20Feb Last Minute Glidecam Mods + 352 LED Ring Light
[Video and Audio are terrible. Shot with a cheap Point and Shoot]
Not sure if the post shows up, but it’s about 1:00 a.m. (in the morning). I received a super last minute call to help out with some Glidecam work on an event. So I decided to hack something up which I think would be helpful. When flying on this Glidecam i’m closing down the aperture to keep things in focus. This means less light. So I decided to mod a few RC batteries together to power up the 352 LED Ring Light. It’s bright, it’s well diffused, and it’s dimmable. It’s the perfect light source for what i’m trying to achieve during this event. [BTW the light at the end of this video is turned all the way down - it gets brighter!]
In order to mount the large 352 LED Ring light, I needed to raise up the 60D with a battery grip and then place it on top of a Calumet quick release adapter. A few flexible power arms kept the LED Ring light mounted and also the Rode VideoMic Pro in place. With the 60D Manual Audio + Rode VideoMic Pro +20db, it sounds really good. Anyways, this rig might be overkill so I also balanced out my 7D on the Glidecam HD1000 for times I don’t need lighting or audio. Ok, time to nap. Could be a long day…
352 LED Ring Light with 12V AC Adapter
February 20th, 2011 at 5:36 am
Jealous of your incredible set up. What was that Sigma lens?
February 20th, 2011 at 7:09 am
@Isaac – Sigma 20mm F/1.8 Macro. It’s wide without distortion on a cropped cam like 60D.
February 20th, 2011 at 8:10 am
Looks good, Hope the shoot goes well love this little hack
Alex
February 20th, 2011 at 8:13 am
have fun getting a perfect balance
February 20th, 2011 at 8:36 am
Oo, I’m intrigued. I was looking at the 17-50 Sigma, but this is catching my eye.
Thanks Emm
February 20th, 2011 at 9:30 am
What steadicam arm/harness are you using? Is it a legit Glidecam one, or one of the Indian Flycam ones? If so how do you like it and would you recommend it? Thanks
February 20th, 2011 at 9:47 am
@Jeff – I’m using my Steadicam Merlin Vest. Same vest the Steadicam Pilot uses as seen here http://cheesycam.com/real-estate-tour/
February 20th, 2011 at 10:15 am
Love to see some shots with that setup
February 20th, 2011 at 3:03 pm
I’ve been looking at the sigma lens for a while now. I’ve got a Tamron 28-75 2.8 on a 550D and I’ve been looking for something a bit wider. Would you recommend the 20mm f1.8?
February 20th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
@Alex – Yes its a great lens for even full frame cams.
February 20th, 2011 at 11:19 pm
Seconding Daan, I’d love to see what footage from that looks like. Very cool rig.
February 21st, 2011 at 3:49 am
I understand the need for extra light and depth of feild but how do you handle burnout of subjects in the forground? many stedi shots I’ve seen have big bounce boards running next to them (not practical though).
February 21st, 2011 at 10:15 am
Could you tell/show us what cables/batterypack you exactly used in this setup?
Planning to buy the ring light as well but I need to know what to get as a powersource…
Thanks!
February 21st, 2011 at 10:32 am
you are an amazing man!
February 21st, 2011 at 3:41 pm
@Gerard Henninger – I used (2) 7.2V RC Batteries + Chargers from Radio Shack. They were about $39.00 each. I would have bought them online which would have been cheaper, but I had a few hours to put something together before the next day…
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:22 am
Nice setup, I just ordered the HD-2000. Do you think it will be able to support that much weight (ringlight and mic) with a similar camera setup or no?
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:56 am
@Bob Orient – I don’t think it could. I had to add a few extra weights from my Glidecam HD1000.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:23 am
could i use stuff like the new product from ikan to transform 12v to 7,4 v, so i can use canon Ep6 battery ?
November 5th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
Hey EM,
I bought a 352 dimmable from india. MY quick release plate broke. Any ideas on how I can rig it to my rails? It was being held by the two l shape brackets. Im not sure how I can get the unit by itself on my rail system. I would need adapters or something off the rail system in which would be able to screw into the light.
1/4 screw
Thanks,
November 5th, 2011 at 8:17 pm
@frank santos – I used a friction arm with mine. http://cheesycam.com/last-minute-glidecam-mods/. You can also find clamps to attach these friction arms to your rig.