Monthly Archives: April 2011

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Steadicam has a smoothee, Cinevate once showed something for an iPhone about a year ago, Lensse has an iPhone version as well, but can be adapted to the GoPro. Somehow every company is finding a way to market tiny stabilizers for iPhones, Flip Cameras, and all types of point and shoots.

Olivia gets a demo from Tom McKay - President of Varizoom showing a regular FlowPod, as well as their new lightweight version. Now in the end of the video he throws out pricing, but when I was at NAB, I want to say that the smaller version was only around $150 dollars. That means it would be a bit cheaper than Steadicam's Smoothee as well as being a lot more functional.

I'll have to contact Varizoom to find out if the pricing he mentions was for the larger version that supports the GH2, because anything over $150 bucks seems a bit pricey. BTW, if you've followed Olivia's Vimeo profile she finally has her cast (broken wrist) taken off. Hilarious stuff... This was also a highlight from Episode 4 from her Myx-Rated Television show which is shot almost completely on Canon DSLR's.

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If you caught the video showing some of our ideas for setting up a cage during NAB, you might have caught a small double bracket holding the wireless receivers on top. This bracket is slightly expensive on it's own, but proved to be really functional. Here's another option for anyone looking to mount several accessories to the top of your camera, or to some sort of light stand. From CamCaddie, this 'Flashner' is available from 4", 8" and 16" lengths giving you plenty of rail for as many accessories as you can think of.

With up to 16" of hot shoe mountable rail, it would be pretty sweet to use these for an entire top and bottom section of a DIY DSLR cage. If you want to know what other options are available, click here. Otherwise the version below is a bit cheaper for getting several accessories mounted in one place.

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find-price-button Flashner Accessory Mounting Rail Bracket 4" - 16"

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Nothing compares to a 'lightweight traveling camera stabilizer' like a portable Monopod. Whether it be for Photography or for Video, a Monopod can truly add stabilization on the fly. I wanted to travel light over to NAB, but still have some type of stabilization if needed. I ordered this Velbon Ultra Stick monopod, probably more out of curiosity about it's 'patented twist & release leg locking system'. After my first tests, I'm pretty surprised about how well it works, how sturdy it feels under the camera, and more impressed about how small this thing collapses.

If you caught me over at NAB2011, this was what I used under my 5D Mark II + 24-70mm F/2.8L + Rode VideoMic Pro. Often used just as a solid handle under the camera body, but for longer takes, I was able to extend it to carry all the camera weight. Collapsed, this thing is very very very small. Sets up super fast, breaks down even faster. The small size not only fits in my backpack, but it fits in the smallest outer pocket of my backpack. Collapses down to about 12.5" inches and weighs next to nothing.


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find-price-button Velbon Ultra Stick Monopod

Also Available at B&H
find-price-button for Velbon Ultra Stick at BHPhotoVideo.com

Or Adorama
Velbon Ultra Stick M50 5-Section Twist Lock Monopod with Neoprene Grip and Strap, Height: 12.8 to 51.5 inch
find-price-button Velbon Ultra Stick Monopod via Adorama

This thing lives in my bag now, and it will be the first thing I grab for quick stabilization or when I want to travel extra light. I think i'll grab one of those Monopod belt pouches which should add more functionality..


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find-price-buttonMonopod Belt Pouch

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If you've registered for Amazon Prime shipping, you know you can get something fast (two day FREE). I needed a set of batteries, and instead of going to my usual over seas and 4 weeks waiting store, I took a chance on the Vivitar branded version. Yeah I know they probably don't make them and who knows what they are really called. It charges on OEM, shows battery, the camera registers battery information, and seems to be doing fine (so far). We'll see how it holds up, but at least the price was about the same as elsewhere, and claims a 5 year warranty.

vivitar-lp-e6find-price-button LP-E6 Replacement 'Intelligent' High Capacity Battery (2000Mah)-5 Year Warranty

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Just answered a question about those power friction arms I was using on the JuicedLink Bracket (DSLR Cage) during NAB. Happened to find this today. Looks like some sort of limited time 'Super Deal Blast' where they are selling 100pcs only at a discount price and sale starts ...... wait for it..... ok now! Cheapest i've ever seen them, and everyone is definitely in love with these things, so won't last long (not after this post). Oh and umm...better make that 96 pcs, cause I just had to grab me a few extra ones at this price.

