Monthly Archives: July 2010

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Just happened upon a couple of videos that linked back to the blog. Here's the original articles they were referencing.
http://cheesycam.com/test-diy-dslr-cage-fig-rig-stabilizer/
http://cheesycam.com/20-00-diy-offset-shoulder-rig-cheesyrig/

Wow, these guys really know how to DIY! I'm glad the videos they shot are much more creative than my forte 'on the floor of a bedroom with a carpet background'. I really hate to post this up right now, Vimeo is having issues with their Play Stats. It would be great for these guys to see how many plays they get for their hard work.

I very much appreciate these guys linking back to the blog, and I ask as much as possible that everyone does, so that we can point others to all of this information for budget film makers. Most importantly thanks again to these guys for taking the time to inspire others to try DIY equipment too. Details of their videos are pulled from Vimeo.

DIY Shoulder Mount

Inspired by www.cheesycam.com I decided to save myself a few bob and build my own shoulder rig for some stabilization action. Works pretty well, and am pleased with it. I have a few long screws on it....but i can cut them to length later.
Looking forward to getting some use from it now!

DIY Fig Rig

Here is our very first attempt at a DIY rig. The plans came from CheesyCam and we thought we take the rig to our good friends at Rustworks for some metal cutting and assembling. Enjoy the video. We had a good time putting this Fig Rig together.

RUSTWORKS
830 Bransten Road
San Carlos, CA
(650) 593-2276

Big thanks to: www.cheesycam.com

Shot with the Canon 5D Mark II

Visit our website: www.calixteworks.com

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ggs-550d

Whoa! Big ups to Jeff Pepito, for this awesome new product. Jeff mentions his is on it's way, and hopefully he'll do a review for us when it comes in over at https://jeffpepito.com.

Doesn't that image above look OEM and sexy? We've all been going back and forth about LCD Viewfinders falling off, and how mounting it with these sticky frames just aren't cutting it. After a period of time, the adhesion from the metal frames will eventually wear out, and umm..putting a stronger adhesive on can damage your cameras LCD (not a good thing).

Just a few days ago people shared the idea of using an LCD 'Shade', breaking off the plastic tabs, and permanently gluing the the Viewfinder. This seems to be a popular solution I continued to suggest, but there's a new product in town!

With or without an LCD Viewfinder, why would you even go without having something like this? It's glass, it protects your cameras LCD, it's not plastic like the LCD hood shades, and it's cheap! Apparently they even put alot of effort into the quality of the glass to ensure optimal clarity (there's a whole bunch of graphs and mumbo jumbo clarity tests). If you look closely at the above image, it also seems to have a cutout for the T2i / 550D 'Proximity Sensor', definitely nice crafting. Well played glass LCD protector......well played indeed...

Features:
* Manufactured from 0.5mm ultra-thin optical glass with at least 90% light transmission to ensure maximum clarity.
* explosion-proof film that ensure maximum resistance to impact damage ( up to 12kg/cm2) , preventing damage to the rear LCD.
* Specially treated to maximise hardness and durability to resist scratching.
* The durable black ABS surround is designed to blend in with the camera ensuring that the protector remains a discrete but effective accessory.
* Anti-fog and anti-dust designed viewfinder, good for your photography.
* Easy to fit, remove and re-fit at any time. Supplied with a handy storage box.

*Oh new found glass lcd protector - you had me at Scratch resistant, Anti Fog, and Explosion-Proof film.

So if you're going to rock one (two or three) of these to protect your camera(s), it will act as the 'Perfect' mount for any LCD view finder metal sticky frame permanently attached. Clear quality glass, and a quality fix to prevent those poor adhesive frames from falling off ever again. You can find the variety of these Glass LCD protectors for Canon and Nikon by clicking here.

ggs-canon-dslrggs-glass-lcd-protection
find-price-button Glass LCD Screen Protector Available for 5D Mark II, 7D, and yes people even the 550D / T2i

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I'm not going to show off any fancy video making skills. This review is mainly to compare the IndieHardware Stabilizer vs. The Hague MMC. This is my first attempt at balancing the IndieHardware Video Cameara Stabilizer. I was able to balance this thing fairly quickly. I might not have it dead on, but it is possible to balance a Canon 7D + Sigma 20mm or even a Canon 5D Mark II + Sigma 20mm. I tried this same setup over on a Hague MMC, it just couldn't handle it.

camcorder-camera-stabilizerhague-mini
click images to find prices

The limited range of movement in the handle is going to prevent you from performing hardcore running shots, but for very smooth patient walking movements, the handle works. The Hague also suffers from a limited range of movement (they have almost the same design), but the Hague MMC has a longer handle. Having a longer handle 'appears' to have more range. It's like when kids cut the stick shift in their car, same stick shift, but feels like you're throwing it shorter when changing gears.

