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Here's a product some of you might find interesting, although I have to admit it's probably not too far off for DIY makers to craft up their own version. The Magnifty is a large Magnifier attached on 15mm rails magnifies the image on your LCD to help you get better focus. Other products like the Cinevate Cyclops or the Jag35 MonitorX offer the same method of magnifying the image into a large view, but attach directly to the camera's LCD.

cyclops-cinevatejag35-dslr-monitor-x-v2-main
Cinevate Cyclops and Jag35 MonitorX

The Magnifty uses 15mm rods to slide forward or back to adjust the magnification, and also offers a much larger view. One major benefit to using such analogue techniques is that you know you're getting the proper exposure and color from the camera's LCD than you would with most cheaper electronic Monitors. Of course if you work indoors, you don't have to think twice about it, but for outdoor use you should be cautious of your equipment. Check out the Magnifty at their eBay store following the link (click here).

Magnifty-LCD-ViewFinder
find-price-button Magnifty LCD Viewfinder Magnifier 15mm Mount

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BG-E11 Battery Grip for Canon 5D Mark III

While you probably can't find the official Canon BG-E11 battery grip for the Canon 5D Mark III at $350 US dollars (seen here), The Pixel brand is already claiming to be working on an 'Alternate' BG-E11 battery grip for about $90 bucks. [Thanks Joel].

The Pixel images so far look very close to the original BG-E11 design including the small joystick button and rubberized coating (according to their description). The listing via eBay is posted as a Pre-order to be released June 10th. Check out more of the images and information following the link (click here).

Canon 5D Mark III Battery GripCanon 5D Mark III Aftermarket Battery Grip Alternate
find-price-button Canon 5D Mark III (alternate) Aftermarket Battery Grip BG-E11

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YouTube member Wandomphoto performs a distance test with the Yongnuo RF603n (the n is for Nikon), and claims some pretty good results up to 1/4 mile away. These are very basic triggers and receivers that lack all the other high speed sync and communications that other high end triggers offer, but are fairly reliable. I am still using the RF602 triggers which included one remote trigger and one receiver. I haven't upgraded because they are not compatible with the RF603. The RF603 made a change in design that makes them 'Transceivers' which is both a transmitter and receiver. That's actually a much better design when you need to keep adding another remote or another receiver to the kit. A pair of these will run you about $30 bucks, and you can check them out via eBay (click here)

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find-price-button Yongnuo RF603 Wireless Trigger Receiver

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Nick Bicanic from https://www.purposelabs.com does a better job than I did with his DIY Steadicam Smoothee (a.k.a Baby Merlin) by shaving down the entire platform to get a perfect fit for his quick release adapter [Thanks Nick]. That little bit of effort definitely makes it look much more solid mounting platform than adding a quick release on top of the stock mini quick release plate.

baby_merlin_shaved

Notes:

I drilled two holes by eye to match the threaded holes on an MH621 Giotto I had lying around. Both are 1/4"/20 - note that the front hole on the giotto as stock is not threaded. So for those of you who don't have tap/die kits - you'll have to use another method. (you could mount with the 3/8" and a 1/4" but I didn't want to take off that much material.

Actually i was originally gonna shave it totally flat but then I realised that the way it's built that might not work (e.g. it could no longer be screwed together. You can see on the picture how far I decided to go.

This is clearly a one-way street 😉 - because if you screw it up you gotta buy another one..ha

That said - I got it right by eye first time - the only extra thing is a washer - see the second picture:

https://www.purposelabs.com/baby_merlin_washers.jpg

(one washer sanded down to fit) the reason for the washer is to tighten the bottom bracket of the quick release - otherwise the thin plastic would flex.

End result is awesome. Btw I didn't use washers at the bottom to spread the load because the bolts sit right on top of the plastic crossbeams themselves.

Here's a picture of how it sits together - very tight and solid.
https://www.purposelabs.com/baby_merlin_lookin_pro.jpg

btw not a lot of clearance down there - so I used hex button bolts.

Tools/hardware needed beyond the usual tools for the original mod are pretty much just those two bolts. (dremel + drill does the rest). Only tricky part is threading the baseplate if it isn't already done

baby_merlin_lookin_pro

If you guys aren't familiar with this project, it's basically taking the cheap Steadicam Smoothee (originally for GoPro or iPhone) and modifying it to fly other cameras like a Canon DSLR. The Smoothee provides you with fine tuning knobs to help get you balanced much like the $800 dollar Steadicam Merlin. You can find the details on that DIY Steadicam project here: http://cheesycam.com/diy-steadicam-smoothee-mod-cheesycam-baby-merlin/

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find-price-button Steadicam Smoothee Stabilizer

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Some Directors may want to look over your shoulder to see what you're shooting, so by streaming a video feed over, they can stand aside while you shoot. This is a test of an 8" monitor that has built in wireless, powered by a Canon LP-E6 battery, and a remote is mounted to the camera. It also has an HDMI input for non-wireless. That's all I can say for now.

Ok, someone nailed it. It's an 8" HDMI LCD monitor, but has built in wireless and comes with an SD Video transmitter. Normally around $500 bucks, there could be a few dozen available (soon) for around $200-250 which is why I was testing it out to see if it could be useful in some ways. It doesn't appear pixelated even when using the 5D Mark III SD out port. I could see this being used to send video out to someone who needs to see it. What do you guys think, at a lower price is this something useful? Find more information about it below (click here).

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find-price-button 8" LCD with HDMI - SD Wireless LCD Monitor

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Here's a helpful video showing some balancing techniques with the Opteka SteadyVid Pro camera stabilizer from YouTube member videotestground. Looks like he's able to get it dialed in pretty good. Just want to remind people that these stabilizers won't make you a perfect operator overnight. That comes from knowing what to look for when balancing, and months of practice practice practice. [Thanks Vedran].

You can find the Opteka SteadyVid Pro via Amazon (click here).
Opteka SteadyVid Pro
find-price-button Opteka SteadyVid PRO Video Stabilizer- via Amazon

And for International shipping, it can also eBay (click here)
Opteka SteadyVid Pro
find-price-button Opteka SteadyVid PRO Video Stabilizer- via eBay