Less than one month after announcing their plans to acquire US cinema camera manufacturer RED.com, LLC, Nikon stunned the photographic industry by declaring that they’ve consummated the acquisition of Konica-Minolta, a leading manufacturer of business technology and office products.

A Nikon official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, revealed that the new entity will be reorganized into two divisions.

The MINOLTA division will be responsible for the reestablishment of the Minolta Maxxum, XD and SR-T 35mm film camera lines, along with Rokkor lenses and limited edition Color Enlarger II products for darkroom enthusiasts and Boomers.

The KONICA division will continue to manufacture category-leading office automation equipment and MFPs.

The deal, which become final as of April 1, nearly collapsed when Nikon executives in Japan discovered more than 300,000 units of APS cameras and lenses hidden in a secret closet at a now-closed factory in Sakai, Japan. Complicating the negotiations further, it was subsequently disclosed that there are dozens of stockpiles of Minolta Vectis APS cameras scattered around the Osaka countryside, waiting to be refurbished and returned to the US.

In a related story, NASA announced that it plans to supply all future astronauts with Minolta-branded cameras exclusively. “If Minolta was good enough for John Glenn,” said one thrift-minded NASA engineer, “they’re probably okay for everybody else, too. And they’re a lot cheaper than Nikons or Hasselblads.”

It’s satire, folks. An April Fools’ Day joke. The Minolta 110 Zoom pictured above is a real thing. Sadly, none of the rest is true, except maybe the part about the secret closet in Sakai. And John Glenn did carry a camera manufactured by Minolta into space; however, it bore the Ansco brand name.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

Easter is celebrated differently in different parts of the world. In France, they make a giant omelet out of 15,000 eggs. In Hungary or Slovakia, girls are splashed with cold water or even thrown into a stream. And in the Czech Republic, we traditionally use a decorated “Easter whip” on our loved ones (gently)…

Who can resist the sumptuous appeal of a finely-crafted, genuine leather bag? Combined with elegant styling and superb workmanship, the common camera sling can be elevated to an explicit work of art, an everlasting leather heirloom, even. GRAMS(28), a Hong Kong-based leather goods brand, offers the 172 Camera Sling, a gorgeous and roomy camera shoulder bag that delivers on these potentials. That said, some questionable construction decisions may mar its appeal to ardent photographers. Hear me out…

GRAMS(28) 172 Camera Sling Overview
The 172 Camera Sling comprises the popular configuration that includes a rigid lid, repositionable internal dividers, a pouch for an 11-inch tablet and a zippered compartment on the back. The adjustable shoulder strap is removable but lacks a shoulder pad or slip resistance. There’s a roomy zipped compartment on the front that’s covered by the lid and is ideal for memory cards, batteries and the like. The interior fabric is light khaki color and soft to the touch. On the front, instead of a gaudy logo, there’s a tasteful single line of text that reads, “GRAMS(28) (172 0902 039),” stamped in white.

GRAMS(28) claims that the 172 Camera Sling can hold a full-size camera like a Fujifilm X-H1 and a lens like a Fujifilm 70-200mm lens, which at first I did not believe but assuredly confirmed. It’s much roomier than it appears, probably because of the sleek, roundish design.

Key Features & Dimensions
• Full grain pebbled Italian leather
• Finely crafted in Arzignano, Italy
• Leather tanned by carbon-neutral Gruppo Mastrotto
• Padded interior
• Removeable, adjustable dividers
• Slot for 11-inch tablet
• Pouches for memory cards and other small items
• Apple AirTag pocket
• Measures 12.5 x 8.6 x 4.7 inches (32 W x 22 H x 12 D cm)
• Weighs 1.96 pounds (890g), or 31.4 ounces
• Lifetime warranty & 30-day return option
• Free shipping to US
• Cost is $459 USD

Field Notes
The GRAMS(28) 172 Camera Sling is quite roomy despite its compact size, and comfortable to use. But the lack of slip resistance on the wide 1.5-inch (3.8cm) strap is annoying and, for me, means constantly struggling to keep everything from sliding off my shoulder. If you wear the bag cross-body style, this is not an issue.

It’s a trifle heavy when empty. It weighs nearly 2 pounds (31.4 ounces). In comparison, the $119 Peak Design 6L Everyday Sling Bag weighs 1.72 pounds (780g) (with dividers). Seems small but that’s a difference of more than 12%.

