The Phoblographer

“I had no idea what it would lead to,” says Aaron Parke of Camerakote about the first time he attempted to customise his beloved Spotmatic with a new coat of paint. What started as a personal project to spruce up his camera has now turned into something that has gotten him a steady stream of clients. He’s not the only one doing this in recent times. I spoke to three customisation experts specialising in giving old cameras a brand new look by overhauling their exterior. The personalisation possibilities are endless once you realise what these specialists are capable of doing to turn your beloved camera into a one-of-a-kind collectable. What’s amazing is that I contacted each of the three independently, but it turns out they’re all quite well connected with one another.

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When I began growing my vintage camera collection about six years ago, one of the cameras I couldn’t easily find back then was a working Polaroid SX-70. Some months later, I stumbled upon a working one on eBay for a half-decent price. However, upon closer inspection, I realised it wasn’t in the best cosmetic condition. The leather was peeling off many places, and a few corners needed a decent polishing. There really aren’t any stores in Dubai that could fix this, so I set about trying to find places online for a solution. And there it was on the 3rd page of the google search results – DIY cutout leather for my SX-70. Two weeks and some painful yanking off of the original tarnished leather, and my SX-70 looks like it came straight out of the factory.

I doubt I’d ever attempt anything more complicated than a reskin to give my beloved cameras a new look. Instead, I’d send my cameras to any of the below-mentioned companies if I ever wanted to revamp them. They don’t just re-skin, they repair and repaint your prized camera to showroom or possibly better condition. Got a colour you have in mind for a repaint? Chances are one of them has a very creative version of it. Want to add some unique texture? They’ve got the right tools for it. And from the conversations I’ve had with them, it’s pretty clear that your camera is in safe hands. They love what they do, and the pieces they present make you wonder why camera manufacturers aren’t this imaginative when it comes to colours and finishings.

Who are these expert customisers? Where did it all start?

Marc fell in love with photography at a young age.

Shueido Camera is the company’s name, and its founder Marc discovered photography when he was in high school. He started the company soon after that, in 2003, and began by selling used camera equipment. Shueido Camera is based in Taiwan with a studio in Japan. And producing high quality, visually distinct refurbishing and painting are what they specialise in.

Shueido’s camera customisation is probably the most unique that I’ve seen. It’s not just in the different styles of paints they have. They also have some interesting methods of finishing off the bodywork. Hammertone (seen in the picture above), Brassing, and Accenting are just a few of the finishes they offer.

He used to paint cars expertly. Now, he’s moved those skills onto cameras.

“In terms of applying liquids to a solid surface, there isn’t a lot I don’t know,” says Aaron Cooke confidently. “I was trained by a ‘Coach Painter’ a technician whose brush paintwork was like sheet glass. His attention to preparation details included greasing himself up for some of the higher-end jobs to avoid even a flake of skin departing from him and landing on the job.”

“I’m someone who enjoys capturing images, the process of composing and taking a photograph and believe I have a good eye. I am, however, far from what anyone would consider a professional. I am a qualified Mental Health Nurse, an Independent Prescriber and have worked in this profession for the last 18 years. Prior to this, I spent a good 20 years working in the mo...

If you’re bored and looking to shoot something completely new, we’ve got a simple challenge for you. Shoot low! No, we’re not talking about low-light. And we’re not necessarily talking about low shutter speeds. Instead, we mean that you should change your perspective. And if you’re a Sony shooter, you’re in luck. There’s a lens that has this perspective unlike anything else out there: the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD.

This piece is presented in partnership with TAMRON. We’ve independently and ethically reviewed the products in this post already without sponsorship. And we worked with Tamron to recommend these gems to you.

Gear Used in This Post

Sony a6600

Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD ($799 right now)

This lens lets us shoot in aperture priority, a high ISO, and what I like to call “set it and forget it” mode. This way you can keep focused on just shooting and creating cool photos.

Why Shoot Low?

