B&H Photo News Roundup: Week of November 12, 2023

The holiday season is starting to ramp up, but with Thanksgiving in a few days, things were quiet this week. We still have a couple of announcements worth mentioning, though. Among these is a collaboration between Nomatic and well-known creator Peter McKinnon to develop the stylish LUMA camera bag collection. Also, Atlas Lens Co. fleshes out its Mercury anamorphic lens line with three more primes.

Nomatic x Peter McKinnon collaborate on LUMA camera bag collection

The LUMA collection is the latest collaboration between Nomatic and Peter McKinnon. The goal was to create cameras bags that don’t look like camera bags. The result is certainly on the more stylish end of the camera-bag spectrum but, inside, the designers haven’t sacrificed the protection and organization that photographers and videographers require. The bags also offer a few options, including an 18L Backpack, a 12L Sling, and a 9L Sling in a variety of colors.

Nomatic has a few other packs that you may want to consider, such as the 25L backpack; the new 18L LUMA backpack does manage to slim things down somewhat. The new packs are optimized for current mirrorless models instead of bulkier DSLR cameras, and they have plenty of customizable organizers to keep things secure while in motion. Plus, they will hold up to a 16" MacBook Pro.

For a smaller kit, the LUMA collection includes 12L and 9L Slings. The 12L sling, obviously, holds a bit more and has a shelf divider that will allow you to stack items. Nomatic states that it will hold a DJI Mini 4 Pro Drone or a mirrorless camera with attached lens, alongside an extra lens. It comes with two large dividers you can rearrange or remove as needed. The extra depth might be something to consider if you are looking at one of these slings.

Looking for the most compact option will lead you to the 9L Sling. This is more of an everyday carry bag and is suited to the most streamlined of kits, including just a camera with attached lens. You’ll be able to carry all the accessories you might need and, if you are working with even more compact systems, you’ll be able to stuff other essentials inside. Webbing on the outside will let you carry some extra equipment easily, like a mini tripod.

If you are in the market for a nice-looking, compact camera bag, the LUMA collection looks great. This project was originally launched on Kickstarter, but if you missed your chance to grab one there, you can head to B&H—the exclusive pre-order destination for the LUMA collection.

Atlas Lens Co. adds 54mm, 95mm, and 138mm lenses to Mercury line

Atlas Lens Co., known for its incredible anamorphic lenses, continues to expand its offerings with this week’s announcement of additions to the Mercury line with 54mm T2.2, 95mm T2.2, and 138mm T2.6 lenses. These are full-frame, 1.5x squeeze cinema lenses and are matched up with the existing 36mm, 42mm, and 72mm lenses.

Atlas Lens Co. has designed the Mercury series to be relatively compact, which is obviously relative to other anamorphic lenses like the Orion 2x line. The brand is also aiming for a more vintage look, with gold flares and pleasing barrel distortion. Atlas Lens Co. did work to ensure there is effectively no chromatic aberration, too.

Atlas Mercury Series 1.5x Full-Frame Anamorphic Lenses

The slightly warmer tones of the Mercury series should be appealing to many cinematographers. Of course, being a professional cinema lens set, these lenses do have a standard 0.8 MOD gearing and 95mm front diameter. Additionally, they are available in the ARRI PL mount and represent more stellar lenses for filmmaking.

In other news…

Sigma has officially released a 70-200mm f/2.8 DN DN OS Sports Lens for Sony E and L-Mount. Preorder it now.
Yamaha shows off the GENOS2 arranger keyboard, the company’s new flagship model and its most comprehensive to date.

Holiday Head Start

Thanksgiving is next week, and we already have some deals ready to go. Here are some of our favorites, but be sure to check out the full Holiday Head Start page for all the latest, including our timed deals of the day section.