Aftermarket Panasonic GH3 Battery Grips • 13 Comments

Emm • September 19, 2013

OEM Panasonic Battery Grip will run you $199 dollars (as seen here). The good news is now there are aftermarket battery grips available for the Panasonic GH3 camera starting around $65 bucks. The bad news is that they still have the tripod mount located offset from the optical center, which mainly sucks if you're trying to use a set of rails.

Still, I guess you can't complain when it's $135 dollars less than the OEM version. Some listings include an extra set of batteries and charger. Check them out already available on eBay (click here).

Aftermarket Battery Grip GH3 Camera Panasonic Panasonic GH3 Battery grip Panasonic GH3 grip Battery Aftermarket Cheap
Aftermarket Battery Grip for Panasonic GH3 Battery

Burn Test – Kamerar QV-1 LCD ViewFinder • 40 Comments

Emm • September 17, 2013

For about $65 dollars, one would think that the Kamerar QV-1 LCD View Finder would be using a very cheap optical element. Seeing how sharp the screen looked through the loupe, I inquired if it was real glass. They stated that it was indeed glass and not your average cheap resin (plastic) element found on other cheap VFs. Of course, instead of just taking their word, I decided to perform a little burn test.

Plastic or resin view finders should have shown signs of damage under similar conditions, while the Kamerar QV-1 element remained completely unscathed. Well if it's not plastic, it sure is pretty damn good. I think there's a decent amount of people already working with this view finder, so what's your feedback about the product? Leave a comment below.

You can find more information about the Kamerar QV-1 LCD ViewFinder at the product page (click here).

QV-1 LCD View Finder Kit
QV-1 LCD View Finder + QV-1 Kit with QB-15 Quick Base

KOLL Solari LED Spot Flood Fresnel Video Lights • 17 Comments

Emm • September 17, 2013

Have you ever tried adding a snoot to your LED Video Light to obtain a nice spot? This might work to prevent spill, but it doesn't truly refocus the light output or improve throw distance. You can find plenty of halogen style lights, but the best thing about LED Lighting is low power consumption, low heat, and typically has the option to run on batteries for remote location use. Unless you want to lug around a huge light (like these), choices are limited when trying to find a good LED spotlight in a small form factor.

These KOLL Solari LED Lights on the other hand use an interesting fresnel lens filter that not only creates various sized spotlights, but actually refocuses the full light output making the spotlight brighter and allowing for further throw.

Three separate filter trays on the KOLL Solari are only a few millimeters apart, but can drastically change the size of the spotlight effect depending which slot you choose. The concentration of power into a single spotlight definitely works on these lights. Now i'm more curious to see what the L15 Spotlight (more than 3x brighter) would look like compared to this L3. Maybe i'll get a chance to test this in the near future.

Full-Koll-LED-Solari Koll-Solari-Fresnel-Spot-1
Koll-Solari-Fresnel-Spot-2 Koll-Solari-Fresnel-Spot-3
Koll Solari L3 LED Video Light Samples

Starting at around $350 dollars, these lights are pretty pricey, but while basic Barn Doors on LED lights won't offer more than a simple light blocking, these Solari lights truly focus light output and improve throw in a portable compact design. The Solari uses high power LED bulbs and are available in an L3 LED Light (seen in video) Illuminance: 720 lx, L5 LED Light Illuminance: 1630 lx, and an L15 LED Light lluminance: 2300 lx.

More info and technical specs about the KOLL Solari On-Camera Spot Flood LED Video Lights can be found at the F&V website (Click Here)

Koll Solari L3 LED Fresnel Light Koll Solari L5 LED Light Koll Solari L15 LED Light
Koll Solari L3 L5 L15 On-Camera LED Video Lights

Before and After BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera – Monterey Bay • 18 Comments

Emm • September 16, 2013

Over the weekend I spent a day shooting with a new BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera out at Monterey, CA. This time around I was prepared with 6 batteries and over 200GB of space with compatible SDHC cards. Needless to say, my time spent with the camera was much more pleasant than my very first experience. The video below is an example of the footage straight from the camera along with an image that had basic contrast + saturation added.

