That’s not a bad thing; the RS 4 has long been considered the best gimbal on the market for its target audience. Like the RS 4, the RS 5 can handle heavy camera setups, has smooth operation, and is easy to set up, but for owners of the RS 4, the upgrade might not be worth it. 

DJI RS 5 Gimbal

4 /5

Editor’s Rating

How We Review

What We Think

The DJI RS 5 is a professional single-operator gimbal designed for heavy mirrorless cameras and cinema rigs with payloads up to 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds). It brings meaningful workflow improvements over the RS 4 — particularly the per-axis fine-tuning knobs and the Enhanced Intelligent Tracking Module — and delivers the smoothest handheld stabilization I have used at this payload capacity. Battery life is exceptional. The briefcase handle, included in the Combo version, is nearly essential for heavy setups.

Reasons to Buy

•    Fine-tuning knobs on every axis make balancing faster and more precise
•       Enhanced Intelligent Tracking Module works without a phone and tracks people, vehicles, and pets
•       Electronic Briefcase Handle is genuinely useful for dynamic angle changes
•       Quick camera orientation switch between horizontal and vertical
•       Exceptional battery life — usable for hours daily across a full week of shooting
•       Second-generation automated axis locks streamline setup and teardown
•       Connects quickly to Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic, and Fujifilm cameras via Bluetooth
• 
  
  

Reasons to Avoid

• Heavy — difficult to use comfortably without the briefcase handle even with a lightweight lens
•       Battery compartment is blocked by the camera mount, requiring camera removal to swap batteries
•       Fine-tuning knobs require unlocking the axis slider, which can cause the whole assembly to shift
•       Touchscreen is slow to respond to swipe inputs
•       AI tracking parallax requires buried menu adjustments to fix
•       Mandatory DJI account activation required after five uses
• 
  
  

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Design, Build, and Handling

Like its predecessors, the Ronin RS 5 is a beefy, solid gimbal that can hold large camera setups, with a max weight of three kilograms (6.6 pounds). To put this into perspective, the Canon R1 weighs about two pounds, and the Canon 100-500mm lens weighs another three pounds. You could still add a mic setup and be under the weight limit. 

The tradeoff for being able to support this much weight is the weight of the gimbal itself. At nearly 1200 grams (2.6 pounds), it’s a big, beefy gimbal. Six pounds of gear with three pounds of gimbal is a very heavy setup. Most people won’t pair the gimbal with a setup that’s three pounds, but a nine-pound setup is a lot to handle (pun intended)

My primary testing setup was with a Canon R6 III and a Canon 24mm lens, which was pounds under the weight limit, and it’s still a bit much. The grip is especially beefy, and if you have small hands, it can be ungainly. 

The RS 5 Combo Kit comes with a “briefcase” handle for more stable shooting, and I find the handle makes the system so much easier that I wouldn’t go without it. The handle is particularly useful when shooting tabletop setups or ground-level shooting, since it allows the gimbal to be used parallel to the table and very close to the surface. It’s the gimbal version of the benefits of having a tilt-screen on a camera when shooting low. 

The handle also allows for more stable shooting when the player gimbal is upright. I used the handle to brace the RS 5 against my chest for more stable pans. The takeaway here is that the handle makes the shooting experience vastly better. 

The RS 5 has massive gimbal arms, allowing for an impressive range of movement. The ‘pan axis’ is the part of the gimbal that lets the camera rotate horizontally a full 360º, meaning you can spin the camera all the way around. The tilt range allows the camera to move up and down between -112º and +214º. The roll axis rotates the camera from side to side, with a range of -95º to +240º. The RS 5 supports both ‘FVP’ mode, where all three axes follow the movement of the handle, and ‘360º rolls,’ which means the camera can spin completely around its forward-facing axis, creating barrel roll effects. 

Five Strikes and You’re Out

Before I get too far into the review, I need to mention something that I’ve run into with most of the DJI products I’ve tested, not just the RS 5. DJI requires you to register the device after five uses, after which it locks you out until you do.

There’s simply no technical reason the gimbal needs to be registered to be used. Even firmware updates could be delivered without needing registration. You don’t have to register a camera or a lens to take photos with it, but a gimbal?

That’s a bad look for a company that has had its drones added to a list of devices banned in the U.S. because the government claims it is using them to spy on users.

I’ve raised this in other DJI reviews and will keep raising it until the policy changes.

Setup

No gimbal is easy to set up, at least it’s not for me. I always find myself going too far in each direction and spending a lot of time redoing what I’ve already done. The RS 5 comes with a small tripod, which is helpful because it would be impossible to adjust the gimbal without one. It’s pretty much the only use of such a tiny tripod, but the small size means you can carry it on location to dial back in when you change lenses.

The locking mechanism of the arms makes setup relatively easy, and one of the features added to the RS5 is fine adjustment knobs. In theory, these allow for tiny, precise movements of the axis arms, but there’s a catch, literally. In order to use the fine adjustment screws, the axis has to be completely unlocked. I found that unlocking the axis to use the knobs often resulted in the camera sliding freely down the arm. 

DJI’s FAQ pages even mention not to use the knobs without unlocking the axis lock. I’d be happy to ignore this recommendation if the knobs turned when locked, but they’re locked down until the axis is freed. I developed a system of half-unlocking the arms and turning the knobs, but this is hit or miss. 

In a nod to social media creators, a camera can be quickly switched from horizontal to vertical in only a few seconds. This quick-switch action is one of the best things about the RS 5, and for anyone making vertical content to complement their horizontal footage, this fast-change action is a huge time saver. 

Depending on the camera and the location of its battery compartment, it can be difficult to swap batteries without taking the camera off the gimbal. Blocked battery or card slot access is a necessary evil of all gimbals since the arms of the gimbal need to surround the camera in order to allow it to pivot. 

On the other hand, it’s actually easier to access things like battery ports on the RS 5 than smaller gimbals because there’s so much space on each arm. More compact gimbals are more cramped by nature, so at least the long gimbal axis arms allow for more access than on smaller systems.

The quick-release plate on the Ronin RS 5 allows the camera to be removed and remounted without having to re-adjust the arms. The plate fits perfectly into the gimbal, so there’s no way for it to be misaligned. 

Auto Locking

When the RS 5 is powered off, the gimbal rotates all the arms back to their collapsed position and locks the arms into place automatically. Powering the gimbal back on automatically unlocks all of the arms, and the gimbal is instantly available for use. Not all gimbals have this automatic locking system, and on those, it’s necessary to manually lock or unlock the arms. I’ve missed shots on systems that require hand-unlocking of the axis, so the quick time from off to ready to shoot is a huge benefit of the RS 5. 

Controls

The DJI RS 5 controls will be familiar to anyone who has used any of DJI’s gimbals. There’s a mode button, a record button, and the thumb-sized joystick. The RS 5 has a color touchscreen, particularly helpful with the tracking unit, which I will return to later. 

Unlike the consumer gimbals from  DJI, the rotation modes are changed by a switch on the side, instead of through the touchscreen menu system or the mode button. I actually prefer this system, and I wish it were the standard across the lineup. Flicking a switch to change settings prevents accidental changes. 

The touchscreen is too laggy for a gimbal of this price. Sliding between modes requires a firm touch, and the response of the interface can be painfully slow. There’s a parallel here to the touch screens on cameras, where the first touch-capable screens were hard to actuate, but modern screens react to even light touches. I’d like to see a newer, much more sensitive screen on the next Ronin.

The thumb-sized joystick is another parallel to digital cameras. It’s relatively easy to move, but slow and smooth motion is hard to achieve with just a thumb control. There are gimbals that put joystick at the trigger position. I find these easier to use in some applications, but when shooting low with a non-electronic briefcase handle, it’s better to have the thumbstick.

I’m getting a lot better at matching small thumbstick movements to my gimbal shots, but I’m still redoing a lot of shots because I move the joystick too quickly or too slowly. I blame this on my father. He didn’t let me have video games when I was a kid, so I never really learned to use the right thumb for tiny, accurate movements. (When I play a first-person shooter, I run into the walls a lot.)

Massive Battery Power

The large grip is partially due to the huge battery performance of the gimbal. DJI claims 14-hour run times with a single charge, and while I didn’t operate the RS 5 for fourteen hours straight, I did use it for long stretches without turning it off. In one shot of a 3D printer chugging through an hours-long print, I left the gimbal on a tripod and left it powered on for the duration. Every few hours, I’d take the gimbal off its tripod and shoot some panning shots of the progress of the print, and then mount it back on the tripod. 

After hours of use, the battery only dropped one of the status bars. Leaving a gimbal motionless for hours isn’t a good test of battery life, but I shot the gimbal handheld for several hours a day for multiple days in a row and never ran out of power. 

Plugged into a small but decent USB power brick was enough to charge the battery while operating the gimbal, and the status lights blink faster when a more powerful charger is used and slower when charging from a less powerful brick. 

Charging is incredibly fast, allowing the gimbal to be topped up between shoots without any worries about running out of battery. The gimbal charges faster per hour of operation than almost any electornic devices I have. Battery life is one of the most impressive features in the RS 5. 

