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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)

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

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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).

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find-price-button Gini Rigs Green DSLR Video Cage

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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.

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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).

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find-price-button Cowboy Video Camera Shoulder Support

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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.

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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).

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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)

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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).

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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)

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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.

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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).
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find-price-button Adjustable Focus / Zoom Lever SunwayFoto - via eBay

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

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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.

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find-price-button Alesis TwoTrack Stereo Handheld Audio Recorder

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A new Stereo VideoMic Pro, and the VideoMic HD - worlds first 'Digital Recorder Microphone'. Say what?? Yes, Rode actually has a built in Digital Recorder inside their latest VideoMic HD that saves to MicroSD. Cray right? From the looks of it, I'm guessing this will save a copy of high quality audio to it's built in Digital Recorder, and spit out a signal via 3.5mm for the DSLR to record. I think i'll just let the Rode Press Release speak for the new products - below.

RØDE ANNOUNCES NEW STEREO VIDEOMIC PRO

ON-CAMERA Microphone
Tuesday January 17th 2012, Sydney Australia - RØDE Microphones is proud to announce the release of its latest on-camera microphone, the Stereo VideoMic Pro.

VMPS_oncamera_backVMPS_back_left

Building on the success of the VideoMic Pro, which launched in early 2011 and quickly became the defacto standard for DSLR on-camera audio, and RØDE’s original Stereo VideoMic, the new Stereo VideoMic Pro provides a high quality stereo option for videographers, and is ideal for recording music, and the atmospheric ambience essential in building a realistic audio scene.
Based around a matched pair of high sensitivity ½”cardioid condenser capsules in a coincident XY pair, the Stereo VideoMic Pro provides a wide stereo image with natural depth.

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The Stereo VideoMic Pro builds on the feature set of the VideoMic Pro, with an ergonomic form factor perfectly suited to DSLR, consumer camcorders and large-sensor video cameras. The integrated shock mounting system provides superior isolation from vibration and mechanical noise that can otherwise degrade the recording quality. Additionally the lightweight yet robust multi-strand cable provides excellent acoustic decoupling from the camera and offers significantly lower noise transference than traditional audio cable.

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The user friendly designed rear of the microphone body features the power and equalisation controls, including a high pass filter at 75Hz which is designed to cut out the noise generated by air conditioning, traffic and other undesirable low frequency interference.

A -10dB PAD allows the user to reduce the sensitivity of the microphone, making it suitable for recording loud sound sources such as live music or at sporting events.

Like the VideoMic Pro, the Stereo VideoMic Pro features a +20dB level boost specifically designed to provide a higher quality signal with DSLR cameras. When activated, the typically low quality camera preamp level can be reduced, resulting in a lower noise floor and much clearer recording.

“The release of the Stereo VideoMic Pro reaffirms RØDE’s category ownership of the on-camera microphone, and gives yet another tool to filmmakers, content creators and musicians” commented Damien Wilson, RØDE Microphones’ Global Sales & Marketing Director. “The audio quality of this microphone really is outstanding, and I can’t wait to hear some of the great content our customers will create with it.“

The RØDE Stereo VideoMic Pro is shipping now. For more information please visit rodemic.com/svmp

THE WORLD’S FIRST DIGITAL RECORDER VIDEO MICROPHONE
Tuesday January 17th 2012, Sydney Australia - RØDE Microphones is extremely proud to announce the VideoMic HD, a high-fidelity, precision RF bias shotgun microphone with integrated digital recording, designed for use with DSLR and large-sensor video cameras.

VideoMic HD FrontVideoMic HD Left

The VideoMic HD’s audio DNA is directly inherited from RØDE’s flagship NTG3 professional shotgun microphone. Incorporating the same capsule and sharing much of the electronic design of the NTG3, the VideoMic HD is a true condenser super-cardioid shotgun microphone with RF bias technology. This makes it virtually immune to RF interference and condensation that can cause other condenser microphones to fail.

Continuing its history of innovation and ‘industry-firsts’ RØDE has incorporated a high quality digital recorder into the body of the VideoMic HD. This completely removes the requirement for a separate audio recorder, while still also providing throughput of the audio signal to the camera for a superior reference audio track.

File storage is via microSD card and a microUSB port is supplied for convenient file access and possible firmware updates.

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An integrated headphone jack with level control allows users to monitor their recording in real-time, while a high contrast LCD display on the rear of the microphone provides visual metering as well as basic recording control.

Audio capture and output can be configured in a number of ways thanks to the microphone’s innovative output selection. In its default mode the VideoMic HD’s audio is recorded and outputted as a dual mono signal. When in ‘safety recording’ mode, the microphone captures and outputs the standard audio signal on the right channel and a -20dB attenuated signal on the left channel. In case of unexpected boosts in the audio the user has a safety backup channel of audio that can be referenced. A third output setting allows for dual mono audio capture and a balanced signal output using the optional RØDE VXLR 3.5mm to XLR adaptor.

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The VideoMic HD offers a 3.5mm mono line in that supports ‘plug in’ power, allowing for the connection of a secondary microphone such a lavalier or headset. The microphone’s fourth output mode allows the tracking of the line-in to one of the stereo channels, both on the on-board recorder and through the 3.5mm output jack.

The microphone body is constructed from rugged, lightweight die-cast aluminium and features a quick release cam lever for simple and secure mounting in any universally sized camera shoe mount.

Drawing on the design architecture of the award winning RØDE Blimp, the VideoMic HD features a unique windshield and suspension structure. The capsule and line tube are completely suspended inside the microphone, providing superior shock mounting and isolation from physical sound sources through the microphone body, and the outer geodesic structure provides strength while offering superior wind protection to foam windshields. A DeadCat VMHD furry windshield is supplied with the microphone to provide protection in high wind environments.

For more information and to register your interest to be notified when the microphone begins shipping, please visit rodemic.com/vmhd.