Lens Talk

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Egg timer, Rotisserie, and a GoPro HD Camera. It's not a riddle, but that's what Vimeo member Tony Rodriguez used as the recipe for making this DIY Motion Controlled Panning Timelapse rig. Not the first time i've seen a GoPro on a simple Egg Timer, but this I believe is the first time i've seen it put onto a Motion Controlled Slider. The whole setup is a Go Pro 960 mounted on an egg timer and a homemade dolly (igus slider) and using a Battery Rotisserie Grill Motor that moves 2.5 RPM (revolutions per minute). A few images of the rig (below), but if you need more information you can holla at Tony here: https://vimeo.com/18331363

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Checked around eBay and this might the same battery operated motor being used. Very clever use of this motor, and i'm sure this will drum up new DIY ideas to use this in other projects:
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find-price-button Rotisserie Battery Powered Grill Motor

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No audio in this video, I had nothing to say. Just playing around. Testing a 3.5" LCD to see if it will hold up as a remote viewfinder or Electronic View Finder. It displays 960x480 pixels, and adjustments can be made to contrast and brightness. I tried other small LCD's but none of them had the pixel count required to focus. The lower pixel count LCD's are only good for framing a shot. This one seems to be pretty good at setting focus and had better color and contrast than the other mini LCD's. Input is through basic composite cables, but the GH2 doesn't do live view recording unless it's through HDMI. The Canon cameras will output with Composite cables during recording, but I don't have my Canon cables with me today, so i'll have to test later. It's also just a 4:3 aspect ratio, and may not be able to convert a 16:9 signal correctly. Could be something pretty cool for the GoPro, but we'll see where I end up with this thing.


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find-price-button Mini LCD Monitor with 960x480 Pixels

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Chris M. share's some images of his Cineroid EVF which I believe is the first EVF out on the market. We're still waiting for Zacuto and RedRock Micro to release their version. If you're that impatient type that needs an EVF now, there's a limited amount of these Cineroid things you can grab over at HotRodCameras.com, where you'll find more information about all the questions you might have.

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Funny it's not often I stare over at my Cameras and think "This thing is going to save me some money". Well that could all change with this novelty product designed after a Canon 350D DSLR with 24-105mm F/4L lens. It's a Piggy bank, less the pig. Very cool, wish I had seen this earlier, this would have been a cool Christmas gift. Then again, it's never too late to add to your Canon Lens Mug Replica collections.

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find-price-button Canon Camera Money Piggy Bank

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Samyang, Rokinon, Bower, or Vivitar. It's believed they are all the same lens, with a slightly modified exterior and sold under various brands. Who knows what these lenses are being sold as, but then again you might not even care. Rumor mill has it that these lenses are being made out of Korea providing images that can be sharp as Nikon. Of course there's no auto focus features, so with zero electronics on this Manual Focus prime lens it's sold cheaper and can be made to be tack sharp.

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find-price-button Vivitar 85mm F/1.4 Manual Focus Lens

The 85mm F/1.4 is an excellent lens for low light situations, and at the focal length to provide you with that crazy DOF portrait look. The lens may only have been introduced a few years ago, but the Internet is littered with tests/reviews/samples. From Flickr, Vimeo, YouTube, web blogs, and camera forums it's been tried and tested to be a solid performer. With manual only features it might also be an easier lens to pull focus with for full time Video shooters.

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find-price-button Vivitar 85mm F/1.4 Manual Focus Lens

For Nikon shooters considering the Budget 85mm, the Samyang and Bower name is designed with an exterior of the traditional Black w/ Gold Highlights. For Canon shooters, the Vivitar branded lenses are designed in all black with a knock-off Canon-like Red Ring accent. For those who aren't quite into the exterior aesthetics, over at Amazon the 'Rokinon' name will drop the price down another $100 dollars. Not bad for the money considering several reviews tested it to be as sharp as Nikon, and another great option for shooters looking for a lens that works well in low light situations. Anyone out there rockin' one? Leave some comments....