There are tons of great reasons to shoot low. If you shoot fashion photography or photograph dogs, you’re probably familiar with it already. Shooting low gives you a completely different perspective and something fascinatingly distinct than what we get from eye-level. It’s not always easy to get up high to photograph things, but it is much easier for us to get low! Most photos that we see are shot at eye-level. Those photos are typically emotionally motivated and focused a whole lot on the moment. When you shoot low, you create your own moment each and every time. You’re giving your viewers a glimpse into a perspective not often seen.

With a camera like the Sony a6600, you’ve got a flip screen that lets you shoot from below pretty easily. Using the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD, you can get an entire range of images at f2.8 easily. Here are just a few ideas:

Shooting low and looking up at your dog or cat

Shooting low from your plants

A low perspective on food, books, or other random objects

Shooting low with portraiture essentially makes us look up to a person

Photographing specific sections of buildings from down low is like focusing on abstract details with landscape photography

More importantly, shooting low lets you stay connected to the subject matter. When you put your eye in the viewfinder, you’re choosing to focus intently on what you’re looking at. But when you use the screen, you’re looking at a whole lot more.

Shooting Wide and Low with the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD

Using a lens like the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD lets you get really wide while also getting very low. Throughout the entire range, you’ll get a constant f2.8 aperture. What’s really cool and very unique about shooting low and wide is how the perspective shifts. Wide-angle lenses these days have what’s called perspective distortion that you get when you’re very close to a subject. The Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD focuses just under 8 inches away. Combine that with shooting really wide, and you’ll get some very cool photos. Around the corners, the wide-angle lens will bring things closer into the center. At the same time, it will offer special “pop” in the colors.

Here’s another tip: think simple. When you look up, you’re bound to see the sky. Give your subject a background that’s distraction-free. Sometimes this may mean overexposing to blow out the background.

Because you’re focusing really closely, you’ll also probably get very little of the scene in focus and a lot of bokeh. Stop the lens down! This will make sure your subject is totally in focus if you want that effect. Always remember that your lens has an aperture setting!

The Long End of the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD

Using the telephoto end of a lens like the Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD, you can focus on details and amusing compositions. Landscape photographers tend to do this with telephoto lenses. They work to photograph more abstract things in nature. The Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 Di III-A VC RXD lets you do the same exact thing at the longer ...

“‘You should take my picture sometime,’” photographer Mark DePaola recounts a model saying to him during his story of how he really got into photography. “We made a plan for her to come over to shoot and eventually photographed. As I was shooting, I realized that photography was an extremely powerful medium.” Mark’s story is the idol of many photographers. He’s a purist who refuses to do any retouching or post-production. He shoots editorials for Gucci, McQueen, Miyake, VOGUE, and others. He’s also got a brand new 402-page monograph called Five Years and Sixty Seconds. But more than anything, Mark focuses on creating. We talked with him about his philosophy on shooting, why he doesn’t shoot with a flash, and his photography methods.

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This blog post is presented by Leica. All images are being used with permission from Mark DePaola. Be sure to check out his website and Instagram.

The Essential Camera Gear of Mark DePaola

Leica M-P (typ 240)

Leica M Monochrom (typ 246)

Leica M7

Leica SL2-S

Leica Cine 50mm f0.95 Noctilux

Leica 50mm f1.2 Noctilux

Leica 35mm f2 Summicron-M

Leica 35mm f2 Summicron-M ASPH

“I am a Leica M shooter at heart. I’ve been shooting the M camera since I was twelve years old. I currently shoot the Leica MP240 for its’ exquisite color sensor, the M246 Monochrome “Your Mark”, and the M7. I also have recently loved shooting the SL2-S for much of my commercial work and portraiture sessions. The dynamic range I can achieve particularly in the shadows and for darker exposures is remarkable. For optics, I am a 50mm shooter. I shoot the f0.95 Leitz Cine 50mm Noctilux, the new 1.2 Noctilux, the 35mm 8-element Summicron, and the 35mm Summicron ASPH 2. My lenses never come off of wide-open aperture.”

Tell us about the first moment you fell in love with photography.

Mark DePaola: That’s a great question. I grew up shooting as a kid because my family was in the business. My father Alessio (Alex) de Paola was one of the top photographers in New York at the time shooting magazine covers, REVLON, Diet Pepsi, and the jazz greats of the time like Billie Holiday and Judy Garland. His contemporaries and friends were Mr. Penn and Avedon. My mother was a model with Ford and my stepfather was a high-level creative director at an advertising agency during the mad men era.

