10 Best Camera and Video Accessories from PhotoPlus Expo
For those who believe there is life in cameras bigger than a smartphone, PhotoPlus Expo in New York City is the place to be in late October. Several hundred vendors show off all manner of accessories, services, add-ons, filters, tripods, strobes, and gadgets. Some are useful, some not, and some are variations on what we’ve seen before, such as better ways to bounce the light from an electronic flash off the wall or ceiling.
The front of the convention space holds monster booths from Canon, Nikon, Panasonic/Lumix, Pentax, and Sony. There and downstairs at the Javits Center are some 100 seminars (main photo) on taking better photos, processing images, and getting the best from your gear. Some of it even applies to smartphones. Here are 10 goods and services we especially liked from PPE 2018 for big cameras, action cameras such as GoPro, and smartphones.
Coolest gadget at PPE 2018: Platypod flat plate puts your camera or flash on the ground or a rock. Then just level it and fire away. Platypod Max, $99, 8 x 5 inches and 0.8 pounds, is for larger cameras; there's also Platypod Ultra, 5 x 3 inches and 0.2 pounds. Both very useful, both invented by NJ pediatrician and photo buff Larry Tiefenbaum.
Getty Images and sibling iStock were there looking for photogs to offer images to the site and pitching the quick approval process to become a paid (by the sale) contributor. Go to Getty Images, upload 3-6 photos, and hear back in a day or two.
Stabilize your smartphone with the Sirui Pocket, $40, a one-axis stabilizer with Bluetooth, a selfie-mirror, and three-level LED light. Sirui says the battery runs three hours.
Spider, maker of waist holsters for carrying big cameras, has a line of hand straps for mirrorless cameras (left) and larger DSLRs (right), in multiple colors. They're $40 to $75. Not cheap, but not going to break, either.
ThinkTank Photo is the go-to bagmaker for pro photogs and bloggers. The Retrospective 20 V2.0, 13 x 13 x 7, holds a camera with a 70-200mm f/2.8 attached (or 300mm f/2.8 unattached), a flash, a tablet, and a 12-inch laptop. $180.
Ultra-compact LED lights such as the Lytra Torch work with action cams, smartphones, even DSLRs. The $80 Torch (photo) is waterproof, outputs 100-800 lumens. The bigger LitraPro, $220, outputs to 1200 lumens, adjusts color temperature.
Showgoers marvel at the traditional styling of UK bagmaker Billingham, including its best-seller Hadley Pro, 14 x 12 x 5 inches, with room for a DSLR or mirrorless camera and 2-3 lenses / flashes. The fabric is a three-layer sandwich with waterproof rubber in the middle. Here, $250 in sage and chocolate.
Flash diffusers from MagMod clip to the top of your strobe and soften the light even if you don't bounce it off the ceiling. Left, MagBounce, $75, with required grip. Right, MagSphere diffuser, $100 in a starter kit with a diffuser, attachment band, and lighting grid.
The Charles Beseler Co. is still selling the iconic 23C III enlarger (left) for printmaking, $1,300 street. Beseler's challenge: Used, they're available for half that. Or less. Our family bought one used for less than $100.
Best-in-show that you can't buy: ThinkTank rolling bag with a one-off fabric great for on-location child-and-family shoots. "Everybody wants to know if they can buy one," said a rep. Can you? "Sorry, no."
One aisle of the show targeted virtual reality and AI, targeting what you can do to create immersive photos. On smartphones, it enables face recognition, adjustable background blur (variable f/stop), and 3D images that change as you finger-scroll on your camera, or with a pointing device.
Mark the calendar for the return of PPE, Oct. 24-26, 2019, again at the Javits Center.