Enhanced Intelligent Tracking Module

The DJI RS 5 comes with a tracking module, which was an accessory on the RS 4, and it adds a level of functionality that’s found on DJI’s consumer and phone gimbals and is sorely missing on pro-level gimbals. The intelligent tracking module allows the gimbal to follow subjects as they move, and can be controlled with hand gestures. 

Connecting the tracking module to the gimbal turns the color screen into a monitor that shows the view from the module. Having used DJI’s consumer gimbals for years, as well as the Osmo Pocket 3, I was still surprised at how much more useful the gimbal is with the ability to see what you’re tracking without having to tilt a camera’s view screen, which can be awkward or impossible when capturing footage. 

Because the module sits to the side of the camera, it essentially turns the gimbal into a rangefinder. I’ve seen many forum posts and videos about the parallax between the sensor and the camera lens, making it difficult to use. 

Some complaints were addressed a bit by a firmware update, but the perceived problem is also solved through some menu options, which are unfortunately buried a few screens deep. By default, the several-inch offset of the sensor makes tracking difficult. If you’re using a long lens and trying to keep the subject in the frame, the parallax is enough to throw off tracking. 

The tracking sensor has an intentionally wide field of view so that the “center” of its tracking area can be adjusted to match the lens. This capability is what most people miss. The menu settings make it possible to visually shift the field of view of the tracking sensor, the same way you can crop a photo to change what is in the center of the frame. 

For example, when shooting with a 24mm lens in my YouTube studio, the left side of my camera’s framing was set to be just to the right of a door. The sensor had the left edge much closer to the middle of its framing. By adjusting the left edge of the tracking module to the side of the door, I ended up with the center of my lens lining up with the center of the tracker. All that’s needed is to shift the edge of the tracking module display so it lines up with the edge of the actual frame.

A second, equally hard to find menu setting changes the tracking from keeping the subject in the center to keeping the subject in the original position in the frame. If I position the subject just to the right of the doorframe and have them framed in my viewfinder to be at the edge of the frame, then tracking them in the center would result in a shot with the door clearly visible.

But by setting it to keep the subject in the original framing, it keeps the subject in a position relative to when the record button is pressed. If your subject is slightly off center, they will be tracked so they remain so. If they’re against the edge of the frame, the RS 5 will keep them framed there. As they move, the camera will track them so that they stay at the edge of the frame.

These choices should be accessible directly from the mode button or something like a triple-tap on the grip button. Jumping to the menu is cumbersome, but it’s not as problematic as not knowing the choices exist.

The tracking module makes the RS5 vastly more useful for solo creators. Since it’s possible to turn on the gimbal and walk around while being kept in the frame, it allows shooting that looks like the creator has a secondary camera operator. Videos appear more professional as the subject can move freely and not worry about walking out of a frame.

Some more consumer-oriented gimbals and drones come with an additional clip-on module that can be worn by the subject for precise tracking without any parallax issues at all. The camera tracks the wireless signal from the module, keeping it in the frame at all times. This would be a nice accessory to see for an RS 6.

The Whole is More Than the sum of its Parts, Mostly.

The DJI Ronin RS 5 is a fantastic gimbal, as was to be expected, as the Ronin series is already the benchmark for gimbals in this class. It offers refinements to operation and use, adds quality of life upgrades like the fine-adjustment knobs and the quick change from horizontal to vertical.

The RS 5 will now be the standard against which all other gimbals will be judged. If you need a well-rounded gimbal solution, the RS 5 is the best choice when it comes to features and operation.

But RS 4 users likely won’t find enough to justify replacing their gimbals. If they’re happy with the operation of the RS 4, things like the quality of life improvements probably won’t be justification for an upgrade. Internal improvements like better motors are only important if they find something lacking in the operation of their RS 4. Since tracking modules and the briefcase handle are available on the RS 4 as upgrades, most of what’s in the DJI RS 5 combo kit is already available.

The base RS 5 is around $570 currently, while the RS 4 is around $470. If I were in the market for a new gimbal, I’d drop the extra $100 for the RS 5, but for many users it’s going ot be a tough call. You get more from the RS 5 than the RS 4, but the lower price of the RS 4 now that the RS 5 has hit the market makes the older unit more compelling for budget-minded customers.

In short, the DJI Ronin RS 5 is the best gimbal on the market for its target customers. It takes the combo kit to unlock the best of what it has to offer, but if you’re sticking professional camera gear onto it, the RS 5 is the gimbal that matches the quality of the camera.

I would love to see a more refined touchscreen, but that’s my chief complaint. There is very little on the Ronin RS 5 that would keep me from recommending it, while the small changes to internal design and external operations end up making this a more compelling product than it looks just from the spec sheet.

The fact that it has incremental improvements over the RS 4 shows how DJI has always been focused on giving customers the best tech possible, but it also shows that gimbal design doesn’t have much more headroom for feature development. DJI has been ahead of the competition for so long that all they have left to do now is tweak their designs.

That’s good news for customers of the last generation of DJI’s Ronin series and for customers of this newest industry-leading flagship as well.

The post DJI RS 5 Review: The Best Gimbal for Creators Just Got Better appeared first on Imaging Resource.

At $79 for the two-transmitter and one receiver version, it’s hard (maybe impossible) to find a wireless microphone system that does this much for this little.

This mic can be found in our Ultimate Mic Buyer’s Guide, along with some other microphones we love.

DJI Mic Mini

What We Think

The DJI Mic Mini is a compact wireless microphone system that records 24-bit digital audio and transmits over 2.4GHz with a range of up to 150 meters (line of sight). It features a clip-on transmitter with built-in mic, a USB-C receiver for direct camera and smartphone use, and a charging case that extends its 5–6 hour operating time. Designed for plug-and-play use, it delivers clean, low-latency audio in an ultra-portable form for vlogging and interviews.

Reasons to Buy

• Compact and ultralight — easy to clip on and go.
• Dual transmitters for two-person recording.
• Up to 48 hours total use with charging case.
• Noise-canceling and automatic limiting to keep audio clean.

Reasons to Avoid

• No built-in screen like the larger DJI Mic 2.
• Range is best in line-of-sight shooting environments.

Specifications

• Battery Life: 48 hours (with charging case)
• Compatibility: iPhone, Android, cameras, and laptops
• Audio Features: Noise-canceling, automatic gain limiting, low-latency transmission
• Range: 400m

• Charging Case: Recharge both transmitters and receiver simultaneously

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DJI Mic Mini Audio Quality

In tests against several XLR studio microphones, the Mic Mini holds up well, though it’s not nearly on par with a high-end studio mic. Audio quality is genuinely good in most outdoor conditions, where I would never bring a studio mic.

The one consistent sound issue is that the treble can come across as flat, giving the audio a slightly less bright character than a dedicated studio mic. Without 32-bit float recording, there’s limited room to correct for mediocre audio in post-production.

That said, for $79, the audio quality is hard to beat. I have several mics at a similar price point that I use on my personal YouTube channel, and compared to the Mic Mini, they are, in a word, bad.

The Mic Mini uses an omnidirectional pickup pattern, meaning it captures sound from all directions. Omnidirectional mics work well for direct speech in controlled environments, but in noisier situations, most places you’d use a wireless mic, you’ll hear the environment alongside your voice. The system does include two levels of active noise cancellation (ANC), triggered with a single press of the power button, which helps in moderate noise environments.

Wireless range is rated at 400 meters with a clear line of sight. In practice, I haven’t hit that number — real-world range in open environments is excellent but falls short of the claimed spec. In cities or areas with significant radio frequency interference, like trade shows, range drops noticeably, and audio dropouts become a real possibility.

DJI Mic Mini vs. DJI Mic 3: What’s the Difference?

The DJI Mic 3 is a more capable system, and depending on what you’re shooting, it may be worth the extra cost. The Mic 3 includes internal recording, 32-bit float audio, timecode support, and the ability to run up to more transmitters and receivers simultaneously. The internal recording alone will be worth the (considerably more) money. With the Mic Mini, if the wireless connection drops, the audio is gone; there’s no local backup on the transmitter. That’s a risk that’s easy to overlook until it happens.

The more advanced 32-bit float audio works like shooting raw files versus JPEGs. With a standard audio recording, clipping destroys that audio permanently. With 32-bit float, the dynamic range is wide enough that you can bring a clipped file into your editor, reduce the gain, and recover audio that would otherwise be unusable. For outdoor shooting, live events, or any situation with unpredictable audio levels, that’s a significant safety net.

The Mic Mini does include a safety track mode, accessible through the DJI Mimo app, that records a second channel at -6 dB. It’s not a 32-bit float system, but it does provide some protection against severe clipping in loud environments. For multicam productions, interviews, or panel discussions, the Mic 3 is the stronger choice. For a solo creator running a single camera (especially one made by DJI), the Mic Mini is almost always enough.