The shots were mostly handheld, with an LCD ViewFinder (not yet released product) attached to help me with focusing and while working in bright daylight. An LCD ViewFinder is a must have with this camera! Below is the same video without the ProRes crop.

I had a pretty decent idea of the lenses I wanted to take out with me, so I settled on just the Panasonic 20mm F/1.7 pancake, Panasonic 12-35mm F/ 2.8 OIS, and Rokinon 7.5mm Fisheye. BMPC users on a budget should really look into the Rokinon 7.5mm Fisheye and the 12-35mm F/2.8 as part of their everyday kit. The fisheye doesn't look overly distorted and offers a decent wide view angle for cheap money, while the Panasonic 12-35mm F/2.8 OIS is a great overall lens that will offer fairly stable shots completely hand held.

Suggested Micro Four Third Lenses for Pocket Cinema Camera

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BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera - via DVEStore.com

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BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera - via B&HPhotoVideo

BlackMagic Pocket Cinema vs BlackMagic Pocket Cinema – Blooming Sensor White Orb Test • 9 Comments

Emm • September 13, 2013

Nope, that's not a BlackMagic Pocket Cinema 3D Rig. That's just two BMPC cameras side by side for a little test. One of the most popular discussions about the BMPC is the 'Blooming Sensor' or 'White Orb' issue. It happens when there are specular highlights in the video that turn into perfectly circular flat white disks or golf balls on screen. The fix (according to BlackMagic Design) is to send your camera back to them and have the sensor calibrated.

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If you've been following this blog, you'll know that I received two BlackMagic Pocket Cinema cameras from B&H Photo a few weeks ago. One of them right out of the box had a sensor issue and I was lucky to get it replaced by BlackMagic Design themselves. Did you catch that? This new camera came from BlackMagic Design's office directly. So i'm hoping that this new camera has a 'calibrated sensor'. I'm going to try and take them out and let's see what the results of a side by side video test shows.

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Review: Laing X-15 Vest Arm kit with Laing P-04 Video Stabilizer • 78 Comments

Emm • September 11, 2013

Here's a little review on another new and affordable Stabilizer Vest System for lightweight camera setups to medium sized cameras. This is the Came / Laing X-15 Vest+Arm matched up with the Laing P-04 Hand Held Stabilizer.

The Laing products have been around for quite some time, and I hear about RED Camera operators using the larger Laing stabilizers as an affordable option for flying heavy camera systems. The kit I have here is pretty heavy duty, each part feels very solid, and the entire bundle comes with a nice padded carrying bag.

Laing-Came-Carry-Bag Laing-Vest-Arm-Kit-X-15-P04

The Laing P-04 Stabilizer handle matches up perfectly with the small post on the X-15 ISO Arm. If you're thinking about trying to match this up with a Glidecam, just be aware that the standard rotating post is pretty short. The bottom weights can shift forward/back on the sled, the bottom post is adjustable, and the Gimbal can be positioned vertically along the post. It's pretty much got every adjustable feature available.

Laing-Stabilizer-Vest Laing-Gimbal-Adjustment-Balance

The top stage has a quick release cheese plate and features all the fine tuning knobs you'll need to balance your camera. Just be aware that the top stage may require a bit of cork to keep your camera from shifting it's position.

Lower-Sled-Laing-P04 Laing-P04-Top-Stage

The Laing Stabilizer Vest can be adjusted to fit taller or smaller frames, and the Arm is mounted to a quick release socket block. Velcro straps adjust the vest very nicely and buckles are used to climb in and out of the vest.

Laing-Socket-Block Adjsting-Laing-X-15-P-04-BlackMagic

The X-15 ISO Arm can easily be dialed to support an even lighter setup than my Canon 5D Mark II + Sigma 20mm lens, but can also be dialed up to support heavier camera setups than the BlackMagic Cinema Camera. Hopefully that gives you a general idea of the weight range it supports to see if it will work with your current equipment.

