PROFOTO CONNECT PRO TRIGGER AND A2 FLASH HEAD image

Profoto Connect Pro trigger and A2 flash head

Profoto has announced a new trigger to control their impressive lighting system and added the smallest flash unit in the range so you can always bring a a flash no matter how light you are travelling.

 

Profoto Connect Pro and Profoto A2 new products
Profoto Connect Pro trigger and two views of the Profoto A2
Profoto Connect Pro

The Profoto Connect Pro is remarkably easy to use. Forget the user manual; the large display is intuitive and straightforward with improved TTL group control matching the latest lights from profoto such as the A10, B10 and B10 plus. Simply slide it on your camera’s hot-shoe – and you’re ready to go.

The Profoto Connect Pro is available in different versions dedicated to Canon, Nikon, Fujfilm, Leica and Sony TTL systems and hot shoe configurations. Also a Non-TTL version is available compatible with all standard hot-shoes.

The trigger allows instant and complete control of each individual flash setting, viewed on the Connect Pro screen in clean, clear numbers, from your shooting position. So, you can fine-tune at will to get the exact effect you’re going for. This high degree of control is thanks to Profoto’s AirX connectivity which allows you to tailor your workflow to your shooting situation.

You can also choose where you receive the information on your phone or smart device because the group controls on the Connect Pro are mirrored in the Profoto Control app on your iPad, iPhone, or Android smartphone.

With up to 100 available channels, there will always be a free channel for your lighting setup – even in the largest commercial studios. Add to that improved battery life and the possibility to use rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries, seamless firmware updates via Profoto AirX, and you have a remote that takes connectivity to new heights.

Key Features:

  • Control each individual light in absolute numbers straight from the remote
  • Sync and manually control any Profoto light that is compatible with Air or AirX
  • Intuitive and easy to use user interface
  • Sync and remote control 0.5-300 m (1.5-1000ft) TTL: 0.5-100 m (1.5-330 ft)
  • Up to 100 channels
  • TTL group control
  • Switch from TTL Mode to Manual Mode with the automated TTL settings intact – a huge time saver
  • Wireless updates through the Profoto Control app
Profoto A2

The Profoto A2 is small, lightweight, and portable – about the size of a regular soda can, making it Profoto’s smallest ever monolight. Ideal when space is at a premium and time is short. Throw it in your bag or a jacket pocket, and you’re ready to make the most of whatever location you find yourself in.

Like all Profoto lights, the A2 has a great setup interface and connectivitiy with the AIR TTL and AirX system so you’ll go from box to first flash in record time.

With AirX connectivity built-in, you can use the A2 as a part of a more extensive Profoto lighting system, and you can shoot with any camera. In addition, enjoy the freedom of choosing where you adjust all settings. Either via the user-friendly large display on the flash or the Profoto Control app and even shoot with your smartphone with all the benefits of a profoto lighting setup.

The creative possibilities become almost endless when you combine the A2 with the Profoto Clic System – a series of light shaping tools bespoke to A-series flashes. The Clic OCF Adapter II brings entire range of OCF light shaping tools are available to use as well with this handy light.

Authorised Profoto Service Centre

At Fixation we are proud to be an official repair centre for Profoto in the UK. As a repair partner with Profoto we can complete many warranty repairs in-house, our technicians specialise in photographic repair making us the destination for professional photographers. All our spare parts for repairs are supplied by Profoto to ensure all repairs are completed with genuine manufacturer spare parts.

With the support of our in-house workshop our customers at Fixation know they will always recieve the best technical insights when investing in new equipment.

Find out more about our Profoto repair service and warranty repair services

The Nikon Z 400mm f4.5 VR S Lens

Nikon Z 400mm f4.5 VR S Lens

Nikon announces a new full-frame super-telephoto prime lens for the mirrorless Z system. The NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S is a smaller lighter version of the super-fast f/2.8 aperture version launched in January. The 400mm focal length is a go-to lens for sports, wildlife, and nature photography and with a smaller maximum apperture this new announcement from Nikon is significantly more compact, lightweight and lighter on the wallet than its f/2.8 counterpart.

The Nikon Z 400mm f4.5 VR S Lens £3,299
The lens is available to pre-order just contact our sales team on sales@fixationuk.com or call us on 0207 582 3294 to pre-order.

Nikon Z 400mm f4.5 VR S Lens
Nikon Z 400mm Build Quality

Built to give photographers every advantage out in the field, the NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S is impressively lightweight at only 1245g and 23.5 cm long. weather sealing and a rubber gasket keep dust, dirt, and moisture out of all moving parts. Nikon’s fluorine coat makes it easy to wipe the front lens element clean. Controls on the lens are customisable with two function buttons one close to the body and one on the larger barrel towards the front of the lens for fast access to settings in any given shooting situation.

