Lens Talk

• 3 Comments

•

gearless-follow-focusgearless-follow-focus-ikan

Ikan's really pumping out some accessories for DSLR's and they are now following up with a Gearless Follow Focus a.k.a 'Friction Based'. Traditional 'Geared' FF systems will get you dead on, but there's a drawback on the time it might take to setup the gears on the lenses. (Unless you're a sponsored film maker, you'll probably just go out and grab an unlimited amount of gears for every lens you own.)

Well I guess technically this Ikan is not completely 'gearless', unlike the completely 'Gearless' follow focus from IDCPhotography, the Ikan unit uses an angled geared transmission. The IDCPhotography unit looks pretty good and and doesn't mount like traditional Rod Based FF gear. It does appear that direct drive without gear ratios might be limited and uncomfortable with longer focus pulls. Don't quote me on that, it's just my perception and I haven't used an IDCPhotography Follow Focus.

The Ikan Follow focus system also comes in super cheap, in fact, this IKan is possibly the Cheapest Friction Based Follow Focus on the retail market today. The Ikan seems to have the best of both worlds offering a Friction Based Follow Focus + Ergonomic angled transmission for comfortable long focus pulls, but note you'll still need a rod rig to mount. Note that friction based FF systems may only work well on newer Lenses with smooth focus rings, and might not be a good idea on older FD Manual lenses. Who knows, until we can actually test these things out. Hopefully Ikan is listening and will send one out for review...hint hint..nudge nudge..

•

I enjoy watching Behind the Scenes type videos, I feel like i'm learning something new each time from different people. SatoStudio has this BTS video of a recent Mexico Destination wedding, and you get an idea of the type of equipment they would require for these highly mobile shoots. In this video I see lots of Monopods, Glidecam 2000 Stabilizers, and Canon 580 EX II Speedlites for mobile portrait shoots. Radio Poppers are used for stable transmission of signal from camera to speedlites. I'm really impressed with how smooth that Cinevate Pegasus slider is. The reason you'd go with the Pegasus over the Cinevate Atlas is by design. Sand can easily cause problems with the Atlas slider bearings, but the Pegasus is a much more forgiving roller design for those conditions. I think what really ties this all together for a great shoot is the willingness of the bridal party. Great work SatoStudio, looks like a fun crew, I gotta run with you guys sometime...

• 4 Comments

•

I always admit how poorly some of my DIY videos are. Many times I just show beginning, skip middle, straight to the end results. I don't explain clearly how it's all put together. Well if you plan on building that Cheesycam DSLR Cage Fig Rig Stabilizer, you may want to take a look at the video above regarding a few important steps I forgot to provide.

Before you begin your DIY, you'll have to work completely shirtless because that's how Real Men DIY. You need to play some heavy metal rock music in a foreign language, cut steel in a boiler room environment, and grind metal while allowing hot sparks to hit bare skin. That's right 'bare skin'. Yeah that's exactly how I was working on my cage too but I didn't have time to edit that in to my video. Thanks Videonik Pictures, that's the coolest DIY Cage video ever!

Next up, Carlo Zappella caught the article I posted about the DIY Variable ND Filter for about $10 bucks, and whipped up his own. Using a Canon T2i and sticking to 'double the framerate' rule with his Shutter speed around 1/50th, he was still able to maintain excellet DOF without overexposing on this uber cheap DIY Variable ND Fader Filter. They say it's possible to lose some sharpness depending on the filters you buy, but I didn't notice anything. It looks much better than without a variable ND that's for sure. They also say it could change color tone depending on the filters you use, but Carlo threw in the Magic Bullet Looks and it came out great. He's also using a DIY Slider for the slow sliding shots, similar to mine here.

• 13 Comments

•

black-rapid-RS-DR1
Above: Black Rapid RS DR-1 dual camera strap

Dual camera straps are a must for any event photographer. Two cameras, one lens for wide and one lens for Zoom, fast shots with no lens changing. I know many many photographers who will kick themselves after this post. Ok, so I have a friend who loves to borrow my Black Rapid RS DR-1 dual camera strap. I love the thing too, it's functional and it's quite macho. I did pay over $130 dollars for it, but like I said it does the job.

So i'm poking around the web trying to find a deal on it so that my friend can start rockin' his own Dual Camera Straps, but Amazon has some pretty cheap looking knock offs. Finally turning to the old trustworthy eBay sellers, I just happened upon what looks to be an 'exact' replica of the Black Rapid RS DR-1! Even the cool clip adapter looks exactly the same. Where was this thing before? Sheesh, talk about savings too, I could have purchased three of these clones... I'm going to try and get a hold of one to compare, but to be honest, i'm already sold. Maybe i'll sell mine to 'my friend' and then just pick up this item? Nah..too late, he reads my blogs..crap. Check out the Black Rapid RS Dual Camera strap Clone.

Below: Black Rapids RS DR-1 Dual Camera Strap Clone
black-rapid-ebay-clone-dual-camera-strap
click image

black-rapid-rs-strap-clone
click image

• 75 Comments

•

lcdvf-clone (10)
(Above) Original LCDVF vs LCDVF Clone

Here's a couple of snapshots i'm sharing with everyone LCDVF vs LCDVF Clone. One is the real, and one is the clone. You can barely tell any difference at all. Even the bag is legit! The clone fit 'perfectly' on my original LCDVF metal frame that was already mounted on my cameras. Magnetic strength was the same for both.

After each strobe fired, there was a bit of color coming off of the Replica lens. I swapped positions in the lightbox, but you could still see a bit more reflection from the LCDVF clone optics. There could be a bit of truth regarding the way the glass is designed. This would only be noticeable if light were hitting it in a certain direction, so I wouldn't even consider that a 'problem'. It's like having glare on a window, but once you got your face up to it blocking that light you can see clearly. As far as Magnification it's pretty much on point. I don't notice a difference against my LCD glass. It's about a $100 dollar price difference between the real and the clone. I'll let you guys compare the photos and read all the comments to decide which would work best for you.

