Monthly Archives: November 2010

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v-yoke
find-price-button Cheap V Shaped Top Camera Support for Monopod

For photographers always on the move with heavy lenses shooting sports or even fast moving wildlife a monopod is probably your best bet. Some cheaper monopods come with just the 1/4 x 20 thread to mount the camera (or lens ring), so it would be wise to at least add a quick release plate for faster on / off mounting. But even a quick release can slow you down if you need to get the camera on and off in a pinch, so when a Quick Release adapter is not quick enough, check out this cheap V Yoke support that will turn any standard monopod into a resting spot for your Lens. Having a monopod carry the weight of your camera will provide you with extra stabilization, and allow you to focus at the subject at hand. It will also make sharing a monopod with a partner fast and simple without having to deal with QR plates. For Wedding Photographers who use double camera straps, this might also be of interest since you can get that Monopod support without having to dismount any cameras from your strap. It's a basic design normally used to give sharp shooters that extra stabilization for rifles, but works just as well shooting a camera with a heavy lens.

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find-price-button Canon EOS T2i 18MP HD Video DSLR Camera (Body Only)

Looking to get into DSLR videography, or stepping into DSLR photography for the first time? The Canon T2i is no slacker, but the recent release of the Canon 60D for a few dollars more did steal some of that thunder. Well right now the Canon T2i has dropped even lower putting some spotlight back on this little work horse. You'll have to go through the steps of adding it into your Shopping Cart before seeing the final price, but if you're looking for a first time DSLR, or another backup DSLR the Canon T2i at this sale price should meet your needs. Student film makers and photographers might need to hit up the folks for an early gift. Sale price following the link: Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP CMOS APS-C Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

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Image stabilization or 'IS' is what Canon calls it, Vibration Compensation or 'VC' is a Tamron term, and Anti Shake 'OS' a.k.a Optical Stabilization is Sigma's phrase. Yeah that last one didn't match up very well, but it's an all important feature for today's run and gun hand held DSLR video renegades. It's also going to provide you with sharper images in low light situations when you can't use flash. When photographing with an Image Stabilized lens, you can also keep some of that ISO noise down. Sure a fast F/2.8 or better will help get that light through, but Image Stabilization is equally as important. Which lens is right for you? In today's economy, that question often comes down to 'What price is right for you'. So what's the options for Wide lenses between 16-55mm with a fast F/2.8? Here's the top three for Canon DSLR's (not full frame).

First is of course Canon's 17-55mm with IS. Some say it's super sharp, and built with such quality it should be labeled with other 'L' class lenses, but Canon doesn't seem to stamp L on any of their EF-S mount. Of course, it's also priced close to other L lenses so it's above what some young shooters want to invest.
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find-price-button Canon EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS Zoom

I'm going to throw off the order of things and skip down straight to most inexpensive. If you're looking for the cheapest price, Tamron has been doing well with today's market and offers a 17-50mm F/2.8 with VC (Vibration Control) that has worked very effectively for me on my 18-270mm. Some may argue it's not better than Canon, but I find that the VC with Tamron is super quiet compared to the IS on some Canon lenses (especially the 24-105mm).
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find-price-button Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC

Here's the middle ground in the top three list of fast wide lenses offering Image Stabilization. Although i'm talking about Canon options, keep in mind that both the Tamron and Sigma are available in other makes such as Nikon and Sony. The Sigma 17-50mm F/2.8 is still incredibly cheaper than the Canon 17-55mm and just slightly more than the Tamron 17-50mm. This is one of Sigma's recent lenses offering a 17-50mm F/2.8 with OS. Sigma's been getting great reviews as of late, and their designs keep getting better. Normally Sigma's are way over priced compared to the Tamron brand, but in this range of lens it's not a huge difference. Personally I think Sigma has an edge in quality of glass and build so if you could afford to, this Sigma is a great option for a fast wide with optical stabilization.
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find-price-button Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM Zoom Lens

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NewEgg.com is doing Black Fridays every Friday of November. They're currently running another special code to take off $200 bucks from the Canon 60D Body bringing it down to just $899, but you have to use promo code: EMCZZZN73 following this link: NewEgg Black Friday Deals

Another nice price drop (not really a Black Friday Deal), is the Transcend 32GB SDHC Class 10 card over at B&HPhotovideo.com. If you're looking at holding more photos and videos with the busy holidays coming around, these have been flawless in all my DSLR's as well as Point and shoot cameras. It's probably dropped an extra $10 bucks since I purchased a few of mine less than 2 months ago, and back then I thought I had a deal.
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find-price-button Transcend 32GB SDHC Class 10 at BHPhotovideo.com

Or just a few bucks even cheaper, jump on over to Amazon

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[Update] Looks like they got too much attention on the close copied design. This product is gone....