Taking pictures was a part of my family culture and was innate to me. However, I did not fall in love with photography or have that moment when I knew this is who I would be in my life, until I was 12.

Just after I had saved up enough money, and with an M3 on my shoulder, I was at a newsstand looking through the current fashion magazines of the time. A young girl my age came up behind me and asked, “Are you a photographer?” I turned around. She was a beautiful redheaded girl. I said, “Yes.” She replied, “You should take my picture sometime.” She ran off.

We made a plan for her to come over to shoot and eventually photographed. As I was shooting I realized that photography was an extremely powerful medium. I could actually have a piece of someone in memory through my own unique perspective. I fell in love with photography.

Some photographers delve into photographing all sorts of things. But you’ve specifically focused on people. What made you want to photograph people?

Mark DePaola: Early on in my development as a young boy I discovered that the camera was my way of connecting with people and a conduit to learn another’s story. I am actually a very shy person inside although it may not seem like it. The camera is a seamless introduction to meet new people and to capture some part of them.

Your work is a combination of fine art, editorial, and fashion. But obviously, at the end of the day, it’s all “Mark DePaola.” When we look at Picasso’s work, we know those pieces are his because they were obviously part of his identity. What do you think makes for a Mark DeP...

I’ve had my fair share of airline baggage horror stories. I was once on an island for a week with no luggage and only a Kmart to clothe myself with because my bag had literally ripped into two pieces. (I know, it’s no Tom Hanks Castaway story, but it is true). Since then, hard cases have always appealed to me for air travel. But, the most durable of cases typically don’t have smaller pockets for personal items or even a place to stash a laptop or tripod. That’s why the launch of Manfrotto’s new Pro Light Tough series caught my attention. The Manfrotto Pro Light Tough 55 case can pair with an add-on laptop sleeve, tripod case, or even a backpack harness system.

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The Manfrotto Pro Light Tough 55 is a hard case that’s designed to fit within the carry-on restrictions of most airlines. (As always, check before you fly.) It has a roller system and a grab handle. But, if that’s not your style, the line of add-ons can even convert it into a backpack. So can a few add-on accessories lessen the negatives of a hard case — like the lack of extra storage and inability to carry hands-free? I tested the Manfrotto Pro Light Tough 55 — with three accessories — to find out.

Table of Contents

Too Long, Didn’t Read.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used

Innovations

Tech Specs

Ergonomics

The Manfrotto Pro Light Tough Harness System

The Manfrotto Pro Light Laptop Sleeve

The Manfrotto Pro light Tough Tripod Bag

Build Quality

Ease of Use

Pre-Cubed Foam vs. adjustable dividers

Conclusions

Likes

Dislikes

Too Long, Didn’t Read.

If you want the protection of a hard case, but hate the lack of room for a laptop or tripod, the Manfrotto Pro Light Tough 55 is an excellent option. This carry-on-sized hard roller can be paired with accessories to add on a laptop, tripod, or even backpack straps. Be careful though, the accessories may put it over the carry-on dimensions.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Very durable and waterproof

Versatile, with the purchase of add-on accessories

Lots of room

Rolls smoothly

Available with dividers or cubed foam

Cons

Pricey

Handle takes two hands to unlock

Accessories push the case over the carry-on limit

Gear Used

The Manfrotto Pro Light Tough 55 comes in a few different versions — a high lid and a low lid, with cube foam or with adjustable padded dividers. I tested the high lid version with both the foam and adjustable dividers. I also tested three different accessories with the hard case: The Pro Light Tough tripod bag, the Pro Light Tough laptop case, and the Pro Light Tough Harness System. I filled the case with two Fujifilm X-T4s, the 50mm f1 R WR, the 90mm f2 WR, the 16-80mm f4, and the Flashpoint Zoom Li-Ion flash with a transmitter. I used my 15-inch 2015 Macbook Pro in the laptop sleeve and my Manfrotto BeFree travel tripod with level locks in the tripod case.