Laing-Canon-5D-BMCC-BlackMagic-Stabilizer Vest BMCC-Cage-BlackMagic Design Laing X-15 Stabilizer Vest Kit Review Video Sample

I can say for DSLR Video Shooters or even BlackMagic Cinema Camera shooters this vest is good. Actually for the price you could consider it to be very very good. Is it as good as the real Steadicam brand? Well, with my lightweight DSLR camera setup I felt the arm wasn't totally as smooth as my Steadicam Merlin ISO Arm, but results were much better once I mounted a heavier camera system like the BlackMagic Cinema Camera. On it's own, the Laing P-04 Stabilizer works excellent, but it seems adding a bit more weight to the X-15 Arm and Vest will yield better performance from the arm.

For more information about the Laing X-15 Vest Arm and P-04 Hand Held Video Stabilizer System, you can find more details on the following eBay product pages (click here).

Came-Laing-X-15 Vest Laing X-15 Arm Vest Vest-Stabilizer-Laing-X15-P-04
Laing X-15 Vest w/ Laing P-04 Hand Held Stabilizer

Laing P-04 Stabilizers available now on eBay

FeedWind

Simple DIY Motorized Video Track Dolly Project • 31 Comments

Emm • September 10, 2013

Here's a really great Simple DIY Motorized Video Track Dolly Project I think everyone will get a kick out of. Of course you're not limited to the design i'll be sharing in the video below. Once you see how simple it is to work with the Actobotics parts from ServoCity.com, i'm sure this will spawn a new breed of DIY Motorized projects, so make sure to share what you've come up with by commenting on this blog article.

Every little part used in the project is extremely high quality and precision made, so in the end everything lines up perfectly. It so simple, i'm confident my 12 year old son can easily put one of these things together. Everything used to assemble this high quality motorized track dolly project can be found over at ServoCity.com down to the roller skate wheels, bearings, and tiny hex screws.

Did you notice how quiet this system is? There is only a bit of noise, but you can see how my LAV mic didn't even pick up any noise as it tracked side to side.

The wheel assemblies position the skate wheels at an angle to use basic pipes as your track. You can choose to use inexpensive PVC pipes, Conduit, possibly Angle Iron, or whatever else you might find convenient for your project.

Only one drive wheel is needed to make the system move, and you can choose various RPM speed motors depending if you want to track quickly or slowly. With a Speed Controller you will still have some variations in speed as well as having a simple forward/reverse switch.

Here is a few reference videos from ServoCity.com showing you how to build the Drive Wheel, the Idler Wheel, and also options for assembling a frame to the wheel assemblies.

Building the Wheel Assemblies

Building the Dolly Idler Wheel Assemblies

Frame Building - Aluminum Channel or Tubing

The Frame I have here is using 12" Aluminum Channel and it was able to support over 100lbs of weight with ease. I seriously placed a chair on this frame and took a ride along a conduit track (this is not recommended, but I wanted to try it). Perfect for even the heaviest cameras out on the market including RED, and for rigged up SONY FS700 Shooters.

I think I want to shrink this down using 6" Aluminum Channels to reduce it down to half it's size. All I need to do is add a flat platform over the frame (i'm thinking thick plastic cutting board material from Ikea) so that I can mount a standard video Fluid Head in the center, and this is will be one seriously light-weight (yet heavy duty) smooth motorized video track dolly.

Unfortunately they don't sell a complete kit so you'll have to be familiar with every little part required to build one of these DIY Motorized Video Track Dollies. You will also need to add a few wire leads to the motor you choose, and pick up a 12V battery pack. Not really a big deal.

So to make things easier for you here's a parts list for the different components of the DIY Motorized Video Track Dolly in my video. Keep in mind you can easily come up with a variety of different shapes and sizes by assembling the parts differently. The one I share is also using 12" Aluminum Channel, but you can go smaller or larger depending on your project.

