Gear Review - Think Tank Photo Speed Changer V3.0

Think Tank Photo recently overhauled their modular belt series of pouches and made a bunch of changes and refinements. Today we're taking a look at the updated Think Tank Photo Speed Changer v3.0 and how it differs from v2.0 of the same bag.

Size-wise, V3.0 and 2.0 are about the same. Front pockets have been enlarged and now cover the entire front of the bag.

V3.0 eliminates the zippered pocket on the front face of the bag which makes for a cleaner look.

It also changes the location of the rain cover. Instead of a zippered pocket on the bottom front of the bag, it is now accessed by a velcro compartment at the bottom rear.   It is also non-removable.

In V3.0, the rain cover is stored underneath the bag as opposed to V2.0 where the cover was stuffed up in the front wall of the bag.  This change reduces the bulkiness of the bag from front to back.

On the back of the bag, the modular attachment point has been modified slightly - the plastic locking tab no longer extends into the velcro area.  This change does not really change how it attaches to a Pro Speedbelt though, just more of a refinement.

The front organizational pocket remains the same, with slight color tweaks to the trim.

The main compartment remains unchanged except for some minor cosmetic changes.

Overall the Speed Changer V3.0 is a nice update from the previous version.  Much cleaner, more refined look and I'm glad they kept the organizational pocket (something that I really missed on the updated Hubba Hiney 3.0). I also like the change they made to the rain pouch access.

As always, if  this review has been helpful, please consider using the links on this page to make a purchase from Think Tank Photo. That will help us to continue doing these reviews for you.

Gear Review - Think Tank Photo Camera Clip Adapter 3.0

Think Tank Photo recently refreshed their popular modular component system and sent us a couple of items for review.  Since wedding season has just gotten underway, we had the chance to take these out into the field to see how they compare to previous versions.

This is the Camera Clip Adapter v3.0 which is a padded support to be used with either the Peak Design Capture Camera Clip or the SpiderPro/SpiderLight Camera Holster system.

Both Peak Design and Spider holster make their own versions of padded supports for their systems and I've used all of them.

Here's the Think Tank Camera Clip Adapter V3.0 compared to the Peak Design Pro Pad v2.  As you can see, the Think Tank padding is much more substantial.

Even though I'm a big fan of Peak Design and own almost all of the products they have launched, they tend to lean more on aesthetics rather than functionality.  Below is the Think Tank compared to both v1 and v2 of the Peak Design Pro Pads.

Peak Design's original Pro Pad also gave you the choice of horizontal/vertical mounting, but their latest version (v2) only allows horizontal mounting.

One of the benefits of the Think Tank version is even though the packaging shows the Peak Design Capture Clip mounts horizontally, the Peak Design Capture Clips (both V2 and V3) can be mounted in either vertical or horizontal configurations.

The Think Tank Capture Clip Adapter also has more padding than the Spider Holster Pad.

There is one thing that I need to point out - when I first received the Think Tank Camera Clip Adapter for this review, I noticed two small vertical stitches on the Pad which were not on the example photo of the packaging:

These stitches prevented the Spider Holster from seating in all the way.

I contacted Justin at Think Tank Photo's customer service and was told this was probably a manufacturing defect and so they shipped out a replacement right away.  Unfortunately the replacement had the exact same stitching.

So I contacted Justin again and was assured that this was also a defect - those two stitches are not supposed to be there.  They are currently looking into this issue and he assured me this this issue will be corrected.

Instead of waiting for them to send a second replacment, and in order to get this review out in a timely manner, what I ended up doing was use a knife to carefully cut away the two stitching errors.

Once that was done, the Spiderholster slid in all the way and fit snugly against the pad like it is supposed to.

Let me be clear - I do NOT recommend doing this modification on your own as you could very easily injure yourself if you're not careful. If your Camera Clip Adapter has these stitching errors, notify Think Tank Photo's customer service for a replacement.

Using the Think Tank Capture Clip Adapter V3.0 with a gripped Sony a7rii and a 70-200mm lens on several wedding and model shoots, it made a world of difference compared to the Peak Design pad or the Spider Holster Pad.  There's just no comparison - it beats them by a mile.

After using the Think Tank Photo Camera Clip Adapter 3.0 for two weeks, my verdict is this:

Don't even bother with either the Peak Design Pro Pad or SpiderHolster's pad and just get this. If you use the Think Tank belt system with either the Spider Holster or Peak Design Capture Clip, the Think Tank Capture Clip Adapter v3.0 is definitely a must have.

