I just got back from the PhotoPlus 2018 Expo. Whew! What a week! It started with my wife and I just flying up there for a couple of days and browsing around the show and maybe coming up with some new ideas for next year. Next thing I knew, I was teaching about 4 sessions at a day at various booths between Epson, Adobe and ON1, as well as a class for the PhotoPlus official track. Not to mention a few interviews as well. Needless to say it was crazy busy, but I’m super thankful to have all of those opportunities. The funny part is I thought the trip would be a nice break, but it turned out I needed a break from my break by the time I got home 😉
If you’ve never been, and you live in the northeast, I’d suggest giving it a try one year. I don’t go to many expos anymore, but this one has always been one of my favorites. Some one I met put it very well. It’s big enough that you get to see a lot of things and there’s enough diversity there to really get you motivated in many areas of photography. Yet it’s small enough that you can see everything, and see just about everyone as well.
Anyway, I thought I’d share a few of the fun/cool products I found walking around the expo floor. Now, all of these products are not necessarily new, but they’re things I wasn’t really aware of before. Also, I’m just giving you a quick top 5 here. As I get to use the products more, I’ll write more about how well they hold up, and how much I use them.
- Outex Waterproof Housings – these are waterproof camera housings for all size cameras that don’t totally break the bank and are super easy to work and travel with. They’ve got everything from Dome kits to underwater tethered solutions (yes, you read that right – underwater tethering!). (Click Here for More Info)
- Feisol – I did an interview with a couple of guys I met and they had their DSLR camera mounted to this Feisol monopod tripod thingee. I loved it! I can see so many uses for this. First, it was VERY steady. Next, it was super easy to move around and not have to fight with 3 legs going up and down constantly. The perfect combination of doing some quick video as well as some still shooting at the same time. I’m definitely going to be placing an order for one of these soon. (Click Here for More Info)
- Loupedeck – Loupedeck is something that I think the photo editing industry and community really needed. Basically… something new! We don’t see many new products coming out for the photo editing community that isn’t just software. Other than the usual color calibration devices (snore!), and Wacom tablets (which I do love), nothing new has really come out. This keyboard editing system changes that and it’s one of the best ones I’ve ever seen. It’s got so many ways to edit your photos and customizable keys which really add something to Lightroom considering LR won’t let us set our own keyboard shortcuts (in all fairness, neither will any of it’s competitors) 🙂 (Click Here for More Info)
- New Epson Paper – I taught 4 thirty-minute sessions at the Epson booth and got to spend some time there. I noticed that they just released a new paper called Legacy Textured. For those of you that like to blur the line between photography and paintings, this type of paper can fit right in. I saw some photos printed with it at the Epson booth and they definitely have that painterly look to them. (Click Here for More Info)
- Lumecube – Okay this is a tough one because I don’t have any physical web address to send you to yet. But Lumecube previewed a bunch of things at PPE. I’ve written about Lumecube before and I carry these little lights around with me everywhere. They’re always in my camera bag. Recently they previewed some new diffusion accessories as well as a snoot and barn door accessory for it. But… that’s not even the really big news. There’s something totally new coming that I think will open up Lumecube to even more people out there, but I can’t share it yet 🙁 Trust me though. As soon as I can, I’ll do a write up on it. And if you are interested in the Lumecubes, they’ve shared a coupon code with me that’ll get you 10% off (Code: MattK10)
(Click Here for More Info)
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Manfrotto has a “tripod” of feet available for their monopod It stores internal to provide stability to its monopod. I bought it several years ago. The added weight made it a difficult add and like the product above, a bit of wind and it loses it’s value
Hi Matt, in Capture One you can set 100’s of custom shortcut, in fact every menu and submenu is shortcut-able. You can also create and load multiple custom shortcut sets the same way you can create and load multiple custom workspaces.
Hey Matt! Love your blog! I have a random question: I just watched the B&H video you did from capture to print. I am doing more and more home printing on my P800, but I have a question about proofing. Why is it that in Lightroom you don’t use the “simulate paper and ink” option? It seems that it’s widely used but I trust your expertise and wanted to ask. Thanks!!
Hi. I don’t really have a reason for not using it. Never noticed much of a difference and, honestly, I don’t really ever soft proof so it’s not much of a benefit for me personally. I just let the printer bring the colors in to it’s gamut rather than doing it myself. Hope that helps.
Outex – Yuck. I bought 2 clear ones and used them earlier this year in the India Holi festival to keep paint out of my new Sony 7R3. By the third day, I just ditched it and used a RainX plastic shield. The Outex is nearly impossible to focus through, or compose through, or… shoot through. I was shooting blind almost all the time I had it on. The final test was looking at the final results — the Outex images were large discards because heads were cut off, or I missed the timing, or… just plain I was shooting blind!
I saw the Feisol at B&H a couple days ago. Interesting idea, but unfolding one told me it was a bad idea (or maybe good idea not implemented well?). Basically a monopod with some flimsy legs that get in the way more than they add real support. I will stick with a real tripod, or use a monopod, but this “tripod designed by committee” is a non-starter for me. (My Serui tripod lets me remove one leg and use it as a monopod, so I always have that option when entering a venue where a tripod is not viable).
Thanks for sharing Burt. Interesting about Outex. I know, and have personally seen several people use them and they LOVED it. I think I’m still going to try it out.
It’s too bad you didn’t have a good experience with Outex. I’ve been using it for about three years without any problems. Did you have debris on the front of the lens obstructing autofocus?
Have my Loupedeck+ since a few weeks now. It’s a great tool and makes editing photos with Lightroom so much more fun and even speeds up the workflow. I like the many physical knobs and wheels and the customisable buttons. I can feel that the Loupedeck+ has been designed by people who have edited many many images and put a lot of effort in designing this excellent tool.
I used the Palette Tools before for about six months, but I never really liked to work with them. Totally different with the Loupedeck+, I already miss it, when I’m travelling and do not carry it with me.