Monthly Archives: October 2010

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diy-ladder-dolly-design

Vimeo member J.G. Pasterjak shows how you can take a few pieces of angled iron, 8 skate wheels, and some miscellaneous nuts and bolts to whip up a 'Ladder Dolly' inspired slider design. He doesn't really mention the words Ladder Dolly, but this design has basically been around for quite a while. Cheap ladder dollies although will still run you upwards of $700 dollars, and that's still missing the $100+ dollar Ladder. His design if being selective of where you choose your parts, in my own head, i'm estimating still falls under the $45 dollar mark and you can get away with just about anything for rails. You can find his DIY video here: DIY Inexpensive Camera Slider.

Below i've embedded a video from Hague showcasing the layout of wheels used for a Ladder Dolly Design. You can find more information about the Hague here: Video Camera Ladder Dolly System

If you're not the DIY type and want a cheap rail slider, the best deal so far and most popular is the IGUS kit from Amazon. You can see my IGUS DIY build here: http://cheesycam.com/diy-camera-slider/. Some IGUS systems cost around $80 dollars, but I suggest going for the wider rail that's already pre-drilled and just about ready to go. Found here: IGUS Linear Motion System for Camera Sliders - pre-drilled version

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60d (13 of 13)

Now that the Canon 60D has had time to hit the streets, emails are coming with questions about the Canon BGE9 Battery Grip. Unfortunately it's still too early for something aftermarket, but here's a closer look at the pricier Canon BG-E9 OEM grip.

grip
find-price-button BG-E9 Battery Grip For Canon 60D

For those who were wondering about how much extra height this grip adds to the DSLR body, I have two Canon 60D's side by side. Buttons and switches are similar to other Battery Grip models, but the most different feature is that it uses the LP-E6 batteries (same as 5DMarkII & &D), but loads the battery tray in from the sides like a Canon T2i. When they said they would make a camera in between the T2i and 7D, they weren't kidding.

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I've updated the video from the earlier post to include a Canon 7D HDMI output test (at the end of the video). Instead of just updating the old article on the Canon 60D HDMI output, I thought this Canon 7D test would be interesting enough to just re-post the results all over again. Here i'm using my Vizio LCD TV as the external display. The Canon 60D has the same results as a 5DMark II and Canon 550D/T2i. The 7D does not drop to the 480 resolution. Although the monitor is 'detecting' the 1080i output, I have heard that it's highly compressed with artifacts to be something worth capturing from. I have no interest in capturing from the HDMI port, so I haven't spent time confirming that quality. I will say though that it is a nice feature built into the Canon 7D if you're planning on using External monitors.

canon-60D
find-price-button Canon EOS 60D

canon-eos-7d
find-price-button Canon EOS 7D


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diy-shoulder-support

Vimeo member Tim Perkins looks to be a clever DIY guy. You can see him working a DIY LCD Viewfinder on his 550D. This time Tim takes a hint from a previously shared video found here: http://cheesycam.com/tripod-to-shoulder-support/ about using a tripod as a simple 'shoulder support' and finds gold in an old Bogen 3D tripod head. Using a monopod for the shoulder support, the configuration of this Bogen 3025 3D head helps position the camera to a better viewing height as well as being offset. Looks pretty stable as is, but curious if a handle, shoulder pad, and some counterweight could add some enhancements.

Not sure if it's the same, but this is the only version that shows up:

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A rep from EA Sports dropped in today for a quick interview about the new video game 'Need for Speed - Hot Pursuit'. Can be found here: Need For Speed - Hot Pursuit

Just thought I'd share a quick clip of an interview I thought went fairly well considering the time constraints. The rep came earlier than expected so I rushed to get something setup for the interview. Woohoo, yeah that audio is the Zoom H1 portable Audio recorder with the cheap ATR3350 LAV microphone. Not too bad for a rushed Audio interview, pretty happy with that. I had a Zoom H4n off to the side to see how that would sound, but there was too much ambient outside that ruined it. Camera left is Canon 5D Mark II with 100mm Macro IS F/2.8L (see it's not just for Macro), and camera right is Canon 7D + 24-105mm IS F/4L (the video footage isn't in this clip). The BTS footage i'm showing you was shot hand held with the Canon 60D. For lighting just used one of the cheap 800 watt Lights as the fill light, I talked about it in this article: http://cheesycam.com/new-800w-barndoor-softboxes-3pcs-lighting/

