In our December 2019 issue, we highlighted some key products you can see at WPPI’s trade show (Feb. 25-27), including the Westcott FJ400 Strobe and new primes from Tamron for Sony E-mount full-frame cameras, among others. Here is the second wave of items you will definitely want to check out and test at the show.

Canon E0S-1 DX Mark III

Geared towards weddings, events, portraiture and sports, this camera definitely brings the most out of the opportunities that the larger body of a DSLR has to offer over mirrorless. For tethered shooting and remote-control access, the new design adds internal Wi-Fi and an Ethernet output with twice the image transfer rates over the EOS-1 D X Mark II. The EOS-1 DX Mark III has also been given an A.I. deep-learning library of tracking information and other autofocus enhancements to achieve an incredible 20 fps burst rate with full AF/AE in the Live View, plus an improved 16 fps through the optical viewfinder. 

Price: $6,499

usa.canon.com

Hold Fast Gear’s New Bags and Straps

The new, sleek line of attachable leather (and a few vegan) bags and camera straps from Hold Fast Gear is centered around the company’s Sightseer backpacks and cases. With pouches and straps that can be attached for extra cameras and accessories, the system starts with the very affordable Belt Anchor to attach a single camera to any belt. To wear two or three cameras on the body, the Belt Anchor can also be used with the Hold Fast Gear Money Maker harness of multi-camera body straps.

Prices: Start at $25

holdfastgear.com

Air Direct Wireless Transmitter

The latest from Tether Tools is, ironically, mostly non-tethered. Routing from the camera via a single USB-C cable, the Air Direct is a wireless transmitter with 200 feet of range that creates its own Wi-Fi network to send images to a computer or a mobile device in full RAW with simultaneous JPEG. It fits to the hot-shoe of the camera or adaptor brackets and is compatible out of the box with most popular cameras and software that can shoot tethered.

Price: $329

tethertools.com

Think Tank Bags and Cases

There have been four new camera bags released by Think Tank since September alone. The latest is their fourth cotton-canvas shoulder bag, the Retrospective 4 V2.0, smallest in the line to fit a rangefinder, mirrorless camera or standard sized DSLR. The affordable Urban Access Sling 8 and Urban Access Sling 10 models have “Slings Both Ways technology” to carry the sling to either the right or to the left. On the larger side for longer travels, the Airport Advantage XT is a rolling case that fit two gripped DSLR bodies, several lenses, 17-inch laptop and 10-inch tablet. 

Prices: $99 (Retrospective 4 V2.0), $99 Urban Access Sling 8), $109 (Urban Access Sling 10) and $299 (Airport Advantage XT)

thinktankphoto.com

Zeiss Otus 100mm f/1.4

The ZEISS Otus 100mm f/1.4 is a beautiful piece of glass for working with people and portraits. The angle of view gives compression that is flattering to human features while the shallow focus provides a subtle, but notable, degree of separation between foreground subjects and any background bokeh. The telephoto focal length is available for Canon EF and Nikon F DSLR mounts.

Price: $4,990

zeiss.com

Sigma’s 135mm f/1.8 DG HSN Art Lens

For Canon, Nikon, Sony and the new L-Mount of mirrorless cameras from Leica, Panasonic and Sigma themselves, this is a fast lens that will cover both full-frame and APS-C. As a solution for portraiture, the aperture is also bright at f/1.8, and also ideal for low light work.

Price: $1,399

sigmaphoto.com

Nikon’s D780

The full-frame D780 camera is the first DSLR to hit the market from Nikon since its D3500 camera announced in August of 2018. With nearly the same body as the company’s popular D750 camera, Nikon has removed the internal flash to incorporate powerful new image processing and a completely new 273-point phase-detection autofocusing system that covers 90 percent of the Live View screen during video. Shutter sync has been increased to 1/8000th of a second for flash photography.

Price: $2,299

nikonusa.com

Tamron’s 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD

This is a good all-in-one zoom model that starts at the wide angle for event and group portraiture and extends all the way to the telephoto for portraits and close-ups from a distance. (As the second lens in Tamron’s trilogy of bright Sony E-mount lenses, the third, the still unpriced Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 Di III VXD, will be available this spring. Tamron says that there is likely to be a demo of that model on display during WPPI, as well.)

Price: $879

tamron-usa.com

My Passport Drives from WD

Starting at a price point below $100, the My Passport and My Passport for Mac Drives from WD are their slimmest 5TB portable drives. At 0.75 inches in thickness, they are also durable and rugged for transport. Internally, WD provides the WD Drive Utilities and WD Security software with password protection and 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption to protect and restore files. 

Prices: Start at $79

westerndigital.com

Related:
The Must-See, Can’t-Miss photo Gear at WPPI 2020

WPPI 2020: Navigating Your Way Through