DJI Mic Mini Battery Life

Battery life is one area where the Mic Mini actually outperforms the Mic 3. The transmitter delivers approximately 11.5 hours of use, and the receiver runs for about 10.5 hours — both longer than the eight hours DJI rates for the Mic 3’s transmitter. With the charging case factored in, DJI rates the total system runtime at around 48 hours.

Should You Buy the DJI Mic Mini?

If you’re a solo creator shooting vlogs, product reviews, or run-and-gun content, the DJI Mic Mini is one of the easiest recommendations in portable audio right now. The weight and size advantages over larger lavalier systems are real and noticeable in day-to-day use, the setup is genuinely effortless, and the audio quality is solid for the price. At $79 for the full kit, it’s the kind of purchase you can make without overthinking it.

If your shooting involves unpredictable audio environments, outdoor locations, live events, or any situation where a dropped signal could ruin a take, the lack of internal recording is riskier. The same goes for anyone who needs to mic multiple subjects. In those cases, the DJI Mic 3 is worth the additional investment.

But for most creators shooting everyday content, the Mic Mini does the job well and costs less than some dinners out. The Mic Mini is affordable enough that even if you opt for the Mic 3, you might consider getting a Mic Mini setup as a backup.

Buyer’s Guide

Best Microphone for Video Creators 2026

Jump to Guide →

The post DJI Mic Mini Review: The Best Budget Wireless Microphone for Creators? appeared first on Imaging Resource.

At A Glance

A Network Attached Storage (NAS) device is a combination of a specialized hard drive enclosure and onboard software that makes the drive accessible to anyone on your network. A NAS is perfect for a multi-user environment where a team needs access to files, and individuals need a place to store files that isn’t their own desktops.

Every device in your home or office, from a laptop to a tablet, can access it at the same time. Think of it as a private cloud  with no monthly subscription and no privacy worries.

What separates the DH4300 Plus from a basic network drive is that inside the enclosure, it’s really an actual computer. The Intel N100 processor and 8 gigabytes of DDR5 RAM give it enough horsepower to run apps and server software, not just store files. It also has dual 2.5-gigabit Ethernet ports (that’s very fast), several USB 3.2 ports, a USB-C port, and an HDMI output.

The UGREEN HD3400 Plus excels as a NAS thanks to fast setup, great software, and easy cross-platform usability.

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Why a NAS

A NAS is a must-have device for any workspace with multiple users or for a single user who works from different locations in a home office or small office.

I’ve almost always worked from home, and before I got my first NAS, I would walk around with my laptop connected to a portable drive so I could hold all of my video files for editing. The massive size of a lot of footage requires me to use a dedicated hard drive at my desk, but when moving from room to room, I need something besides my laptop storage. Carrying around a drive was the only real way to make sure I had access anywhere in my home. That way, when I was at my desk or sitting in the kitchen having coffee, my files were always ready to go.

Dragging a hard drive around is honestly awful. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve been walking between rooms with my laptop and have dropped the hard drive. Forgetting the hard drive when I head to a coffee shop means I’d have left my files at home and had nothing to do.

Cloud storage is the solution to some of these problems, but it has its own headaches. Data coming from the cloud is limited by the speed of my internet connection. Even with a fast connection like my 1 Gig Fios connection, getting data from cloud systems is limited to how fast the servers want to send me files, which is often a throttled speed.

Cloud providers also charge based on the amount of data stored on their servers, so the more you use them, the more you pay.

A NAS solves all of these problems. There’s no cost aside from the original purchase price, no limitations on speed when accessing remotely. With the high-speed internet ports in the UGREEN DH4300 PLUS, data is transferred at three times the speed of the Fios internet connection. In practice, it’s just as fast as a hard drive connected to my Mac.

When I connect to the NAS over WiFi in my house, the speed is still fast enough to edit video, thanks to the speed of the NAS and the speed of my WiFi 7 router (though a WiFi 6 router would provide the same performance).

Not counting the time it takes to format the drives for use, setup took me all of ten minutes. Drop in the drives, plug it into a network connection, and install the software. That’s it.

The Router Is The Key

To run the UGREEN DH4300 Plus NAS, or any high-speed NAS, it’s key to have a router or hub that has 2.5Gb/second Ethernet ports. This speed means the data is transferred at 2.5 times the speed of that Gigabit Fios connection I have.

With a 2.5Gb/second connection, you can theoretically transfer a 100GB file in around four minutes. That same file would take about fifteen minutes on a 1Gb/second connection.

Without a hub or router that operates at that speed, your data transfer speed is limited to the speed of your slowest connection. So if your computer only has “Gig-E” (the slang for 1GB/second), you’re not going to get the most out of your NAS.

Many modern computers have Ethernet ports faster than 2.5Gb/sec; my Mac Studio has a 10Gb/sec port. You won’t get faster performance than 2.5 Gb/sec with a 10Gb/second port, but it will be more than fast enough to access the NAS and perform other tasks.

Most WiFi 6 and WiFi 7 routers have at least one 2.5 Gb/sec port, so any computer plugged into that over Ethernet will have that fast speed.

If you’re running a computer without a high-speed Ethernet port, you can buy a USB-C to Ethernet adapter that’s 2.5GGb/second or faster.

Again, if you’re connected wirelessly, you won’t have these same data speeds, but unless you’re doing video editing of raw 4K or higher files, the speed is still enough to get any task done.

UGREEN DH4300 Plus RAID Configuration and Storage Options

NAS uses a technology called RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks ) to manage the configuration of the drives. It is the system that determines how your drives work together, and four bays give you real options depending on how you weigh capacity against data protection.
At one extreme, RAID 0 pools all four drives into one large volume.

Four 4-terabyte drives give you 16 terabytes of usable space, but there’s no redundancy. If one drive fails, everything goes with it. At the other extreme, RAID 1 mirrors drives for maximum protection at the cost of half your capacity.

I went with RAID 5, which uses three drives for storage and one for parity data. If one drive dies, the array stays intact. You pull the failed drive, install a new one, and it rebuilds the data. It’s a practical balance between usable capacity and real-world data safety, and it’s what I’d recommend for most users. RAID 6 and RAID 10 are also available if you need protection against two simultaneous drive failures or want mirrored pairs.

Setting Up the UGREEN DH4300 Plus

The DH4300 Plus is designed for non-technical users. As I mentioned, the physical setup took me around ten minutes. UGREEN includes the drive mounting screws, and the sleds accommodate both 3.5-inch hard drives. The sleds slide into the bays without tools.

Software setup does require installing software. You can just type the device’s IP address into a browser and have it work. But the software walks you through RAID array creation, storage pool setup, and network configuration in a guided flow that makes sense even if you’ve never touched a NAS before. There’s even a mobile client so you can set up your NAS right from your iPhone.

Once configured, setting up user accounts and shared folders — a private folder for my own files, a shared media folder for the family.

UGREEN DH4300 Plus App Ecosystem

One of the things I didn’t expect was how varied the app ecosystem would be. Because the DH4300 Plus is running a powerful processor, it can host server software, not just store files.

UGREEN Photos functions like a self-hosted Google Photos, with date-based organization and face recognition, but your images never leave your network. Nextcloud is essentially a self-hosted Dropbox, with device sync, file sharing, and optional calendar and contacts functionality.

Docker is available for more technical users and opens up essentially any containerized application. A download manager called qBittorrent lets the NAS handle large file downloads without keeping your computer running. Surveillance Station adds IP camera support, turning the NAS into a security DVR without a cloud storage fee attached. That’s a lot of utility from one box.

Connecting the UGREEN DH4300 Plus to Mac and PC

On Windows, the DH4300 Plus shows up automatically in File Explorer once the device is running. Mac requires one extra step that tripped me up the first time.
To mount the NAS as a network drive on a Mac, you need to enable Samba in the software’s network settings. Samba is a protocol that lets Macs and PCs communicate with devices like NAS systems. It’s a little hidden in the settings menu, but it’s a one-time toggle. After that, you go to Finder, press Command-K, type smb:// followed by your NAS’s network name, and it appears like any other external drive.

UGREEN DH4300 Plus Speed and Real-World Performance

In my testing over a wired connection, I’m seeing around 300 megabytes per second, fast enough to edit 4K video in DaVinci Resolve directly from the NAS without copying files locally first.
That’s a genuine workflow change for video editors. Over WiFi, I’m getting around 50 megabytes per second, which handles 2K RAW footage and H.265 video up to 8K, wirelessly. For photographers doing any kind of retouching, that’s completely comfortable.

Remote access is built into UGOS Pro and walks you through setup without requiring any real networking knowledge. I find it works reliably when I’m traveling. My files are available from anywhere, not just at home. It’s not a differentiating feature compared to other NAS systems, but it’s worth knowing it’s there and that it’s not a complicated setup.

Should You Buy the DH4300 Plus?

If you’re a photographer or video creator who’s been paying for cloud storage and wondering whether a NAS makes sense, the DH4300 Plus is the most accessible entry point I’ve tested. The setup process is beginner-friendly. Getting four drives installed, a RAID array configured, and user folders created took me an hour, not a weekend.

