Transcontinenta UK’s brands come home to roost at July’s Global Bird Fair

Poised to exhibit its Bushnell, Tamron, Peak Design and Leofoto brands in Rutland from July 14th to 16th, the leading distributor outlines how such products can feather the nests of photo specialists

Nature and wildlife is one of the most popular subjects for photography, so it makes perfect sense to put together a portfolio of brands in readiness of meeting such demand. As one of the UK’s leading photographic distributors Transcontinenta UK knows this more than most – and will be exhibiting its broad range of solutions at Rutland’s famous Global Bird Fair this July.

If you can’t get to the event, don’t fret. The distributor has cherry picked a range of great products for BPI News readers that will appeal to the birders and ‘twitchers’ among your own retail customers, as follows…

DON’T BEAT ABOUT THE BUSHNELL

One of Transcontinenta’s most prominent brands, Bushnell is best known for its binoculars for a wide range of skillsets and applications, although it also offers trail cameras, devices eminently suitable for photographing and recording skittish wildlife remotely.

Recommended by the distributor for use by bird watchers in the great outdoors is the Bushnell Prime 8x32 Black Roof Prism binocular (above), which has the advantage of being waterproof and fog proof, with the added comfort of twist-up eyecups. With 8x magnification, 32mm objective lens size and 9ft close focus, this is a portable yet bright viewing tool, its wide field of view making it ideal

Ready for Rutland: You’ll be able to touch and try all the products on this spread and talk to Transcontinenta UK’s knowledgable team in the Hobby Marquee, Stand H2 for scanning open terrain. Further specification includes Bushnell’s newest and claimed best ‘EXO’ protective lens coating to repel water, oil, dust and debris and prevent scratches. It also offers O-ring sealed IPX7 level waterproof construction which enables it to stay immersed in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes and stay dry inside, while fully multi-coated optics deliver bright, high contrast viewing. Built-in lens caps avoid them ever getting lost when the binos are in use.

The step up from this for observers wanting an even more powerful alternative is the Bushnell Prime 2060x65 Black Porro Prism spotting scope (left), with a 45° eyepiece, full manual control of the zoom and focusing, waterproofing and fogproofing, plus it comes with a tripod and carry case. Here the 20-60x is the powerful zoom range, with a 20ft close focus, while a generous 65mm is the size of the objective lens, letting in that much more light for a clearer, sharper image. Again we get fully multi coated lenses and IPX7 grade waterproof construction, plus Argon purged fog proofing – with Argon filled optics having the ultimate advantage of remaining stable regardless of ambient temperature. The device also comes with an ‘iron clad’ 20 year warranty. Alternatively if your customers want to photograph wildlife with it, and not actually have to stay out all hours in the wet and the cold themselves to do it, then the Bushnell 32MP

Core DS-4K Treebark Camo

No Glow trail camera (right) comes highly recommended too. This boasts dual sensors for optimum performance whether day or night, along with an battery life said to last 12 months and a compact form factor designed to stay hidden and away from prying eyes. Compatible with optional SD cards up to 512GB in capacity, the camera delivers best-in-class 4K video and up to 32MP stills, features a 1.5-inch colour LCD view screen, a no glow LED offering a 120ft night time range, plus a swift 0.15-sec trigger speed and one second recovery rate. The trail cam comes with a two year limited warranty.

TAMRON’S TELEPHOTOS ARE A SNAP CHOICE

When it comes to wildlife photography, this is where Transcontinenta UK’s exclusive distribution of the Tamron brand comes up trumps – with specific regard to its ultra telephoto lenses. Worth singling out here for promoting to customers are the secondgeneration Tamron 150-600mm

VC DI USD

G2 (right) in both Canon and Nikon mounts which image quality with 25 elements in 16 groups. Focus tracking performance is said to be very high, facilitating capture of fast moving subjects such as birds and motor vehicles, with its linear motor suppressing drive noise and vibrations during focusing – making the product ideal for both photos and videos. Finally, construction is moisture resistant.

