Equipment Reviews

• 5 Comments

•

If you're in a bind to find an inexpensive Microphone Windscreen a.k.a. DeadCat, here's a quick tip shared by YouTube member krotoflik. Try grabbing yourself a padded furry (or wooly) seatbelt cover. There's a short sample with and without the Seatbelt cover on the microphone, and it does a decent job of eliminating that dreaded wind rumbling noise.

Available for about $6 dollars on Amazon is a sheepskin padded seatbelt cover, so does this technically make it a DeadSheep instead of a DeadCat? [Thanks Chad]

fuzzy-seatbeltfuzzy-seatbelt-cover
find-price-button Padded Seatbelt Cover - DIY Microphone Windscreen

• 31 Comments

•

swivi-sale-lcd

Derek Bruce writes in and shares a find on the Swivi LCD. Listings have been discounted for the next 48 hours as a New Years promotion. [Thanks Derek!] Not sure what a 'Swivi' is? Check out a review posted here: http://cheesycam.com/swivi-5-6-external-lcd-review/

I can't remember exactly, but I want to say that MSRP price was listed around $350 US, and is on a 48 hour New Years promotion for just $250. That's a nice $100 dollar discount for this weekend only. The Swivi LCD has been discounted on both Amazon (click here)

swivi-LCD-mount
find-price-button Swivi 5.6" External HDMI LCD 48 Hour Promotion - via Amazon

and via eBay (click here).

swivi-price-drop
find-price-button Swivi 5.6" External HDMI LCD 48 Hour Promotion - via eBay

• 33 Comments

•

LCW-ND-Filter (1 of 16)LCW-ND-Filter (4 of 16)

If you love to shoot outdoors on bright sunny days with a shallow DOF, you'll need to get yourself an ND (neutral density) Filter. The ND filter will cut down the amount of light that comes in through the lens so that you can tame that shutter speed, and use a wide aperture without blowing out the image. Still confused? Olivia has a short video that explains how shutter can change the look of your video here: https://vimeo.com/25851113.

LCW-ND-Filter (5 of 16)LCW-ND-Filter (12 of 16)

There are static ND filters in various sizes and densities, and then there are Variable ND filters. The convenience of a Variable type ND filter is you can simply dial in how much light you need to block out. Variable ND filters are a two piece glass filter design. Rotate the outer glass, and it will increase/decrease the amount of light passing through.

One important thing to know is that you will get different results from different Variable ND filters on the market. Because the filters are using two pieces of polarizing glass, you could suffer from color cast (reddish/purplish), also color shifting (color temp changes as you rotate the filter), and more importantly Softness of image. The more expensive ones don't suffer as much with these problems, but they can be out of reach for most hobbyist. Of course, I use what I can afford, because in some situations I feel anything is better than nothing. If you're a stickler on quality, or invested thousands of dollars on that Zeiss and Canon 'L series' glass, I think you'll want to try to maintain the best image possible by using something of higher caliber.

LCW-ND-Filter (6 of 16)LCW-ND-Filter (14 of 16)

Shown throughout this article is the latest 77mm LCW Digi Pro HD, which on the outer end terminates to a larger 82mm. This step up from 77mm-82mm design prevents obstruction when used on wider lenses. Packaged well, the LCW Digi Pro HD comes with it's own padded case and an 82mm Lens cap if you choose to leave the filter on during storage. To ensure the filter does not accidentally rotate during use and changing exposure, there's a locking pin to hold position.

LCW-ND-Filter (16 of 16)LCW-ND-Filter (15 of 16)

Light Craft Workshop was one of the first companies to really hit the DSLR Video market with a quality Variable ND filter about 3 years ago. Since then, they've improved with an Ultra Mark II version, and now has released a much more improved Fader ND Digi Pro HD. The Digi Pro HD filter was first released in a 4x4 filter used in Matte Boxes, and has now been adapted to this variable threaded filter.

I was lucky enough to have this sent over from LCW [Thanks Guys], and will be taking it out for some use. There's no question in my mind that it will provide top quality results, and i'll try to provide some still images at different focal lengths for you all. The new Digi Pro HD filter was just announced a few days ago, and may not yet be available, but you can see all their announcements at their website here: https://LightCraftWorkshop.com. As this Digi Pro HD is not a replacement for some of their other Variable ND products, you can find those products and prices already available at their official store via eBay (click here).

lcw-fader
find-price-button Light Craft Workshop Variable ND & CPL Filters

• 1 Comment

•

B&H published a few articles in their Learning Library around popular gear in 2011. Check out a few of their articles that get in-depth with Fast Glass, Voice-Over equipment, Shotgun Microphones, On camera monitors, and Portable Audio Recorders. These articles are great reading materials for a more in depth look at at tips, tricks, and technical information.

fast-glass
on-camera-monitorsportable-recordersshotgun-microphonesvoice-over-recording

• 13 Comments

•

YouTube member TheJoeDigital shares a video review with a look at some of the new designs from the Lanparte DSLR rigs. The video above shows the Follow Focus with two hard stops, a new clever swing open cage design, and variable position handles with geared locks. They also make Matte Boxes and other accessories.

I picked up one of the shoulder pads a while back to replace the not-so-comfy Gini silicone pad on one of my rigs. As seen in the video above from Vimeo member brandpartners, the shoulder pad from Lanparte I picked up has a much more contoured soft pad and rails on top to mount other accessories or a V-Mount battery pinch solution (which they also make). The V-mount battery dock provides various voltage out to power different accessories, but also includes an HDMI splitter to send video to a second monitor. You can check out more of their gear following the link (here).

lanparteLanparte Rigslanparte rigs
find-price-button Lanparte DSLR Rigs, MatteBoxes, Follow Focus

• 10 Comments

•

The battery powered Meike FC100 LED Ring Light can function as both a continuos light, or be switched to photography flash mode. If you're planning to use the flash mode on the light, it would be a good idea to get the one listed for your camera make / model. These lights are a good way to shoot Macro photo or video to have shadowless images with close-up products. The video above from YouTube member DioxCorp, shows this Meike FC100 is also capable of flat even continuous lighting to act as a fill light in short distances.

