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Super Clamp with Zoom H4n

The Zoom H4n is a great audio recorder and much cleaner floor noise than the H1. Whenever possible (which means when i'm not lazy) I try to break it out as the primary sound recording device. One problem is finding a place to put it. I usually move the microphone off camera and out of frame and run a long microphone cable to the Zoom H4n when doing interviews. With the Zoom H4n close to me, I can monitor sound and adjust levels.

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Super Clamp with Zoom H4n on LightStand

Something I like to carry with me are good accessory clamps. Having good versatile accessory clamps can help you mount much more than audio recorders. One trick I used in Vegas (no tripods allowed and super crowded) was to mount my DSLR camera to a small monopod, Rode VideoMic on top, and then clamp the Zoom H4n onto the Monopod. With the standard 1/4 x 20 thread you can even mount a small Ball Head for some tilt action.

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Clamped to Shoulder Rig

These clamps can mount anything from small cameras, flashes, LED video lights, microphones, and more. I'm using something like the 'Super Clamp' which is fairly large and costs quite a bit of money and is overkill for such light accessories. For a smaller clamp you can opt for the Manfrotto 'Nano Clamps', but those also will run you around $30-$40 dollars.

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Nano clamp

So (below) i've come across these cheap clamps normally used in Photography. It's an all metal construction with a wide clamp area. The V design helps clamps to round poles without slippage, but can be mounted to even flat surfaces. Table tops, chair legs, standing lamps, bike handlebars, you name it it might be possible. With minimal effort you can competely replace the Light Stand adapter with a Tripod Ball head, making it a smaller form factor with more flexibility. Through a retailer, they'll run you a good amount mainly because they are stamped with the scarlet letter word Photography, but at least online they aren't too shabby and can help clamp up a good amount of gear to just about anything.

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find-price-button Cheap C Clamps for Accessory Mounting

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Light Camera Slider - Build from Martin Roberts

Martin Roberts is at it again with his interestingly suspenseful DIY videos. A short while back, he showed us a build video with his light portable DIY Crane, and this time he's back working on a lightweight camera slider. The entire video doesn't just show a budget DIY in the works, but is also shot using some budget techqniques. A bike LED lamp for lighting, a DIY crane for some shots, Canon T2i, the uber cheap Canon 50mm F/1.8 lens, Macro step up filters, and even the Sony NEX-5 was used.

[Thanks Martin]

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500-LED-Video-Lights

LED video lights are great not only because they are well diffused, durable, and generate low heat for close encounters. They also have a huge advantage when it comes to power requirements. If you've ever been out to a location shoot with some super hot tungstens, or HMI's you'll have to calculate the wattage of each head and seperate them into different power outlets so you're not blowing out fuses and circuit breakers. Blowing out the power in your location is bad news, and just brings things to a halt. Just one of the things you'll learn in Film School Lighting. Now that prices for LED tech has dropped, the cheap LED video panels I showed a while back pretty much flew off the shelves. It definitely seemed like it, but after talking to a few sources, it appears that the popular LED Video panels are now at a worldwide shortage. Looks like there is so much demand the manufacturer can't keep up. Part of the shortage is because many big name companies have bought these panels in huge amounts rebranding and marking up prices. Hopefully you're not depending on these things being available when your next project comes around, as they are slowly disappearing as we speak.

If you're a DIY type and are looking to save a few bucks, you might take a peek at some already assembled inexpensive LED light panels that comes complete with an AC power adapter. They are powered via 24v, so not too difficult to come up with a portable power solution as well. All you'll need is to come up with some type of light stand mount, and you should be good to go.

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find-price-button LED 24v Video Light Panel Assembly with Power Adapter

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Big thanks to Mark H. for taking time out to make this video. Here Mark is showing us his DIY arm brace for his Flycam Nano stabilizer. The Flycam Nano is proving to be a very popular small stabilizer, but one thing to note is that even the handle comes in small. If you're not practicing some type of Shaolin Tiger Claw Death Grip (like myself), you might want to look into swapping the handle out with something a bit larger, or better yet work with an arm brace. If you don't know, the handle to the Flycam Nano is hollow and resembles the Glidecam stabilizers. With it's hollow designed handle, it can accept the same arm brace that is used with the Glidecam stabilizers. Of course that original brace (if you're lucky to find one) retails for about $150 dollars.

Mark takes a simple medical use wrist brace found in any local pharmacy and adds a custom DIY bracket to transfer most of the weight away from the wrist, allowing you to fly a bit longer, and possibly a bit steadier. For those with Steadicam Merlin's or Steadicam Jr's this idea will also work for transferring that weight over from your wrist. Mark also makes a good point to talk about how handy an arm brace is to have when you can't travel with a vest. As an owner of a vest myself, I can attest that it's a huge pain to travel with. It's also not very quick to get in an out of and is sometimes a bit dangerous when you're surrounded by fast moving kids. This would be the ideal situation in which you could take advantage of a solid arm brace.