If you found this review helpful, please consider using the links on this page to visit the Think Tank website.  A small percentage of the sale goes toward helping us keep this blog going so that we can continue to do these reviews for you.

Photoshoot with Anya - my first Russian model

One of the things I enjoy most about photographing models is meeting people from all over the world so when the opportunity came along to work with Russian model Anya who contacted me via Model Mayhem, I did not hesitate.

We both had tight schedules during the time she was visiting Maui, so we had very little time to arrange a shoot together.  Luckily, we were able to pull off two photoshoots that incorporated three separate locations.

We started early in the morning in Kapalua, in a jungle setting.  Had to put up with a lot of mosquitos, but it was so worth it beacuse the morning light coming through the trees was amazing.

For lighting we used a Cheetahstand CL360 in a small white shoot thru umbrella as our main light with the sun as her backlight.

On a couple of poses we had some hard sunlight coming through the trees and falling on Anya so we propped up a Lastolite Trigrip Diffuser Panel to keep that off of her as needed.

Anya is definitely one of the bravest models I've met, lying down in the middle of the jungle like that without caring about the hundreds of spiders, centipedes, or the many other creepy crawlies that were probably underneath all that.  Just thinking about all that gives me the heebie-jeebies!

We then rushed to our second location in Kapalua which was at Dragon's Teeth.  I've shot on the north side of this spot before with a few other models, but because of the position of the sun around the time we got there, Anya and I went to the opposite side of the rocks to find some shaded areas to work with.

Anya changed into her Bohemian look for this set.

Because this area is very windy, any light modifiers such as a softbox or umbrella would have immediately ended up in the ocean.  The extremely rocky terrain also made it difficult to find a spot near the model to position the lights close to her and still be out of the frame.  We ended up shooting the light from a fair distance - two Cheetahstand CL-360s provided just a touch of light.

The next day was a short photoshoot at Makena Cove in the morning. Used the Cheetahstand CL-360 in a Cheetahstand QSB silver beauty dish.

On this day it was slightly over cast, so we didn't have to fight the sun too much.  The flash was used just to add a bit of fill as needed.

Really enjoyed working with Anya on this series of images.  My only regret was that I forgot to have her teach me how to swear in Russian. ;-)

Gear Review - Think Tank Photo Flash Mob V3.0

Today we take a look at the Think Tank Photo Flash Mob V3.0 pouch.  This is a pouch designed specifically to hold hotshoe flashes and spare batteries.

On the left and right sides are two small pockets which are sized perfectly for 4 AA batteries each (for a total of 8 extra batteries).

If you're a fan of the Godox series of hotshoe flashes that feature the lithium ion battery packs, those batteries will also fit in the side pockets - though it's a pretty tight fit and you won't be able to close the cover flap.

The front face of the pouch has a large stretchy pocket which can hold an 8-cell external battery pack such as the Canon CP-E3.

The Flash Mob V3.0 will accommodate just about any type of hotshoe flash - with or without modifiers.

The Godox AD200 fits just fine as well.

With the recent release of the extension head for the AD200, at first I thought I could run it from the pouch.

However, that would block the vents on the sides of the AD200 and lead to overheating.  A better solution is to use either the Peak Design Capture clip or the Spiderholster and attach it to the ThinkTank Camera Clip Adapter instead.

Like the rest of the V3.0 Modular series, the rain cover has now been integrated into the bottom rear of the pouch, allowing for quicker one-handed access.

The top of the pouch is designed in such a way that it can be flipped open so that you have quicker access to your flash. Useful if you want to keep a modifier on the flash during a run and gun shoot.

If you use the MagMod series of flash modifiers, the pouch can accommodate a flash with a MagGrip installed.

For weddings I usually keep a Godox V850 flash with a MagGrip attachment in this pouch. I store a MagGrid and MagGel holder in the front pocket.

This allows me to snap on a MagSphere or a MagBounce to the front of the pouch when I'm not using it.

Overall the Think Tank Flash Mob V3.0 is a great way to keep a hotshoe flash handy when you're running and gunning.

As always, if you find this review useful please consider using the links on this page to purchase your Think Tank gear.  A small portion of your purchase goes to helping us maintain this blog and allow us to continue doing gear reviews.