Equipment Reviews

4 Comments

A couple of new DSLR rigs and accessories just appeared almost instantaneously. There's plenty of new videos just recently uploaded to Vimeo and auction listings on eBay are also new. I remember watching this company for quite some time now, but this new lineup of DSLR stabilizer and accessories just popped out of nowhere. Instead of looking quite bare with simple rods and clamps, this is based around some weird hybrid design of flat plates, brackets, pads, and still have areas to adapt standard rods to mount other accessories from other brands. No doubt, it definitely looks cool. All is not totally clear right now, but i'm hoping i'll get a chance to see these rigs in person to get a better 'look over'.

Since things are quite new with these rigs, there's plenty of listings with the option for 'Best Offer'. Word of mouth, getting the products into the hands of DSLR shooters, and just plain visibility is key to grow any new product, so who knows if you can drop a 'Best Offer' and grab one for a steal. I'm sure they'll be excited to get these things out on the street. Here's the product links to the Shape DSLR Camera Stabilizers and Accessories.

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Shape DSLR Camera Supports

3 Comments

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K2Cinema Dual Linear Guide Rod Camera Slider

Look familiar? It's another camera slider in the DSLR marketplace offered by K2 Cinema. If you're not feeling the dual rod look, the company K2 Cinema does offer an Igus based slider for a cheaper price, if that's what turns you on.

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K2 Cinema DSLR Camera Slider

Now there's plenty of camera sliders right now and some only around $100 dollars, but this is only the second one that I know of using two Linear guide rods instead of a single flat track. This Linear guide rail looks similar to the Cinevate Atlas LTS Camera Slider, and while it may come in at about half the price, there's quite a few differences. The Cinevate Atlas is using 5/8" rods, which if i'm correct is close to approx. 16mm while the K2 Cinema slider is using 20mm rods. That's going to add quite a bit of unnecessary beef and weight to the overall unit if used simply for a DSLR.

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Cinevate Atlas LTS Camera Slider

K2 Cinema doesn't have quite the professional polished finish as the Cinevate Atlas LTS. It's a pretty straight forward design with a carriage that sits above the linear guide rods. The Cinevate Atlas has a more flush carrier that sits just about in between their rods. They both come with positionable legs to use if you're without a stand, but the K2 Cinema Camera Slider lacks the nice comfy feet that could end up scratching surfaces like soft wood tables. Cinevate obviously thought about the usefulness of it's legs and has added some nice molded feet with some type of polymer plastic material i'm guessing. The Cinevate Atlas LTS appears to offer standard rail lengths from 35", 47", and 58" lengths while the available K2 Cinema sliders have options from 22" and 36". Since K2 Cinema seems to be a new starter in DSLR accessories, there's a good chance they can custom make rail lengths. Then again, Cinevate has always showed great customer service so it's possible custom rail lengths may be a possibility as well.

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Click images for K2Cinema Camera Slider prices

Now keep in mind that Cinevate is set to release a new Atlas 10 Linear Tracking System Camera slider that is estimated around $500 dollars. The new Atlas 10 will not be rockin' the wide open dual Linear rod look, which I hear works really well, but you might want to wait until you get the full review on the Cinevate Atlas 10 before diving in to a camera slider.

9 Comments

Den Lennie's got a hands on review of the highly anticipated Canon 60D. Shows us on video what relative size looks like and some information about Canon's first DSLR articulating LCD screen. There's also a sneek showing Canon's latest Zoom / Fisheye combination lens and Manual Audio levels with some type of new filtering. Pretty cool stuff, which may change some disappointment on the lack of ground breaking technology everyone was hoping for. There's some very small features that definitely addresses some of the short comings of the Canon T2i and even the Canon 7D, so is the extra few hundred dollars worth an upgrade for T2i users? As usual will be hard to locate once it's officially released, i'm just hoping my early jump from this article will pay off: http://cheesycam.com/another-hot-item-to-pre-order-canon-60d/

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click to pre-order Canon EOS 60D from Canon Store – Amazon

2 Comments

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Yesterday was the holiday so mail wasn't running. This morning the first few items come in and they are both photography accessories to aid in Macro Photography. Actually i'm interested in testing one of these out as a video option. I'll keep you guessing for now, and open them up when I have time later today. Can't wait to test them out though!

6 Comments

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Unboxing the Cinevate Atlas 10 Linear Tracking System

Just got done talking about Cinevate's innovation in the DSLR camera market with the recent announcement of the Cyclops system, and I was quickly reminded about a not yet available 'Atlas 10' camera slider. Cinevate hands down already makes some of the best darn 'camera sliders' a.k.a 'Linear tracking Systems', so what else can they truly be improving upon? We'll just have to wait and see what all the buzz is about on this new Cinevate Atlas 10, but one lucky gentleman got an early preview and threw up a sneak peek video unboxing.