Since you can use either the UGREEN app or connect by just entering the IP address of your NAS into any browser, you can configure the system from anywhere in your office.

For photographers and creators who want their own private storage, their own media server, and their own backup ecosystem without a monthly bill attached, and who don’t want to become a systems administrator to get NAS features, the UGREEN DH4300 Plus is an excellent choice.

More NAS Resources

Read our NAS Buyer’s Guide for more great NAS choices.

Buyer’s Guide

Best NAS for Home 2026

Jump to Guide →

The post Hands on With the UGREEN DH4300 Plus NAS – A Great NAS for Home or Small Office appeared first on Imaging Resource.

K&F Concept Nature Wanderer 11

What We Think

 20-liter camera backpack designed for photographers who need flexible storage, comfortable carry, and room for a laptop. Its 180-degree rear opening and customizable padded dividers let you configure the interior for your gear, while expandable compartments adapt to different shooting scenarios. With dedicated spaces for batteries, memory cards, and a tripod, plus a padded sleeve for laptops up to 15.6 inches, it’s built for photographers who travel light but still need serious organization.

Reasons to Buy

• Excellent value for the features offered
• Flexible internal organization with removable dividers
• Comfortable ergonomic design for all-day wear
• Fits laptop, camera gear, and tripod simultaneously

Reasons to Avoid

• Water resistance requires a rain cover in heavy conditions
• 20L capacity limits larger gear collections

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Quick Look

The K&F CONCEPT Nature Wander 11 is a well-designed day pack for photographers and videographers, that is comfortable enough to wear all day, and spacious enough for clothes for a few-day trip.

It’s capable of holding up to a 15.6″ laptop, and is made of water-resistant fabric with reinforced stitching and zippers. The removable dividers allow you to carry a body and several lenses, though you’re not going to be able to fit a long telephoto in the main compartment. You can, however, merge the top and bottom sections to hold more gear.

The K&F Concept Nature Wander 11 – One of my new Favorite Bags

There isn’t a perfect camera backpack, but there are camera bags that are perfect for different types of shoots. I’ve got a few large packs for multi-day shoots, some “everything but the kitchen sink” bags, bags for hiking, laptop bags with just a bit of space for camera gear, and so on.

While it’s not a perfect bag, the Nature Wander 11 has impressed me with its versatility. I have wandered with this bag, though less wandering through nature and more traversing urban landscapes.

K&F Concept is most known for its filters, and for camera accessories like the RGB light we reviewed.

Most recently, I took this bag to Las Vegas when I was covering the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and had it on my back from eight in the morning until five or six in the afternoon. There was a lot of wandering the halls, and I walked between most of the venues, which often took thirty to forty minutes. Even with a fully loaded pack, it didn’t feel overly heavy.

In its most compact form, the Nature Wander 11 has a 20-liter capacity, with most of the space dedicated to the main compartment, which can be set up with or without the camera inserts. The second storage area is reached via the roll-top, a large opening that rolls closed when filled.

Both of these sections can be expanded to carry more gear. In the case of the main storage compartment, unzipping the sides allows the bag to expand. The top can be stuffed full of gear all the way to the top and then cinched up so the contents don’t fall out. Together, the bottom and top compartments can expand by six liters, adding more than a quarter of the capacity that’s afforded by the larger 20-liter bag.

There’s a tripod holder, a zippered side-entry pouch for access to camera gear without having to unzip the rear of the bag. On the other side of the access pouch, there’s a stretchy holder for a water bottle. The Nature Wander 11 also has space for a large laptop, K&F says it will fit a laptop up to 15.6 inches, thoough as a user of a Macbook Air I wasn’t able to verify this. 

Straps and Comfort

The most obvious consideration in a backpack, naturally,  is how it feels on your back. Too many backpacks I own press uncomfortably against me, chafing my skin, and leaving me sweaty at the end of the day.

The Nature Wander 11 has raised ergonomic padding sections to fit the bag to your back, allowing air to circulate. I returned to my hotel room after a long day I wasn’t soaking with sweat, even after walking the mile to and from my hotel to the convention center, along with hours of booth hopping at CES. 

That alone is enough to make me pick this backpack over others in my collection. When wandering a tradeshow it’s a bit embarrassing to take off a backpack to put some press materials into it and have a back that’s all wet.

There is a cross strap that secures with a metal closure and has a satisfying feel when clipped across the chest. Since this pack isn’t designed to be worn for long periods of time, there’s no belt strap to take the weight off the shoulders. For a pack that’s intended to be used in “nature” and can carry so much weight, a waist strap would be a good addition.

To organize gear, there are dual side pockets, as both the bag entry side and water bottle side have storage pouches. Inside, there are dual mesh pockets and three pockets for batteries and other accessories.

The expandable roll-top section has enough room that I was able to pack a light sweater, a bag of cables, and my vlogging gear. On the flight home I added a sandwich and some of the samples I took home from the show. A buckle clasp holds the roll-top closed, and the closure strap has different loops so you can roll the top to several different sizes.

In one of the few misses with this bag, the roll top does not have a zipper. A zipper isn’t strictly necessary since the bag is rolled up and clipped closed most of the time. I like like to be able to zipper the section shut to make sure nothing falls out if I forget to roll and hook the bag. 

The bag is available in both black and grey. I tested the black version, which won’t show dirt as much as the grey, but I think the grey is more attractive.

When the Nature Wander 11  Does and Does Not Cut it

“Wander” is the key to this bag’s use. It’s a great daypack, a perfect bag for working in your local coffee shop, and for sightseeing. The bag is very well designed, with attention to detail and featuring quality components.

I find it more useful in urban situations than wandering the woods. It’s not uncomfortable when hiking, but if I’m going out for more than an hour on the trails I would rather take a bag that’s got a waist strap and that has room for a water reservoir system.

I would take the “nature” moniker with a grain of salt. My favorite use of this bag was one where I’d walk for a few miles while taking photos, and then head to a coffee shop, pull my laptop out to transfer images, and check some emails.

I had considered taking it on a nine-day trip to Singapore, as the backpack is so comfortable, but it’s not quite big enough to bring all the items I wanted in the cabin with me, and I picked a larger, but much less comfortable bag.

Should You Buy This Bag?

The K&F Concept Nature Wander 11 is $99 list price, and often found for as low as $89 during online sales.

t’s a great value for the price. It’s a much more durable-feeling and better-designed backpack than a $90 backpack has the right to be.

If you want an excellent bag for a day that’s a mix of photography and digital nomading, this is a top choice. This bag is all pros and very few cons. It’s lightweight, ergonomically designed, holds a good amount of camera gear, and has organization tools often found on more expensive bags. 

The relatively small size of the bag when in its smallest configuration and the extra few liters of space when expaned make it a great backpack for both quick trips and full-days spent out photographing.

The post K&F CONCEPT Nature Wander 11 – A Terrific Bag For Daytrips and More appeared first on Imaging Resource.

Standing over a vat of chemicals in the darkroom of my school newspaper, I waited anxiously for the paper I dropped into it to transform from a blank sheet into a (hopefully) beautiful image. More often than not, it would reveal something mediocre. I hadn’t yet taken the hundreds of thousands of photos I have now, and I had about the skill level you’d expect for someone of my age. 

I would hold the negatives up to the lone red lightbulb screwed into the ceiling fixture, find another shot to print, and load it back into the creaky, old Bessler enlarger. Expose, develop, evaluate, and start again. 

The process of holding one’s images printed large made me a better photographer. Seeing what went right and what went wrong in a photo gave me what I needed to try again, but differently. Because I could expose a roll of film and then print from it just a little while later, it created a feedback loop. 

Doing photo shoots in New York City during art school, I would take my E6 slide film to Carol Color Labs and wait for a rush development of a roll of film before running back to class. As soon as the box of slides was handed to me, I would spread them out on one of the light tables in the processing lab and check out my shots.  

Canon Pixma imagePROGRAF PRO 1100

What We Think

The Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100 is a 17-inch professional desktop photo printer that replaces the popular PRO-1000. It features the new LUCIA PRO II pigment ink system with 12 individual cartridges including 11 color inks and Chroma Optimizer for improved color accuracy, deeper blacks, and enhanced print longevity up to 200 years under proper storage conditions. The printer handles media up to 17 inches wide with borderless printing up to 17×22 inches and supports panoramic prints up to 129 inches long on paper up to 0.7mm thick.

Reasons to Buy

• Improved LUCIA PRO II ink system delivers deeper blacks and enhanced color reproduction
• Large 80ml ink cartridges reduce running costs compared to smaller printers
• Extended panoramic printing support up to 129 inches
• Enhanced grayscale printing mode for neutral black and white prints
• 200-year print longevity rating with proper storage
• User-replaceable print head and maintenance cartridge
• Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz/5GHz) and multiple connectivity options

Reasons to Avoid

• No touchscreen interface, only a 3-inch LCD display
• No roll paper support, cut sheet media only
• Replacement print head costs $414
• Premium price for ink cartridges
• Large footprint requires a dedicated workspace

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Many years later, photo printers became standard accessories for pro and enthusiast photographers alike. Everyone I knew had a photo printer sitting in their studio. After a shoot, they’d print one or more images for themselves or give a handful of prints to art directors. The process of going from shoot to print was part of the ritual of professional photography. 

