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Posts Tagged ‘Halo’

Gear Review: The Lastolite Halo Compact Reflector

08 May

The post Gear Review: The Lastolite Halo Compact Reflector appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sean McCormack.

The Halo Compact is a new reflector/diffuser design from Lastolite (a Manfrotto company). In January, at The Societies Convention in London, I got a glimpse of the first batch on the Manfrotto stand. It looked great on display, and in the demo, it packed down really small. It was also attached to standard light stand fitting on display. As the owner of a few Lastolite products, I’m quite aware of how innovative they are, and that they do make quality products. Some of these are used day in and day out in the studio (e.g. the Hilite and the Triflector).

The Halo Compact on the Lastolite/Manfrotto stand at The Societies Convention.

Now I own a lot of reflectors. From large 5-in-1 disc reflectors to the already mentioned triflectors, to 6’X3’ frame reflectors; I even have a California Sunbounce. I’m not exactly in need of a new one, least of all something that’s well on the way to being €100 with shipping.

However, I was still interested in one major selling point – how compact it is when it is packed down. Seeing as I’d flown to the convention, I knew it would be a perfect travel reflector. I went to buy one. No luck. The small amount of stock that was in the shop at the convention was gone, so I left empty handed.

My next look at the Halo Compact in person was at The Photography Show in March. I happened to chat with one of the folks at the stand, and it turned out to be Matt Bailey. Matt had taken over from Gary Astil as a product designer, so we got chatting about the Halo, and how it solved quite a few problems.

Needless to say, I bought the diffuser version with the frame and a silver/white reflector cloth as well, to give me the best variety for shooting situations. I could have gotten the reflector with frame and the diffuser cloth if I preferred.

The Lastolite Halo Compact Reflector setup

The blue containing pouch

The Lastolite Halo Compact Reflector comes in a small, dark blue, zipped pouch. It has a carabiner to attach to a clips, belts or even belt loops. The material and finish are far better than the old royal blue material Lastolite formerly used, which tended to fray behind the zip, rendering the zip useless.

When you open the zip, it reveals what looks like a tent pole rods (but pre curled), and a fabric. You’ll also a find ¼” 20 screw back to back in the pouch so it can screw to a magic arm.

The rods are similar to tent pole, but curved.

You’ll find assembly is straightforward. Attach all the rods together. Finish the frame by pushing the two sides of the handle together in a kind of dove tail joint fashion.

The handle pushes together to make the frame rigid. It also houses a tripod fitting.

A quick glance at the handle and you’ll see the inbuilt ¼” 20 hole for a light stand in the handle. This is one of the great features of the Halo.

That’s it. It’s sturdy and firm.

To get either fabric on, you click a clip in place on either side of the handle and then clip them all on at even spacing around the frame.

The grip on the handle is great and I found it reasonably easy to hold outdoors, despite holding it in my left hand on my right side in the wind.

I’m not saying it’s not a kite, but it was far better than the floppy eBay reflector I’d used earlier that day.

Why do you need this?

So why would you bother with having this at all?

The answer is simple.

You want to have control of the light.

Here’s what undiffused evening sun looks like.

While it’s not as harsh as midday sun, it still has hard shadows and causing squinting.

By using the diffuser, the light is spread, making is softer.

Obviously it’s also lower in intensity, so you have to open your shutter to compensate.

Another typical way of shooting with evening sun is to use backlighting.

Here you can lose the direction of the light, but adding a silver reflector can bring back contrast and shape.

 

You could also opt for a more subtle white reflector.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Sturdy
  • Good modifier options with reflection and diffusion
  • Compact, perfect for travel
  • Reliable brand with known quality
  • Built in stand adaptor

Cons

  • Longer setup time than a popup
  • More expensive, but still not the most expensive

Conclusion

While a little on the expensive side compared to the eBay popups, the Lastolite Halo Compact Reflector is still an affordable product. Despite the longer setup time, I feel the compact pack means this product will live in or on my camera (via the carabiner) permanently, vs the pops that are left behind when I’m travelling more compactly.

I’ve included the downside of the price and longer setup time in my rating, but in truth, I’m delighted with this product.

Now to sell some of my other reflectors!

Have you used the Lastolite Halo Compact Reflector? What are your thoughts? Share with us and our readers in the comments below.

 

The post Gear Review: The Lastolite Halo Compact Reflector appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sean McCormack.


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Halo 2: Walkthrough – Ending [Final Mission] The Great Journey – Tartarus (Gameplay & Commentary)

06 Feb

Halo 2 Walkthrough: The Great Journey [Tartarus/Final Mission] Final Part of my Lets Play series from Halo 2 So there you have it guys, I have been on the biggest uploading spree I have ever been on over the last few days trying to get this series concluded before Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary, and Ive just about got it done in time. I want to thank you all for watching and supporting this series, its been fun. Combat Evolved anniversary Walkthrough starts tomorrow at 5-PM-7PM GMT see you there! Playlist: www.youtube.com Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com

 
 

Halo 2: Walkthrough – Part 9 [Mission 6] The Arbiter – Banshee Dog Fight (Gameplay & Commentary)