[Thanks Mark]

For something like this, you'll probably want to go with the wrist braces that have a 'splint' like Mark's to attach a bracket.
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Wrist Brace with Splint


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After my recent posts on the Flycam Nano, there's been quite a lot of interest in budget stabilizers. Of course they aren't built as well as the Glidecam stabilizers, nor can they carry the amount of weight. If you've got a big camera, the Glidecam HD stabilizers are well worth the bucks. For those who are on a budget and want something larger than the Flycam Nano, you can always find some good deals on some used Glidecam Pro systems. There is usually 2000's and even 4000 Pro models available and sure does beat paying full price.


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find-price-button eBay Auctions on Glidecam Stabilizers

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Once it was officially announced, this became one tough camera to find in stores or even online. Sony's new A55 has only been available for a short time but has already won several honors and awards including 'CES Innovations', DPReview's 'Gold Award', & Popular Photography's 'Camera of the Year'. When it comes down to price, quality, and quantity (of features) Sony's new Alpha A55 is laying out a tough act to follow. Coming in a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Canon 60D, this camera also offers a Flip Out LCD, Real time Video Auto Focus, and a 16MP sensor. All this tech doesn't sit in just the A55 though, you can save even more if you opt to go for the slightly stripped down SLT-A33. With all the hooplah around this camera lately, I decided to pick one up and see what it's all about.

Sony's new Alpha A55 is an interchangeable lens camera, but not like INC's from the four-thirds lineup or the Sony NEX cameras. This small camera actually has a mirror. Surprising they would come out with a mirror in a camera this small and you might consider it a DSLR. If you know Sony, they just love to make up their own stuff and considers this more of an SLT for 'Single Lens Translucent'. The Translucent term is all about using a special see through type Pellicle mirror. In short, this camera can shoot and auto focus super fast at the same time. While in video mode the camera has the fastest 'real time auto focus' system and does it all with the mirror still in it's down position. Sounds like a small deal, but this old tech brought back from the grave (Canon's old tech) is a huge leap in hybrid cameras that shoot photos and video. The battery is charging now, but from the short tests i've done it's fast....very fast. More fun reviews on Sony to follow soon.

For those questioning it's current capabilities, there's already news about a new firmware release that will enhance it's current features. Just like implementing 3D photography into it's NEX 5 cameras after it's initial release.

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find-price-button Sony Alpha SLTA55VL DSLR with Translucent Mirror Technology from Amazon

find-price-button Sony Alpha SLTA55VL DSLR with Translucent Mirror Technology from B&H Photo Video

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They sell quick release plates for the Tripods I have in the studio. Fairly cheap, so I decided to make a DIY quick release adapter for the entire large television monitor i'm using to clearly see what's going on in the crane shot. This tripod and fluid head is super beefy and much better than mounting it on my light stand. I'll mount the Asus WiCast receiver to the Monitor and I should be all set for a shoot in the studio this weekend.

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find-price-button Quick Release Plate for 717AH

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You think you've got it tough when balancing your Glidecam at home? Well, you might be thinking differently after seeing this next video. Having just received the Glidecam HD1000 without testing things out, Adam was out in Africa and needed a bit more help getting things fine tuned. Talk about DIY and ingenuity, these guys took their time to make something look OEM, instead of just duct taping some random weights. Very cool video from Vimeo member Adam, thanks for sharing.

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The all too basic shoulder pad on most rigs are not as comfortable as they might appear. The firm silicone pads give wide placement of the rig to the shoulder, but does nothing for comfort. To add extra stability, relieve weight from the hands, and added comfort here are some alternative budget shoulder mounts. First up is a quite surprisingly well made shoulder pad which I believe is from India using the ProAim name. (BTW, this is sometimes bundled with handle grips, but if you contact the seller they can sell you the shoulder mount alone.) It's an all metal shoulder pad with rod adapter and a front chest brace. The contoured shoulder pad with a thick layer of flexible dense foam is definitely more comfortable, and the chest brace helps stabilize the unit futher by 'pulling' the rig back into your body. There is no rear 'hook' so it's not a total hands-free type rig that will remain on the shoulder if you release your hands. I did of course add my DIY counter weight to the rear, and at that time I was able to release my hands while the rig stayed fairly balanced.

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find-price-button Shoulder Rig Pad with Rod adapter Body Plate

Last on the list is a very simple setup using the cheap $24 dollar mount. I've had this mount way back since January and have been using it with many different projects. It works surprisingly well, but don't use the crappy offset piece that it comes with. You'll know what i'm talking about when you get one. Of course I didn't get to use it with any Rail system, until the Gini arrived recently.

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find-price-button Gini DSLR Rig

The setup there can be placed onto the shoulder and be completely hands-free, which means less weight on the arms. This little shooter that i've assembled is a very solid support to mount your camera, offset, and handles. You only really need one handle, but I have two there mainly acting as a kickstand when I need to set it down. If you've got those firm silicone pads on your rig now, take the cheap $24 dollar shoulder mount out for a test drive, you might be surprised.

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find-price-button Shoulder Support Pad for Video Camcorder Camera DV / DC