Monthly Archives: May 2011

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There are plenty of old vintage lenses you can slap onto your cameras, and Canon FD mounts are just one type. They might not be as good as other lenses (i.e. Nikon lenses), but for the hobbyist who can't afford several hundred dollars, you can find these FD's fairly cheap. After posting a few samples of my sexy 85mm F/1.2L Canon FD lens on a GH2, a few new questions came back around. I'll start by answering a few by saying, the FD lenses work better on MFT (Micro Four Thirds) cameras than on my Canon 5D Mark II full frame. By better I mean I can get a wider aperture, but if I stop down a bit to about F/2.0-2.2 with my 85mm, i'm getting excellent results.

These lenses have a completely different look, and that's not a bad thing at all. Lens flares, softness, and contrast are all things I personally desire. It's like slapping a Holga Toy Lens to a 5D Mark II - doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's pure creative fun for the artist. There's some other fun facts about old FD lenses, and Caleb Pike over at DSLRShooter.com put together the best video with sample footage you'll find online. You'll get an idea of crop factor, usable aperture, and yadda yadda yadda. He's using basically the same adapter i'm using with the Glass Element. If you haven't seen it before, it's an oldie but goodie. If you've got further questions, you can hit him up over at Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/17805517 [Thanks Caleb]

You can check out the video sample I shot with GH2 + Canon 85mm FD here: http://cheesycam.com/canon-fd-lens-85mm-f1-2-on-gh2/

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find-price-button Search for Manual Focus Camera Lenses

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find-price-button Canon FD Lens adapter for Micro 4/3 Cameras

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If you've got a Panasonic GH2, or other Micro Four Thirds camera, you'll know what this lens is. It's been tough to track down lately when they went out of stock because it's just that awesome for a MFT camera. Luckily I grabbed mine months ago, and it's been on the GH2 as the primary lens. My GF2 also came with the 14mm Pancake, which is another popular and highly recommended lens for these MFT cameras. More than likely this new shipment of the 20mm won't last very long, so if you've been waiting patiently here's a chance.

Lumix 20mm F/1.7
find-price-button Panasonic Lumix 20mm F/1.7

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We all DIY with what's available, convenient, and affordable. One of those materials is found in the household section in your local grocery mart. I tell ya, IKEA must be making a killing on cutting board sales. First seen on a DIY DSLR Rig, and then played a small part on a Slider, and now here's another DIY camera slider from Vimeo member TaQ Inoue.

I'm not sure it's an actual IKEA cutting board, but you can get the same hefty material there in large sizes. It's cheap, easy to cut, carve, drill, and shape. Not very clear on the details or specs here, but it's a good excuse to creatively shoot the project from beginning to end. Overall costs stated at $30 dollars. It also seems to be working out fairly well in his example video 'Littlest Mountains 2 Trailer'.

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It wasn't long before the nice discount on the 5D Mark II body expired from BestBuy.com, but maybe there's new hope. There's a special announcement for a Midnight Sale - Online Only.Starting midnight tonight until 8am tomorrow they'll be launching some additional special deals. Besides the slew of other electronics and gadgets, there's DSLR's on the list. Hmm..Canon T3i, Canon 7D, Canon 60D? Who knows what's in store, but you have to be up past midnight or online before 8 a.m. to see what's in store. Follow the banner for more details.

bestbuy-midnight-sale
visit-button Midnight Sale, Online Only, Starts Midnight Through 8 a.m. EST on Thursday (5/19)

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What do you get when you mix an old Bike Wheel, Bike Crank, and Bike Wheel Hub? You get a functioning Video Camera Stabilizer a.k.a DIY Steadicam. It will all make more sense after checking out the video above from YouTube member thomasumJohnson. Improvements? I would stay start with a smaller wheel maybe from a childs bike. This should cut down on about half the size, but still give you that nice arch. The smooth wheel hub is a nice touch, and it appears he's using a U-Joint similar to the WSClater builds for making a Gimbal Handle. But if you're not the type to tackle a 'Gimbal', Lensse can provide you with something http://cheesycam.com/lensse-gimbals-for-diy-steadicam-stabilizers/.