LED Macro LightLED Macro Ring Light
find-price-button Meike Macro FC100 LED Ring Light Flash

• 18 Comments

•

dslr-cages-pncpnc-cage-2

The new PNC grips are on the way and should be added to the product line hopefully in about a week. Another product that's been in the works are a few different DSLR cages. The goal is to be the most affordable cage on the market, have excellent build quality, and offer a few varieties in size.

pnc-cage-3pnc-cages-4

Seen in the (discreet) images above is the GH2 mounted inside one of the cages. The new DSLR cages I helped designed for PhotographyandCinema.com is pretty much hammered out in the production process and should be available in the coming weeks. Follow me on Twitter for more of these updates.

• 13 Comments

•

2011-12-15 18.47.142011-12-15 18.47.31

Sorry it took me a while to run these little tests, but i'm in between some big projects right now. Here's an update on testing the W12 LED video light with High Power LED bulbs, compared to the Z96. If you're not up to speed, we are comparing the two because they share basically the exact same form factor and feature set (batteries used, dimmer knob, magnetic snap filters, etc.)

2011-12-15 18.46.53W12 LED Light

Here's a comparison of coverage. As on-camera LED Video lights, this is a general distance to subject you might be using when the LED lights are mounted on camera. On the Top is the W12 and on the Bottom is the Z96. Camera settings were 1/50th F/2.8 ISO 640 for this spotlight test.

The W12 has a sharper and more defined edge at the end of it's coverage, while the Z96 feathers out gradually. The W12 seems a little more evenly flat across the spread, while The Z96 has more of a hotspot towards the center. The coverage is almost similar between the two lights spreading 9 feet across with the lights just 5 feet away from the wall.

W12-Z96 (1 of 2)
W12-Z96 (2 of 2)

Below I have the camera set to a manual 5600K color temp with the lights at 5 feet away from target. In my eyes the W12 seems closer to that temperature, but there still lies a greenish color cast. Take note that the Z96 shutter speed settings were a few stops better than the W12, proving that the Z96 has more overall light output. At least in the middle area.

W12-Z96 (2 of 5)
W12-Z96 (1 of 5)

Next up is the camera set to a Manual 3200K color temp, and adding on the Tungsten filters. I never use these things, since they cut down a good amount of light, and aren't very close to tungsten. For kicks, here's what to expect when using these filters. Again, the Z96 with it's own filter is several stops better than the W12 LED light. Even though it's not perfect, of the two, I think the Z96 performed better with the 3200K filter test.

W12-Z96 (4 of 5)
W12-Z96 (5 of 5)

There's some interesting differences here. Pros and Cons for each light. As you can see there's a bit of a color shift between lights from a greenish cast to a more magenta color cast. The Z96 also has more of a hotspot towards the center, while the W12 seems a little more flat across. The W12 has a sharper and more defined edge at the end of it's coverage, while the Z96 feathers out gradually. Overall, the Z96 has more light output and fairs better in the 3200K test, but the W12 was not too shabby at the 5600K test. Even though these lights fail to be perfect all around, the Z96 especially has been around for more than a year and has been one of the most recommended entry level LED lights. The W12 may be considered mainly because it's slightly cheaper in price.

These W12 high power LED lights are found at (click here).

W12 LED LightW12 LED Video Light
find-price-button 12 High Power LED Video Light

The Z96 LED video lights can be found on eBay (click here)
Z96LED
find-price-button Z96 LED Video Light.

Other lights you might be interested in is the 240 Bi-Color or 312 Bi-Color LED video lights. A bit larger than the 96 version, and a bit more expensive, but they give you more control with adjustable color temperature (without the use of colored filters).

240 LED video light (click here)
barndoor-240
find-price-button 240 Dimmable Color Changing LED Video Light without Barndoors

312 LED video light (click here)
312-LED-Video-light
find-price-button 312 LED Bi-Color Changing Dimmable LED Video light

• 9 Comments

•

jag-35-rig-wff

A few days ago I received a package from Jag35.com. I've been very excited about this, so what's in the box? Well the box was a bit larger than I expected, but that's because of the included rig that was shipped along with two motors. This is a prototype of their soon-to-be-available Wireless Follow Focus V2 system. The motors are essentially the same, but if you choose to run two motors, one can control the lens Zoom Ring and the other can control the Focus Ring. If you're shooting on a Prime, you would only need one.

Jag35-Rig-WFF-Follow-Focus-35 Jag35-Rig-WFF-Follow-Focus-36

This Jag35 rig in the box has one handle in front and one kitty-corner to the rear. A simple but effective way to stabilize for hand held shooting. I don't think this is a standard rig, but you can see the many different Jag35 Shoulder Rigs on their website (Click Here). One interesting part of the Jag35 rig is the anti-rotation lock screw. They are pre-drilled so that you can align a tiny set screw under the camera to prevent any movement. Because a follow focus gear must be perfectly lined up, any shifting of the camera position can cause problems. A nice little touch on the Jag35 base plate that you won't see very often on other rigs.

I don't have time to run through all the stuff right now, but i'm leaving you all with a few images out of the box of what all the new pieces look like. It's all custom metal housings on the WFF system, and all metal parts on the Rig. keep in mind that this is a very early prototype of the WFF V2, so things might change in the production model. More to come when I set this up (possibly tomorrow). BTW the gallery below has 2 pages of images.