Just Out – April 2003

STILL THE ONE
Polaroid’s One Step and One Step Express instant cameras had been around for a combined 20 years, and were in need of an update. Polaroid put its engineers to work, and voilà: Meet the slimmer, trimmer One camera. Accepting the classic square-format (3.1×3.1-inch) 600-series film, Polaroid’s new One ($40, street price) boasts a finger-friendly body that’s 33 percent smaller and 23 percent lighter than its predecessors. (It actually resembles a Polaroid Spectra camera, with its lens and flash located in a spring-loaded, pop-up housing.) Other new-and-improved goodies? An LCD frame counter, self timer, tripod socket, and redeye-reduction flash mode. (www.polaroid.com)

DOT DETECTIVES
The size of grains of sand, Data Dots may well be the world’s smallest crime fighters. Data Dots are tiny laser-etched flecks of metal alloy that are suspended by the hundreds in an ultraviolet-traceable adhesive solution. Using the brush supplied in the kit, you literally paint the solution on appropriate areas of your gear. Each dot carries a unique serial number that can be seen with the magnifiers and ultraviolet lights police use to read fingerprints. The serial number should lead the police (with your lost or stolen gear) to your door. The $50 kits include software for registering your Data Dots-protected equipment, plus small adhesive labels that alert police to the Data Dots’ presence. (www.identificationtechnologies.com)

PORTABLE PADDING
Soft, padded squares of space-age material that can be rolled or folded around sensitive electronic and optical equipment, Roadwired RAPS promises to protect gear that you’ve quickly tossed into a briefcase or backpack. Formally dubbed the Roadwired Advanced Protective System (RAPS), the fuzzy sheets enshroud cameras or lenses with the help of hook-and-loop tabs. Unlike similar protective wraps, these offer an internal polymer membrane that’s claimed to prevent corrosive gases from getting at delicate camera circuitry. Available in 12-, 16-, or 20-inch squares, Roadwired RAPS list for $13-18. (www.roadwired.com)

SCHLEP LIGHTLY
Pro photographers looking for a convenient way to transport their lights may want to check out Photoflex’s new Transpac equipment cases. The single- or multilight carryalls (list prices $139 and $255, respectively) offer the convenience of wheels, plus protective bottom skids and retractable handles, both of high-impact plastic. Internally, the cases are divided into compartments, each with its own zippered cover. The multilight kit is sized to hold strobe heads, softboxes, monolights, umbrellas, and more. The compartments offer movable padded dividers. What did we like best? The Velcro tabs, which lasso rattle-prone tripods and lightstands into silent submission. (www.photoflex.com)