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Falcam’s New Carbon Fibre Tripods - A Closer Look

Falcam just dropped two new carbon fibre tripods—the TreeRoot Quick Lock Lite and the Quick Lock Pro—both designed for photographers and filmmakers who want solid performance in a lightweight setup. Starting at $400, they’re positioned to compete with much more expensive options without trying to be flashy about it.

The Quick Lock Lite is the smaller and more affordable of the two. Its legs are made from reinforced T300 carbon fibre with 1.3mm thick walls, which makes it surprisingly sturdy for its size. It supports up to 88 pounds (40 kg), which covers just about any setup short of ultra-heavy cine rigs.

Folded down, it’s 18.6 inches long and weighs 2.9 pounds, pretty travel-friendly. Fully extended, it hits 60 inches, and with the centre column removed, it can get as low as 7.3 inches.

Setup is straightforward, just a third of a turn unlocks each leg, so you can get it ready quickly without much fuss. It also comes with some nice touches: swappable feet for different terrain, a magnetic wrench that tucks away into the body, a hook underneath for hanging a bag, and a couple of ARRI-style accessory mounts. The legs alone are $399.99, or you can get a full kit with a ball head and center column for $499.99.

The Quick Lock Pro is a bigger, more robust option. It uses stronger M40 carbon fiber and supports up to 110 pounds. There’s no center column, which improves stability, and the triangle-shaped legs are meant to give it better footing on tricky ground. It extends up to about 78 inches, folds down to 20.4 inches, and weighs 3.7 pounds. Just the legs cost $699.99.

Falcam also released a new ball head to go with it, the F38 Pro Quick Release Dual Panorama Ball Head, starting at $249. Both tripods are available now, either as standalone legs or in a full kit (for the Lite version).

While they’re not exactly cheap, they offer a strong set of features for the price, especially compared to brands like Peak Design, Gitzo, or Really Right Stuff.

Image credits: Falcam

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Interview with Sean Foley

This week’s Interview with Sean Foley an incredible street photographer based in Hong Kong.

You can find him on Instagram as: @stfeyes

Enjoy the amazing Interview ;)

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi, I’m Sean. I’m an Australian street photographer living in Hong Kong. I’ve been taking photos since 2017, initially inspired by the city’s disappearing neon signs. Over the years, my work has evolved into capturing the essence of street life—documenting fleeting moments that tell the story of urban environments.

How did you first get into street photography? Was it love at first click?

Street photography wasn’t something I had ever considered until a friend introduced me to it. He had just started taking pictures in Hong Kong and kept telling me how much fun it was. At first, I didn’t really understand the appeal, but I decided to give it a try. Since we were already hiking together, I started taking photos with my phone. I quickly became obsessed—especially with the editing process. Around the same time, I learned that Hong Kong’s iconic neon signs were being systematically removed due to government regulations. My initial focus was capturing them before they disappeared, all while improving my skills.

What’s the wildest or most unexpected thing you’ve captured on the street?

In 2018, I took a picture of a man moments before he was hit by a car. I was photographing people crossing the street under a neon sign in Mong Kok when it happened. It was a surreal and unsettling moment.

How do you decide where to go and shoot? Is it planned or more spur-of-the-moment?

I usually pick an MTR station and start wandering from there. Hong Kong is compact, and I know the city like the back of my hand, so I don’t need much planning.

Do you have a favourite city or spot for street photography? Why?

Sham Shui Po. It has an incredible mix of old and new, with vibrant street life and a raw, authentic atmosphere.

What’s your go-to gear setup when you hit the streets?

I prefer traveling light. I shoot with a Sony a1, and my favorite walk-around lens is the compact 24mm 2.8 G. Comfort is key—carrying heavy gear tires me out faster and limits how much I explore.

Do you prefer shooting in the chaos of a busy street or in quieter, more intimate spaces?

I’m drawn to quieter scenes. Busy streets can be overwhelming, and I find it hard to focus when there’s too much going on.

How do you approach people on the street if you want to include them in your shots?

I don’t approach people—I just take my photos while being mindful not to disturb others.

What’s your take on the ethics of street photography—like shooting strangers without asking?

I don’t think about it too much. If you’re in public, you’re probably on camera somewhere more often than not—mine just happens to be one of them.

Are there any tricks you use to stay unnoticed when shooting?

Trying to stay unnoticed often makes you more noticeable. When I first started, I tried to be sneaky, but that just made me look suspicious. Now, I just act naturally.

How do you handle it when someone gets upset about being photographed?

I smile and walk away. It rarely happens—Hong Kong is full of photographers, and people are used to seeing cameras. If someone waves their hands to indicate they don’t want their photo taken, I apologize and move on.

What role does storytelling play in your work? Are you always chasing a narrative?

