•

Tony Reale from NextWaveDV has no problems speaking up against LitePanels recent filing to block the import of LED lighting. He might be seen as a bit biased with his research into video lighting products, but there's literally thousands of people who totally agree with him (like myself).

It's not about some secret high-tech million dollar R&D project that's been hijacked and stolen. What Tony better explains in this video is that the patents filed are based on the 'use of LED lights in Photo and Video'. I'm no legal expert, but that pretty much sounds like absolutely no other LED lights, regardless of it's origin, have the rights to be used for anything photo or video related (unless it be LitePanels). LitePanels is a young (not even a teenager) company founded around 2005. What's sad is that this filing would even effect highly respected Lighting companies that have been providing quality lights to the film industry for decades like Arri (since 1917) and Mole Richardson.

Don't think they can get away with this? Here's a snippet in which LitePanels sued Sony and Sony settled. Let's take a look at what was infringed.

Litepanels sued Dot Line Corp. (Dot Line) and Infocus Camera & Imaging, LLC (ICI) in federal court in Tyler, Texas, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,948,823 (’823 Patent) and 7,604,361 (’361 Patent) (litepanels_complaint.pdf).

The ’823 Patent is entitled “Wide area lighting apparatus and effects system” and is directed to a camera mountable lighting frame (302) having multiple lamp segments (306) arranged in a radial pattern around a center hole (303). Each lamp segment 306 comprises a plurality of LEDs (305).

The portable frame could be circular (as picture above) or rectangular. When the portable frame is mounted to a movable camera, the frame follows the movements of the camera.

The ’361 Patent is a continuation-in-part of the ’823 Patent and is entitled “Versatile lighting apparatus and associated kit.” It is directed to an LED light panel with a self-contained battery unit that provides power to the light elements but not to the camera.

So it sounds like LitePanels has a bit of bullying experience in this area, and has successfully sued large companies like Sony with ease. Worried now?

If you read the patents that have been violated carefully, there's nothing very high tech. Here's the patents that were filed against Sony.

Patent 6948823: A lighting effects system comprises an arrangement of lamp elements, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or other light elements, on a panel or frame. The panel or frame may be relatively lightweight, and may include one or more circuit boards for direct mounting of the lamp elements. The panel or frame may have an opening through which a camera can view. A mounting bracket and assembly may be used for attaching the panel or frame to a camera. The lamp elements may be electronically controllable so as to provide differing intensity levels, collectively, individually, or in designated groups, and may be strobed, dimmed or otherwise controlled according to manually selected or programmable patterns. Different color lamp elements may be mounted on the same panel/frame, and, in particular, daylight and tungsten colored lamp elements may be mounted on the same panel/frame and their relative intensities selectively controlled by control circuitry.

Patent 7604361: A lighting apparatus comprises a light panel having a panel frame, and a plurality of LEDs or other light elements secured to the panel frame. A self-contained battery unit securably attaches to the outside of the panel frame. The light panel may have a dimmer switch, and may also be capable of receiving power from a source other than the self-contained battery unit. The lighting apparatus can be mounted to a camera or a stand through adapters. Diffusion lenses or color gels can be integrated with or detachable from the light panel. The lighting apparatus may conveniently be provided in the form of a kit, with one or more of a light panel, self-contained battery unit, compact stand, connecting cable(s), adapter(s), lenses or color gels, and so on, provided in a single package.

I agree with most professionals working in the field that LitePanels creates high quality products, and the results speak for themselves. True professionals who rely on quality will always use such tools. I'll admit that if your next film budget allows you to bring LitePanel products on, you would be completely satisfied. Of course, I don't agree that they should have the complete rights to 'all use of LED lighting for anything Photo and Video related'.

So now that you're up to speed, what can you do about it? Well if you don't believe that 'one young company' should own all the rights to using LED lighting for anything photo and video related here's what you can do. I understand we all live busy lives, but without even breaking a sweat or handwriting documents, the easiest thing to do is to twitter this article, facebook it, Google Plus it, just get the word out. When you wake up the next morning, twitter it again.

Here's another interesting thought. Now I love LitePanels equipment, and i've probably made a few testimonial videos and blog articles about how great they are. But after this whole recent filing from LitePanels, I'm curious about what type of comments there has been from the many popular filmmakers currently being used to promote Litepanels.