Nikon Z 400mm f2.8 TC VR S lens detail showing drop in filter, built in teleconverter and memory set button.
Nikon Z 400mm f4.5 TC VR S lens detail showing on-lens controls and tripod mount ring.
Nikon Z 400mm Key Features

Powerful VR: Powerful in-lens optical VR gives a 5.5-stop advantage. This increases to 6.0 stops if paired used with the Nikon Z 9, Synchro VR.

Teleconverter compatibility: extend the reach to 560 mm with a Nikon Z TC-1.4x, or 800 mm with a Nikon Z TC-2.0x teleconverter. Using teleconverers reduce the maximum aperture by 1 and 2 stops respectively but with superb ISO performance from Nikon this should be no issue if you need to get closer.

Compact and Lightweight: 234.5mm in legth and only 1245g this lens will fit in a standard camera bag and give you telephoto reach whenever you need it without any additional cases or carry requirements that come with larger telephoto lenses.

Exquisite detail: Nikon’s ED, Super ED, and SR glass elements counter chromatic aberrations. ED stands for Extra-low Dispersion which reduces colour fringing at high-contrast edges. Super ED glass offers and improvement on ED elements Super Extra-low Dispersion. SR glass elements combat blue fringing bringing all wavelengths into a precise point where corrections had previously focused on red-magenta wavelengths.
Nikon’s Nano Crystal Coat optical coatings significantly reduce ghosting and flare.

Weather sealed and robust: sealing around all moving parts keeps dust and moisture at bay, and Nikon’s fluorine coating protects the front element. As a repair centre we must caution that no DSLR lens is completeley waterproof – a rain cover is essential to keep your kit dry when shooting in the rain.

Balanced: the lens’ centre of gravity is towards the rear for more stable operation. The tripod foot allows optimum balance when the lens is attached to a tripod. The foot is removable for a more compact form or when travelling.

Customisable on-lens controls: two custom function buttons L-fn and L-fn2 can be set to change different parameters whether that is snapping to a particular focus point or allowing modfication of a camera setting such as ISO without moving your hand off the lens. These butons once set up can make working with the lens much smoother. In addition there is a silent control ring that can be used to dial in settings from the lens. Switches on the lens are AF / M for switching off Autofocus if you are locked onto a subject at a set distance. The focus limit switch allows you to select the full focal distance range or limit to subjects between 6m and Infinity which makes locking on to a subject much faster as the motor has to move the optics in a smaller range.

The NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S: £3,299
The lens is available to pre-order just contact our sales team on sales@fixationuk.com or call us on 0207 582 3294 to pre-order.

Authorised Nikon Service Centre

At Fixation we are proud to be an official repair centre for Nikon in the UK able to service the current DSLR and mirrorless range of camera bodies and lenses. As a repair partner with Nikon for over 30 years we can complete many warranty repairs in-house, our technicians specialise in photographic repair making us the destination for profressional photographers. All our spare parts for repairs are supplied by Nikon to ensure all repairs are completed with genuine Nikon spares.

With the support of our in-house workshop our customers at Fixation know they will always recieve the best technical insights when investing in new equipment.

Find out more about our Nikon repair service and warranty repair services

MIRROLESS APS-C DIGITAL CAMERAS

Mirroless APS-C Digital Cameras

APS-C digital camera sensors are smaller in size to “full frame” digital camera sensors. Cameras with an APS-C sensor are usually cheaper, smaller and better for distant subjects than their full-frame counterparts. With Canon and Nikon producing mirrorless cameras with APS-C sensors there is now a level playing field in terms of viewfinder format – no more DLSR vs Mirrorless – to distract from the technology at the core of the cameras. We have put 4 important bodies side by side but first lets explore what an APS-C camera really is.

What is an APS-C Sensor?

APS C stands for Advanced Photo System “Classic” which was a format of film that was smaller than 35mm film rolls. The image size is 25.1×16.7 mm compared to a full frame image on a 35mm roll which has space for a negative image 36x24mm. These standard sizes carried on into digital camera sensor manufacture because lens manufacturers all had lenses that worked well on those formats. APS-C digital sensor units are smaller and so easier to make compared to the larger full-frame 35mm digital sensors, the format has been around longer than digital cameras and have some distinct advantages:

1. APS-C digital imaging sensors are cheaper. The imaging sensor in a digital camera is one of the most expensive single parts of a digital camera. A smaller APS-C sensor is less expensive than a full-frame imaging sensor and so APS-C format cameras are usually cheaper overall than their full-frame counterparts so APS-C cameras are often more affordable.