Innovations

Hard camera cases are not very hard to find at all. Where the innovation lies is actually with Manfrotto’s accessories. Hard cases typically don’t have space for a tripod, a laptop, or personal items. You can add that capability with the Pro Light Tough accessories, or even convert it into a backpack.

Tech Specs

Manfrotto lists the following specifications for the Pro Light Tough 55 (high lid, with foam insert):

Weight: 9.92 lbs

Internal Dimensions: 11.22 x 8.07 x 20.47 in

Camera Insert Dimensions: 10.24 x 5.51 x 19.68 in

External Dimensions: 13.78 x 8.86 x 21.65 in

Color: Black

Volume: 30 L

Tripod Connection: No

Material: Plastic

Number Of Lenses: 8

Storage For Personal Items: No

Types Of Gear: DSLR with grip, Foldable drone, Modular Camcorder, DSLR/mirrorless handheld gimbal

Type Of Bag: Roller

Water Repellent: Yes

Ergonomics

The Manfrotto Pro Light Tough 55 is a hard case that’s designed to meet carry-on dimensions. It’s a good mid-sized hard case that’s not too huge, yet still fits a good amount of gear. I had room to spare after adding two bodies, three m...

Go behind the lens of the Leica SL2 and SL2-S with cinematographer Bret Curry (@bretcurry) as he shares the influences, inspirations, and muses behind his visual journey with filmmaker and photographer, Nicholas Kalikow. “Bret Curry and I met in late 2018 and immediately found we shared a very similar set of influences and philosophies regarding cinema and photography,” explained Nicholas. “We quickly discovered that we were both drawn to Leica to create our visual stories, and have been collaborating on various projects shot on Leica cameras and lenses ever since. When the SL2-S came out I was absolutely smitten, Bret told me that if I wanted to buy the SL2-S, he’d happily take the SL2 off my hands. We took a few minutes before shooting our ‘NEBULA’ project to talk cameras.”

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Nicholas: You were known as the Q photographer, what has SL2 given you that Q could not?Bret: I shot with my original Q daily for over 5 years. In my opinion, there is no more perfectly designed camera, particularly for someone like me who feels most at home shooting a 28mm and considers a 50mm to be telephoto. Most of the time – and this is what I recommend to people – I shoot the Q spot AF, auto ISO capped at 1600, and at f1.7 (unless I need to stop down for some creative purpose). Obviously, there are a hundred different ways you could shoot with the Q but this is my favorite. With the Leica Q, the level of quality you get in relation to the low amount of effort spoils you.

I did however desire the versatility of the SL2 system, especially as my work has evolved to 50/50 film and motion. I was especially sold on switching once I used the APO Summicron SL lenses. That being said, the daily lens I keep on my SL2 is a 28mm Summilux-M – so I basically put together an interchangeable lens Q for myself. Some habits die hard.

Nicholas: Tell me about how you use the SL2 and SL2-S for motion work and how you build out the camera to fit comfortably on a film set.

Bret: The first thing I have to mention is how purposefully designed the SL2 and SL2-S are for someone who shoots both stills and motion work on the same project. You can switch between the stills and video mode through the quick menu screen and their individual settings are maintained. That is huge, particularly when you most often want a 180-degree shutter, consistent ISO, and color temp while shooting motion.

The great thing about the SL2 and SL2-S is that you can treat them the way you treat any other high-end digital cinema camera – essentially as a sturdy box with a sensor, lens mount, and a few intuitive buttons that blend into the background and melds seamlessly with industry-standard camera accessories. I utilize the Lock Circle Full Metal Jacket 2 cage to surround the camera with mounting points and a rod system and build out the camera the same way I would with any other cinema camera. I output a very malleable log image to the Atomos Ninja V recording monitor, although in-body recording also gets you a fantastic quality. The camera, monitor, and wireless accessories are all powered by one battery mounted at the end of the rod system. Pressing the record button on the camera triggers recording to the monitor as well. Everything you would expect out of a typical cinema camera – and certainly much more straightforward than most DSLR-based rigs I’ve used in the past.

