Lens Talk

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I've talked about this particular video camera stabilizer before, and have been suggesting it to many people. In my older posts i've always shown demo videos of other people using this Flycam Nano stabilizer. This time around, i'm actually doing the demo. It's an affordable stabilizer with a Gimbal bearing handle that has more range of motion than the Hague MMC or IndieHardware. It's more expensive than the IndieHardware and about the same price of the Hague (if not cheaper) depending on where you live and shipping costs. It can also carry much more weight than both the Hague MMC and IndieHardware stabilizer. The design is similar to the Glidecam series of stabilizers, and it's possible it can carry the same weight as the Glidecam HD1000 which is 3 times the price.

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Flycam Nano next to Glidecam HD4000

The Flycam Nano is a cheaper stabilizer not only because it's coming from overseas manufacturing, but also because it doesn't spend on fancy aesthetics. The weights used on the sled (lower tray) of the stabilizer are just large washers with a wing-nut and bolt combo. The finish of the whole unit looks like it's some type of hard flat black paint as opposed to higher end units that use a flat black anodizing process. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing that feels like plastic. It appears to be an all metal rig. Unlike the the Glidecam HD1000 there are also no simple fine tuning knobs. To balance this stabilizer, you'll need to loosen all the thumb screws, shift the plates, recheck and try again if it's still off. With any stabilizer, this could be a time consuming and frustrating process especially for those who aren't familiar with balancing a stabilizer. For myself who has balanced many other stabilizers, it took me less than a minute. Of course, the first time I balanced a Glidecam it literally took me several hours. I've learned to understand what to look for when balancing my cameras, and practice makes perfect.

I'm very impressed with this stabilizer and the amount of weight it can carry. I'm only using 5 of the weights on each side and the unit shipped with 10 on each side. With the amount of weight I have on there now, it doesn't feel like the unit is struggling. I'm flying the Canon 60D with a Sigma 20mm Prime lens. The Flycam Nano I ordered also came with several extra parts including extra rubber feet and wing nuts. It was packaged nicely in a box of solid foam with cut outs. There are a few parts on the unit i'm planning to upgrade like the screws that hold the weights, and changing out the wing nuts to fancier clamp knobs. There's also a small hex screw that holds the top stage to the post that seems to work it's way loose after a while. A simple lock washer will prevent this from coming loose. It also lacks any type of quick release system to remove your camera when traveling. I'll be placing a Quick release adapter to the top of this unit.

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Minimal Parts for easy Travel

It's super compact and if you decide to take it apart will fit into a small bag. It's a really fun stabilizer, and i'm hoping to shoot something worth watching. If you have any questions for me at this point, leave them in the comments section. You can also check out the earlier related posts showing more examples of the Flycam Nano in use.

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find-price-button Flycam Nano DSLR Video Camera Stabilizer

Related Articles:
http://cheesycam.com/flycam-nano-now-available/

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I've received several comments and emails about how well these FD lenses actually work. For those who are chasing that DOF look, old vintage lenses can get you there on a budget. You'll often hear that these lenses aren't as sharp as digital EF mounts, but that's going about it all wrong. Sure they aren't uber sharp, but with moving pictures it can provide a more classic Cinema feel than overly sharp lenses. Many of these lenses can give you this certain artistic look starting at only $20 dollars. I think the best comment left on this blog was 'Take them for what they are'. They can really blow out a background, especially this 200mm prime lens at F/4. Sure you can find lenses at F/1.2 but you have to also factor lens distance, subject focal distance, and background distance from subject. Get the right combination, and F/4 can provide a really nice blurred look to that background. Keep in mind too that the 60D with this FD adapter turns this 200mm into a crazy focal length of 320mm+ at F/4.

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There's a few things I could have done better in this. My white balance was set to Auto, and perhaps if I set it correctly it could have warmed things up. I didn't have an ND filter on so the shutter speed was a bit high. I could have thrown a reflector on the subject to get more balanced lighting under the hat, and a scrim to shade the hot spot. I was also just using the preset Picture style for Portrait on the 60D. I possibly could have shot it in a more flat style and edited in post, but I wanted to show how well the image can be straight from the camera. So hopefully this sample will give you guys an idea of some types of footage that can be achieved. You can find the adapter i'm using back at this article: http://cheesycam.com/the-cheaper-road-to-a-lens-with-f1-2/.

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Click Image for FD Adapter

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Old video - The 24-105mm has been upgraded with Stainless Steel Inserts

If you're out of gift ideas for what to get your camera geek buddies, you may want to check out the Coffee Mug Lens Replicas. I'm all over this one. After the initial release of the Canon 70-200mm F/4 at the Olympics, there's been quite a few new additions of 'Lens Replica Coffee Mugs' including Nikon versions. The Nikon version i'm showing in my gallery actually 'Zooms' in and out, which is quite whimsical. The details on these replicas are incredible with the recent versions being over 95% detailed to match the real deal. The new versions also include stainless steel inserts for hot beverages, perfect for both Camera lovers and Coffee Drinkers. I have quite a few myself which you can check out in the galleries below. The 24-105mm Lens mug you see in my gallery is the old one. The new Canon 24-105mm F/4 Replica Lens mug now has a stainless steel insert and is more accurate in replica details.

