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The Datacolor SpyderCUBE RAW Calibration Tool keeps your photos true to color


After many years of working in the photography and videography/filmmaking industry, there are many occasions when I still find myself editing photos where dialing in the “true” color is an issue, and I have to spend extra time editing to achieve satisfactory results. Realistically, this is quite unnecessary, since there are many products that are available to help with or solve the color challenge.

The Datacolor SpyderCUBE RAW Calibration Tool is one of the available products. It is a digital color balancing tool that allows you to correct the color temperature, exposure, brightness, blacks, and whites of your photographs. It makes editing and adjusting your RAW photographs in post-production much easier. To use it, you simply place the spider cube in the area of light of the environment where you are planning to take pictures. This can be done by hanging it or having someone hold it. It can also be mounted on a tripod or light stand. The grey, white, chrome, and black surfaces, and black trap for Shadow Detail Control, must be visible to your camera and in the frame of the picture.

When used in the same lighting conditions as your photographs, it provides enough information for your editing software for optimal color adjustment. While I have not yet tried it, it seems to be a helpful tool for photographers at any level.

You can purchase the Datacolor SpyderCUBE RAW Calibration Tool at Amazon or B&H Photo Video for $49.

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The Datacolor SpyderCUBE RAW Calibration Tool keeps your photos true to color originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 6, 2018 at 10:05 am.

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Spider SpiderPro Single Camera System V2 camera holster review

What is it?

The SpiderPro Single Camera System V2 is an ergonomically designed belt with integrated camera holster that allows photographers to carry their DSLR camera with any length of lens attached, comfortably and safely.

What’s in the box


In the package, the system I received included the SpiderPro belt with integrated Holster and the Pro2 Plate.

Design and features

The SpiderPro Belt is made of a very comfortable material that makes it easy to wear it for long periods of time. The length of the belt is adjustable via the included Velcro that is attached to one part of the inside of the belt. It is a 2-inch-wide belt with a 3-inch padded area around the back that provides extra comfort around the waist. The built-in holster with the locking mechanism is attached to an 8” x 6.5” padded area for your camera to rest on. It is attached via two hex screws from the inside of the padded area.

Built in to the holster there is a spring-loaded mechanism that locks the Pro2 Plate in and prevents it from coming loose accidentally. This spring-loaded locking mechanism must be engaged by pulling it up for the camera to be removed from the holster.

The belt buckle is a strong ABS type plastic clip that has a great and secure locking system to ensure that it never comes loose on its own. The belt buckle is approximately 2.5” wide.

It is important to note that another padded attachment with a holster can be added to the opposite side of the belt to upgrade it to a dual camera system.

The Pro2 Plate attaches to your DSLR and locks into the holster. On one side it has a 1/4 – 20” screw to attach it to your DSLR, and anti-slip rubber grips on either side of the screw to keep the plate in place.

On the other side of the Pro2 Plate, there are two 1/4 – 20” screw holes to allow the DSLR to be mounted to a tripod or other equipment without having to remove the plate. The rounded bolt that locks into the holster can be mounted on the left or right of the plate. There is also a hex driver neatly tucked away on the side of the Pro2 Plate that can be used to attach the plate to the camera.

What I like

I simply love the SpiderPro belt and Holster. The comfort that allows me to wear it for long times, and the reliable security the locking mechanism provides, gives me a sense of safety and security with my rig when I move around during a photo shoot.
I own several photography gear belts and many of their manufacturers claim to be the best at comfort and security, but so far, none of them come close to the SpiderPro. The fact that it handles both short and long lenses with ease is a major plus.


What needs to be improved

The only improvement I would recommend for this belt and holster system is possibly for the redesign of the Velcro system that is built in to adjust the length of the belt. While it is very secure, I found it somewhat tedious to work with when I was adjusting the length of the belt, because it kept sticking together and I constantly had to pry it open again. It is important to note that this is not a flaw but rather just something I would like to see redesigned so that it is easier to work with.

Final Thoughts

I have searched for a long time to find a belt that works for me without it feeling uncomfortable and odd, especially on days when I must wear it for a long time. While the Spider Pro is not perfect, it is certainly one of the best I have tried and especially so at its price point. While anyone using the Spider Pro with a DSLR and a long lens still needs to be careful not to hit the lens against any external object, they will be hard-pressed to find fault with its design or the value that it offers.

Price: $150.00
Where to buy:Spider and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Spider Holster.

