Camera
Peak Design is finally selling a roller bag
| Image: Peak Design |
After weeks of teasing, Peak Design has fully announced a long-awaited addition to its lineup: a roller bag. It has everything the company’s fans have come to expect: a meticulous design, carbon fiber and room for a ton of camera gear.
While it’s called the Roller Pro, the 60mm custom-designed wheels are perhaps the least interesting thing about it. There are four of them, making it easy to maneuver the bag in a crowded airport, and the company says they’re replaceable in case they break.
The real star of the show, though, is the handle. It’s made of two solid pieces of carbon fiber, which Peak Design says allows it to be stiffer than traditional telescoping handles while only taking up a third of the space in the case. It also promises that the design won’t get jammed when you’re trying to put it back into the bag. You can set the handle to extend to either 90cm (35″) or 100cm (39″), and the part that you actually touch is characteristically premium, made out of machined aluminum.
That low-profile design, combined with the bag’s expandable capacity, means it can hold up to 39L while still qualifying as a carry-on, even for international flights. Empty, it weighs around 4kg (8.8lb).
On the outside, the bag is a hybrid between a soft shell and a hard shell. The back half is rigid polycarbonate, but the front half is softer, with a built-in padded laptop slot and pockets for items like glasses, keys and notebooks. It comes in three colors: black, “eclipse” red and “sage” green.
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| Image: Peak Design |
The company says the entire bag is weatherproof, and there are gear loops on the outside to let you easily attach items like a tripod or rolled up blanket.
Unlike some of Peak Design’s backpacks, the Roller Pro doesn’t come with built-in camera storage by default. However, the company’s existing camera cubes are compatible with it, and it’s also releasing a new “X-Large” cube that perfectly fits the roller bag and can contain a 400mm prime lens. Like the rest of the Peak Design cubes, it has handles on every side, so if you suddenly have to check your roller, you can grab your camera gear out of it and carry it onto the plane with you.
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The XL cube is designed to nestle perfectly into the Roller Pro.
Image: Peak Design |
Peak Design says that pairing the two products together will give you a bag that it’s easy to work directly out of. Instead of opening like a traditional bag, which folds out like a book to take up roughly double the space, the Roller Pro has what Peak Design calls a “drawbridge” design. That lets you open the top, and have it stay open, giving the bag an “L” shape. That means you can flip it open and get immediate access to your camera gear, and you can leave it open if you’ll need to be in and out frequently.
As with many of Peak Design’s products, the Roller Pro distinguishes itself with the details. There’s an organization panel on the top lid for smaller items, which can be rolled up and stowed if you don’t need it, and a cord system to keep everything in place after it’s packed. There are handles on each side of the bag, so you can grab it no matter what orientation it is on the luggage belt, and there are secretive pockets for an AirTag and your passport. The interior is made out of an “auto-inspired” felt, and all the zippers can be secured with a single lock.
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Bonus feature: the back has rubber feet that keep it from sliding around when its open, and that can help dampen shocks.
Image: Peak Design |
As you can probably guess, none of this comes cheap. Peak Design will start selling the bag at retail in August at an MSRP of $599. The XL camera cube will cost $139. As with many of its other products, though, Peak Design will be running a Kickstarter campaign for the Roller Pro from March 4th through April 17th, where you’ll be able to get it at a discount, though exact pricing wasn’t available pre-release.
The company says it’ll ship bags to Kickstarter backers in June, though now is a good time to mention that pledging to a crowdfunding campaign isn’t the same thing as ordering a product via an online store. Peak Design has established a solid record of using such campaigns to launch new products, with 13 successful campaigns, but there is always some level of risk involved with Kickstarter.
Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.
Peak Design’s Roller Pro Is The Future Of Luggage Design
New carry-on features and innovations that manufacturers said were impossible
San Francisco, CA (March 4, 2025) – Peak Design is making its roller luggage debut with its most anticipated product release yet: the Roller Pro Carry-On. This new travel essential combines soft-sided style, hard-sided durability, and adaptive features to support any adventure, whether it’s for business, creative pursuits or just for fun. It’s made for the modern traveler, whose needs are multifaceted but always grounded in function, form and accessibility.
Having grown tired of the multitude of cookie-cutter roller bags on the market—made predominantly with off-the-shelf parts and having little-to-no newly discernible features—Peak Design designed Roller Pro from the ground up with entirely-custom parts and assemblies. This enabled the brand to address shortcomings such as poorly-built handles, wasted space, unwieldy clamshell access, and the ‘same-old’ boring aesthetics.
Roller Pro’s defining feature is Peak Design’s SlimDrive™ – a patented, low-profile carbon fiber handle, engineered for maximal strength in a minimal volume. Standard roller handles are made from off-the-shelf telescoping aluminum tubes, which create large ridges at the bottom of traditional roller bags and create wasted space around them. Roller Pro’s handle is made from single-stage flat carbon fiber tubes, making it significantly stiffer while taking up just a third of the volume, which both maximizes packing space and provides a superior handling experience. Coupled with custom-engineered 60mm wheels—nestled within the bag’s corners to optimize interior storage—the Roller Pro glides smoothly across a range of surfaces with just a flick of the finger.
