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If you live and die through HDMI, then you might have heard a few stories (maybe experienced it yourself) about HDMI damage on your DSLR. This little achilles heel in DSLR workflow when using LCD monitors or EVF solutions can cost you big repair bills. Zacuto introduces a new HDMI lock (requires a zacuto plate to mount) called the Pincher. Not the cheapest solution, but it's almost the only one out there. Found at the Zacuto website, or a few dollars cheaper at B&H.

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find-price-button Zactuo HDMI Lock - Pincher

Or as some others have pointed out in the comments, the new TrusMT DSLR cage has HDMI locking options found here.

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find-price-button TrusMT DSLR Cage Ultimate with HDMI Locking

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A quick update about the Pico Flex Dolly. The first batch of pre-orders have already been completely purchased and should begin shipping (estimated) September 12th. The website is still taking orders for the next batch that should ship about 5-7 days after the first batch.

Here's some important information. The wheels might be a bottleneck for production until the supplier can catch up. We were able to make another small volume batch order very quickly before they ran out. So as of now, there is a limited quantity of complete Pico Flex Dollies available in the second batch. They are moving pretty quickly, so consider getting an order in while it's there. We are also hoping to make International Orders available this week. Found at https://photographyandcinema.com.

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find-price-button Pico Flex Table Dolly - PhotographyandCinema.com

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If you're not up to speed, there's a set of 96 LED lights on the market that didn't please many users. The seller Tony seemed to be a straight up guy and worked with all the buyers to accommodate any unsatisfied sales, while he worked to address some features. Serge received an early version from one of the LED lights in progress, but it doesn't seem to be picture perfect just yet. Although Tony seems like a very responsible seller who takes care of his customers, if this light can't totally outperform and outprice what's already on the market, I don't see a big shift. There's also a long written blog article over at Serge's blog found here. [Thanks Serge].

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Jason wanted to see the 717AH fluid head mounted to the Pico. Here's a video clip showing the mount and how much area is left. The 717AH has the same base diameter as most video fluid heads so a variety should be able to fit without issues.

Now going back to using friction arms, many people have asked about a way to mount their iPhone or similar HD Video device. Here i'm showing a universal quick camera clamp that can adapt to literally any cellphone or small camera. There is very little spring tension so it won't crush your device. The device stays inside the clamp through the angled design and with rubber grip pads. I also show my Sony HX9V mounted to the clamp. We're hoping to make these clamps available at PhotographyandCinema.com soon.

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Some wardrobe hangers set on a couple of Push up bars are the foundation for this pretty slick DIY motion control slider by Vimeo member Jayhas. A wireless RC remote and continuous servo control the speed, and the basic rig is comprised of a few skateboard trucks. I think I have a good idea on how it all works, but there isn't a very clear tutorial on the build. Hopefully we'll see a follow up with a closer inspection to how it was all assembled. You could find some additional information following the link.

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Just thought i'd string up the 360VM Crank slider with some 30LB Fishing line and see what type of movement I could achieve with a basic battery powered Rotisserie motor. There are some great examples of these rotisserie motors being used on DIY projects like this one here and here.

It might look like things are standing still, but if you look closely the carrier is slowly inching it's way across. These very slow speed rotisserie motors are great for simple motion control on a slider because they can probably pull a full sized turkey. To speed things up I could possibly add a larger spool. The larger diameter will pull the carrier down the rail at a much faster pace. Or if you're up to it, start looking into servos or motors and speed controllers like the one Gordon has used on his Konova.

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find-price-button Rotisserie Battery Powered Grill Motor

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Not long ago I showed off some portable 12V / 5V USB battery packs that were able to power a variety of camera accessories. These battery packs worked so great, I picked up a few more, and there's always one in my backpack (in case my cell phone runs low). YouTube member LucaFurgiuele runs a time test powering up the 352 LED Ring light at Full Power.

It's not often you'll use a light like this on full power the entire time, but these batteries were still able to push about 85 minutes of run time. Definitely not a bad deal for these versatile little packs. You can find some additional information about the batteries in my old post here. [Thanks Luca]

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find-price-button CCTV 12V DC Rechargeable Li-iON w/ 5V DC USB Port

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find-price-button 352 LED Ring Light with 12V AC Adapter

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Some people don't like wearing Nike jumpsuits with Adidas running shoes. That's called cross branding. If you're not fond of the colors in the RJ Follow Focus, Vimeo member HD-tography shows how he addressed the 'Cross colors' issue. There's some additional information following the link to the video.