• 18 Comments

•
vintage-camcorder
Pistol Grip Vintage Camera 		dslr-vintage-style-grip
Mock DSLR Vintage Grip

Slap on a Pistol Grip handle to your DSLR and you've got the feel of a Vintage shooter. These little handles are especially effective when combined with an LCD View Finder for another solid point of contact. Anyone thinking what i'm thinking? Yeah I think they are just begging to be DIY'd and Modified with a built in remote button to start / stop video, or even just a plain shutter release for Photography. Any takers? If so, here's an article to give you a head start http://cheesycam.com/diy-remote-video-trigger-for-canon-dslrs/

barska-pistol-grip
find-price-button BARSKA Accu Grip Camera Handle

The Barska Camera handle was probably the most popular pistol grip stabilizer, but Opteka's got their own now. If it wasn't for the recent price drop of the Barska, they would be going head to head on price. Opteka's new Pistol Grip handle is just a few dollars higher now, but it does come with a QR feature to quickly remove the handle from the camera body. Barska's Pistol grip has a solid alignment pin that needs DIY extraction before it can be used on a DSLR, and that for Barska could be the 'deal breaker'. Either way, these are excellent cheap little stabilizer additions for run-and-gun shooters....

opteka-camera-pistol-grip
find-price-button Opteka Pistol Grip Camera Stabilizer

[Update] Apparently there is a handle with a Trigger [Thanks Casper], but the price is pretty steep. They've listed them as compatible with Canon, Sony, Nikon, and Panasonic cameras, but I can't imagine the Video mode being triggered through a hard wire. Canon's can only start / stop video through infrared. The cable is probably there for the shutter release, for other camera models maybe it can actually start video mode.... Found below.

video triggerScreen shot 2011-05-08 at 7.35.37 AM
find-price-button Video Trigger Hand Grip for Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Sony

• 4 Comments

•

Aaron of Winnipeg shows us how he mods the IndieHardware Video Camera stabilizer. This is one of the cheapest stabilizers I've reviewed on this blog that was able to balance a 5D Mark II + Sigma 20mm Lens. That's about all I was willing to push, but Aaron's managed to practically double that up while still using the stock Gimbal. The mods to add a Lilliput 7" monitor to the little stabilizer allows Aaron to add more weight to the top with a T2i + Battery Grip and 17-55mm F/2.8 IS lens (nice lens). He's also added a new handle which is one of the most common complaints on this particular stabilizer, replacing it with one from an old Flash Bracket . The video is a bit long, but all good information, so stick through it and hopefully get some ideas. Also note that the IndieHardware stabilizer is always in and out of stock, but you can check current pricing and if it's available below.

indie-hardware-stabilizer-upgrade
find-price-button IndieHardware Video Camera Stabilizer

• 8 Comments

•

Trying to get a ViewFinder on a Canon 60D? iDC has an answer, but you may not like the price. It's over $200 dollars for a baseplate that screws under the camera and comes with a Hoodman Loupe. IMO, I think the price is pretty high for something like a small Hoodman. Will it fit the new Canon T3i / 600D also? Doubt it, but that's a question for iDC. For the patient ones, I've already heard a few companies coming out with 'universal' base plate LCD ViewFinder adapters to fit any camera - and for a budget price. Just letting you know in case some of you might want to hold out. For the ones who need this as of 'yesterday' there's more information about the IDC Canon 60D baseplate, pricing, and availability below.

Canon-60D-ViewFinder
find-price-buttoniDC Canon 60D LCD View Finder BasePlate

• 10 Comments

•

Screen shot 2011-05-06 at 5.21.23 PM

The 144 LED Video light was quite elusive. I've seen this light available from a few retail companies with pretty inflated prices for a few months now. Unavailable on the big auction site up until a few days ago, the 144 Bi-Color LED Video lights are now available via eBay at more than half off other retail website prices. These are a smaller version of the popular 312 LED Video lights that are powered on Sony batteries, looks like the same manufacturer. Color changing from Tungsten to Daylight and also Dimmable. Great build on these little lights, and very good overall light output. A small chance to catch the few amount online while they are available.

