Beware of knockoff and counterfeit Peak Design Anchor Links. Knockoffs look remarkably similar but lack the PD brand name. Counterfeits are manufactured to look just like the genuine article and are presented by unscrupulous retailers as authentic—even though they’re fakes. In either case, when you try to save a couple bucks and end up with an imitation, you’re risking the safety of your camera.

The Peak Design Anchor Link system is wildly popular with professional and amateur photographers worldwide, and their sterling reputation is well deserved.  Genuine Anchor Links are strong—they hold 200 pounds (90kg) each—and they’re extraordinarily convenient.

It’s not totally surprising that some lowlifes are attempting to cash in on Peak Design’s success by copying the system illegally. Success often spawns copycats.

Peak Design Anchor Links are protected by US Patents, but that doesn’t stop dishonest merchants from exploiting consumers who are looking to save a little dough.

Peak Design has already received three contacts from customers reaching out about counterfeit products they purchased from the same online retailer—products that had been marketed as real Peak Design Anchor Links but were confirmed to be fake by PD engineers.

How to Spot a Counterfeit
The big question is this: how many consumers were duped and bought fake connectors but don’t know it yet? They may find out the hard way. Worse yet, if you buy a set of links thinking that they’re the real McCoy and they break, who ya gonna blame?

PD engineers told us that the “inside color of the counterfeit anchors [they encountered] was wrong, the spring was not flush and was not very tight.” Also, “the overall color of anchor disks was wrong and felt like a different material. And the QC sticker was close but not quite accurate.”

Legit Anchor attachments are either black with a red outside ring or all black.

When these particular imitation links failed, the cord ripped out of the disk thereby risking camera damage. When Peak Design received reports of these products, they reached out to the retailer to have the products removed.

Is it Real or a Knockoff?
What separates a knockoff from a counterfeit is how diligently the crooked manufacturer tried to copy the original. Most knockoffs lack the logo and other details from the anchor disks and are sometimes a different color. And knockoffs are not labeled Peak Design, although authenticity is often implied.

Peak Design told us they are aware that there are “plenty of knockoff brands out there” even though Peak Design holds the patent to the design. PD is actively working to remove these knockoffs from the marketplace but that’s an arduous and sometimes futile battle.

How to Protect Yourself
You know all this. The first rule of consumer protection is to buy from a reputable retailer. If you order from an online source or auction platform, confirm the true identity of the seller behind the listing. The sad truth on some shopping sites is that you may be dealing with a third party scarcely visible in the background.

And there’s truth in that old maxim that, “If the deal seems too good to be true, it’s probably not.” When in doubt, bail.

PD offers a wide range of excellent straps that use Anchor Links. To learn more about their complete lineup, read this Shutterbug story from earlier this year: Peak Design Camera Straps are the Most Innovative in the World.

WotanCraft, one of our favorite camera bag and accessory manufacturers, uses genuine Anchor Links on handcrafted leather straps, which we covered here: NEW: WotanCraft Genuine Leather Camera Straps.

Conclusion
Would you let a faceless stranger pack your parachute? Or fill your kiddo’s soup thermos? We hate to see consumers get ripped off and we especially hate to witness cameras needlessly falling to their death. Buy from a retailer with whom you have a long term relationship, a dealer you trust. Or order directly from Peak Design if you’re as careful as we are.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

Photoshop’s easy-to-use Healing Brush is typically considered a tool for editing portrait photos, and rightly so because that’s how it’s often used. But it can be very valuable for cleaning up other types of images too.

If you’re* unfamiliar with Healing Brush edits the tutorial below is for you, as you’ll learn several easy methods for getting the job done. Instructor Nino Batista is a photo-retouching expert, and he considers this episode to be in the category of “Photoshop 101.”

Batista is working on a portrait of a pretty model who happens to have a few spots and creases on her face—much in the same way a landscape shot may have small, distracting artifacts that you may want to remove. In either case the easy tips or techniques he discusses provide all you need to know for achieving nice and clean photos.

Using Photoshop’s Healing tools can be as simple or as complicated as you make it, and Batista’s goal for this 14-minute episode is the former. He explains all the basics for using the Healing Brush and the Spot Healing Brush, and provides some thoughts about using these tools with what’s known as “Frequency Separation.”

Batista notes that when editing portraits, “Healing is mostly for high-frequency areas like dots, zits, and moles.” Healing tools can also be very helpful when working on flyaway hairs and other elements that need to be removed or repaired.

