The SmallHD is an awesome little monitor, but the HDMI cable run along side the camera looks pretty ugly. Time to invest in some short cables. Here's a few inexpensive short HDMI to Mini HDMI cables that should clean things up. Now it's just a matter of waiting for them to ship...
Yeah i'm here at the airport waiting for a flight, so why not cover a little blogging while i'm here? I received the GGS View Finder from this eBay seller just last night, and I have to say i'm pretty impressed. Well of course I didn't give it a second look when it was being offered for over $120 dollars, but now at it's current price, it's a sweet little loupe.
There is a diopter for those with less than perfect vision, the flip up part (which I thought was gimmicky) is actually very functional. No need to remove the view finder, and it still provides excellent shade from external light. The frame sticks to the LCD much like the other frames, but actually locks the View Finder in place with no Magnets. In order to remove it, you push a little release tab. So it doesn't fall off as easily.
The Frame is also an LCD protector, so theres a coating of glass with the frame. If you're curious the Blue Star cushion that fits the other view finder, also works perfectly on the eye cup which makes it even more comfortable.
Keep an eye on this blog, and spread the word. I'll be offline from the blog for a bit, but i'll be able to check twitter and email. I'm heading out to Las Vegas for the NAB conference where i'll check out some of the latest trends in Digital Video. I'm actually out there with a few friends i've networked with and will be covering the products and adding it to this blog as quickly as possible, hopefully 'during' the conference right from the floor.
Ok, so i'll be off to NAB next week and this time I thought about just traveling light. Instead of a shoulder rig, I wanted to bring a tall standing Monopod as my main support. Much easier to travel with instead of a cumbersome Tripod which I have to level out. I didn't have time to to place an online order and have it shipped out before I leave, so I thought i'd just eat the cost and check out my local Best Buy electronics store. My weapon of choice is the Sunpak Carbon Pro monopod. This thing is super lightweight and they have the quick locks, not the rotating type. It's a four section Monopod which is perfect for fast setups (instead of messing with 5), but can't be broken down as small as a 5 section. That's fine, I actually was looking specifically for a 3-4 section.
Minimum length is about 21" but this thing is super super super light. It's said to be rated to support at least 15 lbs. but my goal is to travel with much much less. After feeling like i've spent a bit too much money paying retail store prices, I checked online to see the going rate. To my surprise, I actually got quite a good deal on this Monopod. Even the most generic 3 section Carbon versions with quick locks run for much much more than this Sunpak, and i'm very happy with the quality, size, and weight. It's listed as 0.55 lbs, Max Load 15lbs., minimum length 21", Maximum 56.3". This particular one isn't even available on Amazon, and because it runs for much more on eBay, i'm not too unhappy about this last minute purchase.
I suggest you stop in at your local Best Buy and check out the Monopod in person. If they are out of stock in the stores, they are also available on the Best Buy retail website (below).
Sunpak Carbon Fiber 4 section Monopod with Quick Locks
Optionally you could find it on B&H here:
Sunpak Carbon Fiber 4 section Monopod with Quick Locks
When I first started messing around with DIY builds, one of the most difficult projects to try and tackle were the Stabilizers a.k.a. or what most people associate with 'Steadicams' (that's actually a brand name). Piecing together a stage and a set of counterweights was the easiest part, but trying to locate an effective off the shelf 'Gimbal' handle was always the biggest hurdle.
gim·bal (n.)
A device consisting of two rings mounted on axes at right angles to each other so that an object, such as a ship's compass, will remain suspended in a horizontal plane between them regardless of any motion of its support.
Here's where Lensse steps in. I think this could be officially the first DSLR equipment company marketing Gimbal handles for DIY stabilizer projects. This is another move for companies to get attention from the DSLR community. IGUS stepped in after finding many of it's Linear Guide Rails were being used as Camera Sliders, and even JuicedLink offers basic accessory brackets also named DIY*. These three new Lensse Gimbals designed for Light cameras to heavier loads, are all machined from Brass sockets. Brass is a metal with lower friction qualities, but still hard enough to last for years. If you're working on a DIY project that requires Gimbals, including Cable Cams, and Helicopter Mounts, check out some of the Lensse gimbals.
Lensse DIY Brass Gimbals for Steadicams
Most DSLR video guys would never notice this problem, but for photographers, it's something that happens pretty often. If you've been doing long exposures or dark images and have been seeing some stray / hot / or dead pixels, here's a tip to try before sending the camera in. This has been implemented in DSLR cameras for a very very long time and is a way to remap these pixels (hide the bad ones). Is this some type of hack job? Actually, no. Many cameras will do this automatically on start up or shut down, and it's almost impossible for any chip with millions of pixels to be 100% perfect. Here's how you do it.
