Manufacturer: Lastolite
Model: Tri-Balance
Price: £75
www.johnsons-photopia.co.uk

Lastolite’s Tri-Grip reflector range addresses the problem of holding a reflector whilst shooting.

Triangular rather than round, it has a neat handle for easy one-handed operation, but will still fold up into a small space. The range isn’t new, but this variation is.

On one side is a standard silver reflector, ideal for filling in shadows on faces and so forth, but the other side is divided into three equal black, white and mid-grey segments. This has several purposes. First, by including the tri-balance in a test shot you have an automatic black, white and mid-point with which to adjust your levels later in Photoshop.

You can then batch process the rest of your shoot to these settings. Or, by zooming in to fill the frame with a roughly equal portion of each segment, then checking the histogram on your LCD screen, you can set the optimum exposure for the prevailing light conditions in order to capture both shadow and highlight detail.

Finally, by zooming right in on the white or grey segments, (depending on your camera), you can take an accurate custom white balance reading.

The tri-balance will appeal to anyone for whom accurate exposure and colour balance are important, and who also have use for a reflector – portrait/wedding and flower/nature photographers, for example – for whom this accessory would be money well spent.

Verdict:
Value for money for a whole range of snappers

Pros:
One-handed operation and folds down for easy transportation

Cons:
None

What Digital Camera Score: 86%