Patricio sends in his DIY Telescoping Camera Crane video. There's not much information on exact specs, but the parts being assembled are shown towards the end. If you're the DIY type, you could probably figure this out. [Thanks Patricio]
DIY Equipment
Furniture Sliders for DIY Tripod Dolly
Here's an inexpensive and lightweight way to add movement with your camera at different heights. YouTube member ImagineNowEntertnmnt used furniture sliders from his local Bed Bath & Beyond (as seen here) and placed it under each tripod leg [Thanks Justin]. The furniture sliders can glide along carpet, linoleum, ceramic tile, and cement, etc. With a mini tripod, I can see this being a handy tip for Wedding Videographers who need to travel light, but have access to lots of smooth surfaces to add slow camera movements.
There's a bit of shake in some examples which could possibly be corrected with a bit more weight hung on the tripod, or some post image stabilization, but in most cases it works quite well to add interesting camera movements to your footage. Pretty common stuff you can find at your local Bed Bath & Beyond, local hardware store, or even find available via Amazon (click here)
Reusable Furniture Slider Kits
Sound Absorption for Voice Recording Room
I was shooting this for my own journal and didn't think I would actually publish the video, as i'm pretty private about certain things I work on. Then again, I was pretty happy with the results and wanted to share what my treatment was.
Keep in mind that this is not for Sound Isolation. This is not a Sound Booth that will block out all ambient noise. This setup is merely just 'treatment' of a small space to make the vocals sound better (get rid of echo and deflection).
Sorry fellas, I have to warn you that the video (below) even gave me a bit of motion sickness. If you're not interested in building out a room for voice recording, maybe you should just skip this one. At about 3:50 into the video, you'll hear a before and after comparison (turn up your volume).
There are low budget options to sound absorption, but I wasn't very happy with those results (I tried). When it comes to covering the most amount of square footage on the walls, the AudiMute stuff was my best bet.
I tried the heavy moving blankets to absorb sound, but going with the more expensive AudiMute Sound Absorption Sheets was worth the difference (and look much better). You can get a pack of (5) 4x8 sheets for $230 dollars.
AudiMute Sound Absorption Sheets
I also tried a variety of cheap foam, but in the end, a box of Auralex foam wedgies solved all the deflection issues. I used about 12 on the ceiling and another 12 to make a Reflexion filter behind the Rode ProCaster microphone. A box of 24 Auralex Wedges will run you $99 bucks
Auralex Wedgies Box of 24- 1'x1'x2 Panels
For the floor we just added some thick padding. So for about $330 dollars, I feel we got some really good results in a fairly professional looking voice recording room. Hard to tell from the audio of the point and shoot camera I was shooting on, but through a high quality vocal microphone it's a world of difference.
If you're looking to buy Foam by the piece (not the box), you can find a variety of types on eBay starting around $5.00 dollars (Click Here).
Foam Wedges Pyramids Acoustic Sound Panels
2A USB Rechargeable Battery Pack
This is probably going over everyone's head, but I just saw this on the eBay deals page. A rechargeable USB battery pack that has ports for both 1A and 2.1A outputs. I don't know how consistent the output is, but it peaked my interest because my Asus WiCast (streaming HD video) requires 5V 2A minimum to run, or it's just not going to power up. Right now I have everything working nicely with the Tekkeon battery packs, but they are a bit large to mount with camera.
I tried a number of other USB battery packs for the 5V output, but they just didn't put out the 2A that I need. Maybe this one is different? The Asus probably needs the most amount of power, but if you're using something like the Brite-View HDMI wireless systems
Vaas VM50 5000mah 2.1A USB 5V Rechargeable
Super Takumar 50mm F/1.4 Lens Review
There's practically an adapter to mount any lens to any camera these days, and here YouTube member videotestground talks about the Pentax M42 Super Takumar 50mm F/1.4 [Thanks Vedran]. These M42 lenses are older manual lenses for Pentax film cameras that can be mounted to your Canon DSLR through a cheap adapter. A Canon 50mm F/1.4 will run you close to $400 dollars, so you could save quite a bit adapting older manual film lenses. He also goes into showing a small step up filter adapter, and examples with a static ND filter to shoot at the wide aperture in the bright day.
You can find these old lenses for your Canon DSLR on eBay (click here).
Pentax Asahi Super Takumar 50mm F1/.4
And you can find the adapters needed to mount M42 lenses to Canon cameras (click here)
M42 to Canon EOS Lens Adapters
DIY Sony Battery Power for 600 900 LED Light Panels
Each Sony NPF style camcorder battery runs at 7.4V. By running them in series, it works at 14.8V which is the minimum power required for the 600 and 900 LED light panels at full brightness. I took two basic Sony NPF battery chargers, gutted them, and then wired them in Series to provide 14.8V DC.
Remove two screws under the rear sticker and then pry apart case
To wire up the cases for Series, basically you take the Negative wire from one and the Positive wire from the other and connect them to the barrel plug. The other two wires (negative and positive) from each charger would be connected together.
Sorry for poor diagram
Next I added a bit of extended wire and used my Barrel Plug (shown here) to connect directly to the LED light. The Barrel Connector is super easy to work with (no soldering), and is clearly marked with + and - for positive / negative placement. It's a very simple and cheap DIY to provide portable power for these large LED panels. If you want use heavier batteries, just make the wiring longer and mount to your light stand.
[Disclaimer] Attempt this DIY at your own risk. Using your batteries in other ways than intended may cause premature failure of your batteries, or damage.
Here's a few parts links related to this DIY:
Sony NPF Style Battery Charger
DIY Time Lapse Skater Dolly
Great little video from Vimeo member Stavros Koulis showing the build process of a Time Lapse Skater Dolly using an arduino controller. You may not require the need for a skater, but the parts list and instructions might be a good start for adding motion control to even a slider. For a complete parts list and build instructions, check out the article at https://nikondslrtips.com/15mm-rig-motion-controlled-timelapse-skater-dolly/.
DIY HoneyComb Speedlight Grid
A honeycomb grid on your flash helps direct and concentrate light, and depending on the design of the honeycomb you can even achieve a very tight spotlight. YouTube member CAMPHOTOPIX shares his DIY grid build that is based on a bunch of cut straws. I'm not sure where this first started from, but it's an old DIY build that even I have tried years ago. It's very effective and you can customize the length of the straws for different effects. I also like his use of neoprene material for a very snug fit.
These grids were very expensive a few years ago, but if you lack the patience, you can now find similar style honeycomb grids for less than $13.00 dollars shipped. You can find them in 1/8" and 1/4" honeycombs on eBay (click here).
Honeycomb Flash Grid Speedlite
Pico Dolly with Self Contained Motorized Trailer
Here's a look at a prototype motorized trailer sent to me today and it's attached to a PNC Pico Dolly. Still a prototype, it's supposed be universal and have some mounting options to attach to several different dollies or maybe even sliders? The idea is to have a motorized push cart to have consistent movement all of the motors, batteries, wiring, and switches all self contained into one little unit.
There's a few 1/4x20 threads to mount other accessories on the little push car too. From the image it looks like it's around 4" wide. I have no additional information about availability or pricing at this time. What do you guys think about something like this? For more about the Pico Dolly, you can find that information at the following page: https://www.photographyandcinema.com
Pico Dolly from PhotographyandCinema.com