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Cinevate Inc Atlas 30 LTS with 100mm Bow

One of the more popular readily available sliders is the Cinevate Atlas 30 LTS. Using two linear rods instead of the usual single track proved to be one of the lightest and smoothest designs. The photos of the new Atlas 10 uses something completely different with the rails tucked away inside of a hollowed track. There are a ton of photos and a full write up with more descriptions and details about this mythological Cinevate Atlas 10 Camera slider from the links over at the video page here: https://vimeo.com/14074140.

Nikon is hitting the market pretty hard with some new rebates. Many of these rebates are available in combination kits of DSLR body and fancy Lenses saving you up to $1100 dollars total on some deals. Here's the links to some of Nikons most popular DSLR's, the D300s and D700 in combination with some of Nikon's most popular lenses - via BHPHOTOVIDEO.com.

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Rebates for Nikon D300s DSLR and Lenses
Nikon D300s SLR Digital Camera with 18-200mm VR II Lens
Nikon D300s SLR Digital Camera with 16-85mm VR Lens
Nikon D300s SLR Digital Camera with 18-200mm VR II & 70-300mm VR Lenses
Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Kit w/ AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Nikon D300s Digital SLR Camera Kit w/ AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Nikon D300S SLR Digital Camera Kit
Nikon D300s SLR Digital Camera with 14-24mm & 24-70mm f/2.8G Lenses Kit
Nikon D300s SLR Digital Camera and Lens Kit
Nikon D300s SLR Digital Camera with 3-Lens Kit
Nikon D300s SLR Digital Camera Body with AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 Lens

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Rebates for Nikon D700 DSLR and Lenses
Nikon D700 SLR Digital Camera Kit with 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR Lens
Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera Kit w/AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera Kit w/Nikkor 24-120mm VR & 70-300mm VR Lenses
Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera w/ Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Lens Kit
Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera w/ Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G AF-S ED VR II Lens Kit
Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera Kit w/70-200mm f/2.8G VR II & 16-35mm f/4G VR Lenses
Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera w/ Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G & 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Lens Kit
Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera with 3-Lenses Kit

1 Comment

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Cinevate Cyclops DSLR Rig / Viewfinder

Cinevate is really on the ball with DSLR innovation. It seems like they are always one step ahead of everyone else when it comes to different rigs, support systems, and accessories. Just caught this video that first talks about their inexpensive Cinevate DSLR Camera Grip, and then towards the middle provides a sneak peek into their new Cinevate 'Cyclops' viewfinder system.

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Cinevate DSLR Camera Grip

The Cyclops two-eyed viewfinder is the most different thing i've seen in a while as far as DSLR products go. I'm not really sure what to say about it just yet as there's not much information posted on their website. There is a bit more information via Cinema5D Jared Abrams' quick take video on YouTube.

Cinevate seems pretty active over at Vimeo, so you can leave your questions and comments at the video link: https://vimeo.com/14220163

17 Comments

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Tascam DR-08 on Sale

The Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder is designed to target the same audience as the Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder. In fact many of the audio specs and recording features are dead on to the function of the Zoom H1 recorder. Even though the Tascam DR-08 was announced and released earlier than the Zoom H1, I doubt it ever really 'took off' as quickly with DSLR video shooters for a few reasons. Zoom already had a huge foot in the door from the H4n multi track recorder. DSLR users spread word of this inexpensive quality recorder and it quickly became the standard. Besides the lack of marketing into DSLR video the Higher pricing possibly played a rold in holding Tascam back from exploding as quickly as Samson's Zoom.

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The recent announcement of the Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder
was almost invisible to the DSLR market. The estimated street price of $200 or higher for something so tiny and less functional than the Zoom H4n didn't make much sense to DSLR shooters. The reason this article is being posted now is the recent drop in pricing over at Amazon. This Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder is now available for $135.00 getting the pricing closer to it's Zoom H1 competitor.

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Besides the slim profile which would make this a more suitable 'in pocket' audio recorder to replace wireless setups, there's also more flexibility to the microphone positions than that of the Zoom H1 giving it the ability to lay flat on the table and still target your subject. The Tascam does require more batteries than the Zoom H1, but i'm more interested in the build quality and relative size comparison against the Zoom H1. For $200+ dollars the pricing on this portable audio recorder would be a huge deal breaker. Now that pricing is coming in at the new $135.00, just slightly over the Zoom H1's $99.00 dollars, i'm curious if the extra $35 dollars is worth the upgrade. If you're interested too, I'll have the Tascam DR-08 vs Zoom H1 Portable Audio Recorder side by side comparison later this week.

