Cheesycam Skater Dolly

Videos or Articles related to the Cheesycam Skater Type Video Camera Dollies.

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Nikon-D800

The Nikon D800 SLR Digital Camera is more than a DSLR, it's a broadcast quality video camera as well. Driving both still and video capture is the FX-format CMOS 36.3Mp sensor and the powerful EXPEED 3 image-processing engine. Backing up the heart of the camera you'll find an optical low-pass filter that reduces false color and moire, and an ISO range of 100-6400 that's expandable to ISO 50-25600 equivalent. Additionally, the D800 boasts 14-bit A/D conversion and 16-bit image processing. What's more, the camera's Nikon F mount accepts a multitude of NIKKOR lenses, included DX lenses and AF-S lenses; and Nikon Speedlights provide exceptional flash capabilities

While everyone awaits Canon to release their next Full Frame DSLR for Cinema, Nikon may already have an answer. The new D800 looks good and tackles some (maybe not all) of the existing 'cons' of current Full Frame DSLR Video cameras under $3K. To optimize for Video they are offering two different bodies, one with the Low Pass filter removed. For the quality and ability to shoot very clean in low light, I think the price is pretty competitive. You can find more images and specs over at the B&H product page, and it's already available for pre-order.

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find-price-button Nikon D800 SLR Digital Camera (Body Only)

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To be clear, PNC (PhotographyandCinema.com) is a company I design for and you'll see me blog about those products periodically. Today i'm giving you some inside information that PNC will be releasing a new full size rotating video dolly very soon. The wider platform on the new rotating video dolly will be able to support much larger and heavier cameras like the RED Scarlet, FS100, AF100, mount larger video fluid heads, and hold more accessories. It's a very interesting design, which I think you'll all love, but so far we can't come up with a name. I actually have less than 24 hours to come up with something clever, so i'm crowd sourcing for ideas in a contest sort of fashion.

We need suggestions for a name, and if PNC decides to use it, you'll be one of the first to recieve this new Full Size Rotating Video Dolly - FREE. This includes International countries too! If it helps, the new Dolly will be mostly black with red accents, still have four wheels, and two unusually designed axles to adjust for rotation. Leave those suggestions in the comments, and make sure you're using your real email address to get notified. Don't forget to Tweet about this contest!

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YouTube member TheEthanThompson has a very simple idea on how to use an articulating friction arm to add a bit of extra support when shooting hand held. The arm can be positioned much like a gun stock / target shooter to add an extra point of contact. My guess is you'll need at least the 11" version to give you more room for adjustments, and some sort of brace on the end to work comfortably. A handy little tip to know if you already have an articulating arm. [Thanks Ethan]

Articulating Friction Arm
find-price-button Articulating Friction Arm

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Great job from Vimeo member Oliver for this DIY motorized Pico Flex Table Dolly. It's a direct friction based drive wheel, which doesn't require much torque. The dolly rolls very easily with little effort from a motor. I was testing out something similar several weeks ago using a pulley wheel to a continuous rotating servo found (here). I used the same basic battery box, continuos rotating servo, and speed controllers as in the DIY motorized JuicedLink slider project. You can find a list of those parts (here). I can see that Oliver is using a servo tester, which is a much cheaper solution than the servo controller I was using. [Thanks Oliver]

If i'm correct, that servo tester is just the basic ones found over at eBay (click here).

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find-price-button Servo Tester

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Canon 24-70mm

The Canon 24-70mm F/2.8L is one of the most popular lenses for event photographers. It's also one of my favorite lenses for video since it can focus fairly close. Good range of zoom, and maintains a decent F/2.8 aperture throughout for low light shooting. I heard there was a sale going on over at B&H, but doing a basic search for the Canon 24-70mm F/2.8L only comes back with only a $100 dollar discount. I was able to track down the other URL where it shows a $200 dollar instant savings discount off normal price. That's a better deal than what they are offering on the Canon Rebates webpage (here), and cheaper than a used one on eBay, but says it expires in a few days. Here's the link (click here).

Canon 24-70mm Sale
find-price-button Canon 24-70mm F/2.8L Discount

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lumaloop_mini

Interesting post over at Petapixel, about how the Luma Loop strap was killed off. I've heard some rumors about possible bully tactics. Even if there are no patent violations, small companies can't defend themselves when threatened with a lawsuit and are left to dissolve because of the possibility of high lawyer fees. Another rumored tactic stated that even if 'Company A' has been cleared of any patent violation, letters are sent to major distributors warning them that 'Company A' could possibly (keyword possibly) be violating patents, which cause distributors to stay clear from purchasing other similar products. These letters are sent even while knowing there is absolutely no patent violation. There's definitely some dirty tricks out there, and i'm wondering if any of you have heard the same? There's more information and a letter from Luma Loop following the link: https://www.petapixel.com/2011/11/15/luma-loop-camera-strap-killed-off-after-patent-awarded-to-black-rapid/

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I happened across a small forum over at https://videocopilot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&p=257799 where they were wondering how this rotating shot was done above. They seem to be going more towards large circular dolly tracks huge sets, with rotating backgrounds. All too complicated.

I'm not a registered forum guy, but hopefully someone will see this and answer their questions about how it was done. I worked on a very similar shot before using a green screen background, and that's the reason I came up with this little doo-hickey here: http://cheesycam.com/motorized-lazy-susan-heavy-duty/.

The fan was placed in front of the model and also on the rotating lazy susan to keep the hair blowing away from her face as she rotates. Look closely at the catch light in her eyes (reflection) and you can see the lights don't rotate with her. She's definitely on a rotating lazy susan platform. Hope this helps guys...

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All the rumors were true about Canon releasing a new camera (finally). The latest 1DX camera is a merger between the 1D and 1Ds high end professional cameras. According to the article at Engadget, the new 1DX will be an 18MP camera, have a top ISO of 204,000 and pretty average video frame rates and resolutions already available - (no full 1080 @ 60fps?).

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The camera has a 61-point high density reticular AF system, 252-zone metering system, a 14 fps JPEG (or 12 fps RAW) burst mode, and really looks like it was targeted for the professional photographer. Video quality from the new full frame will be better than all other current Canon DSLR cameras with a few new compression methods, less noise, less moire, and aliasing, but the price tag of $6,800 doesn't seem like it will rock the DSLR video market as a game changer (for the average consumer).

It's an amazing camera on it's own right, but Sony and Panasonic are also continuing to release new cameras that merge DSLR and Video for a cheaper price. Wondering if they'll give us clean HDMI out too for capturing video externally? Hopefully you didn't sell off your 5D Mark IIs before this announcement expecting this would be your next camera (I'd buy it though..lol). This certainly blows away expectations for Professional Canon Photographers, but I don't think this is the camera Canon had in mind specifically to rock the dslr video market. I think the next few camera announcements we hear from Canon will be the one HD DSLR shooters are all waiting for. ETA for 1Dx available in March 2012.

[source Engadget]

[Update] Here's from the Canon website on
Specifications: https://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_1d_x?WT.mc_id=EM1110EO02001&RID=1#Specifications
Features: https://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_1d_x?WT.mc_id=EM1110EO02001&RID=1#Features
Canon1Dx