Roller Pro also boasts a unique hybrid construction – a lightweight polycarbonate shell covered with Peak Design’s signature VersaShell™ fabric – that provides hard-sided protection with soft-sided features, all in a clean, classic aesthetic. A front EDC pocket has protected storage for passports, chargers, headphones, and a laptop/tablet. Unlike traditional clamshell-style rollers, Roller Pro features an innovative ‘Drawbridge’ opening system with a compact footprint, offering travelers a unique solution for packing in confined spaces like airplane aisles, busy event spaces or cramped hotel rooms. Additionally, the bag’s expandable capacity, from 34L to 39L, accommodates those returning home with more than they left.
Busy travelers will rejoice in Roller Pro’s nifty packing features and thoughtful details. An interior organization panel holds small items or acts as dedicated dirty clothes storage, and can be stowed to create a single large volume that reveals a hidden AirTag pocket. A proprietary Cord Hook™ Internal Retention System keeps contents secure, yet instantly retracts when not in use. Outside, 360-degree grab handles enable quick snagging from a conveyor belt or overhead compartment, and Cord Hook™ Gear Loops offer external carry of jackets, umbrellas, or even a tripod.
Not forgetting its roots, Peak Design is releasing a brand new X-Large sized Camera Cube that fills the Roller Pro’s entire volume and holds a 400mm prime lens. With the X-Large Camera Cube, or any smaller size available, the bag becomes a mobile creative workstation for photographers on location or in the studio. Camera Cubes also disappear as quickly as they install, eliminating the need for photographers to own a dedicated camera roller.
True to Peak Design’s commitment to sustainability, the Roller Pro’s fabric shell is 100% recycled and Bluesign-approved, and the entire product is PFAS-free and Climate Label Certified. Backed by Peak Design’s lifetime guarantee, the Roller Pro is built to last, representing a long-term investment in high-quality travel gear. Roller Pro is international carry-on approved and clocks in at 21.8 x 14 x 9” and 8.8lbs.
“Inside almost every roller bag on the market, you’ll find a floppy fabric liner, and under that liner you’ll find two big honkin’ tubes,” said Peak Design Founder & CEO Peter Dering. “A plastic clamshell with big, fat tubes: that’s the easy way to make a roller. We chose the hard way. When we told our factory we wanted to redesign things from the ground up, they told us we were crazy. But, we pushed them and found a better way. The result is a product that is wildly more effective and delightful. Roller Pro has real innovation in it, and I suspect many of its features will become future industry standards.”
From March 4 – April 17, 2025, the Peak Design Roller Pro and newly released XL Camera Cube will be available to pre-order on Kickstarter (peakdesign.com/ks), offering customers an exclusive chance to purchase at a discounted price (MSRP $139.95 – $599.95, depending on the item) in three colorways: Black, Eclipse and Sage. Products are expected to ship to Kickstarter backers in June 2025, with a full release on peakdesign.com, Amazon and global retailers by August 2025. Dates and prices are susceptible to change prior to launch.
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While visiting Dry Tortugas National Park, located 109km west of Key West, Florida, I looked down from the top of Fort Jefferson and saw this group of snorkelers just off Garden Key. Moments after this photo was taken, one of the snorkelers had the bad luck of being stung by a Portuguese man o’ war.
Photo: Dale Baskin |
The theme for our March Editors’ challenge is ‘Water’.
Show us the essence of water in its many forms, from the roaring power of the ocean to a gentle rain, reflections on a lake, smooth waterfalls, frozen ice, or even fine art. The possibilities are endless, so let your creativity flow and show us your best photos that revolve around water. Our favorites will be featured on the DPReview homepage later this month.
This challenge is open to photos taken at any time.
Photos can be submitted between Sunday, March 16, and Saturday, March 22 (GMT).
Important: Images MUST include a title and a caption of at least 25 words to be eligible. Viewers want to know the story behind your photo. We will consider both photos and captions when selecting our winners, so make sure to tell us that story!
Visit the challenge page to read the full rules and to submit your photos for consideration as soon as the challenge opens.
Visit the challenge page to see all the rules
| Images: Vanguard, Apple, Elinchrom |
CP+ may have ended last week, but that apparently hasn’t stopped the flood of accessory news. Today, we’ll look at a few lights, bags, computers and more, but first, let’s see what’s on sale.
Second-gen Goodness
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
Canon’s Stacked sensor flagship, the EOS R5 II, is currently on sale for $300 off MSRP. We reviewed it late last year, and came away very impressed – it’s a camera that excels at nearly everything.
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| Photo: Richard Butler |
Panasonic’s S5II isn’t quite as performant, but it’s still quite a good camera. It’s also substantially cheaper than the EOS R5 II, especially given the current sale that gets you $500 off.