Nicholas: What considerations do you make when choosing the SL2 vs. the SL2-S for a given project?

Bret: The natural decision, if you have the option, is to shoot the SL2 for stills and the SL2-S for motion. I think that applies most of the time, although the SL2-S excels in uncontrolled low-light scenarios and the SL2 shines in lit or controlled environments. There is a reason for both cameras to exist side-by-side, but you would be well served by either in almost any situation. The Venn diagram of these two bodies would s...

Fact: art inspires art. It’s true! When we featured photographer Tarryn Goldman a while back, you folks adored her work. And today, she’s back with something else. She’s done a series called “Submerged” where she drew inspiration from things that are, well, submerged! Playing with water in photos is always fun. But when you add things like ink, creative freedom, and light to them, they become something different. We asked Tarryn to be part of our Creating the Photograph series to show you how she did it!

Creating the Photograph is an original series where photographers share how they created an image with lighting and minimal post-production use. The series has a heavy emphasis on teaching how to light. Want to be featured? Here’s how to submit.

Table of Contents

The Concept

The Gear

The Shoot

Post-Production

Final Photos

Before Editing

After Editing

Photos from Submerged by Tarryn Goldman

The Concept

Ever since I started photography I have always loved those images of submerged things like fruit or hands, punching through the water. They always look so crisp! I recently found an old fish tank at a second-hand store and I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a try. My idea was to have paint or ink floating through the water but I also wanted to have something to let the paint swirl around, that’s where the flowers come in. Once I had figured out the right consistency for the paint through trial and error, the games began.

The Gear

Fuji XT2

Zeiss 32mm f1.8 Touit

Godox AD200 X 2

Godox T2 trigger

White umbrella

Foldup beauty dish modifier.

The Shoot

During the shoot, it was just basically trial and error. I was trying a whole bunch of different things submerged underwater and different colors of paint. Once I felt like I had the lighting right, I was just having fun. There are a few tips I can pass on if you are interested in recreating this image.

1. Try to find the smallest fish tank you can. It takes a lot of water to fill it up and then every time you take one shot with the paint, you have to empty it and refill it again. I ended up having a big bucket next to me where I could pour out the dirty water and I used that as secondary water for my garden. You just have to let the paint settle on the bottom before you use it.

2. Rather than having a gazillion different colors of paint concentrate on the tones of paint. I really found that the greatest impact for contrast tended to be the paints with a very different tone to my flower.

3. If the glare on the side of the tank is throwing you, just move your light around a little. It’s also pretty straightforward to take care of in post.

4. Lay a towel down when you work. No matter how hard you try, you WILL land up with water on the floor.

Post-Production

There really isn’t much to do in post. I generally clean up the image, so any little specs on the glass that the camera picks up, or any little air bubbles that look out of place. Then because of the glare from the light on the glass, I like to darken the image using curves. And then I crop the image to a square because I think it makes the most sense aesthetically. And that’s it. It’s pretty straightforward.

Final Photos

Before Editing

After Editing

All images by Tarryn Goldman. Used with permission. Be sure to check out her website and her Instagram.

Photos from Submerged by Tarryn Goldman

The perfect lens for travel photography is obviously the one that you’ve got with you. But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a wide-angle lens when photographing during your travels. In the majority of cases, it will do everything you need when you’re visitng big cities. Cities are much different than the suburbs and rural areas in that they bring everything close to you. So to take that all in, you’ll need a wide-angle lens like a Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD. We’re going to go through a bunch of things for anyone picking up their first new lens and bringing it with them on a trip!

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This blog post is presented in partnership with TAMRON!

Table of Contents

Why You Need a Wide Angle Lens

Get High, and Get Low

What To Do About Lines

Two Different White Balances

Use the Water

Sunlight Hits Differently in Cities

Shooting at Night in Big Cities

Why You Need a Wide Angle Lens

There isn’t much that a wide-angle lens can’t do when combined with a high megapixel camera body. Over the years, we’ve used the Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD many times. If you’re a Sony shooter, it’s seriously one of the best wide-angle lenses you could get your hands on. We’re not going to spend the entire article hyping this lens up, so here are a few reasons why the Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD is so great:

Small: it’s nearly 3 inches by 4 inches.

