DIY Equipment

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diy-spidertrax-video-dolly

The guys over at Calixte Works are at it again. This time putting together a video about their DIY version of the Spidertrax Rotating Video Dolly, all video shot and Dolly built 'inside' the local Home Depot. Crazy guys, but looks like a simple and inexpensive build for some quality rotating video footage. The rotating video dolly is quickly becoming everyone's favorite DIY project to tackle, because of the very interesting video footage you can capture with it. You can check out Calixte Work's DIY Spidertrax Rotating Video Dolly here.

As usual getting proper wheel alignment on a DIY isn't quite that simple, so in this example the common skateboard trucks were used. Skateboard mounts work great, but doesn't allow the camera to sit at the lowest possible level, especially once you add a fluid head. This is the reason the original SpiderTrax was built with a custom baseplate and the reversed axle mount.

Below: Original SpiderTrax Rotating Video Dolly
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The Original SpiderTrax Dolly can be found at PhotographyAndCinema.com

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spidertrax-on-rails

Jarrod over at Just Basl Productions introduced his version of the DIY Spidertrax dolly not long ago, and already he's following up with another DIY tip. Using the same Strut channels as the Popular Cheesycam DIY DSLR Cage / Fig Rig, he's designed his DIY version SpiderTrax Dolly wheels to roll along the rail. He does a good informative video explaining how he put it all together. Not sure if he mentioned the price, but a single 10' strut channel might run you about $15.00 dollars. Cutting the strut in half would suffice for the length of track you'll need. Check out the DIY Spidertrax dolly on Rails video here. Thanks Jarrod, another fine cost saving DIY on a tool that's versatile, looks professional, and best of all dirt cheap.

Below: Original SpiderTrax Rotating Video Dolly
spidertrax-for-sale
The Original SpiderTrax Dolly can be found at PhotographyAndCinema.com

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hotshoe-plastic-foot

Since the Z96 DSLR light has great diffusion and color, and can be stacked together to make One Larger light panel, people have been asking about using the now popular Z96 DSLR Dimmable LED Lights off camera with a stand. This would work great, even as basic fill light outdoors. Here's two really cheap options to get these lights setup so that you can use them off camera. The first one is just a standard foot that should come with most flashes. Under these adapters is a standard 1/4 x 20 thread to place directly on top of any standard Tripod. These run less than $3.00 dollars + Free shipping. Since the neck of the Z96 LED is already positionable, as well as the Tripod you're mounting to, you won't need a bracket that tilts.

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Carrying around a full tripod just to hold these tiny lights would be excess, so you can go with lighter 'Light Stands'. If you're going with the lightstand route, sometimes they have a 1/4 x 20 threaded tip so you can use them with your Foot type adapter. If not, then you'll have to grab one of these Light Stand Umbrella Flash Brackets. These can mount any type of shoe mounted accessory including your Canon or Nikon flash. I happened to have many of these I use for Photography positioning my Flashes off camera. This might be a better buy if you're planning on using these for off camera flash photography since flashes can't be as easily tilted. You can find both of these options following this link to Shoe Type Speedlite Brackets.

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You can also find Lightstands, Brackets, umbrella, with carrying case here.

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@MunkiCloud checked out the DIY Point and Shoot video stabilizer I made for my Canon SX210 and modified it to mount the new iPhone 4. For a walking and panning shot, I think this DIY Stabilizer for that iPhone 4 came out great. Sometimes it takes a bit of 'dialing in' on how much weight to use and how far to spread those weights. Practicing if you've never used any type of stabilizer is also key. So before you drop down about $900 bucks for an iPhone Cinema Kit, you might have better video results with this DIY stabilizer for probably under $10 bucks...

You can find MunkiCloud's full write up here, and more information on my DIY Video Stabilizer for small Point and Shoots found in my article here.

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Above: Adapter for iPhone on DIY Point and Shoot Stabilizer

Below: Images of my DIY Point and Shoot Stabilizer

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matte-box-dslr-cokin
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Checking out different websites for a Matte Box + French flags that can support filters, it's pretty hard to locate anything under $400 dollars. Especially for DIY guys making custom rigs, you might not be looking for something that requires a Rod Rig Mount. This one mounts using the Filter threads on your lenses. I've seen this Cokin Filter based Matte Box for DSLR's many many times, but didn't know if it was something to consider. It's nice that it's Cokin Filter Compatible saving you tons of dollars on those inexpensive filters. Checking out his eBay Feedback looks like he's selling quite a few each week. So i'm looking for some additional input from people who might have purchased this thing, is it good or not good? Or is this possibly one of those items like a Justin Bieber CD that shows it sold millions but nobody wants to admit they own it...... Anyone?