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find-price-button Rokinon 85mm F1.4 Aspherical Lens for Canon (Black)

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cinevate (1 of 4)

Cinevate has been one of those companies constantly surprising everyone with new innovation around DSLR accessories. Their line of Linear Rails a.k.a. 'Camera Sliders', 'Pegasus Carbon table Dolly', and 'Cyclops View Finder', are just a few of those examples.

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Building a DSLR rig traditionally starts with a foundation of rods, but the guys over at Cinevate.com are working on something a bit different. Opening up to the more budget conscious audience, a new concept is based around a specially designed "base plate(slash)quick release(slash)cheese plate". Stabilizer handles, articulating arms, positionable clamps, and more will directly attach to this 'basequickcheese' plate using threaded mounts acting as a foundation for a custom fit rig.

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Not sure what it's all going to be labeled as, but for further expansion the base plate combines with rails to support items like a follow focus system or matte box. Threaded rotating ball clamps and multi-length clamp rods can be mixed and matched for different purposes.

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Lots of new stuff in the pipeline and more will be posted about these things soon. Not sure if any of this is available, or if these ideas will make it out to the storefront, but you might be able to grab some info over at Cinevate.com.

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Please ask all questions to the seller should you consider this auction. I do not have any more information other than what's listed in the details of the auction. Posted today on eBay - a complete Genus Camera Shoulder Rig with handles, shoulder pad, counter weight, LCD View Finder, and Follow Focus system. Everything you need for a solid shoulder rig and then some. It's all Genus products so it's worth a bit more change than cheaper gear, but might be something to consider for those of you who are familiar with Genus. I looked over all the products and added things up, and the complete kit on eBay has been listed today for about 50% off total retail price.

Here's the direct links to the B&H Photo Video catalog to the products combined together in this single auction (I believe these are the ‘exact’ same products, please contact the seller for any questions).
Genus Camera Shoulder Mount System
Genus GENUS LOUPE LCD VIEWFINDER
Genus Superior Follow Focus System for DSLR Cameras

Auction found here:

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find-price-button Genus DSLR Rig, Counter weights, Handles, Shoulder Pad, View Finder, with Follow Focus

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find-price-button Tokina AT-X 16-28mm F2.8 Pro FX Lens for Canon and Nikon

I've been extremely happy with my new Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 lens for both video and photography use, but it doesn't work across all my cameras. Sure it mounts to the Canon 5D Mark II, but it's pretty much unusable on a full frame camera until you zoom all the way out. If you're looking for a lens that would give you a wider option on a full frame you might already be thinking about Canon's 16-35mm F/2.8. This would work on both Full Frame and cropped cameras, but you'll also be looking at an "L" lens price tag.

Tokina's giving us a new option with their recently released 16-28mm F/2.8 lens. This new 16-28mm F/2.8 lens from Tokina was specifically designed to be compatible with all cameras (including Full Frame). This new lens also features the company's newly developed AF system that features a quieter Silent Drive-Module (SD-M) autofocus motor and promises more precise focusing. The company also designed it to be a weather-sealed lens with a fixed lens hood. Still an expensive lens, but at about $700 cheaper than Canon's 16-35mm it adds in another option for budget shooters looking for an extra wide fast lens for both video and photography. BTW, they've also made it available for both Canon and Nikon, no news for Sony (yet).

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Thanks to Eric S. for sharing his DIY view finder mount. For real running and gunning, it's quite a pain in the a$$ having an LCD Viewfinder fall off so easily. Some inexpensive DSLR LCD ViewFinders use a metal sticky frame that allows the magnets of the view finder to stay in place. The most common problem with these are when the adhesive of the metal frame comes off with too much time in the sun. Once that metal frame is off, you'll be stuck without a way to mount your view finder for the rest of the shoot.

On this site people have shared ways to use a high quality Glass LCD Protector and permanently fixing the LCD ViewFinder. Epoxy is a good choice. Curious if there's one that would be a close fit to a Canon 60D... It's an excellent idea on providing a super solid hold while still allowing for a fast way on and a fast way off the camera. For those who aren't familiar with making a DIY LCD Viewfinder Quick Release, this is a look at the final build using information from this article. http://cheesycam.com/new-glass-lcd-protector-canon-nikon/

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find-price-button Canon and Nikon GGS Glass DSLR LCD Screen Protector