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(Above) Was my first image of my Canon T3i fitted with a Letus Hawk View Finder. Yes it fits quite nicely, and they make it in the proper aspect ratio for the 3:2 LCD screen. What I didn't have was the riser for a battery grip. Here's a gallery (below) from reader HD-Tography showing you the fit and the fashion of the Letus Hawk Aluminum ViewFinder, on the new Canon T3i, with Small Oval BlueStar EyePiece, on Gini Rails offset with a bit of Easom, with the cheap Shoulder Support. Sweet example of many of the items covered in this blog and  looks pretty solid.

[Ok guys, this is more of an example of the Letus Hawk ViewFinder with Battery grip riser adapter on T3i, so please don't start submitting your rigs. We'll save that for another time...]

Here's the direct links to the products if you have a Canon T3i with Battery grip and looking to rock the Letus Hawk VF too. If you have questions, you can always contact the support team @ LetusDirect.com

Letus Hawk DSLR Viewfinder - Aluminum 3:2 (with Canon T2i/550D Riser)
CODE: LTHKVF-AL-3:2
https://www.letusdirect.com/cart/letus-hawk-aluminum-3-2.html

Shown beside the Universal Pro Mount (IMPORTANT: Low Profile Version for T3i Battery Grip)
Code: LTHKVF-UNI-RISE
https://www.letusdirect.com/cart/universal-pro-mount.html

Also shown is the Hawk Eye Cushion (Red micro fiber)
Code: LD-EYE-CUSHION
https://www.letusdirect.com/cart/hawk-eye-cushion.html

and the Letus Direct Lanyard
Code: LDLANYARD
https://www.letusdirect.com/cart/letus-direct-lanyard.html

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Panasonic lenses are fast, quiet, and sharp, but I'm a big complainer about manually focusing with Panasonic Lenses. Looks like i'm not the only one. The lenses need full rotation to get objects in focus, and many Follow Focus lens gears require some type of clamp preventing the full 360 rotation. The solution for Alex M is to add a child's silicone bracelet to the lens, essentially turning it into a friction based follow focus with a seamless lens gear all the way around. [Thanks Alex]

Silicone Friction Follow Focus

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Screen shot 2011-05-16 at 8.19.17 AM

The Proaim DSLR View Finder is nothing new, and personally I would prefer the VF Prime or Seagull VF, but Proaim looks to have a 'one-up' on the competition. This morning I was turned onto a recent BasePlate addition to Proaim's View Finder [Thanks Greg]. Looks like they're the next in line to follow in the recent trend of converting all LCD View Finders over to baseplate mounts.

Screen shot 2011-05-16 at 8.19.57 AMScreen shot 2011-05-16 at 8.19.51 AM

The BasePlate looks to be an all metal construction that still allows you to mount a Quick Release Plate underneath. The ViewFinder claims Anti-Fog coating on the lens, and a minimal Diopter for less than perfect vision. To get further correction, you can stack the extension frames between the LCD and View Finder. Can you see that small hole on the BasePlate? The Proaim viewfinder also comes with a short Aluminum Rod that you can use has a handle (probably not very functional).

Screen shot 2011-05-16 at 8.20.09 AM

If you're wondering, it looks like a 3" LCD View Finder, but for Canon T2i, T3i, and 60D owners who really want this setup expect to lose just a 1mm crop on each side (IF it can line up properly).

Screen shot 2011-05-16 at 8.26.55 AM
find-price-button Proaim View Finder with BasePlate

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If you were interested in that review Rod did on Calumet's BP1500 large backpack found here: http://cheesycam.com/rods-calumets-bp1500-backpack-review/, the price had gone up at the time. Checking back today it seems it's dropped back down on sale. Follow the link below and search for the BP1500.


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find-price-button Calumet Bp1500 Large Backpack