2. Your lenses are longer with an APS-C sensor. If you put a 300mm lens on an APS-C camera body it will look like you are using a 480mm lens if you are used to using a full-frame 35mm sensor camera because the smaller image-sensor crops-in to the middle of the image-circle projected by the lens. This is useful for telephoto lens users who need extra reach, using an APS-C sensor camera will fill the frame more with a distant subject.

3. Dedicated APS-C lenses are lighter. The APS-C format is smaller so the lens needs only project a image-circle to fit to the corners of the APS-C rectangle. The individual optics can be smaller and it is in the glass optical lenses that most of the weight of a lens is held. With this weight saving a dedicated APS-C sensor kit of cameras and lenses can be a fraction of the weight of a full-frame equivalent kit.

Four APS-C Sensor Cameras Compared

Key specifications compared
Fujifilm X-H2SCanon EOS R7Nikon Z50Sony Alpha A6600
Release Year2022202220192019
Resolution Megapixels26.132.520.924.2
Max. Video Resolution6.2K 30P4K 60p4K UHD 30p4k HDR (HLG)
Weight660g612g450g503g
Image StabilisationYes: 7 StopYes: 8 stopNoYes: 5 Stop
Lens mountFuji XFCanon RFNikon ZSony E

Fujifilm X-H2S


Lanched today the X-H2S is a powerful storytelling tool that combines high-end photographic and filmmaking features for full creative freedom. With a 26.1MP BSI X-Trans 5 stacked sensor and X-Processor 5, the X-H2S delivers an outstanding 14-stop dynamic range. For motion professionals, this camera also offers a wealth of recording options, including 6.2K 30P, and up to 7-stops of in-body image stabilisation.

Canon EOS R7


Lanched on May 24th the EOS R7 camera continues Canon’s legacy of formidable next-generation mirrorless tech, packing precision autofocus, state-of-the-art image stabilisation and incredible speed. This RF-mount camera with an APS-C sized sensor provides the ideal balance between resolution, speed and low-light performance for a truly hybrid result that’s capable of competing with other professional full-frame models.

Nikon Z50


The Nikon Z50. A welcome addition to the Nikon mirrorless family, the Nikon Z50 comes as an affordable bridge between beginners to enthusiast consumer camera systems. Inheriting features and inspiration from the successful Nikon Z6 and Z7 cameras, including the Nikon Z mount and the impressively fast and wide Hybrid autofocus system; the Z50 features a large 20.9 megapixel DX CMOS sensor and a powerful EXPEED 6 Image Processor. The power of the sensor and processor, coupled up with Intelligent Eye-Detection AF and 209 AF points across the frame allows for edge-to-edge sharpness and detail in your photos and videos. Capable of 4K/UHD recordings at 30p and 20 in-camera effects, this camera offers a whole host of creativity and versatility.

Sony A6600


With this body, it is all about incorporating beautiful detail and high resolution images combined with super-fast and powerful processing, all in a compact shell. The A6600 hits the brief with ease. This system caters to the needs to enthusiasts and professional alike, and in both photography and videography because of the pure quality of its capture. Its compact nature makes it perfect for travel documentaries as well as vlogging. Yet, it can be used for any type of photography with Wex Photo Video’s whole range of Sony E mount lenses.

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Service Message

Service Update

Royal Mail stike action

The Communication Workers Union has announced four strike days on Friday 26th and Wednesday 31st August and then Thursday 8th and Friday 9th September. We expect our parcelforce collections service to be disrupted and our service support team may be busier than usual on the days after the strikes as we may need to make last minite shipping updates or hold deliveries for a day.

Our tracked UPS services will continue as usual and we recommend using an alternative courier if neccessary. You can bring repairs to our service counters in Manchester or London, Vauxhall. Alternatively you can bring repairs for delivery to us to any Wex Photo Video branch.

Repair turnaround times

Please be aware that while we are booking in as many repair items as we were in 2019, and many aspects of life have returned to normal, both COVID-19 and Brexit have had some adverse effects on our workshop capacity, repair turnaround times and customer service response times.

Fixation is continuing to repair and service photographic equipment and while customers can still receive rapid sensor cleaning and while-you-wait repairs at our service counters, we are aware that for more in-depth repairs that stay in our workshop for longer our current turnaround times are causing concerns with both new and returning repair customers. We are doing all we can to bring our service levels back to the fast repair service we were delivering before the pandemic.