There seems to be 2 different versions of this stabilizer, so make sure you contact the seller to be clear about what camera you are trying to balance. The one I have has support for 2 weight stacks. There is another one that has only 1 weight stack similar to the Hague. I guess this is for really light camcorders. More weights means you can support a heavier camera. Can you just add more weights to a Hague? Not really, the IndieHardware gimbal is larger than the Hague which means it can balance and control that weight much better too.

This isn't a Steadicam Merlin or Glidecam HD, but the price isn't $400-$800 dollars either. If you're work consists of only a small percent of 'Steadicam' type shots, and you're not ready to invest into something expensive, you might want to try this one over the Hague.

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lcd-battery-grip-t2i-550d-timelapse
click image

Just caught a twitter announcement from Aaron Dunlap about the Canon 550D / T2i 'LCD' Battery grips now available. I posted about these LCD Battery grips a short while back, and had many many questions about where to get the T2i version. I haven't used these myself, seems to have the same functions as a regular grip, but the LCD is there for the Intervalometer function (timelapse). It appears to be a limited timelapse function compared to the real Intervalometer remotes, but at least that's one less item to carry for short timelapses. Check out the new LCD Battery Grips for the Canon 550D / T2i.

lcd-battery-grip-t2i

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cheesycam-dslr-blog-contest-retweet-and-win

I just wanted to do something fun on the website, and give the chance for the readers of this blog something more to look forward to. Sorry i'm no Philip Bloom, or Shane Hurlbut, but in hopes to attract more 'sponsored' contests, i'm going to dig deep into my own pockets and kick off a simple little contest.

First, follow me on Twitter (which most of you already do), and then just Retweet this article. I'll choose one random follower and pay out of my own pocket a $50 dollar Amazon gift card 'EACH WEEK' from now until the end of August. (who knows maybe longer?)

Pretty simple right? One winner every week will be sent an Amazon (US) gift certificate code via email worth $50 US dollars. What are you waiting for? Start Retweet'ing!

Sponsors, if you're interested in giving these fine folks something to smile about during this contest, contact me.

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photo 2

photo 3

photo 4

Wow pretty overwhelming day already. Just received the Tiffen Steady Stick and the Glidecam HD1000 I posted about earlier. The Steady Stick isn't really anything fancy and pretty straight forward about how it works. I will run through some of the details of their build quality and features a little. The Glidecam HD1000 is really the one I want to dig into. It's much more expensive and quite large than say a Hague or IndieHardware (which i'm reviewing today), but it's just another option in the line of moving DSLR stabilizers I wanted to share with everyone. Hopefully i'll get these video reviews knocked out soon enough.

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cheap-flexible-tripod
click image for Large Flexible DSLR tripod

I don't think I need to drop any names, but it's obvious what this product mimics. Thanks to a tip from 'Nick', this is the cheapest version i've seen online. Take note, that this is the 10" version for DSLR's. Original versions of this run approximately $39.95 +, while this Large Flexible Tripod sits in around $11.88 + Free shipping. I've seen flexible tripods like this over at Keeble & Schucat in Palo Alto. It's pretty beefy and hard to bend. This definitely is not a bad deal. I may have to grab a couple for my Canon 580 EX II Speedlights to hang them around doors, ceiling fans, bed posts, etc. Might even come in handy with that new Zoom H1??

cheap-flexible-tripod-buy

Peep the cheap - 10" Flexible Large Tripod for DSLR SLR + Free Shipping

[Thanks Nick]

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calumet-transforming-tripod

I can see myself having one of these attached to my Canon SX210 IS Point and Shoot camera as an extra handle for stability or setting it down on a table when i'm having dinner. This could come in handy as the handles for my Johan Rig too allowing me to set the rig down. Very neat little monopod-table top tripod-handle. Not a bad price on sale for $16.99 at Calumet.

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DIY LCD Viewfinder for Canon T2i from Marc Schreibman on Vimeo.

I think this is officially the first DSLR DIY i've seen where there was a 3D Printer involved. Sure it's a bit larger than the LCDVF, possibly to compensate for the step up filters used for magnification. I don't know about you guys, but i'd love to see that 3D printer actually working. Enjoy the awesome work from Marc Schreibman on Vimeo, and thanks Dave for the tip! This is a really cool DIY.