is Wacom's Windows 10-powered tablet for creative professionals.
Wacom MobileStudio Pro
It's available in six configurations, four 13.3-inch and two 15.6-inch models, and use a new stylus named the Pro Pen 2, which has improved precision, less lag and 8,192 levels of sensitivity.
Wacom MobileStudio Pro
They work with the old $50 (£45 and AU$50) Bluetooth-connecting Cintiq Companion keyboard, so you'll be able to get your non-artsy work done, too.
Yuneec Typhoon H with Intel RealSense
Unlike last year, which saw about half a dozen drone makers and resellers, Yuneec was the only one at the show. All of the company's models were on display, including the Typhoon H with Intel's RealSense obstacle avoidance module.
Ikan EC-1 Gimbal
Also unlike last year, the number of motorized gimbal manufacturers was pretty much non-existent. Ikan was there showing off its latest, the giant EC-1. The 3-axis gimbal features brushless motors with 360-degree movement on all axis. It supports cameras 2 to 4.5 pounds.
ThinkTank Shape Shifter V2
Bags are a big part of the show. ThinkTank brought three new bags including the second generation of its Shape Shifter.
ThinkTank Shapeshifter V2
It's designed to work with the company's modular pouches for lenses, speedlites and other gear.
ThinkTank Shapeshifter V2
But with your gear removed, it compresses to 3 inches in depth.
ThinkTank Airport Advantage
The Airport Advantage is its new roller bag designed to fit in small commuter jets.
ThinkTank FPV Session drone bag
ThinkTank has had a line of drone bags, but they're for aerial photography models. The FPV Session is its first made for racing drones.
ThinkTank FPV Session drone bag
The bag is designed to hold your quads on the outside, but has plenty of space inside for your transmitter, goggles, batteries, props and other spare parts.
DxO One and accessories
The DxO One is an ultracompact camera with a 1-inch image sensor designed to work on its own or paired with an iPhone. The camera isn't new, but the company recently released some accessories to make the camera more versatile, such as this waterproof shell.
Vuze 3D 360-degree camera
The Vuze first showed up at CES 2016 and now it's getting ready to start shipping. The camera features eight individual cameras that get automatically stitched together into 3D, 360-degree spherical photos and video.
Ricoh Theta SC
The SC is Ricoh's latest 360-degree camera and made its public debut at the show.
Pentax K-70
The Pentax K-70 was also at the Ricoh booth, an affordable dSLR featuring a maximum ISO sensitivity of ISO 102400 and a hybrid AF system wrapped up in a compact, water-resistant and lightweight design.
Tamron SP 150-600mm f5-6.3 Di VC USD G2
The second-gen of this massive zoom lens is impressive in person and loaded with new components.
Irix 15mm f2.4 lenses
Irix released this lens, its first, earlier this year. The company's goal is to bring together classic style and quality with new technology. The 15mm full-frame lens is available in standard and premium versions. At PhotoPlus, it also had on display upcoming 11mm f4.0 and 45mm f1.4 lenses.
Sigma 12-24mm F4 DG HSM Art
The wide angle 12-24mm F4 DG HSM Art has all the features and build characteristics of the company's line of Art lenses; it's designed to deliver smooth, out-of-focus areas and edge-to-edge sharpness. It can focus as close as 9.4 inches (24 centimeters).
Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art
Portrait photographers should start saving for the 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art as it'll set you back $1,200 (roughly £980 in the UK and AU$1,580).
Sigma 500mm F4 DG OS HSM Sport
The $6,000 (roughly £4,910, AU$7,890) 500mm F4 DG OS HSM Sport is built from magnesium alloy components, with dust-and-splashproof construction and a water- and oil-resistant front element. It has standard and panning-optimized optical stabilization, a focus memory setting and a rear slot for filters.
Lensbaby Trio 28
The Trio 28 consists of a single mount with three 28mm lenses that you rotate into place: a Sweet, a Velvet and a Twist.
Like their full-size counterparts, the Trio 28's Twist lens surrounds the central area with swirly bokeh, the Velvet looks soft and the Sweet renders increasing blur from the center out. On Micro Four Thirds cameras, the Trio 28 lenses have about the equivalent angle of view of a 56mm lens, while APS-C Sony E mount and Fujifilm X mount versions deliver 42mm.