DOLLY DRIVE ASSEMBLY (click here)
(parts below make 1drive wheel mechanisms)
(1) 535044 ¼” Flanged Ball Bearing
(1) 585536 Dolly Wheel Drive Plate B (Pair)
(2) 545324 90° Quad Hub Mount D
(1) 545424 90° Quad Hub Mount B
(2) 595616 2.975" Low Friction Wheels (Grey)
(2) B8M-22M 8mm ID x 22mm OD Ball Bearing
(1) 632106 .250"L x 6-32 Socket Head Cap Screw (pk of 25)
(1) 632116 .5625"L x 6-32 Socket Head Cap Screw (pk of 25)
(1) 633118 Center Hole Adaptors (4 Pack)
(1) 585488 8mm Flanged Standoff A
(1) 555132 Aluminum Motor Mount D
(1) 625106 .250" to 6mm Bore Shaft Coupler
(1) 634074 2.50"L x .250"D Stainless Steel D-Shafting
(1) 595634 1/4" Bore Drive Wheel Adaptor B
(1) 638222 20rpm, 12VDC Precision Gearmotor

DOLLY IDLER WHEEL ASSEMBLIES (click here)
(parts below make 3 Idler wheel mechanisms)
(3) 585534 Dolly Wheel Idler Plate A (Pair)
(6) 545324 90° Quad Hub Mount D
(3) 545424 90° Quad Hub Mount B
(6) 595616 2.975" Low Friction Wheels (Grey)
(12)B8M-22M 8mm ID x 22mm OD Ball Bearing
(2) 632106 .250"L x 6-32 Socket Head Cap Screw (pk of 25)
(1) 632116 .5625"L x 6-32 Socket HeadCap Screw (pk of 25)
(3) 633118 Center Hole Adaptors (4 Pack)
(6) 585488 8mm Flanged Standoff A

ALUMINUM FRAME COMPONENTS (click here)
(1) 632110 .375"L x 6-32 Socket Head Cap Screw (pk of 25)
(4) 585454 12.00" Aluminum Channel
(8) 545360 Quad Hub Mount C

OTHER (click here)
(1) DMSC6-16-10 Digital Manual Speed Controller (6-16VDC)

For projects like this, I highly recommend picking up these CCTV 12V Rechargeable Battery Packs. They are very cheap (some around just $10 bucks), small, lightweight and should be enough to power your Motorized Track Dolly.
CCTV-5V-9V-12V-DC-Battery-Rechargeable-USB-300x287 CCTV 12V Battery Pack
12V CCTV Rechargeable Battery Pack

Whether you are working on this DIY Project or others, these 5.5mm OD + 2.5mm ID Terminal Connectors are pretty standard across many DSLR Video accessories. This will plug directly into many LED Video lights, and will plug directly into your CCTV battery. It's a very simple way to add a terminal plug to the end of wires without soldering. The Male and Female combo connect to each other so you can make a quick disconnect type setup between two wires.

2.5 5.5 Terminal Plug Adapter DIY Cheesycam
2.5mm 5.5mm Male and Female Terminal Connectors

GoPro Hero3 Black and Silver – On Sale • 4 Comments

Emm • September 6, 2013

Thanks for the tip on this, if anyone else hasn't been up to date, the GoPro Hero3 Black or Silver Edition cameras are currently on sale. Knocking off up to $70 dollars off this popular little camera is a pretty sweet deal at the GoPro.com website (check it out here).

What’s Going On with this BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera? • 45 Comments

Emm • September 4, 2013

I just recently received two BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Cameras earlier today. So I decided to unbox one and start shooting around, but noticed some very odd lines in the screen. When I played it back on my screen the lines were very apparent. They are so prominent even focus peaking picks up on the vertical lines. Here's a video explaining the issue.

I'm not new to this camera, in fact I shot for an entire week with a previous BMPCC. I looked through every setting, but because of the weird colors it is reproducing I can't imagine it being related to a simple setting in the menu. My fear is this camera has a bad sensor and just needs to be sent back and replaced. Or maybe i'm just a complete idiot and i'm just missing something.

I really want to love this camera, and was so excited that two of my orders arrived, but the hoops I have to jump through keep adding up. What do you guys think about this issue?

Here's a sample video from the camera and if you look closely you can see the vertical lines. You can also download the original video from Vimeo to playback in full ProRes on your system by (clicking here).

CheesyCam

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