As I loaded a sheet of 17×22 Premium Luster paper in the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1100, I lamented how no one prints their photos anymore. They go from camera (or more likely phone) to social media, where they’re viewed on a screen smaller than a postcard. You can learn about your photography that way, but you can’t know as much as you can by tacking a photo up on your wall and really looking at it. 

It reminds me that all photographers should really own a photo printer. 

What’s Under The Hood

I’ll refer to the printer as the “PRO-1100” going forward, as the full name is descriptive but excessive. 

Visually, the PRO-1100 resembles its predecessor, the PRO-1000, but there are significant improvements in the newer machine. The PRO-1000 was our printer of the year in 2015, which shows you how slow the development of printers can be.

The PRO-1100 uses Canon’s LUCIA PRO II ink system. Canon claims deeper blacks and better overall color reproduction, and the photos are indeed vibrant with deep blacks. Lacking the Pro-1000 to test it against, I can’t say if they’re noticeably better, but they are excellent. 

The 12-cartridge system has four dedicated monochrome inks: matte black, photo black, gray, and photo gray. Canon says black and white prints have noticeably better tonal separation than the PRO-1000, and again. At the same time, I can’t compare directly; monochrome prints look more like traditional prints than those of years ago. 

The ink system includes a Chroma Optimers, a clear coating you can think of like the wax applied at the car wash. It’s designed to eliminate “bronzing,” the effect where a glossy print can start to look metallic in the dark areas under some lighting. It’s applied automatically on glossy and semi-gloss paper. 

Canon says the prints will last up to 200 years in proper storage conditions, though I won’t be around to check on that claim. Canon performs aging tests, as output from the printer is often sold at galleries.

The printer handles paper up to 17×22, and, interestingly, panorama paper as well in a “straight” path. I use quotes there because printers like those from Epson have a completely flat paper path, eliminating any paper curving on the way to the plattens. Paper up to a bit over a quarter inch is supported, which lets the printer handle thick fine-art stock. 

I used the straight path for panoramas, printing onto some fine-art paper that I’ve had since other printer reviews more than a decade ago. The printer can handle panorama sheets up to 129 inches long (that’s about 11 feet), although there’s no roll feeder on this printer to accommodate Big-Bird-sized panoramas. The inclusion of a panorama mode in smartphones makes it much easier to generate panoramas, so the panorama ability is welcome. 

Canon says the L-COA PRO image processing engine (who names these things?) produces a 17×22 print in about four minutes, though that depends on whether you print in the better or faster modes. I rarely print in a quick mode, especially when printing to 13×19 or 17×22, though I will speed things up if doing 4×6 or 5×7 proofs. 

The print cartridges in the PRO-1100 are 80ml, which is a decent size. The cartridges that come with the printer run out quickly, so be prepared to buy another set, which is about $775 for a complete set. 

Cleaning and Scrubbing

There is an anti-clogging system in the PRO, eliminating the biggest headache of printers from when they first arrived. Clogs are common when printers sit idle for long periods of time. When I worked in a photo studio, one of my jobs was to turn the printer on every few weeks and run a calibration print to keep the heads clean. Even with the anti-clogging system, I’d recommend occasional prints in order to keep anything from drying out the print nozzles. 

The print head itself is replaceable, and costs between $500-$700, while the maintenance cartridge costs $16. To save you pulling out a calculator, should you need to replace the complete set of inks, plus the print head and maintenance tank, you’re looking at $1,494. That’s $100 more than the printer itself. 

So, you could buy a new printer to get access to the ink, print head, and maintenance tank, and sell the second PRO-1100. body to make a bit of extra money. I don’t recommend that from an e-waste standpoint, but it shows that the cost of owning and the cost of operating the printers are both high. 

Design and Controls

The PRO-1100 is neither a small nor a dainty printer. It is a massive table-taking-up device. With the input tray closed, it measures 28.5 x 11.2 x 17.1 inches (or 72.4 x 28.4 x 43.4 cm) and weighs 71 pounds. My studio is up two long flights of stairs, and moving this printer is absolutely a two-person job. 

When setting up the printer, you have to remember the space it will take if using the rear printer and that the paper tray on the front takes up just under 22 inches. The size of the front tray (the tray that prints slides out onto) is one of my pet peeves in this printer; it’s just a bit shorter than a 22-inch sheet of paper. The result is that the edge can curl over the lip of the tray, and when several pieces are stacked on top of each other, the paper can curl. Likewise, the input tray does not extend a full 22 inches, so paper there can curl as well. 

If your printer can accept 22-inch media, anything that holds that media should measure the full length. 

One of the biggest issues with the printer is the throwback control panel. The PRO-1100 is one of the few printers I know of in this price range that still uses a D-Pad rather than a touchscreen. Even the cheap multifunction printer in my office has a touchscreen. 

Digging through menus, and there are plenty of menus, takes considerable time compared to touch displays. This might not seem like a problem, but it makes the printer that much less convenient to operate. 

Many times, I found myself running back and forth between my computer (in my office) and my printer (down the hall) in order to perform a task like setting the correct paper type or size after I forgot to do so when loading the paper. Frantically mashing buttons is annoying at best. 

Thankfully, the printer has WiFi, which is what allows me to have it down the hall without stringing a long Ethernet cable to it. The printer also has USB-C for those using it close to their computer. 

Circling back to that control system, entering a WiFi password using down, up, left, and right buttons reminds me of entering combos in fighting games on console gaming systems, with more opportunity to get it wrong. 

Configuration and Printing

For Mac users, the printer is immediately visible when connected by WiFi, Ethernet, or USB, and you can print immediately.

Do not do this. 

Instead, head to Canon’s driver and support pages and download the Mac driver for this specific printer. Using the default Mac profiles can lead to mismatched paper sizes, printer errors (from those mismatched settings), and prints that come out at letter size even though they were set for much larger papers. I even made a panorama that printed a crop of the image vertically across the left side of the paper, leaving the rest blank. 

Printing is straightforward, unless you’re working in some popular apps like Photoshop or Illustrator, which have their own print systems. Generally, prints come out fine directly from these apps, but on a few occasions, I had to send a PDF to Apple’s Preview to get the paper and the image to match up properly. 

Printing is claimed to be only as loud as 43db, which a quick Google search says is about as loud as a “babbling brook” or a “quiet refrigerator humming.” This is untrue. Printing may be quiet, but there’s a fan that runs to keep the unit cool (and perhaps to cause the vacuum that holds the paper in place while printing), which is distractingly loud. From down the hall and around the corner, I can tell when a print is done by the reduction in fan noise. 

A printer doesn’t need to be silent, but the Epson that the Canon sits next to is quiet enough that I sometimes only know when a print is done because I happen to walk by it. 

Print Quality

If the prints from the Canon PRO-1100 weren’t exceptional, it wouldn’t be worth the review. (I would be able to stop at “don’t buy this,” were that the case. 

Of course, a printer is garbage-in-garbage-out, or more to the point, brilliance-in-brilliance-out. The PRO-1100 excels when the original photograph is well exposed and is either vibrant or, in the case of monochrome prints, exhibits excellent contrast. 

Prints are gorgeous, which is the only thing that really matters. A printer can be cumbersome to use, but if it makes great prints, well, that’s all you need. 

The color prints are vibrant and jump off the page, and the colors are accurate, at least if you’ve calibrated your monitor. 

The Final Word

I only review printers about once every five or six years, as printer development is glacial compared to camera development. Each time I review a printer, I generate a few dozen prints, and then at some point, I taper off in my printing. 

That’s a shame because each time I test another printer, I remember how good they are. I don’t have a lot of need for wall-hangings or panorama prints. 

But this time I’m going to keep using this printer, because sharing photos online has really taken me away from the true nature of photography. 

At around $1,400, it’s not exactly cheap, but when it comes to wide-format printing, it’s right on the nose. The consumable costs are high, though that seems to be the case with printers from entry to the highest end, as this printer is. 

The Canon Pixma imagePROGRAF PRO 1100 isn’t a perfect printer. Entering a WiFi password using arrow buttons or re-configuring the print dialog box to get output are two frustrating examples of how printers evolve, but mostly on the inside.

Luckily, the inside of this printer is fantastic, and for those looking for a 17×22 printer that fits (mostly) on a desktop, this is the printer to have. 

Canon Pixma imagePROGRAF PRO 1100

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The post Canon Pixma imagePROGRAF PRO 1100 Review – A Legendary Printer Line Gets Even Better appeared first on Imaging Resource.

The Logitech MX Creative Console offers a budget-friendly entry into the creator control deck market at under $200, providing nine programmable LCD buttons and a contextual dial that adapts to your workflow. While it lacks the extensive controls of premium alternatives like the $550 Loupedeck Creative Tool, its split-unit design and solid software integration make it a practical choice for creators who want to streamline their editing without breaking the bank.