[Update] Sorry guys, seems like you wiped them out. No longer available on sale, just regular price ones found here: Variable Position Power Friction Arms

Screen shot 2011-04-15 at 8.14.31 AM
find-price-button 11" Variable Position Power Friction Arm

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iPad Prompter

Crazy little iPad Teleprompter (iPad not included) shows up online. From the specs, it sounds good and price is not bad when compared with other prompters. Prompters are normally very expensive alone, and to see that this one comes with industry standard 15mm rods and clamps included in the price makes it even more interesting. This should help with the positioning of the prompter to just about any camera or lens combination, and still provide a very strong support.

iPad Teleprompter with 15mm Rods Rails

States that it's less than 4 lbs, the 70/30 beam splitter is real glass (not acrylic), and appears to pack all the parts into itself down to about an inch thick. Sweet design and would be very interested if someone gets a video review on this soon.

[Update] Video below, thanks Chris.

Screen shot 2011-04-14 at 11.58.29 PM
find-price-button iPad Teleprompter Glass BeamSplitter with 15mm Rods Clamps

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F&V. Heard the name before? Probably something you don't think about, but this is the same company that makes the very popular Z96 LED Video light. Looks like they now have a 7" 800 x 480 LCD monitor to add to their lineup of DSLR related gear, and calling it the 'F1'. The 800x480 resolution is pretty typical for most monitors under $700 dollars, and don't get that resolution confused with the 'up to 1080' specs for small LCD monitors. Most of the time this just means it can accept the signal and scale it properly. Does not appear to have false color exposure, or any focus peaking features.

What's in the package?
# F&V F1 7" 16:9 Portable LED Backlight HD Monitor
# PVC Sunhood
# DC power connection cord
# Sony DV battery Plate Adapter
# Standard to mini HDMI cable
# IR Remote
# Pan/Tilt Head

Even though F&V has had much success on the Z96 LED light, there's plenty of other LCD monitors available, and this could be a really tough market to penetrate. Always good to know your options, and what's out there. You should be able to find this 7" LCD as well as others following the jump below.

f-and-v-lcd-monitor
find-price-button 7" LCD HDMI Monitors for DSLRs

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Vimeo member Weelian Soh creates a simple trigger from a universal Infrared remote for Canon DSLRs. If you're familiar with Canon's video mode, so far it can only be started / stopped remotely via infrared. The trick here is to use a fiber optic cable that bends the light to the DSLR receiver. In the video (above) he uses a fiber optic cable, but a better method would be to use a shielded Optical Audio cable which you can find for 0.99 cents shipped. The actual remote being used is one you can find for under $4.00 dollars shipped. So for under $5 dollars, you can setup a pretty simple remote trigger to start and stop video mode on that Canon DSLR. [Thanks Weelian]

Screen shot 2011-04-14 at 4.55.06 PM
find-price-button Cheap Infrared Remote Start Stop Video Mode Canon

Screen shot 2011-04-14 at 5.09.28 PM
find-price-button Short 3ft Optical Audio Cable

This is a very old technique that started by using a very slim OEM Canon RC remote which only has one button, as seen in the video below by Vimeo member Lucasberg. The video shows use of the RC1 for Canon 5D Mark II which has now been replaced by the RC6 (still one button). The RC6 is said to support a bunch of different cameras from the 5D Mark II down to simple point and shoot cameras.

Canon RC6
find-price-button OEM Canon RC6 Infrared Remote

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I was able to network with a few friends around the Bay Area and thought it would be fun to just cover NAB2011 together. Besides myself, we had Waylon from Prodigy Studios, Leo from Doubletter Productions, and Roland from Myx.TV. I played camera operator while Myx-Rated television host Olivia Speranza talked to a few of NAB's exhibitors.

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We ran into Jared Abrams of WideOpenCamera.com and El SKid over at the Jag35.com booth. It's my first time meeting any of these guys, and they gave us an exclusive first look at their CrossBow Evolution Shoulder Slider Rig.

Ok, it was a joke, we were just having fun over at NAB2011, and that's pretty much how the rest of the trip went. Glad to have finally met everyone in person, great bunch of guys (and gal). Can't wait to do NAB again next year. I'll be posting more product coverage in the next few days as soon as I can coordinate with the rest of the people I was hanging with.