How COVID-19 affected repairs

We have a large workshop of 20 technicians supported by a team of five administrators who all work in fairly close proximity to one another to complete a repair. At significant COVID peaks we reduced our workshop to six key technicans and one administrative support member who could continue to work at a safe distance from one another. Our demand for repairs never dropped to the same extent and this created a bottleneck in every area of the business from booking-in new repairs to producing estimates and shipping kit back to customers.

Outside of the UK COVID-19 affected both the demand for and supply of electronic components especially semiconductors which make the chips and processors present in every digital camera and many new lenses. This did not have an immediate impact as we hold a helathy stock of parts in our workshop but over time as these stocks in the UK and Europe were not replenished, some repairs have experienced unprecedented spare parts waiting times.

How Brexit has affected repairs

In addition to COVID affecting the supply chain of parts and our turnaround times, Brexit-related delays may also occur if your repair requires spare parts. All our spare parts ship to the UK from Japan, China and South Asia via depots in Europe. The movement of goods into the island of Great Britain is not as easy as it was before the UK left Europe in 2019 and our deliveries of spare parts are facing delays when crossing the channel. Deliveries being held at customs, and delays and queues at ports ahead of channel crossings make it almost impossible to accurately forecast when spare parts from outise the UK will arrive with us.

How is Fixation changing to improve our repairs

We have six new team members who have joined us in the workshop and some new roles to help make our workshop more efficient. While we train new team members our teams will be slower to reply to enquiries coming in but once eveyone is up to speed these new recruits will make a world of difference.
Customer Service: Sara and Jenice have recently joined the repairs team, Sara has joined us as Customer Service Manager, Jenice is joining the customer service team. They are both being trained up at the moment on our repairs administrative systems.
Workshop: Steven and Jaya are new starters in our workshop currently shadowing experienced technicians to learn repair processes and techniques for a range of cameras and lenses.
New role: Head of Repairs Regina has joined Fixation as Head of Repairs, a role that spans administrative and technical teams. She is currently working with the customer service team to make our processes more efficient and chipping in where needed to help booking in new repairs that have arrived.
New role: Stock Controller for Spare parts Tahir has joined us to look after spare parts ordering and stock control, this gives time back to our technicians who were managing spares orders as well as estimating and completing repairs. Once Tahir has our day to day orders running smoothly we will look at increasing our stock holding to minimise supply delays.

Coming Soon: Behind the scenes we have been working on our repair tracker to make it easier to track and respond to repair updates online and make more information about repairs available at all hours.

If you are looking to start a new repair then the best place to start is with our Online Repair Form https://www.fixationuk.com/complete-a-repair-form/

We appreciate your patience and support during these difficult times and we hope to be back up to capacity shortly.

Our current COVID-19 measures in place in Leeds, London and Manchester

Masks: We reommend that customers continue to wear masks when possible when entering our premises. Spare masks are available on request, alternatively we can bring sales items and repairs to the door if paid in advance.

Our showroom and repair counters in London, Manchester and Leeds are open for business. Feel free to drop in whenever you can for expert advice, product demos and repairs.

When you visit please remember that we have the following measures in place:

• We recommend wearing a mask if possible when entering our premises
• Hand sanitiser stations are available
• Our showrooms and demo equipment are cleaned regularly
• All repairs are disinfected as a final stage of cleaning before return

SONY FE 24-70MM F2.8 GM II

Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM II

Today Sony launches the FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM II lens the second generation of the workhorse wide to standard to short-telephoto lens that powers countless professional photographers around the world. With a few new features and in-house G Master lens standards from Sony this release packs a lot of power into a smaller and lighter lens.

Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM II: £2,099
The Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM II is available to pre-order just contact our sales team on sales@fixationuk.com or call us on 0207 582 3294.

Sony FE 24-70 GM II in use on the Sony FX3 and a gimbal.
Sony FE 24-70 GM II in use on the Sony FX3 and a gimbal.
New features:

1. Circular Aperture with 11 aperture blades for smooth out of focus areas and consistent bokeh at all apertures.
2. Dedicated aperture control ring with click / declick switch
3. Smaller and lighter, only 699g vs 886g from the Mark I version
4. Sharper images, twenty elements arranged in 15 groups employing ED (Extra-low dispersion), XA (Extreme Aspherical), Super ED and aspherical elements in addition to special lens coatings, reduce aberations and artifacts for sharpness throughout the zoom range.

Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM II: £2,099
The Sony FE 24-70mm f2.8 GM II is available to pre-order just contact our sales team on sales@fixationuk.com or call us on 0207 582 3294.

Sony FE 24-70 2.8 GM II side view
Sony FE 24-70 2.8 GM II Lens

Sample images from Sony by Mathias Kniepeiss:

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