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Logitech MX Creative Console

What We Think

The Logitech MX Creative Console is a compact two-module control surface designed for photo, video, and audio workflows. It combines a nine-button LCD keypad with a weighted dial module, both configurable through Logi Options+. The system integrates with major creative apps, supports custom profiles, and allows per-app button assignments and dial behaviors. Its small footprint makes it suitable for tight desks or portable creator setups.

Reasons to Buy

• Full-color LCD buttons allow clear icon labeling
• Dial adapts based on the selected tool or application
• Split-module layout allows flexible positioning on the desk
• Strong software integration with Logi Options+ for major apps

Reasons to Avoid

• Only nine programmable buttons means toggling through pages of buttons
• Display Keys unit requires a USB-C cable—no wireless option
• Modules do not physically lock together and can shift on the desk

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Logitech MX Creative Console – Creator Decks to the Rescue

A keyboard and mouse are dreadful photo and video editing tools, yet they have been the primary interface between humans and computers for decades. For newcomers to editing, there’s a huge learning curve to memorizing keyboard shortcuts, and proficient users still have to reach for the keyboard for almost every task.

As the livestreaming market grew, companies like Elgato and Loupedeck released control decks with programmable keys. These decks simulate the physical control surfaces found in broadcast studios, making tasks like changing camera angles, calling up graphics, or adjusting microphone inputs easy.

Photo and video editors adopted these decks to trigger shortcuts in applications like Photoshop, Lightroom, Final Cut, Resolve, and more. The programmable buttons make triggering actions that would otherwise require multiple keystrokes or navigating through menus simple.

Elgato makes the most widely adopted control decks, thanks to the company’s early commitment to livestreamers and video producers. For several years, I used the Elgato Stream Deck+ to control sliders in Lightroom and make adjustments in Resolve.

Next, I moved to the Loupedeck Creative Tool, which has more than thirty programmable buttons and seven dials. This is the gold standard of creative editing decks. The Creative Tool comes with presets for all the popular photo and video applications, and custom presets can be installed.

The Loupedeck is an excellent tool, but the price tag that hovers around $550 puts it out of reach for many users. The MX Creative Console comes in just under $200, making it accessible to more creators.

All these tools offer deep customization and the ability to switch between profiles for different applications instantly. Work in Photoshop, and the specialized Photoshop controls are active. Switch to Final Cut Pro, and the keys convert to that workflow.

Logitech MX Creative Console Design and Layout

Logitech has entered the creator deck market with the MX Creative Console. The Creative Console is a two-piece combination of programmable buttons on one panel and a jog wheel with navigation controls on the other.

Logitech refers to the portion with the buttons as the Display Keys, and the one with the wheel as the Contextual Dial, but I’ll often refer to the Display Keys component as a deck.

The deck has nine programmable full-color buttons, plus forward and back buttons used to shuffle through different “pages” of buttons. The wheel unit has a main jog wheel, plus a roller that looks and works like the side-mounted scroll wheel on the Logitech MX Master 3S Mouse, which I use in conjunction with the Creative Console for even more customization. The wheel unit also has four programmable buttons.

The Loupedeck Creative Tool is designed to be the primary interface for editing, especially for video editing. Many physical buttons replace or eliminate the need to reach for a keyboard.

The Logitech MX Creative Console serves more as an assistant to a keyboard than a replacement. The two components can be placed on either side of a keyboard or used on the same side.

While I’m right-handed, I’ve used a mouse with my left hand since I developed carpal tunnel in college. Unlike the Elgato or Loupedeck devices, the MX Creative Console allows me to place each component where it works best for my left-handed mousing preference.

The deck connects over USB-C, while the wheel unit is wireless. The energy demands of LCD keys would drain a rechargeable battery quickly or require a much larger case to accommodate a larger battery. Adding another cable to my desk is a hassle, though not a major issue. I’d happily pay more for a battery dock if it would let me use the deck without a cable.

I’d also prefer it if the two units could be docked horizontally and placed side-by-side without slowly moving apart. I’ll likely 3D print something to hold both units together. However, I designed and 3D printed a base for it so that the two units can dock and can be oriented with either on the left or right. The solution cost me about $.10 in 3D filament, so it wouldn’t have cost much to include with the console. 

The MX Creative Console strikes a balance between size and functionality. There could be more buttons on the deck, but then it would resemble the more expensive options in terms of features and cost. It’s sized appropriately for its target uses.

Logi Options+ Software and Control — A Learning Curve but Great Customization 

Like the rest of Logitech’s programmable accessories, the MX Creative Console is configured through the Logi Options+ software. Options+ is intuitive and easy to use, and the software can configure any number of Logitech devices.

Logitech’s consolidated ecosystem means I can program both my MX Mouse and MX Creative Console simultaneously. Logitech has largely abandoned the custom USB dongles they used for mice and keyboards, and now relies on Bluetooth or wired connections, as is the case with the deck. 

Custom profiles are set for the most common applications, with buttons covering the most common functions. You could go from unboxing to a customized Lightroom workflow in less than ten minutes.

Options+ has a list of supported tools, which can be dragged to the virtual display of the Creative Console in Options+. Each of the supported tools has pre-programmed triggers and custom icons.

For example, if you want to add a button that flags a photo, you simply drag that from a list of Lightroom choices to the button you’d like to use to flag an image. Fill out all nine buttons and add multiple pages with more options.

Options+ will be comfortable for anyone who’s created macros. Keys can be programmed to perform keyboard operations, select menu items, or trigger other scripts.

Options+ has presets for almost all of the creative tools on the market. Logitech recently added support for Resolve, which added presets for that program. Even without these presets, I could still program keys based on their shortcuts in Resolve, but it wouldn’t have been as seamless as picking from a list of functions.

As the name implies, the Contextual Control dial changes functionality based on operations on the Display Keys. Press the Layers button in Photoshop, and the dial moves through the layers. Switch to the healing brush tool, and the dial controls the brush size.

Logitech MX Creative Console in Use

I enjoy working with the Creative Console, though the scarcity of keys means I either need to set up multiple pages of keys to toggle through, or jump back to the keyboard and mouse for quick tasks. Having multiple pages of keys and a button to toggle between them is faster, but if I need a key on the fourth page, it’s often easier to just use my mouse.

The Contextual Control helps in programs like Photoshop, and Lightroom’s separate Library and Develop panels make the overall combination work well. Press a button, turn the wheel. Press another button, turn the wheel again.

Most video editing uses just five or six keys, so the Creative Console fits into most of my workflow. I’ve programmed it to trim forward and back, cut with the blade tool, select the clip under the playhead, and a few more tasks.

I have issues when I need to jump to a less common tool or function, usually after I’ve finished my first cut, when I’m adding B-roll, transitions, or titles.

Without thinking about it, I typically forget about the MX Creative Console once I’ve jumped back to the keyboard. Only when I start to do basic edits do I notice I’m using the keyboard again.

That’s not a problem specific to the MX Creative Console, but of these devices in general. To use them efficiently, it’s necessary to overwrite some muscle memory.

When I jump between programs, the MX Creative Console becomes most useful. I often forget the shortcuts for common activities in Photoshop, Lightroom, and Illustrator, yet these tools are part of my regular workflow.

Setting up my most commonly used tools in each application keeps me focused on my task and less focused on trying to remember which menu has which control I need.

Logitech MX Creative Console Purchase Recommendations

Even though the Logitech MX Creative Console costs less than half the price of the Loupedeck Creative Tool, it’s still an expensive upgrade.

If you’re a casual user of creative tools, the benefits may not be worth the expense. If you’re a power user, you might find the MX Creative Console slightly limited and be more inclined to use the Loupedeck console.

There is a sweet spot with the MX Creative Console, and that’s with the user who has a heavy workload and wants to get around the roadblocks that using a keyboard and mouse creates.

The split-unit nature of the Display Keys and Contextual Control is appealing, though I keep going back and forth on which side of my keyboard each component should live.

I don’t get as much done with the MX Creative Console as I do with the Loupedeck Creative Tool, but I also don’t get overwhelmed as easily with the Logitech device as I do with the Creative Tool.

If you’re a keyboard shortcut expert, you’ll do better sticking to the shortcuts you’re familiar with, especially if you’ve customized your keyboard.

But if you often search for commands under the menus, or do things with a mouse because you can’t remember the shortcuts, the Logitech MX Creative Console may be the tool that takes your editing to another level. 

Other Tools to Consider

If the Logitech MX Creative Console doesn’t fully meet your needs, several other tools offer different features and price points to enhance your creative workflow:

Elgato Stream Deck XL: A popular control deck with 32 customizable LCD keys, ideal for livestreamers and video editors needing extensive programmable options. [Available on Amazon]

ELECOM HUGE Trackball: An ergonomic wireless trackball mouse with 8 customizable buttons and a large 52mm ball for precise control, ideal for reducing wrist strain during long editing sessions. 

Loupedeck Creative Tool: A premium control deck with over 30 programmable buttons and seven dials, designed for professional photo and video editors seeking a comprehensive interface. 