Fotodiox Pro ND Throttle Adapter
The Fusion adapter lets you use Canon EF and EF-S lenses on a Sony E-mount camera, but can also communicate your Sony camera's electronic commands so the Canon lens behaves like a Sony lens.
Fotodiox Pro ND Throttle Adapter
There's also a built-in variable eight and a half stop neutral density filter in its all-metal design.
Fotodiox Pro Nikon-to-Sony Fusion Adapter
Though the new Nikon F-mount to Sony E-mount Fusion adapter doesn't have an ND filter, it's capable of controlling a high percentage of Nikon lenses both new and old.
Fotodiox Pro Nikon-to-Sony Fusion Adapter
Fotodiox Pro says it's a first of its kind.
Fotodiox Pro PopSpot
The PopSpot is a miniature LED fresnel light with big output.
Fotodiox Pro PopSpot
It gets its name from its size: The light by itself is about the size of a soda can.
Fotodiox Pro FlapJack and Wand
Fotodiox has a whole line of slim edge-lit LED light panels called Flapjack, and its latest is this square model. Joining it is an LED wand.
Fotodiox Pro LED Studios-in-a-Box
If you do a lot of product photography, one of these boxes could make your life a lot easier. They're available in four sizes and come with four colored backgrounds: Blue, gray, black and white.
Fotodiox Pro LED Studios-in-a-Box
The boxes are lined with reflective material and have built-in LED lighting.
Foldio360 by Orangemonkie
The Foldio360 combines Orangemonkie's compact pop-up studio box and a backlit rotating platform. Using either a phone via Bluetooth or dSLR with IR, the platform rotates and triggers the camera to continuously shoot until it creates a full set of shots to create a 360-degree image of an object.
Magmod speedlite modifiers
What makes Magmod's light modifiers special is how you attach them to your flash. Instead of straps or Velcro, it uses strong magnets, allowing you to pop modifiers on and off quickly and quietly. Almost as important is that it will attach to just about any flash regardless of size.
Lume Cube
Need a powerful lighting solution that fits in your pocket? That's the Lume Cube. Though it didn't have any new products at the show, the company is about to launch a Kickstarter on October 29 for a new product, Life Lite, the details of which are still a secret.
Manfrotto Lumimuse 6
Manfrotto had one of the largest booths at the show, displaying all its equipment from all of its brands -- everything from bags to flashes to tripods. One of the busiest sections was its phone accessories, though, such as the Lumimuse 6, a round dimmable LED catch light for portraits with integrated color filters.
Manfrotto Twist Grip
Also part of the collection is a the Twist Grip, a premium aluminum phone mount.
Manfrotto Twist Grip
It gets its name from the design: The parts that grip your phone twist to a flat position so you can easily slip it in your pocket.
Joby GripTight POV Kit
Joby's newest accessory is sort of a crossover between its phone and GoPro gear. The GripTight POV Kit holds your phone and has a tilting handle that can be used to help stabilize your videos, give you a steadier grip for photos, vertically or horizontally stand up your phone and it has a cold shoe for adding a light or mic and comes with a Bluetooth remote, too. The handle can also be removed so you can attach the phone grip to any GoPro mount.
Lowepro Flipside Trek
Lowepro has many, many camera bags, but one of its newest lines is the lightweight Flipside Trek. It's designed to have plenty of room for outdoor gear and camera equipment.
Lowepro Flipside Trek
The main camera compartment is only accessible through the back. However, it has a large, sturdy waist strap that, when secured around you, lets you spin the bag around to the front and access everything without taking the bag entirely off.
JPEGmini Pro
JPEGmini is compression software that's able to significantly reduce image file sizes with little to no visible loss in quality or details. If you want to free up storage space, it's definitely worth testing out.
Palette
Palette was definitely one of the most interesting pieces of gear at the show. Made mainly to work with Adobe software, there are buttons, dials and sliders that can be assigned and configured to handle different tasks.
Palette
They magnetically attach to each other, so they can be arranged in whatever way works best for your workflow. The brain, called the Core, connects to your computer via USB and powers all of the pieces.
Palette
The Starter kit is $199 (roughly £160, AU$260) and includes one of each component. The company's site has several tutorial videos so you can see just how you can put it to use day-to-day.