The aluminum latch that fastens the hinged lid is unique and moderately attractive, but it resembles a video game alien with brassy gold ears, wide mouth and a roughly textured tongue. It doesn’t bother me, but it bothers me. Know what I mean?

The galvanic plated zippers blend nicely with the overall design scheme, but frankly I prefer waterproof YKK zippers, the component GRAMS(28) uses on some of their other products. That’s just my personal fussy choice, but it’s based on years of experience with recalcitrant zippers.

The biggest problem—and this is a deal breaker for me—is the very thin pin the connects the shoulder strap to the rotating buckle. It appears to be approximately 2mm in diameter, clearly less than 3mm (roughly 3/64 inches). Being unduly clumsy as I sometimes am, I’m certain I could accidently shear the pin with minimal force and (possibly) drop the bag. Aware of this, I never felt confident about the bag’s security.

Side Note – Identity Crisis?
The company name appears as “GRAMS(28)” with parentheses in multiple places on their website, but in the About Us section and on their official Facebook page the name appears without parentheses.

It gets better. On Instagram we find three variations: GRAMS28, grams28 and GRAMS(28)—all in the same place.

I decided to use the all-caps-plus-parentheses version to be consistent with their official logo. It’s none of my business, but I suggest that their marketing team picks one variation and hammers it home. Consistency is the mainstay of marketplace identity.

Conclusion
I really, really want to love this bag. The leather craftsmanship is superb and the overall design is attractively understated and highly functional. But I can’t love it for one of the reasons I delineated in the Field Notes above: the thin pin that connects the rotating buckle to the camera strap.

If I were to use this sling bag on a regular basis, I’d feel compelled to first replace the strap with something that had sturdier buckles. The lifetime warranty protects you if this component fails, but the bag could crash to the ground and damage its contents. What then?

Price & Availability
The GRAMS(28) 172 Camera Sling is priced at $459 and can be ordered directly from GRAMS(28). Shipping to the US is free and they offer a lifetime limited warranty and a 30-day return window.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

Unless you shoot portraits in b&w, the tones you apply to an image can make or break a photo—even with a beautiful subject. That’s because the color values you use are a very important component of visual storytelling and help convey a variety of compelling moods and feelings.

Instructor Gerard Needham is a professional photographer whose popular YouTube channel offers expert advice on shooting and editing landscape, actions sports, and portrait imagery. This episode concentrates on the latter, by demonstrating five Lightroom processing techniques for achieving perfect color and retouching less-than-perfect skin.

This lesson deals with enhancing portraits captured outdoors, and also includes some valuable tips for posing and composition. Needham’s stunning work has often been described as very clean, with flattering colors and tones. His portraits often have a unique “film look” and never appear overedited.

The discussion begins with the critical aspects of nailing exposure and adjusting White Balance for the specific task and hand. In some cases you may want to imbue a portrait with a moody, sensual look, while other times the goal is entirely different. Regardless of the specific feel you’re after, Needham illustrates how simple White Balance adjustments to your subject, her skin tones, and background help get the job done.

Needham then moves on to the aforementioned soft film look that he applies to many of his portraits, and it’s very straightforward to accomplish. The method he recommends not only achieves a somewhat vintage effect, but “it also kind of increases the dynamic range of a Raw file to render highlights and shadows in a way we all loved with film photography. All this takes are a few tweaks with Lightroom’s Tone Curve and sliders.

Another critical aspect of all great portraits is flattering and realistic skin tones, and that’s the next topic of conversation. Here Needham uses Lightroom’s HSL panel while focusing on his model’s skin. As you’ll see, these tones in his original image lean a bit too far toward the reds, but this important enhancement is also easy to get right.

Once you achieve attractive tonal balance, a bit of skin retouching is often necessary because even professional models rarely have a perfect complexion. Here Needham demonstrates how a simple mask or two is all that’s required for this particular task.

The video concludes with some great advice for getting the composition of your portraits just right. After watching this tutorial head over to Needham’s instructional YouTube channel where you’ll find many more helpful tips and techniques.

And on a related note, we also suggest watching the tutorial we posted from another versatile pro who demonstrates a variety of shooting and editing solutions for fixing color mistakes in all of the photos you capture.