• 30 Comments

•

The Skyler MiniCam has been a work in progress floating around the Internet for a very long time, but this is the first time i've seen it available on eBay. A clever little stabilizer which stands on it's own like a tripod, looks to have great build quality, and very simple fine tuning knobs. A 1/4-20 thread under the stabilizer allows you to mount it on a Monopod so that you can don't need to dismount your camera.

Skyler MiniCam stabilizerSkycam MiniCam Stabilizer

Unfortunately the asking price of over $620 dollars is a big umm..'heck no' for me. It's too bad they couldn't get the Skyler under the $200 dollar price tag, I think it could be a hit. I guess if you want to compare the price to an $800 dollar Steadicam Merlin, it's not looking so bad, but there's so many more stabilizer options now for under $300 dollars. If you're still curious, there's some additional demo videos of the Skyler MiniCam stabilizer in use over at the auction page (click here).

Skyler MiniCam StabilizerSkyler Mini Camera Stabilizer
find-price-button Skyler Mini DSLR Video Camera Stabilizer Steadicam

• 18 Comments

•

Screen shot 2012-01-20 at 11.45.19 PM

The Varavon Sliders come in a few variations from Slim, Mini, EX, and ENG models. The 'Slim' is the smallest and narrowest version of their slider weighing in at around 5lbs total. It's the common roller bearing carrier design, so it's very smooth, and friction can be adjusted with the bearings.

Old video above of NAB 2011 where we first saw the Varavon Slim video camera slider. Normally even the smallest and cheapest Varavon slider will still run you about $600 dollars retail (seen here), but yesterday there's been a few listings of the Slim Camera Slider on sale for just under $330.

Right now, that's a bit cheaper than even Konova's 31.5" (first gen) slider. The Varavon ultralight Slim version is the narrowest slider on the market at 42mm wide, coming in at 39.4" long, and says it can carry a max payload of 19kg (42lbs?). You'll find those Varavon Slim Camera Sliders on sale following the link (click here)

Varavon-Slim-Slider
find-price-button Varavon Slim Camera Slider 39" Roller Bearing

• 12 Comments

•

If I had to figure out who made this green DSLR cage with polished clamps, I would never have guessed it's actually a Gini Rig. [Thanks Steve] Normally we see the Gini Rigs sporting a cliche' and traditional Black with Red accents, but now we're seeing a bit of color splash in a few products. What do you guys think? Go or No-Go? There's a few more new Cage and rig configurations over at the Gini store following the link (click here).

Gini Rig Color Splash Green CageScreen shot 2012-01-20 at 10.16.10 PM
find-price-button Gini Rigs Green DSLR Video Cage

• 15 Comments

•

The inexpensive Cowboy shoulder support gets a nice little discount and falls to about $17 bucks. [Thanks Serge]. This shoulder support is often considered a chest clamp and can be a true hands-free shoulder rig without the need of counterweights. It's possible to expand on this system by using rails sets like the updated Rig X - B version from Express35.com.

rig-x-shoudler-supportrig-x

I also have an old video showing some rails on this shoulder support (here). The Cowboy Shoulder Support is on sale right now via Amazon (click here).

cowboy-support
find-price-button Cowboy Video Camera Shoulder Support

• 9 Comments

•

When Rode released it's VideoMic Pro, the little shotgun mic was sold out for weeks. I'm anticipating the same would hold true for at least the innovative VideoMic HD with built in digital audio recorder.

rode-stereomic-pro

Through the comments, it looks like the Rode Stereo VideoMic Pro has now been listed for pre-order and comes in just shy of $300 dollars (found here).

rode-videomic-hd

There's also a product listing for the VideoMic HD with built in Digital Recorder, but no price has been listed yet. You could of course check in and get notified when it becomes available following the link (click here)

• 18 Comments

•

Starting at 6:00am this morning, there will be Amazon lightning deals in the Camera, Photo, and Video department. Lightning deals are special discount offers that run for a short time and new deals are thrown up just about every hour. Upcoming in the list are hard cases, backpacks, and bags, if anyone needs such. The most interesting item when browsing through the upcoming list of items, is the Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 Prime lens for Olympus, Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Pentax will soon receive a discounted price. A fast sharp lens that will work on both cropped and full frame Canon cameras, normally a a lens that runs about $450-500 dollars, will be on sale today (click here).

Rokinon 35mm F/1.4
find-price-button Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 Manual Prime Lens - Lightning Deals

[Update] Deal is on right now and they dropped the price by $125 dollars. Huge discount for this lens we won't see again anytime soon. Choose the version you want, and then look to the right side to see if it still qualifies for the lightning deal price (click here)

• 19 Comments

•

Let's face it, most guys won't ever use a Follow Focus system that requires rails to mount, and lens gears to shift around. There's plenty of people who are already happy with something as simple as a Silicone Jar Opener to help move that lens gear around. Especially for some of those Panasonic lenses that seem to rotate forever. Check out the video from Vimeo member Tony Carretti a while back (below).

There's been plenty of DIY ideas based around a little handle around the lens gear, some that mount on the lens ring using zip tie straps, some methods using pipe clamps and bolts. All very effective methods for the filmmaker on a budget. Now if you like the idea, but are concerned about the aesthetics of your gear (maybe to impress your clients), check out the adjustable focus / zoom lever from Sunwayfoto.

sunwayfoto-zoom-handle
The Focusing lever is precision machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminum with an Anodized finish, solid and durable. To maintain a slim profile, they come in about 4 different sizes from small to large depending on the diameter of the lenses you're trying to mount these to. More information on these things following the link (click here).
sunway-zoom-lever
find-price-button Adjustable Focus / Zoom Lever SunwayFoto - via eBay

Also available via Amazon (click here)
sunway-zoom-lever
find-price-button Sunwayfoto Focus Lens Zoom Lever Handle - via Amazon

• 11 Comments

•

alesis-two-track-frontalesis-two-track-right-sideAlesis-Two-Trackalesis-two-track-side

The Alesis TwoTrack portable digital audio recorder sees a small price drop. Yup, looks like a Zoom H1 with X/Y stereo mics, 3.5mm Mic Input, headphone monitoring, adjustable Gain, and built in Auto levels if you're lazy. A steel threaded insert for tripod mount, and no web articles about battery drain issues. Audio can be recorded as 16-bit, 44.1 stereo wav file, or an MP3 at up to 192kbps, and stores them on the 128MB of internal memory, or to widely-available SD/SDHC (not microSD) cards with capacities up to 8GB. Operates on a single AA battery. Don't be fooled by the TwoTrack name, it just means Left/Right Channel from the stereo mics. Audio as good as the Zoom H1? Hmm..maybe not.

alesis-two-track-sale
find-price-button Alesis TwoTrack Stereo Handheld Audio Recorder