04 Feb

Halo 2 Walkthrough: The Arbiter [Mission 6] Part 9 of my Lets Play series from Halo 2 On I go to find the Herotic leader and taking names along the way with the Banshee. Expect to see two Episodes go live today so please don’t forget to check back on my Channel regularry so you dont miss them! As always please don’t forget to leave this video a Rating as due to the sub box issue the last Part wasn’t seen by many of you, can we get this to 30 ratings? Playlist – www.youtube.com Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
 

Halo 2: Walkthrough – Part 2 [Mission 3] Cairo Station (Gameplay & Commentary) Xbox 360

03 Feb

Halo 2 Walkthrough: Cairo Station [Mission 3] Part 2 of my Let’s Play series from Halo 2. This happens to be my favorite Mission in all of the Halo series mainly due to the awesome Cut Scene at the end of the Level. I am playing this series on the Xbox 360 hence why it seems it is upscaled into HD. Playlist – www.youtube.com Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com Extra Tags Paul B Halo Paul B Halo 2 Heroic Halo 2 Walkthrough Halo 2 Gameplay Halo 2 Mission 1 Halo 2 Story Halo 2 Master Chief The Covenant
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
 

Halo 2: Walkthrough – Part 8 [Mission 6] The Arbiter – How you no see me?(Gameplay & Commentary)

01 Feb

Halo 2 Walkthrough: The Arbiter [Mission 6] Part 8 of my Lets Play series from Halo 2 Me and my advernture with the solotary Grunt remaining from my Squad briefly continues! Let me know if you would like to see a Gears of? War 3 Walkthrough and whether you would watch it, I already have recorded a few Episodes of it so if you do want to see it expect it to launch on Monday! As always please don’t forget to leave this video a Rating! Playlist – www.youtube.com Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
 

Halo Combat Evolved: Walkthrough – Part 16 [Mission 7] The Library (Gameplay & Commentary)

01 Feb

Halo Combat Evolved Walkthrough: The Library – Mission 7 Part 16 of my Let’s Play series from Halo Combat Evolved This is going to be the last upload of this series for a couple of days now due to the fact I have uploaded 4 Episodes in three days, that is unless you guys want me to continue to release this on a daily basis? Let me know in the Comments. Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com Playlist – www.youtube.com

www.Berger-Bros.com Learn how to fine tune your camera’s metering. The camera doe NOT behave like your eye. The camera needs YOU to tell IT what to do. Every camera has a built in default metering mode, which is the way the camera sees the available light, and adjusts to that light. Yvonne Berger, an instructor with Berger Bros Camera in Amityville and Syosset Long Island, New York explains various metering modes, such as matrix and evaluative metering, center weight meter spot metering She explains when to use each type of metering depending on what type of photograph you are taking.

 
 

Halo Combat Evolved: Walkthrough – Part 3 [Mission 2] Halo (Gameplay/Commentary) Xbox 360

29 Jan

Halo Combat Evolved Walkthrough: Halo – Mission 2 This is Part 3 of my Let’s Play series from the Classic that is Halo Combat Evolved. I am currently working on a few exciting projects for my Channel that I am hoping to share with you all over the coming days/weeks, I hope you guys are enjoying this blast from the past in Halo Combat Evolved as this has been great fun to revisit and has brought back a load of great memories. Just to further reiterate I will be uploading this series on a day-to-day basis so keep checking back for more if you guys are enjoying this series. Lastly I would really appreciate if you guys could rate this video whatever you feel it deserves as a rating either way goes a long way! Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com Playlist- www.youtube.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
 

Halo Combat Evolved: Walkthrough – Part 9 [Mission 4] The Silent Cartographer (Gameplay/Commentary)

26 Jan

Halo Combat Evolved Walkthrough: The Silent Cartographer – Mission 4 Part 9 of my Let’s Play series from Halo Combat Evolved. I have Uploaded three Episodes in two days and will be Uploading the next Part either on the weekend or first thing Tuesday morning as I have a lot of exciting projects in the works and want to share some of them with you this week. As always I would really appreciate if you guys could rate this video whatever you feel it deserves as a rating either way goes a long way! Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com Playlist- www.youtube.com

 
 

Halo Combat Evolved: Walkthrough – Part 8 [Mission 4] The Silent Cartographer (Gameplay/Commentary)

26 Jan

Halo Combat Evolved Walkthrough: 4.The Silent Cartographer – Mission 4 Part 8 of my Let’s Play series from Halo Combat Evolved. My first double upload of the series so far! I decided to upload this a day early as the previous Episode that I just uploaded was a re-upload due to having to edit out some audio. Expect a 25 minute Episode tomorrow! I would really appreciate if you guys could rate this video whatever you feel it deserves as a rating either way goes a long way! Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com Playlist- www.youtube.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

 
 

Halo Combat Evolved: Walkthrough – Part 12 [Mission 5] Assault on The Control Room

24 Jan

Halo Combat Evolved Walkthrough: Assault on the Control Room – Mission 5 Part 12 of my Let’s Play series from Halo Combat Evolved This is the last Part I’m going to be uploading off this series for a couple of days, but expect a ton of uploads from this series starting Monday next week as I hope to conclude this fairly soon. As always I would really appreciate if you guys could rate this video what you feel it deserves as a rating either way goes a long way! Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com Playlist – www.youtube.com