• 10 Comments

•

pico-dolly-loaded

Sorry everyone, I didn't expect the Pico to become so popular in just two days. There was only a small count of Pico Dollies manufactured and it's expected to sell out soon. There will indeed be another batch order (no ETA yet) which will then be open to International Shipping. To be notified when International Shipping is available, you can add your email to the subscription list here: https://www.photographyandcinema.com/index.php/international

Also since there were many orders placed without the optional friction arm, the website has been updated at some point so that the excess Friction arms can be purchased separately from here: https://photographyandcinema.com/

• 2 Comments

•

Vimeo member C Light gives us a better look at the components involved to assemble the DIY motion controlled Konova Slider. Looks like a continuous servo, servo speed controller, and some clever pulley placements. The Konova is a full bearing slider, so it takes very little effort to slide even heavy camera set ups. This DIY is a great way to control smooth consistent horizontal movements, but I wouldn't suggest trying to pull the carrier up on a steep vertical move. [Thanks Gordon].

Konova Slider
find-price-button Konova Roller Bearing Slider

• 150 Comments

•

Since the inception of the SpiderTrax dolly, there have been quite a few iterations from a number of different companies. Those units on the market were either still pretty large, or built with poor quality. This time around, I wanted to focus on flexibility and portability. I tried to achieve the highest quality possible, in the smallest footprint, and still make it the most affordable for the community. So today i'm showing you guys the Pico Flex Table dolly. It's still based on the 4 wheel two axle design which I showed a few years ago on the SpiderTrax. The reason for this is because it is much more time consuming to properly align any three wheel design (in case you were considering one). There's no need to look into any other table dolly system as this one still performs as good, and traveling with it is even easier. You'll also be quite happy with the initial price.

Although you can spin your dolly around like a madman, when used slowly they can create some interesting footage. Here's a two year old video I shot when experimenting with my first dolly. Just slight rotation moving slowly on a table.

PicoPico (1 of 19) PicoPico (4 of 19)

It's as small as you can go, while still being able to mount a regular sized Fluid head and support a normal sized Canon DSLR. The main purpose of this product is to just have fun and get creative shots. There are three threaded mounting points to attach friction arms which allow for the lowest possible angle in a camera, as well as adding a number of accessories. Of course if you want to sling a DSLR upside down (as shown in the video), you can counterbalance the weight with another accessory (notice the LED light in the video used with the upside down DSLR).


Pico Dolly w/ Zacuto EVF as Monitor. Also 240 LED Video Light.

pico-dolly-loadedPicoPico (11 of 19)

The Pico is complete fun for iPhones, GoPro cameras, Small Point and shoot HD Video cameras (like my HX9V), and Micro Four Thirds. Perfect for that new Sony NEX-5n, NEX-7, or even Olympus EP-3. You can purchase the Pico alone, which is a great price. There's a bundle with a friction arm which brings the price up slightly. The Pico Flex Skater Table Dolly and Accessories are available now. (click here for Pico Flex Skater Dolly)

PicoPico (15 of 19)
find-price-button Order Pico Flex Table Dolly - PhotographyandCinema.com

• 21 Comments

•

Just a quick over view of what to expect on this dslr matte box. This particular one is fairly well made with just a few quirks, but it's definitely a hundred times better than the cheap plastic one floating around. If you're really into the aesthetics of your rig, I suggest going for this. The FilmCity MatteBox is mostly metal including the flags, top sunshade, 15mm clamp, and donut ring. The hood itself is the only thing made from hard plastic.

The flags on the Mattebox will not fold up for storage, but it breaks down quickly to be packed away. The top flag will tend to get loose with constant positioning and would require the allen key to re-tighten. The side flags can easily be tightened by hand through the thumb screw. The single filter slides in an out with ease, and can be locked down quickly. It does not rotate so it's not something to be used with a CPL. The mattebox does not have a swing away design, so to make things simple, keep it at the end of your rail set. Yes it does require rails to mount. If you've got the money, I suggest going for the more expensive versions with a swing away design and the ability to rotate filters. One that some consider is by TrusMT found here: Trusmt DSLR MatteBox Carbon Fiber or Aluminum.

Considering the prices of current matteboxes, overall the FilmCity is one of the cheapest with decent quality build (again much better than the uber cheap plastic one). Can be found on eBay (click here).