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Spider SpiderPro Single Camera System V2 camera holster review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 5, 2018 at 12:00 pm.

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The Promote Systems Promote Control puts you in complete control of your DSLR camera


Every so often, I surf around the internet looking for that luxury photo/video accessory that I don’t really need but would be a luxury to buy. While this practice can be fun, it can sometimes reveal items that are so expensive that relative to my budget, the experience can only be described as having “champagne tastes and Pepsi pockets”.

Recently I stumbled across the reasonably priced Promote Systems Promote Control which is an advanced all-in-one remote control for DSLR cameras. This remote control claims to be highly customizable to user preferences, and to be a replacement and extension of manufacturer-specific remote controls. Its specifications include an advanced Time-Lapse mode with optional sequence start delay, the ability to perform a fully automatic, user-defined, delay for Mirror lock-up before every picture is taken, and it can automatically put the camera into Bulb mode when performing bracketed exposures longer than 30 seconds. There are also many more features which are too many to list here.

Firmware upgrades can be performed via its USB interface and a PC, and it is powered by two AA batteries or via its external AC jack. The Promote Control is stated to be compatible with digital cameras supporting PTP/MTP protocol for controlling DSLR functions via USB.

If you would like to learn more about the Promote Systems Promote Control, or if you are convinced that you are ready to pick one up, you can head over to B&H Photo Video to check it out. The base package costs a mere $329.

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The Promote Systems Promote Control puts you in complete control of your DSLR camera originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 3, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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The Rotolight Neo 2 LED Light promises a bright future!


If you are a photographer like me and on a budget, and you have frequently experienced the frustration of feeling like no matter how much you spend your flash never seems to recycle fast enough, then you are not alone. Flash heads with amazingly good recycle times can cost a “ton” of money, and with all of the gear we always want to buy, it seems like the investment in a premier flash is never quite the best bang for the buck.

I was very excited to see the Rotolight Neo 2 LED light particularly because it boasts to be both a capable continuous light and a flash, with no recycle times, so you never miss a shot. Here are some more very impressive specifications from manufacturer’s website: “A built-in Elinchrom Skyport flash receiver delivers ultra-reliable wireless triggering (1/8000th) up to 200m (656ft)”.

The Rotolight has a variable color temperature of 3150K to 6300K, and an amazing CRI-Color Rendering Index of 96. It can be powered by 6 AAA batteries or a D-Tap battery or by AC. It is portable and very compact, and it also claims to have True Aperture Dimming and a CineSFX mode to automatically program various looks for creating certain effects in scenes.

The Rotolight Neo 2 LED Light seems like a great addition to a photo or video kit, and especially so for those like me seeking better flash recycle times. Since it can be used for both photo and video, it sure sounds like a winner. You can pick one up at Amazon or B&H Photo Video for $399.98.

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The Rotolight Neo 2 LED Light promises a bright future! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 2, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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This Monument is up to the task of managing your photos


In today’s technology-driven environment, there are so many solutions that are offered for storage and access to our documents and data. For photographers, storage space is always a challenge, and finding the right solution with the right redundancy to mitigate the risk of losing content remains a daily challenge. Most of us in the industry use a NAS – Network Attached Storage with mirrored drives to ensure the safekeeping of our photos and data. However, the task of identifying and storing content in the correct location with the correct category and other identifying information can also be a daunting one. While many automated solutions exist, I could not help but notice a simple device that I came across a few days ago that likely has a place in my workflow.

Monument is a simple network device that allows you to plug in a hard drive with a storage capacity of your own choice, and it also allows you to plug a USB drive as a secondary drive for automatic backups. According to the company, “Monument’s Artificial Intelligence analyzes and organizes your photos by date, location, camera type, faces, and what’s in them; even if you have not tagged them before”. While this type of storage solution may not seem robust enough for the professional photographer, it can certainly work as a short-term storage solution for photos that need to be edited or shared right away.

If you take some quick photos on your phone, they are automatically transferred to the Monument device as soon as your phone connects to the same network. The device has both a gigabit Ethernet port and wifi built in and an SD card slot to accept your memory card from your camera. Even professional photographers have the need to share photos with their family members at home, and this device accomplishes that task as well since everyone on the same network can have an account and access to the content.

If you would like to give Monument a try, you can purchase one on their website or on Amazon for $169.99

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This Monument is up to the task of managing your photos originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 31, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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