Watches, Stories, and Gear: Pro Tripods, Teenage Engineering’s Scooter, and MB&F’s Corvette

Peak Design Launches the New Pro Tripod Line

If you ask Peak Design, six years ago they re-imagined what a tripod could be with their Travel Tripod. Designed to be lightweight, compact, and most importantly, useful, the tripod took the market by storm, becoming the “go to” option for many photographers. Taking what they learned from this first release, along with some input from Jimmy Chin (Oscar-winner, outdoor fanatic, and talented storyteller), they’re back with a brand new collection, the Pro Tripod.

Featuring similar design language to the original travel tripod, this new line allows customers to choose between portability (Pro Lite) and rigidity (Pro Tall) for the ideal addition to their kit. Each of the three models features a newly designed ball head with a “quicker and stronger camera attachment”, fluid panning, and a single adjustment ring that locks (and unlocks) the ball head. Additionally, Peak Design has re-engineered their leg locks to allow for faster setup and tear down. With over $2.8 million dollars pledged and 3,000 plus backers at the time of writing, it’s clear that people are excited about this new line of tripods. You can check out the new series of tripods in each of the Peak Design stores or on their kickstarter page, here.

Denis Villeneuve Tapped for the Next Bond Film

There was some big news in the world of James Bond this week. While the world waits to see who will be tapped to play the superspy following Daniel Craig’s run, we got an unexpected announcement as to who will direct the next installment. Denis Villeneuve, director of Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and the last two Dune films, will helm the first Bond produced under the stewardship of Amazon MGM, who acquired creative control of the franchise earlier this year. 

Villeneuve is a completely unexpected choice – there were rumors swirling just as recently as last week that directors such as Edgar Wright and Alfonso Cuaron were up for the job. No word yet on exactly when Villeneuve will get to work on the project. It’s thought that the next Dune film might go into production as early as this summer, and if that’s the case it could be a while before he tackles 007. Assuming there aren’t drastic changes to what the Bond films are all about, this could be a significant genre shift for the director, who has really been making a name for himself in science fiction in recent years. That said, he’s proven with Blade Runner and Dune that he can be trusted with beloved properties and franchises, so we’re excited to see his take on a Bond film. 

Teenage Engineering Designs a Scooter

Vässla, a Swedish mobility company, in collaboration with Teenage Engineering have released a “groundbreaking new electric scooter”. Codenamed “EPA” (Swedish for “En Passar Alla”), this new scooter allows users to customize the look and functionality through multiple attachment points and accessories.  Aimed to be adaptable to the user’s lifestyle rather than forcing people to adapt to it, the EPA-1 comes with a 2600W motor, up to 120KM range (roughly 75 miles), and is available as either a class 1 or class 2 electric scooter.   Those interested can learn more about the EPA-1, here.

Max Busser’s Corvette Heads to the Auction Block

In a recent Linkedin post, MB&F owner and creative director, Max Busser, announced that his personal 1965 Corvette Coupe will be up for sale soon.  In his post, Max states “When I was a child, the C2 Corvette Stingray coupe was the meanest looking car I had ever seen. It haunted me till ten years ago, when I managed to find this state of the art mechanically restored ’65″ and that while he’s sad to be selling it, “it deserves a loving owner who will drive it much more than I could”.  Featuring disc brakes, a high performance small block 327 V8 engine, and a manual 4 speed Muncie gearbox, this Corvette will roll across Bonhams’ Auction block tomorrow, June 29th.  Based on its condition and ownership history, this C2 Corvette is expected to bring between US$ 120,000 – US$ 190,000.  Those interested can check out more photos on Bonhams’ site, and read Max’s post, here.