On LensVid Talk 18 we discuss a whole host of products and news from the past month or so including our review of the Exascend Gecko Portable SSD the Accsoon TopRig S60 and the Falcam cage and accessories. Nikon RED acquisition, Leica SL3, and Fujifilm X100 VI, Laowa Nanomorph zoom anamorphic lenses, Sigma 500mm f/5.6, Sony Creator cloud upload, Panasonic Lumix 28-200mm, Shimbol 7″ monitor/recorder, Kessler CineShooter+, Hollyland Solidcom C1 Pro Double Ear Version and finally Blackview Oscal PowerMax 3600 Home Backup Power Rugged PowerStation.
Clarification: this LensVid Talk as well as the next one were recorded in early March 2024 but due to scheduling are only posted now.
Exascend Gecko Portable SSD Review (00:37)
The Exascend Gecko external SSD announced back in 2023 is the first SSD to arrive with a quick-release built-in to connect to camera cages and other accessories. We have tested the drive’s performance and discussed some of its features in our drive review, which you can find here.
Pricing starts at $170 for the 1TB and goes up to $1120 for the 8TB version.
The Exascend Gecko external SSD on a cage (sadly, Sony does not allow direct recording to SSD)
Accsoon TopRig S60 Review (04:25)
Accsoon specializes in wireless video transmission systems. We’ve reviewed their wireless follow-focus and mobile monitoring system in the past. And recently we reviewed the company’s first motorized camera slider.
The TopRig 60 is a 60cm slider and the company also has a smaller 40cm version, both can be powered from an NP-F battery, have an app, are very easy to control from the unit itself, and most importantly produce very smooth motion even at faster speeds.
You can check out our full review here.
As for pricing, the Toprig S60 slider costs $400, and the shorter S40 is $350.
The Accsoon TopRig S60
Falcam cage and accessories Review (10:42)
Falcam has a range of accessories including quick-release systems, cages, arms, and many other attachments. In one of our recent reviews, we looked at a new FX3/FX30 cage by Falcam, two handles, a Transformer cage and a backpack quick-release clip.
You can check our full review of the Falcam accessories here.
As for pricing:
- F22&F38&F50 Quick Release Camera Cage (for FX3/FX30) V2 2823A – $100.
- F22 Quick Release Side Hand Grip 2565 -$73.
- F22 Quick Release Top Hand Grip 2550 – $78.
- F22 Quick Release Mushroom Handle 3040 -$40.
- F50 Long Quick Release Kit 3227 – $88.
- F50 Square Quick Release Kit 3224 – $60.
- F22&F38&F50 Quick Release Foldable Half Cage Kit C00B3809 – $87.
- F38 Quick Release for Backpack V2 F38B3802 – $60.
The Falcam ecosystem
Nikon Acquires RED (16:00)
On March 7 Nikon announced that it acquired US Cinema Camera Manufacturer RED. This might be one of the most important news in the camera industry of 2024 (and some might argue one of the most important pieces of news of recent years in general).
This news has a lot of aspects and in our discussion, we mentioned several of them including technology transfer both from Red to Nikon and also from Nikon to future Red cameras. We also discussed the future of the Red brand, the Future of Nikon Cine lens line, and much more. It’s going to be interesting.
Leica SL3 (23:48)
The SL line from Leica has been around for quite a few years now and the SL3 is the most recent iteration. The new FF camera has a new 60MP sensor with better dynamic range and AF system as well as a cool high-end PC style on/off button as well as a host of other external changes like a new tilting 3.2 touch screen and an upgraded 5.76m dot EVF with up to 120hz.
The SL3 is currently sold for just under $7000.
Official Leica SL3 video
Fujifilm X100 VI (28:15)
The X100 line from Fujifilm is arguably the most successful large-sensor compact camera in recent years and with the announcement of the 6’th iteration, it seems as if it reached levels of popularity that we have yet to see from a camera in a very very long time.
There are many improvements in the new version including a new 40MP sensor, built-in IBIS, and better AF as well as better video all around. This is no small feat as the X100 V was already a very popular and successful camera (which was back-ordered in many regions).
The Fujifilm X100 VI (if you can get it) sells for $1600.
The Fujifilm X100 VI – Fujifilm Guys
Laowa Nanomorph zoom 28-55 and 50-100 T2.9 anamorphic lenses (32:23)
Laowa added 2 new zoom anamorphic dou – the 28-55mm and the 50-100mm, both are super 35mm with T2.9 and a 1.5x squeeze factor. What we really liked about these lenses is that they are parafocal which is pretty rare for their price range and they also have a close focusing distance of 21.5cm (for the 28-55mm) which is very rare for anamorphic lenses.