Originally these items were crazy over priced upwards of $100 dollars each with rare finds, but now the the trend has died down and there's more sellers available. The new cheaper prices sometimes found for about $10 dollars for these things make for the perfect Christmas gift for any Camera enthusiast. A gift you know won't end up being recycled back to someone else, LOL. You'll find local sellers that can get you one in short time, but if you're looking to get this by the big Holiday for cheap over seas pricing, you may want to pad for some shipping time and order soon.

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find-price-button Nikon Coffee Mug Telephoto Zoom


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find-price-button Canon Lens Mug Coffee Mug Replica Telephoto Zoom

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DSLRMarketPlace provides a video with an up close look on all the things the WF718 Tripod + Fluid head has to offer. I was always under the assumption the WF718 was the same as the 717AH fluid head, but there's some differences including the quick release mounting and positionable sliding plate. Now i'm curious if the internal build is the same as the 717AH. This Video Fluid head with extension arm is a set that includes the much requested video Tripod legs. These tripod legs have some skills that show off a nice range of positions (as seen towards the end of the video). The tripod also comes with a lower central bag hook, not only to store your backpack, but to weigh it down for some extra sturdiness. For those who are starting out in video and are in need of some good sticks, or if you're working on that 4ft. slider project that needs two Tripods for support, this is looking like a good deal. If you've got questions about this particular item, you can contact DSLRMarketPlace at the vimeo page here: https://vimeo.com/16912877

DSLRMarketPlace purchased the exact item here:
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find-price-button WF718 Fluid Drag Video Head + Heavy Duty Professional Video Tripod

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Thanks to a tip from Ron, here's a unique eBay storefront run by rock artist Eddie Houston. Many people will recognize the name Eddie Houston having played for some years in famous Rock Groups such as Thin Lizzie, Creed, some time with John Coghlan, Status Quo, and of Course Pilot. Eddie seems to share a love of vintage and rare lenses, and actually 'refurbishes' these items back to it's old glory. There's a limited supply in the store front that changes up periodically, but each lens has been basically restored sometimes including the original box and user manuals. Is it weird to ask for an autograph too? LOL. You can read more about Eddie Houston's eBay storefront called 'The Lens Doctor' following the link: Check out the inventory of Refurbished lenses from The Lens Doctor
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Canon 85mm F/1.2L FD Manual Focus Lens

Canon FD mount lenses designed originally for older film cameras are a beautiful option for many video shooters. Not only are they wildly popular with DOF adapters to be used with standard camcorders, you'll find DSLR bodies such as Panasonic, Sony, Olympus, Nikon, and new Canon DSLR's adapting these older lenses to get wide apertures on the cheap. The controls are completely manual to set aperture and focus. Many enjoy shooting these older lenses simply because the focus rings work better for pulling focus in video mode.

There's a bunch of different adapters to mount these FD lenses to just about any camera. For Canon this i'm using one which has an extra piece of Optical glass to correct the image and prevent vignetting at wider angles. For other cameras, i'm not sure if the optical glass would be necessary. If you've got an FD lens adapter story to share, post your comments here.

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find-price-button Canon FD Lens Adapter with Optical Glass for Correction

It's also pretty sharp, but not too sharp and often giving a very vintage feel with your footage. The look from these lenses will definitely give artistic video shooters a bit more of a creative documentary feel with a slightly softer high contrast look. Here's a good example video https://vimeo.com/3919586 that was posted (now 2 years ago). You can catch groups on both Vimeo and Flickr all dedicated to older FD and FL vintage lens styles. The current EF auto focus 85mm F/1.2 runs for close to $2,000 dollars. Look carefully and you'll catch an 85mm F/1.2L FD mount (yes L lens) for less than a third of the EF mount price. Of course F/1.2 should provide you with a beautiful image, but it's not your only option. There are many other other great FD lenses to be adapted including F/1.4, F/1.8, F/2.0 with all ranged from Fisheye Wides to Super Zooms.