Imitation is usually the best form of flattery, but this is so close to the real deal, if eBay finds there is some Infringement issues, say goodbye to these uber cheap LCD Viewfinders. If it still works, here's the link to the LCDVF Clone Viewfinders for DSLRs.

lcdvf-clone (20)
find-price-button LCD viewfinder x2,8 for Canon 5D MKII 7D 550D T2i

(below) Clone wearing the Upgraded Eyepiece found in this article
lcdvf-clone (20)

Don't forget the upgraded eyepiece can be found in this article.

fleece-professional-viewfinder
click image

• 26 Comments

•

photo 1

photo 2

photo 3

photo 4

Wow, I forget there's two delivery times here. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. This afternoon, these items just arrived for me to talk about. First up is the DSLR Glass LCD Screen protector for the Canon 550D first introduced in this article here. Wow this thing is nice! The fit is very OEM like with beveled edges to keep the smooth look and feel. Quality is superb.

ggs-canon-dslrggs-glass-lcd-protection
Available for 5D Mark II, 7D, and yes people even the 550D / T2i click images

Next up is the LCDVF 'Clone' or 'Replica'. Wow..Literally..WOW. I couldn't stop smiling when I opened the box. This is crazy..this is dead on exactly the same, I seriously could not find a casting flaw, an imperfect finish, or anything unusual about this item. I'd swear it was the real deal. If this isn't coming out of the same manufacturer, it's quite impressive how much this item has replicated every little detail of the real LCDVF.

Here's the link to the LCDVF Clone Viewfinders for DSLRs.

lcdvf-replica-poland
click for pricing

Here's a pretty cool interesting tip!:
I received a comment earlier from someone else who had received the Glass LCD protector + LCDVF clone. They mentioned that when these two new items used together, it actually improved the viewable areas of the Canon 550D LCD without using a 3/2 version of an LCD Viewfinder. Now that I received mine, I had to test that theory out. The original 3" LCDVF design cropped a bit of the 550D LCD view by 1mm each side. You think you need a 3/2 version LCD Viewfinder? Think again. This odd combination seemed to work out and improves on correcting that 1mm crop on each side to just about a perfect view of the entire LCD.

View of LCDVF Clone + Glass LCD Protector on Canon 550D / T2i
photo 1

photo 2

photo 3

Find the LCDVF Viewfinder Replica following this link

• 17 Comments

•

fleece-professional-viewfinder
click image

For those who are purchasing any type of aftermarket LCD Viewfinder and want to add the additional cotton, fleece, or microfiber eyepiece, here's the actual product that normally ships with the real LCDVF. I dug mine out of a box (never used it) and turns out this is the exact ones that ship with a new LCDVF. In fact after a couple of comments and referrals, turns out this Eyepiece company pretty much dominates this product line. They are available everywhere and are used by several different companies. Quality is top notch and available in Cotton, Fleece, and Microfiber.

The original one that ships from LCDVF came in Microfiber - Oval Small. Available in a variety of colors (yes even purple), ratings over at B&H are 5 stars, run much cheaper than the Jag35.com eyepiece, and after shipping pretty much cheaper than anywhere else. Soooo cheap in fact, it's practically disposable. I may have to grab a few to replace after they've become sweat soaked, or in case someone with cooties wants to borrow. Check out the Professional Fleece / Microfiber Viewfinders for your LCD Viewfinders.

• 6 Comments

•

Wow, I knew there was software to mimic the Tilt-Shift effect you get from $2,000-$3,000 dollar lenses, but never saw it look this good. Here's a couple of Timelapse videos shot by Photographer Martin Wallgren, and edited in post to mimic the Tilt Shift effect with Alien Skin's 'Bokeh' software. The focus drop off looks very very smooth, it's hard to tell it was done with a Photoshop Plugin.

This sounds like a more time consuming process, but a real Tilt Shift lens is another piece of equipment to drag around, not to mention the crazy price too. I haven't been using Photoshop very much after Lightroom, but here's a reason to get back into it. It may not be true tilt-shift, but these awesome results speaks for itself.

• 34 Comments

•

lcdvf-replica-poland
click image

Alright this post is a little weird. A tip from Cheesycam reader 'Tony', pointed me out to this EXACT replica of the original LCDVF now available on eBay. I mean dead on exact, and LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE! Looks like some of those plans leaked out, and now a company in Poland is manufacturing these on their own. Wait wait wait!!! Isn't the original LCDVF from Poland and the guy who makes the LCDVF go by the name Tony too?? Don't quote me on all this, but I have a feeling it's really the LCDVF coming out of the same manufacturing plant.

Yeah i'm not sure where this is all going just yet, but this "replica" of the LCDVF is going for a ridiculously cheap price + FREE Shipping for any LCD Viewfinder, so i'm not here to complain. Everything about this unit seems to match the original. Even the 2x magnification. All of the auctions appear to be no less than 5 days old from the same seller (in Poland). From what I can tell about 17 of them have already sold in the last 5 days so it's picking up a bit of steam. The seller has an awesome reputation on sales, so maybe we're just all getting hooked up with some super cheap prices on what could be the original LCDVF?? If anyone grabs one, let us know how that turns out. Check out this LCD Viewfinder that looks like an exact replica of the LCDVF.

The kit comes with:

  • viewfinder with an eye cup and magnifying lens 
  • 2x magnetic mounting bracket
  • microfiber cloth to keep your lens clean
  • mini-strap
  • neoprene casing with a snap hook

LCD-VF100-set
click image