You can find out more on the IndieGoGo page of the lenses.
Laowa Nanomorph 1.5X Anamorphic Zoom Series video
Sigma 500mm f/5.6 (35:53)
Several weeks ago Sigma introduced two lenses. A 50mm f/5.6 Sports lens and a Sigma 15mm F1.4 DG DN Fish Eye lens. We focused on the Sigma 500mm f/5.6 which we are currently reviewing.
We have asked Sigma (and Sony) to make this lens for years – a lightweight and compact prime lens that will be ideal for birds and wildlife without breaking your back (or bank) with high-end professional telephoto primes.
Did Sigma sucessed? you will have to wait for our review coming later this year.
The Sigma 500mm f/5.6 Sports sells for $3000. The Sigma 15mm f/1.4 Fisheye DG DN Art sells for $2000.
Official Sigma 500mm f/5.6 video
Panasonic Lumix 28-200mm (42:26)
Panasonic recently announced a super zoom compact travel lens in the form of the LUMIX S 28-200mm F4-7.1 MACRO O.I.S. lens. This L mount (FF) lens is very light at 413g and quite compact with 6.5 stops of image stabilization a very impressive close-up focus distance and 1:2 macro magnification.
Pricing for the lens is set at $900.
B&H video on the LUMIX S 28-200mm F4-7.1 MACRO O.I.S.
Sony Creator Cloud upload (44:06)
Sony recently updated its Creator Cloud so it allows photos and videos taken with cameras including the FX3*, FX30*, α9 III, α7R V*, α7S III*, α7 IV*, α7CR, α7C II, α6700, ZV-E1, ZV-1 II, ZV-1F, ILX-LR1 to be directly uploaded to cloud storage.
This is supported by Sony’s different cloud storage plans (5GB for free and 25GB for Sony registered users) and up to 500GB for paying customers.
More info on the Sony website.
Shimbol 7″ monitor recorder (50:46)
Monitors are a very crowded market these days and it is very hard to stand out from the crowd. Shimbol chose to add an interesting feature allowing users to record into the monitor via SD. The only drawback is that this is a fairly low-quality recording and nothing like the Pro-Res option that you find on devices like the Atomos Series.
The main reason is Pro-Res itself due to licensing fees, however, we think that there might be a solution for that if companies agree to open their minds just a little bit and that is AV1. This open and royalty-free codec is better than H.265 in most (if not all) respects and can be the future of high-quality recording if companies will agree to adopt it.
You can buy the Shimbol 7″ for just under $480.
Kessler CineShooter+ (54:05)
Kessler is a well-known name in the motion control industry and their CineShooter pan-tilt head has been around for a while recently they came up with the CineShooter plus version which improves the speed/power and carrying capacity among other things. It also has a larger OLED screen and Unreal Engine camera tracking for virtual productions.
Pricing for the Kessler CineShooter+ is set at around $3200.
Official Kessler CineShooter+ video
Hollyland Solidcom C1 Pro Double Ear Version (55:57)
Last year we reviewed the fantastic Hollyland Solidcom C1 Pro and Hollyland got some requests to extend the line and come up with a version that has two active earpieces when working in noisy environments and this is how the double ear version of the headset was born.
The quad version (dual ear) of the Solidcom C1 Pro sells for $1400.
Blackview Oscal PowerMax 3600 Home Backup Power Rugged PowerStation (58:34)
Finally, we look at another Indiegogo project and this one is for a portable power solution. The Blackview Oscal PowerMax 3600 can push out up to 3600W with 7200W surge, 2200W max AC input, and 1600W max PV input which are pretty impressive specs but more interestingly – at $1800 it is at the moment extremely affordable at around $0.5 per watt (about half of what most other similar units cost).
Mind you this price is only on Indigogo – so if you are on the market for one you might want to check it out.
The Blackview Oscal PowerMax 3600 video
You can Check out all of the LensVid Talk videos here. If you want us to cover any specific topics or products in our upcoming LensVid talks please let us know in the comments or on our YT or Facebook pages.
Iddo Genuth 
You can support LensVid by shopping with our affiliate partners
Affiliates: Amazon, B&H, Adorama and E-bay.
Why should you trust us?