MatteBox
find-price-button Inexpensive Single Filter MatteBox with Full Flags

• 20 Comments

•

Some people may have received this notification via email regarding certain Transcend Class 10 SDHC media cards. I guess somewhere down the line, Transcend made a few changes. All of the cards I've purchased don't fall into this category. I cannot verify this on my own personal media, but it could be something you want to check out for yourself.

We have recently learned that Transcend Information is voluntarily recalling the Transcend 16 GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card TS16GSDHC10E.
Items impacted by this recall were sold between July 28 and August 15, 2011. Due to a manufacture process issue, the item subjected to this recall might cause read/write blocking if the file size is over 4GB and the information on the card may not transfer.
The SDHC cards impacted have a serial number between 446136 0001 to 446136 9999 and 446121 0001 to 446121 9999. In order to identify the serial number of your card, please refer to the number in green on the right side of the back of the card.
If your product is affected, you should contact the manufacturer, Transcend Information, for a replacement. If you would like to apply for an online return request, please follow the instruction at the following link to complete the replacement process: https://www.transcendusa.com/support/rma_en/
If you need additional info about this recall or further assistance, please contact Transcend Information’s customer service via email at [email protected] or by phone at (714) 921-2000.
If you purchased this item as a gift for someone, please notify the recipient immediately and provide them with the information in the above bulletin concerning these issues.

• 18 Comments

•

No this isn't a post about the Joby on wheels that could run you several hundred dollars. This video from Peter Wiren is a very simple method creating less friction to the Joby GorillaPod ends and sliding it on some basic rails. The rails are made from brackets normally used for hanging closet shelves, held together with basic joining plates, all found at any local hardware store. [Thanks Peter]

You'll need that sturdy large SLR flexible tripod base from Joby found below.
Joby-gorillapod
find-price-button Joby GorillaPod SLR Flexible Tripod

• 23 Comments

•

360VM Camera Slider

Anything over a 3ft. slider becomes cumbersome for a small crew, and longer sliders start requiring additional stands to set up. I prefer working with sliders around 3' max. Take a look at this 28" 360VM slider with belt and crank pulley. Yup, similar to that of the V1 Kessler Pocket Dolly which used to sell for upwards of $600+ dollars. A similar CamTree/ProAim version with crank pulley still runs well over $400+. Your most basic IGUS DIY rail at this width could run you about $200+ without the crank setup. That's what makes the price on this 360VM slider pretty competitive with the current offerings. There's absolutely no reason to go with anything much larger, especially for those migrating to smaller camera setups like the new Sony NEX-5n, NEX-7, Olympus EP-3, etc.

Here's a video below that shows the actual 360VM slider in use, and is seen in the video.

Putting a Crank and Pulley on one of IGUS' widest rails was mostly known through Kessler's Pocket Dolly V1.
Some of those videos found here: https://vimeo.com/14222897
Another Example here: https://vimeo.com/14848131

The installed pulley makes it even sweeter for those looking to set up a motorized motion controlled video dolly. A simple motor and reversible PWM speed controller, and you're good to go. The 28" Crank slider can be found on the 360VM.com website here: https://store.360vm.com/product/philly-slider, but there may also be a longer version found here: https://store.360vm.com/product/360-video-camera-slider-38-inch


360VM crank slider
find-price-button 360VM Video Camera Slider with Belt Crank Pulley

• 1 Comment

•

I guess it's just fitting to do a follow up post regarding the other Sony Cameras soon to be released. The NEX-7 and NEX-5n will especially be of interest to existing mirrorless interchangeable lens camera shooters. And unlike the first introduction of NEX cameras, these should both provide you with FULL MANUAL VIDEO controls. Lots of new updates, features, and with cheaper pricing should give Sony a good market share this year.

Many of these cameras I expect to sell out on release date since they are already available for Pre-Order. Don't believe me? In fact, the Sony NEX-7, NEX-5n, and A77 are already listed on Amazon's Top Selling DSLRs and they haven't even been released yet! Check it out here: Best Selling DSLRs Amazon (click here)

Sony NEX-7
find-price-button Pre-Order Sony NEX-7 with 18-55mm Lens

Sony NEX-5n
find-price-button Pre-Order Sony NEX-5N With 18-55mm Lens (Black)