There were two other lights with a red gel to give the plain garage door something interesting. Instead of a plain background, the garage added more texture to the simple interview shot. This video hasn't had any processing done so i'm sure it looks pretty flat, soft, and desaturated. That was the profile setup on the Canon 5D Mark II. The Canon 5D Mark II was also being monitored on the Vizio LCD with DIY mount to cheap Light Stand. Well, there you go. Hope this setup is informational and helpful as the audio came out decent and the lighting added something different for a super cheap budget.

lighting-kit

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Some of you might have already caught this video, since i'm late to post it on this blog. There's still questions about 1080 monitoring on an external LCD monitor and 480SD monitoring while in record mode. This is the same for the other Canon DSLR's. They show 1080 if just monitoring and when playing back a video clip, but will drop to 480SD while in record mode. Some people don't notice this on tiny LCD's, because the camera will maintain the same aspect ratio. Here's a look on my HDTV that i'm using as an external monitor in the studio.

I love the larger screen when shooting stuff, and it's only $169 at Costco. I have DIY monitor mount that i've made to a simple flash light stand. The only problem is you won't be traveling with this type of monitor, and you'll need a good power source handy too. For stationary shots in the studio where I don't need to travel, it gets the job done and I can focus well with it. This LCD I have is not 1080, but who needs it for monitoring since it can't maintain it anyways during recording. If you're happy with those Lilliput monitors, those LCD's don't display 1080 - I think the Lilliput is 800x400 resolution. This is a 720p LCD which I think makes the image better since it doesn't need to scale from 1080 to 480.

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sumo-base-rig
Basic Sumo Rig

Ok, it's not all DIY, but the company 'Shape' is slashing their base Shoulder Support used for their 'Sumo' configuration. The basic Sumo configuration (above) which is a shoulder support, counter weight, and handles will run you $459. The simple dimple shoulder 'base' (below) itself normally runs you $199.

shape-sumo
Shape Shoulder Rig Support Grip

Right now (limited time), Shape has slashed the price of this base foundation in an eBay auction to 'a third' or it's normal price. Hey even on my best day at Home Depot, I don't think I can make something as pretty for that price. Next jump on over to the B&H website where you can grab that pretty little padded 4lb. counterweight for just $69 bucks, and you're good with a very professional looking solid foundation to DIY on. All you're missing is a set of handles, which shouldn't be too hard to craft up.

shape-padded-counterweight
Shape 4lb. Padded Counterweight for Sumo

Here's the link to the base shoulder rig auction: Shape Shoulder Rig Support Grip
Here's the link to the counter weight: Shape Padded Counterweight

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DIY DSLR follow focus systems are just one of those fun projects we try and tackle, and at the same time keep it simple and under a few bucks. One of the hardest parts to tackle is the ergonomics of controlling the lens with a 90 degree transmission of some sort. Thanks to a tip from dslrdiy.co.uk for pointing out this interesting DSLR follow focus setup with a basic fishing reel from Vimeo member Kemal Güven Erakbaş. Come to think of it, fishing reels are probably one of the most refined 90 degree transmissions. Smooth bearings can crank pounds of tension with ease, can be fairly quite, and speed crank included! Long focus pulls can be done with ease. Some big manufacturer out there needs to reverse engineer this crank into an entirely new Follow Focus transmission.

You hear the operator throwing out some queues on what item is quickly being focused on and it seems to work smooth and fast. Since you're listening to the audio from his camera, you'll notice there isn't much noise from the fishing reel. I guess he didn't set the drag, LOL. Yes it does look quite odd, but with some effort, there's probably more ways to break the molds of these fishing reels down further, or possibly just adding wheels and gears if you're going for a different look. It's definitely a clear path a cheap DIY follow focus system which already lives in the corner of your garage.

fishing-spinning-reel
Obviously something you're not going to be shopping for at the Camera stores, so cheapest bet probably lies over at eBay. I'm not an expert fisherman, but i'm assuming any decent reel with the switch off will have a reversible option. There's some closeout prices over at eBay for a bunch of Quantum Reels found here: Quantum Fishing Reels at Closeout Prices