Lightweight: it’s not much heavier than a standard American can of soda.

Weather sealing: We’ve taken this lens into some dusty and rainy conditions over the years and it’s always kept working.

Autofocus: Tamron’s RXD motor is fast, quiet, and precise.

Image quality: Tamron has always had some pretty unique colors that give each lens nice character.

Price: at the time of writing this article, it’s going for only $799 after $100 Holiday Instant Savings.

All of these combine to make the Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 Di III RXD great for cityscapes. It’s seriously in the running to be the perfect lens for travel photography.

Oh yeah, and it controls distortion and other traditional flaws pretty well, too! But more than that, and to the point of this section, cities are sprawling, vast areas. You can often look around and notice something different in every single direction. To make better sense of it all, a wide-angle lens can take all that in. With a zoom like this Tamron lens, you can also get to a nearly normal angle of view at 28mm on the long end.

Now I’ll rattle off a few reasons why Wide Angle lenses are so great for cities and travel photography:

They can be the only lens you need because they’re so versatile.

They can take in entire scenes.

They provide a completely refreshing perspective.

Our staff has some of our most fun using wide-angle lenses.

Because they’re so wide, you can shoot at a slower shutter speed with them, which makes them great day to night lenses. This is how the reciprocal rule of shutter speeds works, and then couple that with the image stabilization built into Sony cameras.

Cities can be really wonderful places to photograph during inclement weather. (Think of all the beautiful scenes you’ve seen of New York in the snow!) Wide-angle lenses help you capture vast, snow-covered areas very well; especially if they’re weather sealed.

Now let’s dive deeper into a few more tips!

Get High, and Get Low

Cities have multiple levels. It’s hard to get high or low with landscapes unless you’re in the mountains or have a drone. But that’s a different story with cities. You can get to a higher building easily and have a great view! This is yet another reason why wide angle lenses are the perfect lens for travel photography! You’ll capture a whole lot in a single shot. You can’t do that with a telephoto lens. And if you want to zoom in on the details, you can do it in post-production!

Pro Tip: When all else fails, shoot at a low-angle and slow the shutter speed down. You’ll capture the frenet...

I’m going to preface this post by saying that none of the established manufacturers are making bad camera bags. We’d know; we’ve reviewed the most of any photography publication. Just take a look at all our camera bag reviews! The bags are all varying degrees of mediocre to good, but none of them are truly awful. Even if they can’t be used as camera bags, they can be used for something else. But the modern camera bag industry has a big problem.

I’m going to partially credit the idea for this post to my friend, Michael. One day, Michael said that there were too many camera bag manufacturers. And I agree with this. Michael specified that there are so many camera bags, but camera brands are making fewer and fewer cameras these days. While the camera industry shrunk, the camera bag industry grew.

How does that make sense? Honestly, I don’t know. But I’m pretty sure it has something to do with Kickstarter. Brands have been using Kickstarter for years to fund their products. This helps brands that otherwise might not have made it to market have a fighting chance. And that’s great for them. The newer camera brands have done some innovative things that have changed the photo industry. Without them, the camera bag industry would be incredibly plain–more so than even vanilla. It would be plain like Greek yogurt.

So why is this a problem? Well, it’s becoming tougher for things to become more unique. The problem was already plaguing the camera world. But in the camera bag industry, manufacturers copy one another in some ways all the time. Some stand out from others through materials. Some have pretty different and innovative designs.

I think you get the point.

What do we do about it? This is a tough question. There are only a few types of bags that make sense in the camera bag industry: backpacks, slings, messenger bags, duffels, and roller bags. I haven’t seen a lot of totes do a fantastic job at being camera bags. But I did some research into what types of bags could work.

The Bucket. A bucket bag is sort of like a giant lens cloth. Just imagine one with dividers in there. It wouldn’t need to hold a laptop, but it could work as a messenger bag or sling style bag.

Randoseru. A special type of backpack with quick access. Plus, there’s a hard front shell. Who wouldn’t want this?