So if you're looking to get more Depth of Field on the cheap with a nostalgic look, check out the many FD and FL lenses available most starting auctions at under $5 dollars.
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find-price-button Canon FD Mount manual focus manual aperture Lenses

Related Posts:
Canon FD 200mm F/4 Video Sample http://cheesycam.com/canon-fd-lens-200mm-f4/

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Image stabilization or 'IS' is what Canon calls it, Vibration Compensation or 'VC' is a Tamron term, and Anti Shake 'OS' a.k.a Optical Stabilization is Sigma's phrase. Yeah that last one didn't match up very well, but it's an all important feature for today's run and gun hand held DSLR video renegades. It's also going to provide you with sharper images in low light situations when you can't use flash. When photographing with an Image Stabilized lens, you can also keep some of that ISO noise down. Sure a fast F/2.8 or better will help get that light through, but Image Stabilization is equally as important. Which lens is right for you? In today's economy, that question often comes down to 'What price is right for you'. So what's the options for Wide lenses between 16-55mm with a fast F/2.8? Here's the top three for Canon DSLR's (not full frame).

First is of course Canon's 17-55mm with IS. Some say it's super sharp, and built with such quality it should be labeled with other 'L' class lenses, but Canon doesn't seem to stamp L on any of their EF-S mount. Of course, it's also priced close to other L lenses so it's above what some young shooters want to invest.
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find-price-button Canon EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS Zoom

I'm going to throw off the order of things and skip down straight to most inexpensive. If you're looking for the cheapest price, Tamron has been doing well with today's market and offers a 17-50mm F/2.8 with VC (Vibration Control) that has worked very effectively for me on my 18-270mm. Some may argue it's not better than Canon, but I find that the VC with Tamron is super quiet compared to the IS on some Canon lenses (especially the 24-105mm).
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find-price-button Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC

Here's the middle ground in the top three list of fast wide lenses offering Image Stabilization. Although i'm talking about Canon options, keep in mind that both the Tamron and Sigma are available in other makes such as Nikon and Sony. The Sigma 17-50mm F/2.8 is still incredibly cheaper than the Canon 17-55mm and just slightly more than the Tamron 17-50mm. This is one of Sigma's recent lenses offering a 17-50mm F/2.8 with OS. Sigma's been getting great reviews as of late, and their designs keep getting better. Normally Sigma's are way over priced compared to the Tamron brand, but in this range of lens it's not a huge difference. Personally I think Sigma has an edge in quality of glass and build so if you could afford to, this Sigma is a great option for a fast wide with optical stabilization.
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find-price-button Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM Zoom Lens

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Rokinon 14mm Fisheye lens for Canon and Nikon

As of late, i've been pointed several times to the Rokinon 14mm Fisheye lens as a great cheap alternative for those looking to get super duper wide. It's old news in the Photography space, but with video on the DSLR's this bad boy is gaining a bit of steam. You can find positive feedback on many of the photography forums about how sharp of an image it can provide, especially for the money. Of course, by not having auto focus features in it's design definitely makes it easier to manufacture a sharper lens at a cheaper price.

Rokinon is not a lens manufacturer, but a brand of lens. So you'll find the same lens under popular names like Samyang. Don't go looking for Samyang though, that name alone adds a small hike to the price. The same lens found under Rokinon will yield cheaper results. If you're looking for the Canon 14mm Super Wide Angle F/2.8 you've better come with over 2K of change in the pocket. Going with an off brand manual focus lens will get you down cheaper, including the Bower 14mm f/2.8 Ultra Wide Angle Manual Focus, but that's still over priced compared to the Rokinon. If you're doing any type of Photography, a Fisheye lens in the tool bag is a great addition. You'll get a super wide image captured and there are plenty of 'fisheye' correcting software that can stitch images into normal view or 360 degree image panoramics for Real Estate Virtual tours. If you're not using Photoshop, there's free ones available i've used like 'RectFish'. For correcting distortion in video, that's a different story.

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Correcting image distortion with RectFish

The 'Fisheye Look' is mostly popular with extreme sports for the ability to get everything in frame and with it's super wide view can mask unsteady movements. If you don't mind the fisheye distortion, it will make Steadicam type shots look butter smooth. Will it work on a full frame without vignette? Don't hold me to it, but my initial research says yes. Of course you will find much more 'fisheye' distortion with a Full Frame camera than would be on a Canon T2i, 7D, or 60D. For Nikon or Pentax users, you're in luck because it runs even cheaper for some reasons. No adapters needed like the Peleng fisheye lenses, these Rokinon's are built to mount. Better yet, the Rokinon 14mm also gets you to an F/2.8 serving pretty well in low light situations. If you've got more news, videos, or comments on the Rokinon, drop a comment.

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find-price-button Rokinon 14mm Fisheye lens for Canon and Nikon

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Once Eric received his Gini Rig, he went straight to work on designing a custom DIY Follow focus. Made from milled plumbing parts on his metal lathe, here's the build set and final product. Damn this looks better designed than some of the other Follow Focuses on the market. Check out Eric's Flickr page for more information, he's even included a few videos to see how it all comes together. Comments to Eric can be left at this article. Thanks Eric, so when do we see this for sale? LOL.

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