Photo Accessory News

Here are the rules: every item described herein is small enough to fit inside a reasonably normal stocking and each is something that every photographer will appreciate. Price was not part of the selection process, nor was foot size.

Last week we explored seven great photo gifts under $100. If you missed that installment, you can find it here. This week we take it down a notch in price, but truth be told, this collection of goodies is just as cool—if not cooler—than the last one.

Is that your shutter snapping or your teeth chattering? If cold weather is bad for your body, it’s even worse for your camera body. Moisture of any kind is a camera killer. And freezing temperatures contribute to everything from internal condensation to diminished battery performance. Herewith, then, are my seven favorite cold weather tips and accessories. 

As the name implies, the Fotodiox LED Studio-in-a-Box is a self-contained tabletop studio that features interior LED lighting that has a daylight color balance of 5600 Kelvin. The CRI, or Color Rendering Index, is 85 (on a scale 0 to 100).

The Goods spotlights the hottest premium photo gear out there. If you have a product you’d like considered for The Goods, e-mail images and info to editorial@shutterbug.com.

Photographers are an inventive lot. Most have of us have improvised one thing or another in pursuit of our obsession, be it a soft-focus diffuser made from a discarded nylon stocking, studio lamp handcrafted from a Home Depot shop light, or a gadget bag recycled from an army surplus gas mask pack. But here’s a bonafide useful tool that Greg Montano, owner of Dexter’s Camera in Ventura, California, created more-or-less out of necessity, and has been using professionally since.

When a team of gimbal engineers and aerial vehicle designers get together to create an intelligent smartphone stabilizer, you know it’s going to be special. And the inexpensive new SMOVE for iOS and Android devices looks like a winner.