The demonstration begins with a discussion of the differences between the regular Healing Brush, and the Spot Healing Brush. Batista says, “The Spot Healing Brush is the most direct; you choose your brush size and paint over the area you’re working on.” As you’ll see, the regular Healing Brush works differently. In simple terms this option enables you to sample a clean nearby area with similar texture and use it to replace the offending spot.

After demonstrating the basics, Batista move on to a few additional tricks you can employ in difficult situations when a bit more care and precision is required. One somewhat unfamiliar method is to do your healing on a “blank layer,” and this trick works with either of Photoshop’s Healing tools.

After watching the video head over to Batista’s YouTube channel, where you’ll find a bunch of great tips to use when you find yourself in a bind

And for another very helpful explainer be sure to watch the tutorial we posted recently, explaining how to make the most of Photoshop’s Object Selection tools.

One camera feature that landscape photographers have relied upon for years to achieve sharp photos is image stabilization. But does it always work the way you expect? Read on.

Instructor Ian Worth is a professional landscape photographer who frequently takes us behind the scenes during his excursions while demonstrating simple techniques that contribute to his success. He begins the tutorial below with an unexpected comment: “I this it’s fair to say there’s a bit of confusion surrounding in-camera image stabilization (IBIS), and whether it’s best left switched off during certain situations.”

This got our attention in a hurry, and we expect it may have captured your’s too. In today’s behind-the-scenes tutorial Worth conducts a simple test to determine whether turning IBIS off can actually result in sharper images. He’s also on the hunt for some awesome landscape photos and you’ll pick up valuable tips on composition, camera settings, and more.

Worth uses different focal lengths, shutter speeds, and ISO settings to make the comparison as valid as possible, while photographing a number of different scenes in varied light—sometimes employing a polarizing filter to minimize glare with the camera on a tripod.

At his first location Worth turns IBIS off and on to shoot the same scene. He sets the camera to ISO 400 with a shutter speed of 1/200 to prevent subject movement as a slight wind blows the leaves. The focal length is 18mm, and as you’ll see, both photos look identical when comparing static portions of the images, but what about everything else?

Worth does much the same at the second location, but this time he zooms the lens to 33mm for the composition he desires, and sets the camera to ISO 125 with a shutter speed of 1/100. And again, “to my eye the images look identical.” Keep in mind though that your results could be different, depending upon the camera you use.

Keep watching as Worth continues his experiment in different places with results you may find surprising. And then see if you agree with the conclusions he draws as the end of the video.

There’s much more to see and learn on Worth’s instructional YouTube channel, so be sure to take a look.

And don’t miss the video tutorial we posted from another accomplished outdoor photographer, with three pro tips for speeding up your landscape photography.

Julienne Kost is an accomplished photographer, educator, author, and image-editing impresario who regularly post tutorials for improving your workflow in Photoshop and Lightroom. Today she’s back with another quick episode in her “Photoshop Icebreakers” series, and it’s definitely one you don’t want to miss.

Today Kost discusses the versatile Object Selection tool, explains how it works, and provides several tips for employing it properly. In barely four minutes she explains various options for customizing overlays, choosing Selection modes, how to use the Mask All Objects command, and more.

Kost explains that this powerful tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and select several different types of “regions” in images. These include objects, people, and animals. The Object Selection tool also does a good job of identifying skies, water, buildings, trees and other plants, and a few other things that may appear within the frame.

In Kost’s words, this is what to expect: “When the Object Finder option is enabled, Photoshop displays a magenta overlay wherever it detects an object or a region in the image.” By clicking on the gear icon atop the screen you can quickly customize the overlay options in order to change the color, thickness of the outline, and the opacity of the overlay.

To select an object once everything set up to your liking, simply click within the overlay. Kost also demonstrates several keyboard shortcuts for adding to, subtracting from, or intersecting more than one selection.

If you prefer to make selections manually, Kost explains how easy that is to do too. There’s also a straightforward method for selecting objects on different layers by enabling Sample All Layers. By doing this you won’t have to target the layers in the Layers panel.

Kost discusses a few other helpful tricks, and it’s pretty amazing that she covers so much ground in so little time. Once you’re done watching you’ll be ready to start using Photoshop’s Object Selection tool today.

There’s much more to see on Kost’s instructional YouTube channel, including other episodes in her Photoshop Icebreakers series. So pay a visit soon and check back often.

We also urge you to watch the important tutorial we posted earlier, explaining a safe and easy way to back up your important Photoshop Actions before they disappear.