Proaim is the Video camera equipment company based out of India. They've got a ton of shoulder supports, shoulder rigs, matte boxes, follow focus systems, and more. This time around it looks like they're stepping on some toes with their latest product, a Carbon Railed Roller Track Dolly, which is an obvious design knock-off from the big guys in Black and Yellow. In one direction, the rails mount to tripods, and on the flip side, it can be used on the ground. Claims to be an all Aluminum design with rubber coated steel roller bearings and lightweight Carbon rods. Comes with it's own foam cut travel case and weighs under 5lbs. Quality and Customer service? I'm sure you know how dealing with over seas companies go, but you're probably also familiar with why prices would be so darn cheap.

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find-price-button Proaim Carbon Roller Camera Track Dolly

I've seen the real deal up close and wheeled track dollies are a beautiful thing. Especially if you're dealing with harsh dirty environments like sand that can get caught up in other types of linear track systems. Wheeled dollies can also be taken 'off track' for some short rolling camera movements. If you're looking for the original high quality stuff, you can check out the Pegasus Carbon package via the Cinevate website here: https://www.cinevate.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=108

Pegasus Linear Tracking System (2/3) from Cinevate on Vimeo.

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Throwing your tripod or monopod over the shoulder seems to be a trend these days, so here's another one. BTW, that title is a reference to the Double Rainbow video if you didn't get it. Anyways, here's a video from YouTube member Chung Dha about taking a simple double flash bracket and attaching it to a monopod to give you the offset, and at the same time offering up an additional cold shoe for another accessory. It's a cheap solution that will give you a bit more stabilization than straight hand held, and still offers complete use of the monopod. There's a number of different camera flash brackets you can use from single to double, and i've provided the link below to check out your options. They start at under $6 dollars. He uses a cheap mini tripod to get a handle on things, but you might want to check out the BARSKA Accu Grip which looks a little more pro. The Barska runs over $35-$45 over on eBay, but there's a sale over at Amazon you might want to look into. This video is a bit longer than I personally need it to be, but might help throw some ideas into the DIY pot. Perhaps going Double Flash bracket on $24 dollar shoulder support.

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find-price-button Flat Black Camera Flash Brackets

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find-price-button BARSKA Accu Grip Handheld Tripod System

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This $24 dollar shoulder rig just won't quit. Well, we may have to change the name as the popularity of this cheap plastic design gains popularity, the price has since inflated. This unit also is being sold under different names, but I have never heard of any one designed better than the other. There's an adapter that allows for an offset, I don't suggest loading that up as it's not designed well, but the base shoulder support works great. I posted several articles about this thing over the year, and there's been several others enhancing the use of this cheap support. Here's a recent look at how Vimeo member IE DNLab used it as additional support for the Steadicam Merlin DSLR Stabilizer.

Limited in range unless you feel like squatting for every low shot, but using it for something like this will definitely provide you with longer shooting times while you save up for your vest. Prices have inflated elsewhere, but right now you can find it cheaper than $24 dollars over at Amazon. As always prices subject to change normally after being posted here. LOL. If you're interested in something I did with my cheap shoulder mount, check out this video http://cheesycam.com/a-s-s-implants-how-to/


find-price-button Shoulder Support Pad for Video Camcorder

But if you're looking to step up your dollars a little bit, the Gliders Shoulder Support has the same functionality, with a bit more quality in parts.
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find-price-button Gliders Shoulder Adjustable Support Camera Mount

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This is a follow up video showing how I mounted the heavy 4 pound weight I purchased to the Gini Shoulder Rig. With a spare dog bone clamp, a straight hole through both items, I was able to run a bolt and a clamp knob to hold it steadily in place. The original article can be found here: http://cheesycam.com/diy-counter-weight-solution-for-shoulder-rigs/

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find-price-button Aqua Black Vinyl Coated Lace Thru Style Hard Weights - Black

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i (15)

Here's a shameless plug on my own blog in hopes to raise funds for more camera gear. LOL. I just listed my 16GB iPhone 3Gs with Mophie Juice Pack Battery Case on auction today. I've upgraded to the Samsung Epic Galaxy S and pretty happy with Android so far. Here's my auction if anyone is interested: iPhone 3Gs 16GB with Mophie Juice Pack Battery Case