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Supporting Stars - part 3 of 1 2 3 4 5

Published 01/08/2011

"This lens is a great 'all-rounder' so is a really handy addition to any photographer's bag," enthuses Kenro MD Paul Kench, who is also keen to flag up "a heavyweight lens at a medium weight cost" in the Tokina AT-X 16-28mm f/2.8 PRO FX, the first in its new generation of full-frame 'FX' lenses designed for pro DSLRs.

Available for Canon or Nikon mounts, the 16-28mm retails for a suggested £1,072 and uses Tokina's innovative one-touch focus clutch mechanism that allows photographers to switch between AF and MF simply by snapping the focus ring forward (for AF) and back toward the camera for MF.

Canon meanwhile is rather keen on its EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM as "a really key lens for SWPP'ers" from among the 60+ EF series options. Though a sizeable investment at £2,799.99, a handful of commissions later and the optic with a durable design and fourstop image stabiliser will have paid for itself.

Thanks to a virtually circular aperture diaphragm, out-of-focus regions have a softer, more uniform feel while sharp foreground objects stand out against a smooth blurred background. The fast constant maximum aperture of f/2.8 enables hand held shooting in low light as well as control over depth of field. Moreover, for surreptitious shooting and candid portraits the USM motor comes in handy with its near silent AF operation.

Arch rival Nikon meanwhile has three lenses aimed at SWPP members. These are the AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED wide-angle lens with ultra fast aperture and opportunity for shallow depth of field effects, the AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G, a fast aperture medium telephoto for portrait/fashion photographers, and the multi purpose 'walkabout' AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR aimed at FX format Nikon users and featuring an almost 11x optical zoom ratio. Suggested pricing? It's £1,990.99, £1,531.99 and £888.99 respectively.

Bags of gear

Intro2020 is also UK distributor for Tamrac and the funky Australian-made Crumpler bags, with the Tamrac Evolution and Raleigh series of bags flagged up as capable transporters. The latter are camera bags that don't overtly resemble camera bags, which will also hold a laptop.

"They tend to look more like lifestyle bags because they're narrower than the usual Tamrac shoulder bags," says Intro's Jane. "You can use them for a little bit of everything: your notebook, your iPad and your camera. The Evolution range has been around six months."

Daymen International, UK distributor for Lowepro, spotlights the Pro Roller x-series of bags as taking away 'hassle' for social photographers - or indeed any photographer - on the go. The Pro Roller Attache x50 features a twobags-in-one design sized to meet international carry-on requirements and can be used as a rolling attache with your complete camera kit and 14-inch laptop accessible from the front.

Alternatively the Reserve Shoulder Bag can be removed enabling it to be carried like a messenger-style bag.

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