The post Logitech MX Creative Console – Hands On (Literally) With a Nearly-Perfect Editing Tool appeared first on Imaging Resource.

Over the years, I have dropped many a hard drive or SSD, and while most of them survived, many of them were gone forever with a sad thud as they hit the floor. 

Hard drives were the main culprits for an early death. The spinning platters and mechanics needed to read and write data weren’t designed for sudden deceleration. Nor were they designed to handle water, freezing temperatures, or being crushed. 

Portable hard drives were designed to be more durable than their desktop counterparts, but they’re still incredibly delicate devices. 

Solid State Drives (SSD) handle these conditions better, but they’re still fragile. Get a drive wet and, well, you’ve got an expensive paperweight. Drive over it with your car, and they’re toast, and of course, you are a bad driver.

LaCie Rugged SSD4 on a white background. ” class=”wp-image-1038444″/>

From the dawn of the portable hard drive era, there have been drives designed to be more durable than most. LaCie was one of the first companies to make a rugged portable hard drive. These units are distinct with an orange silicone bumper protecting the drives, and the blaze orange cover makes the drives easier to see when you put them down.

As we shifted from hard drives to SSDs, the durability of portable drives improved, mostly. There are many popular and inexpensive portable drives on the market. But to achieve their low price, they either are not constructed to withstand the elements (or accidents), or they have slow transfer speeds. 

Drives designed for durability likewise tend to have slow connectivity because the speed is secondary to the data loss protection they provide. Rugged, fast, or affordable—pick any two. 

LaCie claims the Rugged SSD4 is “adventure-proof,” which they say means it is resistant to freezing temperatures, water exposure, drops, and being crushed. 

We’ll see about that. 

Watch our YouTube Review

To be fair, each of these claims comes with a metric. You can’t drop it from your roof or go scuba diving with it. You shouldn’t put it under an elephant’s foot, and it’s not going to survive a trip to photograph penguins in Antarctica. 

More on how we tested these claims is below. 

Imaging Resource Buyer’s Guide to SSDs

If you’re looking for more SSD recommendations, check out our buyer’s guide.

LaCie Tackles Durability and Speed in One Orange Package

The LaCie Rugged SSD4 manages to nail durability and speed, something not a lot of drives can claim.. With transfer speeds up to 4,000 MB/second, the drives are fast enough to do ProRes 4K 120 recording and editing. If you’re not a video editor, just know that’s incredibly fast, more than fast enough to handle even files from a camera with a 100 megapixel sensor like the Hasselblad X2D II 100 C that we reviewed. 

To achieve the speeds provided by the SSD inside the enclosure, the Rugged SSD4 has a USB-C port that handles USB 40Gbps, USB 20Gbps, the older USB 1-Gbps, and the geriatric USB 5Gbps. It also supports Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 4, and Thunderbolt 3.

All of this is to say that you can plug this drive into nearly anything and it will work. Out of the box, it can connect to Macs, iPhones and iPads, Windows machines, Chromebooks, and more.

The Rugged SSD4 has an IP54 rating. A system for quantifying how a device withstands environmental conditions, the “5” means it is not dust-proof, but the amount of dust that can enter won’t degrade performance. The “4” means that it resists water splashed in any direction. 

The price is surprisingly competitive. The 1TB model costs $120, the 2TB model $215, and the 4TB model $400. For comparison, the OWC 1.M2 Express we reviewed is $249 for the 1TB unit, $400 for the 2TB drive, the 4TB is $630, and the 8TB $1300.

The reason the OWC is more expensive than the LaCie Rugged SSD comes down to the heat management of the OWC unit. Enclosed in a body that’s basically a large heat sync, the OWC 1.M2 Express should prevent overheating, which is the leading cause of SSD deaths. 

So while the LaCie Rugged SSD4 is designed to withstand the elements, the OWC drive is designed to survive long-term high-volume data transfers. The LaCie might also do well for years, but heat management isn’t its goal. Surviving a hurricane is. 

LaCie Rugged SSD4 Put to the Test

To test LaCie’s claims of adventure-proofness, we turned to our dedicated and sophisticated hardware evaluation labs and ran multiple calibrated tests.

I’m kidding, my son and I took it, threw it in the deep freezer, and then after a day cooling down and thawing out, we took it outside, threw it, sprayed it with a hose, and drove over it with my car several times. It turns out that driving over an SSD is enjoyable, so we did a few passes. 

After each torture test, we took it immediately to my Mac and tested the speed, and each time it performed as well as it did right ouf ot the box. 

We didn’t adhere to the specs either. We tossed it onto the driveway from a retaining wall about four feet above the ground. We doused it with water from a hose and completely doused it., And, as I said, we drove over it like it was a zombie in The Walking Dead. 

Because I was trying to get some slow-motion footage, and because we wanted it to fall a specific way, we ended up throwing it in the air multiple times, with it hitting the driveway repeatedly.

To quote Timex, it took a licking and kept on ticking. 

I’ve since put the drive back into service, using it for editing in Resolve.

My one gripe is that the drive comes with a rubber plug to cover the USB-C port, and of course, I lost it not in the process of testing it, but sometime when I had it out to use in a coffee shop or at lunch. I’m not sure which.

While the USB-C port is probably fine without this port, I’m not sure why it doesn’t come with some sort of attachment to the silicone bumper or the drive itself. If you buy this drive, keep an eye on that piece.

Should you buy This Drive?

The LaCie Rugged SSD4 lives up to its claims. Without spending years dropping it, it’s hard to say if it will stand the test of time, but a drive like this isn’t meant to be used indefinitely. At some point, I take all of my drives, load them with archive data, and stick them on a shelf. 

Unlike many of my drives, should my shelf collapse, this drive won’t be bothered at all. 

If you’re looking for a rugged SSD that has fast connectivity and tested durability, this drive is a perfect choice.

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The post LaCie Rugged SSD4 – We Freeze, Drop, Soak, and Drive Over This “Adventure-Proof” Device appeared first on Imaging Resource.

The MacBook Air took some of the power of the MacBook Pro and shrunk it to the size of today’s iPads. It was impressive, and I ordered one when it went on sale.

While it was small and portable, it wasn’t very fast. I watched the spinning beachball while waiting for a task to finish. The tradeoff of performance for portability was worth it, though, as I was flying tens of thousands of miles a year, and every gram I could shave off was back-saving.

Over the years, the MacBook Air has progressed from a tiny and underpowered computer into a larger but impressively powerful Mac. Today’s MacBook Air is lighter and smaller than the MacBook Pro and lacks some of the punch of the MacBook Pro, but it’s an amazing combination of price and performance.

For my money, the MacBook Air M4 is the best Mac laptop for photographers and video editors. I mean “for my money” literally, as I’ve purchased every MacBook Air model since its release, and the M4 version is the best yet.

MacBook Air M4 (2025) – At a Glance

The M4 MacBook Air continues Apple’s tradition of balancing power, portability, and value. While its exterior remains unchanged from the M3, the new 32GB RAM ceiling, dual 6K display support, and faster M4 processor make this a meaningful upgrade-especially for photographers and video editors. In real-world testing, it handles everything from Lightroom to DaVinci Resolve with ease, trailing only in render times compared to desktop-class Macs. Lightweight, quiet, and stunningly bright with a P3 1-billion-color display, the M4 MacBook Air is Apple’s most capable ultra-portable yet.

Pros

• Excellent balance of performance, portability, and price
• Now supports up to 32GB of unified memory
• Can power two external 6K displays at 60Hz
• Bright 500-nit P3 display with True Tone and 1 billion colors
• Whisper-quiet and lightweight, perfect for travel
• Significant multi-core performance boost over M3 model
• Exceptional build quality and six-speaker audio system
• Ideal for photographers and editors who use proxy workflows

Cons

• Still slower at final renders than MacBook Pro or Mac Studio
• No active cooling means potential thermal throttling under heavy loads
• Limited GPU improvement over M3 generation
• Higher RAM and storage configurations increase cost quickly
• Same exterior design as previous two models

Where to buy the MacBook Air M4

The MacBook Air M4 is available at Amazon, B&H, and Apple.

MacBook Air M4 Versus M3 MacBook Air Specs

The MacBook Air’s external design is unchanged from the M3 and M2 models, but there are some internal differences.

Apple’s shift to a 32 GB maximum RAM setup is reason enough for many potential users to buy the M4. The 24 GB upper limit of the M3 MacBook Air was underwhelming and could easily slow down complex operations.

Another significant change for photo and video creators is supporting external monitors. The M3 could support one external display at up to 6K and a second display at 5K if the MacBook Air were run with the lid closed, using that display as the primary monitor.

The M4 MacBook Air can run two displays at 6K resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. This change makes the new M4 version a worthwhile upgrade over the M3 model for video editors.

The M4 also features several minor improvements, including a slightly higher resolution and six speakers, compared to the four on the M3.

Display-wise, the M4 MacBook Air is brilliant, literally and figuratively. It supports 1 billion colors using the P3 color gamut and Apple’s True Tone system to manage screen colors. At 500 nits, the display is bright enough to be easily seen outdoors.