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I always admit how poorly some of my DIY videos are. Many times I just show beginning, skip middle, straight to the end results. I don't explain clearly how it's all put together. Well if you plan on building that Cheesycam DSLR Cage Fig Rig Stabilizer, you may want to take a look at the video above regarding a few important steps I forgot to provide.

Before you begin your DIY, you'll have to work completely shirtless because that's how Real Men DIY. You need to play some heavy metal rock music in a foreign language, cut steel in a boiler room environment, and grind metal while allowing hot sparks to hit bare skin. That's right 'bare skin'. Yeah that's exactly how I was working on my cage too but I didn't have time to edit that in to my video. Thanks Videonik Pictures, that's the coolest DIY Cage video ever!

Next up, Carlo Zappella caught the article I posted about the DIY Variable ND Filter for about $10 bucks, and whipped up his own. Using a Canon T2i and sticking to 'double the framerate' rule with his Shutter speed around 1/50th, he was still able to maintain excellet DOF without overexposing on this uber cheap DIY Variable ND Fader Filter. They say it's possible to lose some sharpness depending on the filters you buy, but I didn't notice anything. It looks much better than without a variable ND that's for sure. They also say it could change color tone depending on the filters you use, but Carlo threw in the Magic Bullet Looks and it came out great. He's also using a DIY Slider for the slow sliding shots, similar to mine here.

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Wow, I forget there's two delivery times here. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. This afternoon, these items just arrived for me to talk about. First up is the DSLR Glass LCD Screen protector for the Canon 550D first introduced in this article here. Wow this thing is nice! The fit is very OEM like with beveled edges to keep the smooth look and feel. Quality is superb.

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Available for 5D Mark II, 7D, and yes people even the 550D / T2i click images

Next up is the LCDVF 'Clone' or 'Replica'. Wow..Literally..WOW. I couldn't stop smiling when I opened the box. This is crazy..this is dead on exactly the same, I seriously could not find a casting flaw, an imperfect finish, or anything unusual about this item. I'd swear it was the real deal. If this isn't coming out of the same manufacturer, it's quite impressive how much this item has replicated every little detail of the real LCDVF.

Here's the link to the LCDVF Clone Viewfinders for DSLRs.

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click for pricing

Here's a pretty cool interesting tip!:
I received a comment earlier from someone else who had received the Glass LCD protector + LCDVF clone. They mentioned that when these two new items used together, it actually improved the viewable areas of the Canon 550D LCD without using a 3/2 version of an LCD Viewfinder. Now that I received mine, I had to test that theory out. The original 3" LCDVF design cropped a bit of the 550D LCD view by 1mm each side. You think you need a 3/2 version LCD Viewfinder? Think again. This odd combination seemed to work out and improves on correcting that 1mm crop on each side to just about a perfect view of the entire LCD.

View of LCDVF Clone + Glass LCD Protector on Canon 550D / T2i
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Find the LCDVF Viewfinder Replica following this link

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z-finder-clone

Looks like China is hip to the Viewfinder market. They are a bit late on this particular clone of The Real Zacuto Z-Finder, and i'm sure Zacuto's got some new finder in the works that will make this look a bit obsolete. Better late than never I guess.

Here's a quote from a reader.

Looks like Chinas sweatshop copycats are discovering the DSLR film-makers market. I got word from a friend who is doing business with Shengzen manufacturers, that they already got bored copying the 5 buck plastic thingy called LCDVF. They will start to ship a clone of the technically superior Zacuto Z-Finder Pro in September this year – of course the 3x version 😉

The image above is supposedly from their prototype modeled from The Real Zacuto Z-Finder. I'm sure they'll dress it up with a bit of color and coating when it's finalized. From the image above, it looks like they have it scaled pretty well. I'm sure it's not going to stand up to the quality of real Zacuto, but there's a trade off in price that doesn't stop users from making these over seas 'clone' purchases. We'll just have to wait to see where this one goes.

For those who have been complaining about Fog on the viewfinders, this might be of some help. Used in Dive masks and Goggles to resist fogging it should be safe on the eyes.

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Sorry it's been quiet on the blog and also I haven't been able to respond to comments and questions. I was working all weekend day and night cleaning up some warehouse space trying to setup a small studio. You know, I haven't had time to test my Timelapse Remote (intervalometer), and it would have been a perfect opportunity to have shot a timelapse against the work we were putting in. Lots of scrubbing, cleaning, and painting it's looks really different from when I first walked in. It's coming along quite nicely, but there's a lot more work ahead.

Fred Cavender from TuperHero.com picked up the Timer remote shown in this article here to test out his 7D Timelapse skills. Fred was also the one who was showing off his DIY DSLR shoulder rig modeled after the RedRock EyeSpy, and there's a much more updated version at his own website TuperHero.com. If you're looking into a remote For Canon 7D & 5D Mark II owners, here’s the proper remote (works on both).