Peak Performance Backpack

promises better overall performance, faster AF speed and Vibration

Compensation enhancements, the Tamron 150-500mm VC USD FE for Sony full frame cameras and the Tamron 150500mm VC VXD (below, with sample image shown above) for the Fujifilm X mount.

With this sort of reach, a close up is never far away for wildlife watchers.

For the Canon and Nikon fit lenses, minimum subject distance is 2.2 metres while maximum aperture is f/5-6.3. As indicated, each lens features Vibration

Compensation (VC) image stabilisation, with effectiveness equivalent to 4.5 stops based on CIPA testing; handy to minimise blur when photographing handheld with long telephoto lenses.

In fact the lens has three types of VC modes: Mode 1 is the standard default claimed to strike the best balance between the stability of the viewfinder image and the effects of stabilisation; VC Mode 2 is deployed when panning while VC Mode 3 prioritises the stablisation of captured images and forgoes the stabilisation of the viewfinder image.

On top of this the Canon and Nikon fit 150-600mm features a Flex Zoom Lock mechanism via photographer customers can quickly lock or unlock the zoom at any position by sliding the zoom ring.

Also sharing similarities in both its Sony and Fuji fits is the 150-500mm zoom. With a maximum aperture of f/5-6.7 and minimum focus distance of 60cm, the lens weighs 1725g, has a length of 206mm and a width of 93mm. Once again Vibration Compensation is provided to avoid image blur and design places an emphasis on

Of course birders will need a way of transporting their photographic and video kit and protecting it from the elements and accidental knocks. Enter another Transcontinenta UK brand in Peak Design and its extensive range of bags, including its Travel Backpack in 30L size (below) available in a choice of Black, Sage and Midnight. Currently part of a Bags For Travel promotion until August 15th that includes a free HP Sprocket Portable Instant Printer (see advert), the Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L, the little brother to the same manufacturer’s larger 45L pack, is described as versatile, durable and beautiful, in being capable of keeping belongings brilliantly organised, wonderfully accessible and completely safe, thanks to top, side, front and rear access via intuitively placed, weatherproofed zips. It also complies with current international aviation carryon format requirements in standard or compressed form, and is 100% weatherproof thanks to its recycled 400D nylon durable canvas shell. The pack also features a padded 15-inch laptop sleeve and soft-lined top pocket ideal for those little extras, while it’s been designed to accept optional additional Peak Design Packing Cubes for a degree of interior customisation, which makes it an ideal camera backpack.

A Stable Offer From Leofoto

The other piece of kit a keen wildlife watcher will need, either to support their camera or spotting scope, is a decent tripod. Leofoto has a product range to suit a variety of price points and budgets.

Very much recommended from its line up is the eye-catching Leofoto Manba tripod LV-284C (left) with BV-5 head, primarily a video tripod but one that’s also suitable for birders looking to support their scopes or binos for a steadier view of feathered friends. Weighing 2Kg and enabling a maximum payload of 4Kg, this one offers a maximum height of 1580mm, a minimum height of 175mm and a folded length of 560mm. Four section legs allow for quick and easy set up, rubber feet or spikes are interchangeable with a quick twist, while a ten-layer carbon construction provides strength. A carry bag is also included with the Manba series for added convenience.

A second entry-level option, as previously featured in BPI News, is the Leofoto Ranger. Also due to be displayed at the Bird Fair in Rutland, this 10-layer carbon fibre tripod is tough yet lightweight, comes with a 10-year warranty for additional peace of mind, plus a price tag indicating superb value for money. Likewise on show will be an assortment of camera and binocular accessories including the very popular BC-02 binocular clamp and BC-03 binocular mount. For more on the above distributed brands and how you can add them to your own stock, contact Transcontinenta UK on 0203 966 5947 or email info@transcontinenta.co.uk above and chat with its knowledgeable team. For more, please visit www.transcontinenta.co.uk or globalbirdfair.org