I don’t actively think about storytelling while shooting, but it plays a big role. The photos I consider “good” tend to have some storytelling element, even if it’s subjective. Different viewers interpret images in their own way.

What’s the most challenging thing about street photography for you?

Staying motivated and avoiding burnout. There are times when I feel uninspired or like I’ve seen everything already. Pushing through those moments is the hardest part.

Do you have a favorite image you’ve taken, and what’s the story behind it?

One of my favourite images is of a taxi driver smoking a cigarette, with his face reflecting in his rear view mirror. It captures the mood and atmosphere that I love about Hong Kong.

If you could photograph any street in the world tomorrow, where would it be?

I really want to visit the streets of India. A lot of photographers I admire greatly have produced some of their best work there, I just have to experience it for myself.

Do you feel like your style has evolved over time? How so?

Definitely. My early work was focused on neon signs, and I began to develop a style that remind many of artwork generated for the cyberpunk genre. As the neon signs of Hong Kong were gradually removed, I found myself also seeking a new direction for my work. Over time, I’ve become more interested in capturing atmosphere, mood, and the subtleties of street life.

Who are some street photographers or other artists that inspire you?

I admire all the greats—Saul Leiter, Alex Webb, Ernst Haas, Fan Ho—their work has had a lasting influence on street photography. As for the photographers of today, I’m drawn to the work of Billy Dee, Michael Szpot, and Lasse Erkola, among many others. There are plenty more, but those are a few that stand out to me.

How do you know when you’ve nailed the shot? Is it instinct or something else?

I never know until I view it on a proper screen. Sometimes I think I’ve nailed a shot, only to be disappointed later. Other times, I don’t think much of a shot but end up pleasantly surprised.

What’s your advice for someone who wants to start exploring street photography?

Just start. Grab a camera, hit the streets, and take photos. Don’t chase trends, be intuitive and take pictures of scenes that you are naturally drawn to. The best way to learn is by doing.

How do you decide whether a photo is better in black and white or color?

The rest, 5 more questions, of this Interview are for Premium subscribers only.

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The New Omnar Bertele 50mm f/2 MC FLB Lens

Omnar Lenses has announced its latest project: the Bertele 5cm f/2 MC FLB, a modern reimagining of the classic 5cm f/2 Jena lens from 1934, originally designed by Dr. Ludwig Bertele. Omnar spent the last five years researching and engineering a lens that keeps the original’s character while solving some of its well-known technical issues.

The company is a collaboration between Hamish Gill, best known for running the site 35mmc, and Chris Andreyo of Skyllaney Opto-Mechanics, a name familiar to anyone into custom or restored M-mount lenses. Both are longtime fans of rangefinder lenses, especially the original Bertele formulas.

The lenses Bertele designed in the '30s and '40s are prized for their distinctive look, but they’re not exactly easy to use by today’s standards. Many suffer from fragile coatings, soft glass, and frustrating focus shift problems, especially noticeable when shooting at mid-apertures or close distances. Even a well-preserved original can be finicky.

So Omnar didn’t just recreate the original formula, they refined it. Instead of the soft optical glass used in the 1930s, this version uses modern, scratch-resistant glass that’s been ultrasonically cured to eliminate tiny imperfections like air bubbles. They also kept the original’s signature blue-violet multicoating from later-era versions.

The biggest leap forward, though, is in how the lens handles focus. The original had a tendency to shift focus when stopping down, due to changes in the effective focal length as the aperture blades closed. Some later versions tried to fix this by using odd-shaped aperture blades, which helped a little but made bokeh look worse.

Omnar took a different route with a new internal Floating Lens Block (FLB) system. Without getting overly technical, it compensates for those shifts by physically adjusting the internal elements, keeping the focal plane stable throughout the aperture range—from f/2 all the way to f/22. This means that what you focus on through the rangefinder stays sharp, no matter your settings. And because the system works so well, they were able to keep classic rounded aperture blades for smoother bokeh.

Interestingly, Omnar is making the FLB tech open source, so anyone who wants to build on it can. They also addressed a second issue that shows up at close focus distances (under one meter). The original lens struggled here too, due to a mismatch between its 52.4mm effective focal length and the 51.6mm calibration used by modern M-mount cameras. Omnar solved this with a specially designed, non-linear cam that corrects the mismatch and makes close-range focusing much more accurate.

Despite all these changes, they didn’t actually alter the lens formula in any meaningful way. It’s still a six-element, three-group design. What’s changed is how that design is implemented—with tighter tolerances and smarter engineering to keep everything in sync with the camera’s rangefinder. According to Omnar, no previous version of this lens has managed to deliver this level of accuracy or consistency.