Battle Bag: From the same website as above, these could be modified with the right know-how. I tried to years ago, but I failed.

Guitar bag: I used to carry guitars and basses with me. They were awesome. But creating a larger bag that could hold lenses, cameras, lights, etc, could be pretty awesome if it would have a definitive shape.

Further, lots of brands don’t use materials like canvas and leather because they feel they’re too heavy. But with the right design and support, they can work much better. Most camera bags are made from nylon. In recent years, other materials have come up. What about hemp? Or why not silk? Or how about recycled scarf materials like wool and cashmere?

I think brands need to try new things.

On this week’s episode of Inside The Photographer’s Mind, EIC Chris Gampat joins us to discuss all things photography!

We’re covering Tamron, Fujifilm, Leica, Canon, and more! Plus we’ll share more details about our application for iOS, iPadOS, and Android.

Press play and enjoy! Also, don’t forget to subscribe, share, like, and comment.

Every now and again, we make mistakes. Most of the time though, we don’t. And with some of the reviews, we’ve done on Billingham camera bags, we got the materials wrong. The Phoblographer, for 12 years, has really done the most extensive review coverage of the camera bag world. Indeed, lots of folks tell us that we honestly have the best. So indeed, we take these very seriously. We invite you to take a look below and see what updates we’ve made.

Some photographers, quite transparently, wouldn’t bat an eye at this update. But we take this very seriously. And I’m penning a specific news post on this because it happened across a category of camera bags. This all started when we published our Billingham Hadley Large Pro review. We mistakenly said that the materials were canvas. Reviewer Brittany Smith and I both agreed that it was made from similar materials as the Hadley Pro 2020. To that end, we both concluded that it was canvas as we both have reviewed a lot of camera bags. Indeed, if you didn’t know any better, any photographer would say that they’re made from canvas and leather. But in fact, we were wrong about this and a few other products.

Our Billingham rep got in touch with us to offer a correction. Truth be told, even they admitted that it’s confusing. To the touch, Billingham bags feel like canvas and leather. They even look like it. But not all of them are canvas. It reminds me almost of what Canon did years ago with the Canon AE-1. Lots of folks think that camera is made of metal. But instead, it’s a plastic that’s designed to look and feel like metal.

Here’s what our rep said:

Our Sage is always FibreNyte. Navy, Grey and Burgundy is always Canvas. Black and Khaki can either be Canvas or FibreNyte. Sorry I know it’s confusing!

Looking at the bags that you have reviewed for us:

Mini Eventer – Black FibreNyteHadley One – Navy CanvasHadley Small Pro – Grey CanvasHadley Pro 2020 – Khaki FibreNyteAVEA End Pockets – Khaki Canvas35 Rucksack – Black CanvasF1.4 – Black Canvas

And there you have it! You’re probably wondering why we didn’t just check the materials, to begin with when doing our reviews? Well, it’s because that for years, we were just that sure of it. Others might’ve checked it because they’re so new and don’t have the vast database of camera bag reviews that we do. Literally, we have over 172 camera bag reviews. To put this into more perspective, I’d like you to think about the differences and similarities in the following situations;

Beef vs Buffalo vs Yak consumption: If you didn’t know any better, you could easily say that Buffalo is probably grass fed beef. To that end, you could say that Yak is a buttery form of beef. But if you weren’t told the difference, you’d probably blame it all on the seasonings and way it was cooked. Meanwhile, the stark difference between beef and lamb shoulder is synonamous with canvas and nylon.

Single Malt Whiskey vs Indian Dessert Whiskey vs Bourbon: Some single malt whiskeys taste like a bourbon. Some Indian whiskies taste like a bourbon as well. And if you had to do a blind taste test, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Let’s not even get into wine. I’m not sure how many people would be able to tell the differnece between Cabernet and Malbec just by taste.

Kitten fur vs rabbit fur: In most blind situations, I doubt most folks would be able to tell the difference between well groomed kittne fur vs rabbit fur. It isn’t as stark a difference as say cashmere vs wool.

For the record as well, this really only applies to three reviews we’ve done. Billingham has some canvas bags for sure. But the two are incredibly difficult to tell apart.