Let there be lights
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| Image: Godox |
Godox’s latest light for videographers and photographers is the Litemons C30. It’s a tiny LED panel weighing 248g that packs an internal battery capable of putting out 30W of light for up to 45 minutes. A USB-C port lets you recharge the battery or run the light for an extended period of time.
There are two versions of the light – a bicolor model, which costs $59, and an RGB model that will run you $89.
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| Image: Elinchrom |
If you need something a little more powerful, there’s the recently released Elinchrom LED 100 C, a continuous RGB light with an integrated 72Wh battery that provides up to 40 minutes of power in the field. It comes with a diffusion dome and an adapter for Profoto light modifiers and can be charged via USB-C.
On the level
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| Image: Vanguard |
Ball-head tripods are great if you want to easily level your tripod without messing around with leg length, but what if you already have a tripod that you like? Vanguard’s LVL accessory might be for you. It’s designed to sit between your sticks and your tripod’s head, adding a bit of height and letting you level your tripod head in a matter of seconds.
Vanguard makes several sizes, so it should be compatible with a wide range of tripods. The smallest, the LVL 42, has a 42mm base and can support up to 20kg (44lb), while the LVL 75 can support up to 40kg (88lb) – just make sure the rest of your tripod can handle that much weight too.
In the bag
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| Image: Wandrd |
If you want to carry around some camera gear without using a massive backpack, Wandrd’s Stratus Photo 18L may be the bag for you. It’s relatively small and has built-in organization for your camera gear, as well as access hatches on both the right and left-hand side. It’s made of weather-resistant materials and has load-adjustment straps and a chest strap, which should let you carry it comfortably even if you’ve got it filled with gear.
New affordable iPads
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| Image: Apple |
People don’t always think of the iPad as a photographic tool, but nowadays Apple’s tablets have a lot of processing power and can run many of the apps photographers use on their desktops. The company’s entry-level models – the iPad Air and the plainly-named iPad – have just gotten updates that make them better than ever. The Air gets the laptop-class M3 chip, as well as a new, optional keyboard with a bigger trackpad, function row and aluminum design. The M3 iPad Air starts at $599, and the new keyboard costs $269.
The cheaper iPad, meanwhile, gets the A16 chip from the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro. While it’s not as powerful as the M-class chips and doesn’t support Apple’s suite of AI features, it should still be plenty for light photo editing and organization. Its base storage has also been doubled from 64GB to 128GB. It starts at $349, which is what its predecessor sold for ever since Apple cut the price by $100 in 2024.
That wasn’t all Apple announced this week, though…
Get caught up
Some accessory news is so big that it gets its own article during the week, but we’d feel remiss not also mentioning those products here.
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| Image: Apple |
As an example, Apple’s new computers. The company announced updates to its entry-level MacBook Air and top-of-the-line Mac Studio this week, adding its latest processors. The MacBook Air has enough processing power to handle the typical Photoshop and Lightroom tasks that most photographers need, all while being hyper-portable, while the Mac Studio can handle the highest-end photo and video editing tasks.
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| Image: Peak Design |
Also announced this week: Peak Design’s Roller Pro, the company’s first piece of roller luggage. It’s a bit of a hybrid between a hardshell case and a softshell one, with plenty of padding and a front sleeve that can hold a laptop and other everyday carry items. You can read our full coverage of it here.
It’s currently being sold via Kickstarter for a discount over its $599 MSRP, but the usual disclaimer applies: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.
| Photo: Richard Butler |
Sony has released a firmware update that brings its Content Authenticity Solution to the a7 IV. The company announced a similar update for the a1 II, a1 and a9 III in January. However, this is the first time the tool to authenticate images will be available on something other than high-end, professional-grade cameras.
Software Ver. 5.00 for the Sony a7 IV adds support for the “Write Digital Signature” function for still images. This function allows photographers to add an electronic signature to their images to prove that they were taken with that camera. Authenticity tools such as this are becoming increasingly important with the growing prevalence of generative AI-created imagery and, as a result, the spread of fake images.
Of course, as with the update for the three pro-grade cameras in January, there are some caveats involved. The Digital Signature function requires a paid license and is only available for certain media outlets, not the general public. Unfortunately, Sony still hasn’t provided any additional information on if or when it will be available for general consumers. On the firmware update page, Sony simply says that the “timing for the provision of paid licenses to customers other than certain media outlets is yet to be determined.”
Even though the current usability is limited, Sony rolling this out to consumer models is a step in the right direction. The Content Authenticity information page also says that “more camera models will be supported in due course,” so it sounds like we should see additional cameras with the tool at some point. If Sony makes the feature more widely available beyond media outlets, the Digital Signature feature will already be on cameras and ready for use.
If you want to be prepared, or happen to work for one of the select media outlets, the Sony a7 IV firmware update Ver. 5.00 is now available for download.
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