Another bonus: the Bertele 50mm also covers medium-format sensors, like those found in Fujifilm’s GFX or Hasselblad’s XCD systems. With a 62mm image circle, it even has potential use on large-format cinema cameras.

A few sample images:

The Omnar Bertele 5cm f/2 MC FLB is available to preorder for £2,750 (about $3,717). Pricey yes, but only 30 units are being made in the first batch, and they’re expected to ship by the end of September.

Image credits: Omnar

Photo Analysis

Welcome to the new part of the Magazine Issue where we take a closer look at a photo and analyse it so that you can learn and better your own photography from it ;)

Photo by: @rizi_the_photographer

Composition

What works well:

• The centered composition is clean and effective, the tree becomes a natural anchor, ‘‘commanding’’ the viewers full attention instantly.

• The leading lines in the field are nice and strong, they subtly guide your eye all the way from the bottom of the frame to the tree, creating nice depth and balance.

• There’s a beautiful sense of foreground, midground, and background: first, the textured soil, second, the tree, and third, the distant hills. It again gives depth while keeping the composition simple.

What could be better:

• The top of the frame feels slightly cramped, a little more negative space above the tree would have given it more visual breathing room, however the natural elements are given and the photographer has to work with them. A change in perspective could have ‘‘fixed’’ the negative space problem, but would it have come at the cost of sacrificing the low angle (and then the strength of the leading lines)?

• While the symmetry works well, slightly offsetting the tree or breaking the perfect centreline might’ve added a layer of unpredictability or creative tension, but that heavily depends on what you are going for.

Light & Atmosphere

What works well:

• The soft golden light and haze work beautifully together. It feels like golden hour or the edge of twilight, dreamy and quiet.

• The atmospheric layering in the distance adds depth and scale. It also ‘‘helps’’ separate the tree from the background.

• Overall, the lighting is consistent with the mood: gentle, warm, and dreamy.

What could be better:

• The tree is a little flat in terms of light, it does blend slightly into the background (maybe not so much the mountains, but definitely the field behind). A little spotlight in post, would’ve helped with that.

• Bringing up the highlights selectively just on the tree canopy could add a subtle glow and draw the eye in even better. (Also: slightly more light on the tree could have drawn out texture in the leaves or bark, but maybe the silhouetted look is intentional)

Colour & Tone

What works well:

• The colour palette is beautifully restrained, muted oranges, very soft purples (visible in the foreground field), and dusty golds all blending together seamlessly. It gives the photo a very painterly look.

• The warm-to-cool gradient adds a nice touch, It supports the emotional tone of the image.

What could be better:

• On some displays (my iPhone 11 for example), the sky can shift into a greenish tint toward the top. That kills the warmth and harmony of the scene and it just looks a little weird (on my iPhone display it’s like REALLY green, on my laptop it’s sort of alright). A subtle HSL tweak or gradient mask in post could neutralize that, either by warming the sky or toning down the greens.

• The midtones in the foreground could use a little more contrast. Right now, the field texture gets lost a bit, it’s there, but it’s shy. Boosting clarity just in the lower third might help bring out that detail without making the image feel too sharp or digital.

Framing & Perspective

What works well:

• The slight low angle really helps the lines in the field stand out. It makes the scene feel more immersive.

• The tree is framed by the shape of the hill behind it. That overlap does help isolate it and it reinforces the tree’s role as the main subject.

What could be better:

• The perspective is good, but if the photographer had gotten even lower, the leading lines might’ve stretched more dramatically. That could’ve made the tree feel even more ‘‘towering’’. (However again note the fact that the low angle would also have to work with the mountains behind, maybe the photographer even tried a lower perspective and it just didn’t work with the background.)

Emotion & Storytelling

What works well:

• This image feels timeless, meditative, and calm.

• The dreamy tones and emptiness lend the image a poetic, almost mythical atmosphere—like you’ve stepped into a half-remembered place from childhood or a dream.

What could be better:

• If you wanted to push a narrative, ‘‘adding’’ (so introducing) a person or animal to the scene could spark a story, but it would change the tone completely. But as always you need to be very lucky in order for those circumstances to come in place perfectly. For most photographers ‘‘photoshopping’’ a person into the shot is a big no-no.

Photography Tip of the Week

The weekly photography tip is only accessible to Premium Subscribers of The Magazine For Photographers.

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Photographer of the Week

Photographer of the week goes to: Christopher West

You can find him on Instagram as: @shootingstills.co.uk

A few of his images:

(The Vestrahorn image, the first photo with the girl and northern lights, won the Nat Geo Traveller 2024 landscape competition.)

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The Rest of this Issue is for Premium Subscribers

The Premium Version of this Magazine is now on a ‘‘Pay What you Want’’ model. Meaning you get to decide the price.