Screen shot 2011-05-06 at 5.21.44 PM
find-price-button 144 BI-Color Changing Dimmable LED Video Lights

If that 144 count isn't enough, it appears that the 277 LED video lights are back as well: http://cheesycam.com/277-bi-color-dimmable-led-light-review/

277-LED-bi-color-lightbi-color-led
find-price-button 277 LED Bi-Color Changing LED Video Lights

310-Bi-Color-Changing-LED310-color-changing
find-price-button 310 LED Bi-Color Changing LED Video Lights

• 6 Comments

•

Mini-Nano-Clamp (2)

The Manfrotto Nano Clamps are great little gadgets, but come a little steep. I currently have my hands on another cheaper set of small mini nano-style clamps, and lately they've been performing a hundred different duties. I've been using mine mainly with the Power Friction Arms, since it has both a 1/4 x 20 mount and a 3/8" mount on the backside to mount microphones, portable audio recorders, and LED lights in random places. It's a completely metal unit with no plastic parts. This version has the 'toolless' driver lever which can be repositioned after clamping. If you've been eyeballing those Nano clamps for while, here lies a cheaper option.

mini-nano-clamp
find-price-button Mini Nano-Style Accessory Clamps

• 16 Comments

•

eye-fi-direct-mode

I spent a good amount of today ****'ing around with the Eye-Fi X2 Direct Mode SDHC card. Although I got the basic networking on a Wireless Router setup, when I switched to testing out the new 'Direct Mode' everything went downhill. So far this new 'direct mode' is a complete fail as far as i'm concerned. Somewhere after a few minutes of receiving the card the provided card reader died, and the card can no longer function correctly.

I tried to recover and start over using several different cameras, attempted to configure it against an iPhone, two different iPads, two different MacBooks, and a Windows 7 x64 system. This thing can't even connect to two different wireless routers. Anyone got better news?? I'm hoping mine was just a 'dud'. Eye-Fi if you're reading this, holla back...i'll be shipping this thing back to Amazon.

• 16 Comments

•

The disaster in Japan set back quite a few products including the long awaited Samyang 35mm F/1.4 lens. A nice follow up to the already popular budget 85mm prime lens, the new 35mm is finally available.

samyang35mm
find-price-button Samyang 35mm F/1.4 UMC AS

Don't forget that these lenses are quickly re-colored and re-branded under names like Bower, Rokinon, Vivitar. So when those names become available, you'll also be able to find similar ones via Amazon below.

rokinon-35mm
find-price-button Rokinon 35mm F/1.4

• 4 Comments

•

Madeline writes in and shares a couple of cool looking DIY projects. First up is a stabilizer mainly made up of Bike parts (looks closely) and a few custom machined rails.

diy-dslr-rig

Second on the DIY list is a camera slider that was part of a rowing type exercise machine found in the trash. Talk about eco-friendly recycling and re-purposing.

diy-camera-slider

Pretty cool stuff, which you can find a little more about on the website - Here. [Thanks Madeline]

• 3 Comments

•

Just a few months ago, there was a worldwide shortage on these popular LED lights. Now competition must be fierce or the market was all of a sudden super saturated. Recent price drops on both 500 & 1000 LED panels take it down about another $40 bucks. Not a huge or crazy saving, but a discount none-the-less I guess. These are practically the same lights used in this video http://cheesycam.com/cheap-500-led-1000-led-and-z96-lights-in-use/.

These are a small step above the another one you might find, as these are both dimmable through a series of switches, or by a Dimmer Knob. These are also powered with the XLR type connection which means it can be modified to use the V mount batteries for portable use.

500-led-panel
find-price-button 500 LED Video Light Panel

1000-led-panel
find-price-button 1000 Dimmable LED Video Light Panel