First remove any lens on the camera and place the body cap. You can actually do this with a lens, but you're more prone to 'light leaks'. Place the DSLR Body cap on and for safe measure, you might want to cover it again with a dark cloth, tshirt, or dark blanket. You basically want to keep any light from leaking into the camera while performing the cleaning.
Go to the Menu > Select Sensor Cleaning > Manual Clean.
The Mirror flips open, the camera basically should expect every pixel to be completely black, but if it's finding some white or red ones, it should remap them. After about 30 seconds, turn the power off on the camera. Now go out and test out your long exposures or dark imaging to see if those same hot pixels still show up.
Here's another tip. If you plan on buying or selling a DSLR, you can also perform a test against your sensor to see these stray or hot pixels. You can leave a lens on the camera, but just cover it up completely to prevent light leaks or sit in a very very dark room. Set the lens to 'Manual Focus', set ISO to the lowest like 100, shutter speed to say 1/60th, and aperture doesn't really matter. We're not doing long exposure here, because we don't want to confuse a Dead pixel with ISO noise. Next, take a picture. The picture should come out 'mostly' black, but this test will show some stray red or white hot pixels (unless it's already been remapped which is OK). If you're shopping for that camera, and you can't seem to get rid of those stray pixels, consider if they are so bad they would render your work useless. Again, since HD video doesn't actually use all the pixels by the time it's resized down, Video shooters may not notice something like this as easily.
After posting a little something about the Zacuto EVF, a few people have been name dropping the SmallHD. Just so you know, mine arrived about a week ago, just haven't posted anything yet. But I can tell you, it rocks.... The resolution is higher than other monitors in it's price range, the menu that provides fine tuning is abundant, and the build quality with Aluminum (not plastic) body is well worth it's weight in this competitive market. I like the fact that they also update the unit via Firmware downloads, a nice touch to keep it Future Proof and Camera compatible. The reason I gave this one a go, is for the second 5D Mark II body (from refurb) that came in, and the SmallHD DP6 has some custom settings 'specifically' for the 5D Mark II. It's definitely a nice monitor for DSLRs or even for something high end like the Sony PMW-F3K.
First off, sorry on this one. This little stabilizer was a tough one to talk about. There's so many different features on this stabilizer, it's mind blowing. I had to totally skip any mention about balancing it and just spent several minutes going over the different parts. If you want to learn about balancing, the BlackBird comes with an instructional DVD as well as a full booklet with lots of pretty pictures. It almost doesn't matter where you start by placing your camera, you'll always have more than enough lateral to compensate and center the camera to balance. Weather has been very spotty here and i've been caught up with other projects to really get something good online about this one.
In any case, here's a quick look and a few first time samples. There's no denying the resemblance of the design to other stabilizers on the market, but of the ones I've used (and i've used quite a few), none of them has as many different options or features as this. One thing I mention most on this blog about stabilizers, is that I find stabilizers work best when they are 'loaded up' to their max weight. This stabilizer has even been specifically designed to balance both super light and heavier cameras by adding in the Gimbal extension. Dropping the Gimbal allows the stabilizer to become extremely 'less bottom heavy', thus able to support light weight cameras. The unique 'adjustable friction gimbal' also adds to that same purpose. It's well designed, fairly priced against it's competitors, but definitely the most fully featured of the bunch all similar to this design. You might also want to check out the other video demo in this article: http://cheesycam.com/dslr-video-stabilizer-blackbird/.
You can find more information about the BlackBird Stabilizer at their website: https://www.camotionllc.com/
The BlackBird stabilizer can also be found at B&H below
BlackBird Camera Stabilizer by Camera Motion Research
Redrock Micro was the first to the scene with the 'microEVF' announcement, but still no word on what's going on with that. Zacuto made an announcement about an EVF (very) shortly after, and here they are showcasing an actual working product with complete specs far far ahead of RRM. Here Steve Weiss drops the much anticipated Zacuto EVF (Electronic View Finder) to show off the durability. Let's hope this really doesn't happen on any of your shoots, especially twice from 12ft. Should it happen, at least you know you have a fighting chance with this sturdy little monitor. The new Z-Finder EVF is listed to start at $675 without a Loupe, up to $1K for the full deal, and a few options in between. The new 3.2" LCD EVF has a resolution of 800x480 and will be powered on Canon LP-E6 batteries or optional 12V external. Said to be shipping next month (May) and Pre-orders are now available on the Zacuto website. Check out more of the features this little EVF is said to provide. I have a feeling with all of the new cameras coming out later this year, they will sell out fast (not just for DSLRs).
Pre-order Zacuto Z-Finder EVF