Here's the link to purchase: Buy Tascam DR-08 Portable Audio Recorder on Sale

6 Comments

In this video I show my cheap Wireless Remotes: http://cheesycam.com/wireless-shutter-remote-wired-shutter-remote-for-canon/

In this video I show my cheap Intervalometer / Timer Remote: http://cheesycam.com/canon-t2i-550d-timer-remote-timelapse/

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I can't remember posting a remote like this, but here's one that combines the best of both worlds into a Wireless shutter remote and Wireless Intervalometer. For those who will ask, I don't think this remote can activate video mode. It is adding more batteries to the mix of things, but specs say that the CR2 battery lasts at least 400 hours of standby and the AAA will go 4 years on standby. It does of course mesh a few of my favorite reasons for packing remotes into the bag while saving some space. The brand Pixel was probably best known in the DSLR world for it's wireless Live View Remote LCD's. Price is more than a set of plain wireless triggers or a single intervalometer, but if you add up the dual functionality, it's priced about right. Another bag saving design is that these remotes use a modular Tether from receiver to camera. By purchasing the correct tether cord, you can use the same remotes with multiple camera models from different Canon's, Nikon's, Leica, Samsung, Olympus, and even some point and shoots. Here's the link to the Pixel Wireless Shutter Remote with Intervalometer Feature.

Some additional Information:
Supporting the function of single, continuous, delay shoot and the setting of the related parameter for timing plan shooting.
Delay mode is available to set delay time with number of shooting.
Delayed time can between 1 sec to 59 sec
Timer planning mode can be set the time between 0sec to 99hr 59min 59sec.
Number of shooting can be 1 to 9999 shoots and unlimited shooting.
Using free worldwide FSK 2.4GHz frequency system to improve the reliability and stability.
The socket from the transmitter is able to send out control signal directly.
User can control the various functions by the shutter connecting cable.

Specification:
Type: FSK 2.4GHz wireless control system
Transmission distance: 80 meters or above
Channel : 99 channels ,as well as ALL
Transmitter Standby time: more than 4 years (using the AAA battery)
The receiver standby time: 400 hours (using the CR-2 lithium battery)
Dimensions: Transmitter: 149 x 49.5 x 24 mm (W x H x D)
Receiver: 63 x 38 x 31 mm

Product Introduction
1.  TW-282 is using FSK 2.4GHz frequency channel, 99 specific channels and 1 universal channel.
2.  Operating distance range is 80M or above.
3.  The display is protected by coating ; it’s not easy to get scratch.
4.  LCD is showing “channel” , “battery life” and “function mode” .
5.  Compatible to Canon, Nikon, Pantex, Samsung, Panasonic, Lecia DSLR cameras .
6.  Support single shoot, continuous shoot, long exposure; also it is available to set the number of shots and delay time shot; you can set your shooting plan.
7.  Transmitter uses 3V CR-2 lithium battery, stand-by time is up to 400 hours or above.
8.  Receiver is using plug style socket for shutter release output, just insert the corresponding cable and connect with the camera

TW-282 Support the camera as below:

TW-282/DC0
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Nikon: D3X、D3、D700、D300、D300s、D200、D2Xs、D2Hs、D2X、 D2H、D1H、D1X、D1;N90s、F5、F6、F100、F90、F90X;
Fujifilm: S5 Pro、S3 Pro;
Kodak: DCS-14n

TW-282/DC1
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Nikon: DSLR D80, D70s

TW-282/DC2
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Nikon:DSLR D90、D5000

TW-282/N3
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Canon:EOS 50D、40D、30D、20D、10D、7D、5D、5D Mark II、1Ds MarkIII、1D Mark III、1D Mark II N、1Ds Mark II、1D MarkII、1Ds、1D、1V、EOS 3、D2000.

TW-282/E3
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Canon: EOS 1000D、550D、450D、400D、350D、300D;
Pentax:*istD、*istDL、 *istDs、 *ist、*istDL2、K100D、K110D、K10D、K200、 K20D;
Samsung:GX 1L、GX 1S、GX-10、GX-20;
Contax: 645、N1、NX、N Digital.

TW-282/RS1
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Panasonic:MC-FZ50、DMC-FZ50K、DMC-FZ50S、DMCFZ30、DMC-FZ30K、DMC-FZ30S、DMC-FZ20、DMCFZ20K、DMC-FZ20S、LC-1、L1、L-10、G1;
Leica:DIGILUX 2、DIGILUX 3

TW-282/S1
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SONY:DSLR α900,α850, α700, α550, α500,α350, α300, α200, α100.
Konica Minolta: DIMAGE α2, α1,9,7Hi,7i,7,5,4,3,DYNAX 7D,5D.

TW-282/UC1
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Olympus:E520、E420、E510、E410、SP-570 UZ、SP-560 UZ、SP-550 UZ、SP-510 UZ.

TW-282/CB1
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Olympus:E1、E3、E10、E20、E30

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Wireless Shutter Remote with Intervalometer Features