Get A Grip

As part of my sponsorship with Mamiya, it’s my duty to shoot some of their advertising images and play with fun things they send me. Oh dear what a chore Haha, I love it. The latest toy I was sent was their fantastic V-Grip Air for use on the 645DF I currently have. I used it for the first time on Monday, and have fallen head over heels in love. I’ve always been used to using a tripod when I shoot, as the RZ67 I used to use was way too heavy to use hand held, so it’s been fun to use the new system without it, and although the system is still on the heavy side the aptly named V-Grip Air it makes it so much easier! Although in good old Mamiya fashion, they’ve thought about the people with puny arm muscles (*ahem* such as myself) and have made it possible for it to be mounted on a tripod in either vertical or horizontal positions if needed.

Setting it up is so easy, put the lithium battery in, slot it onto the side and bam! Done. The hand strap was a little more complicated, but once it’s on you don’t have to worry about it again. They’ve positioned the shoot control buttons in exactly the same place they are on the camera, but vertically, so it’s ergonomically sound and couldn’t be easier to use.

Whilst I love the fact it’s super lightweight, ‘Air’ actually refers to the fact that the Grip features a built-in Profot Air flash trigger. This means you can trigger flash remotely without any need for cables. Using this system, flash synchronization speeds of up to1/1600 sec. are achievable. The Profot Air system operates on one of eight selectable radio channels, which can be tuned into via a air sync channel selector on the grip. Snazzy huh!

I’m due to send this back once we’ve got a little more footage of it being used, and I must admit I’ll be sorry to see it go. So all you lucky photographers who have one of the gorgeous new Mamiya systems, you should definitely get yourself a V-Grip. If you don’t, well, you’re silly.