Unlimited Power

Apple’s M-series processors are at the heart of all of its computers, and it’s a powerful but confusing lineup. These chip architectures have four generations, with M4 being the most recent.

The naming of the processors seems straightforward as each generation progresses from M1 to M4. The M4 processor would be faster than M3 or M2, but this isn’t always true.

In each of the processor lines, there are base models (M1, M2, etc.) and enhanced versions of each chip called Pro and Max. Additionally, the M2 lineup includes an Ultra model.

As a result, the M4 processor in the MacBook Air is not as powerful as the M3 Pro in the MacBook Pro, especially in graphics tasks. Since the MacBook Air M3 and M4 are both based on the same chip, the M4 is faster than its predecessor, but not radically.

Apple’s chips are multi-core processors, meaning two or more are on the same chip. Multi-core processors allow the computer to do multiple things at once or to do the same task faster.

The M4 MacBook Air is 28 percent faster than the M3 MacBook Air in multi-core tasks. That’s a significant speed boost for typical computing tasks, but graphics processing is key to performance for photographers and video editors.

The M4 MacBook Air is only 13 percent faster than the M3 version in graphics tasks. Any speed boost is welcome in video or photo editing, but 13 percent might not be noticeable depending on your typical tasks.

Is the M4 MacBook Air Good For Photographers and Videographers

The MacBook Air was never designed to be a speed demon, but even the base M4 processor is more powerful than some of Apple’s earlier M1 and M2 desktop models.

My main workstation is a M1 Max Mac Studio, and it’s a speed demon, but thanks to the optimization in most photo apps, the performance of the M4 MacBook Air feels no different than my desktop Studio.

In editing a video, there’s virtually no difference. All professional video apps create proxy files for faster editing. A proxy file is a low-resolution version of footage that serves as a placeholder for the high-resolution footage until the final project is exported.

Editing speeds are identical to those on my desktop when I work on videos for Imaging Resource’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/@imagingresourcereviews) and my personal YouTube channel (youtube.com/@davetriesthis).

It’s not until the final footage is rendered that speed differences become noticeable since the edits are applied to the full-resolution footage.

To test the performance of the M4 MacBook Air, I tested rendering the same project across both my M1 Max Mac Studio and the M4 MacBook Air. The sample project runs for eight minutes and has hundreds of cuts, dozens of titles, and a few dozen transitions.

I rendered both as ProRes 422HQ, using the same OWC Envoy hard drive on both machines for both the project and the location of the rendered file. The M1 Max Mac Studio completed the render in a minute and 22 seconds, while the M4 MacBook Air clocked in at two minutes and 22 seconds.

The performance of both renders seemed similar; however, the project included a few processor-intensive warp transitions, which the MacBook Air struggled to handle.

For a short video, these times are barely different. Hit render and grab a coffee, and they’ll both be completed when you return. But render a longer or more complex project; suddenly, you’re looking at significant speed differences.

Those differences are more pronounced when you look at the current state of Mac desktops. These tests were an entry-level M4 processor versus a year-old M1 Max Mac Studio, but the current crop of Mac Studio comes with either an M4 Max or Mprocessor processor.

Should You Get the M4 MacBook Air?

It would be pointless to compare the performance differences between all the models of Mac laptops and desktops, as they serve different purposes. Still, I can give general purchase recommendations based on each model’s other customers.

The Mac desktops are by far the best value in dollar-per-performance. With a laptop, you’re always paying more for the ability to work in a coffee shop instead of in your office. On the other hand, the Mac Studio is overpowered for many photographers and videographers.

Compared to the MacBook Pro, the M4 MacBook is particularlyicularly anemic. The MacBook Pro 16-inch comes in either the M4 Pro or M4 Max configuration. The M4 Max base model is $3,200, although the base model of the sixteen-inch M4 Max is $4,000. Configuring a MacBook Air to match the memory and hard drive specs of the Mac Pro costs only $2,000.

If you’re mostly using Lightroom, Capture One, or any of today’s photo editing tools, the M4 MacBook Air is a compelling machine. It has more than enough horsepower to work with even massive photos without missing a beat.

For editors working in Resolve, Premiere, or Final Cut, the M4 MacBook Air is surprisingly powerful. Video editing software has been designed to allow for low-horsepower editing, and proxy files make even complex jobs taxing for most computers, but I edit 4K/24 content in Resovle with no issues.

When rendering, the speed of a MacBook Pro or Mac Studio becomes apparent. Even my years-old Mac Studio halves the rendering time of my typical jobs.

But do you need the fastest rendering speeds? The question might come down to the length of your projects. At the speeds I recorded in my video tests, an hour-long video would take around twenty-five minutes to render, while it would take my older Mac Studio around ten minutes.

Compared to a current-generation MacBook Pro or the M4 Max Mac Studio, the MacBook Air would be left in the dust, but that dust comes with a significantly higher price tag. If you’re looking for the fastest Mac laptop, the MacBook Pro is it, as it puts desktop-level performance in a portable-albeit heavy-body.

If you already have a powerful desktop Mac, the MacBook Air makes a perfect companion. It’s light enough to take anywhere, the display is as good as the MacBook Pro’s, and the top-end configuration of 32GB of memory and 2TB SSD makes it an incredibly capable machine.

Since the M4 MacBook Air can now connect to multiple displays, it also makes a cost-effective hub for a multi-monitor setup, opening up many multitasking possibilities.

The M4 MacBook Air is a powerful, light, beautiful computer, and I now do most of my work on it. From a performance perspective, it can do almost any task the MacBook Pro can do until you get to video rendering times.

If you’d like to work anywhere without emptying your bank account, the MacBook Air is a perfect choice.

Where to buy the MacBook Air M4

The MacBook Air M4 is available at Amazon, B&H, and Apple.

The post Six Months With the MacBook Air M4 – Does Apple’s Ligthest Laptop Still Hold Up for Photo and Video Users appeared first on Imaging Resource.

Quick Take: The K&F Concept RGB LED video light is a compact powerhouse that offers impressive brightness, full RGB color control, variable color temperature, and built-in effects modes. It’s lightweight, portable, and surprisingly well-executed for the price point. Whether you’re building out a YouTube kit, doing remote interviews, or need a creative fill light, this is a solid pick from a company that’s been quietly putting out really great gear for years.

K&F Concept RGB LED Video Light Hands-on Review

I’ve tested many portable video lights over the years, and most fall into one of two categories: inexpensive but underpowered, or powerful, bulky, and expensive. So I wasn’t expecting much when I opened the box of the K&F Concept’s new RGB LED video light.

K&F Concept is most known for their filters and, more recently, their tripods. I started working with the media team there years ago, where I was impressed with the quality of the optics in their filters, and how bomb proof their tripods are.

A Different Type of K&F Concept Product Line

K&F Concept is not known for lighting, though, so I was dubious when they sent me the RGB LED video light to test. At around $ 40, it’s at a price pretty typical for low-quality lights, but with full RGB color adjustment and capable of eye-watering brightness, it’s more flexible than many portable LED lights I’ve tried. It’s especially more useful than the one-color lights that often ship with selfie sticks.

Despite its compact size, the K&F RGB light packs an impressive number of features. Two control dials and a multifunction button give you direct control over brightness, color temperature, and full RGB hue adjustment. A small rear screen makes it easy to see exactly which setting you’re adjusting at all times-a detail that’s often overlooked in lights at this price point. Usually, lights make you turn dials while you guess what settings you’re changing.

Color Temperatures and Brightness

The Bi-color mode’s temperature ranges from a warm tungsten to a crisp daylight, while the RGB mode lets you cycle through the full spectrum of hues. It even includes a set of video effects modes, like “TV flicker,” candlelight, flame, and emergency strobes-helpful for filmmakers looking to create mood or simulate real-world light sources.

This light also manages to hit a level of brightness that is impressive for its size. At 100% output, it’s easily strong enough for on-camera key lighting in a pinch. While shining the light on myself in my video review, I decided I liked the look so much that I changed my studio light setup.

The compact design makes it ideal for travel or small studio setups. It includes a cold shoe mount (positionable on either side) and a lanyard, so you can attach it to your rig or carry it hands-free.

If you’re a YouTuber, photographer, vlogger, or need a flexible fill light for creative work and selfies, this is a surprisingly capable tool.

You can see the full demo, including brightness tests, RGB transitions, and effects modes, in my video below.

Where To Buy the K&F Concept RGB Video Light

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The post K&F Concept RGB LED Video Light Review: Portable Lighting That Punches Above Its Weight appeared first on Imaging Resource.

TerraMaster D1 SSD Plus Specs and Acronyms

TerraMaster D1 SSD Plus Setup and Design

TerraMaster D1 SSD Plus Real World Use

Where To Check TerraMaster D1 SSD Plus Prices and Buy

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The post TerraMaster D1 SSD Plus Enclosure Review – Perfect Combination of Price and Performance for Photo and Video Tasks appeared first on Imaging Resource.