Tokyo – VANGUARD, one of the global leaders in photo-video accessories, today announced its Skyborne Series camera bags and GH-100 pistol grip ball head have both earned a prestigious Good Design Award.

 

Organized by the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO), the Good Design Award competition is one of the most renowned international competitions in the world. Tadashi Okamura, JIDPO chairman, announced the results of the 2010 Good Design Awards on September 29, 2010. According to JIDPO, about 3,136 applications were received from all over the world.

 

Skyborne Series camera bags earned the award for its advanced design that includes air-infused cushioning in all of the key areas.

 

“Our designers got it right with Skyborne,” said Anne Lee, CEO and founder of VANGUARD. “It’s unbelievably comfortable, and it provides exceptionally reliable gear protection, thanks to its advanced padding that’s infused with air.”

 

Skyborne has an ergonomic harness system with easy-adjust, air-filled shoulder straps to minimize tire. It securely holds a laptop in a well-padded compartment with anti-theft buckles. Skyborne comes complete with a bonus detached laptop sleeve with handle and shoulder carrying strap. A tripod can be attached to an adjustable strap and holder. Gear stays protected thanks to an air-infused bottom.

 

It holds an impressive amount of gear and has bottom and top access points that enable users to go from traveling to shooting mode in just a few seconds. It delivers on the details, too, with generous space to hold gear along with other adventure essentials, and it boasts numerous pockets for small accessories. Other features include a detachable padded waist strap for increased security, rain cover, trolley for luggage handles, water bottle and cell phone holders and numerous pockets for lens caps and memory card cases.

 

JIDPO released this statement from the award judges: “Bags to store and carry cameras should have quick and easy access to the camera. Skyborne Series successfully meets this requirement. Another added value is its tripod holder that can be adjusted easily.”

The judges were also impressed with VANGUARD’s popular, innovative GH-100 pistol grip ball head that enables users to position a camera or spotting scope quickly with unmatched versatility.

 

Fusing the smooth precision of a ball head with impressive ergonomic control, GH-100 enables you to position your camera or spotting scope quickly with unmatched versatility. This well-engineered ball head has the Grip Position Release System with an industry-leading pistol grip-style handle, which rotates 360 degrees and enables you to unlock, reposition and lock gear into place with ease. Its one-handed, maximum comfort and convenient operation frees your other hand to make lens zoom adjustments. Depression of the handle allows 360-degrees of panning movement and -32 to +90-degrees of side-to-side tilt and -8 to +90-degree back to front tilt movement all round. It instantly locks into place with simple release of the handle. Other impressive features include its Friction Control System which allows you to modify the level of friction on the ball to accommodate changing equipment weight such as switching to heavier lenses.

 

The judges released this statement: “GH-100 is an innovative and extremely versatile head for tripods. Its pistol grip can be easily handled with simple one-handed operation. It will be very beneficial for finding creative angle setting and capturing fast-moving objects in active scenes such as bird watching. Other added values are compact and light yet strong body, and full accessibility by left and right-handed users without replacement of parts.”

 

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