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camera-hand-strap
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I find it weird that some people still keep the OEM straps on their cameras. It might be great for a tourist type outing, but it's not very comfortable for professionals. Most people end up replacing it with different straps such as the BlackRapid R-Strap. If you must have a strap, try something smaller like the basic handgrip strap that makes it easier to grip the camera while shooting. It's cool, but it does require to mount under the camera which doesn't work well when moving to video rigs like Tripods, Sliders, Shoulder Rigs, or Steadicams. This strap works great for photos and videos, but uses the tripod mounting hole on your camera.

ws20-canon-strap
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This little strap is much more practical. This is small, out of the way, and a more simple design used to give you a hand strap without taking up the space of the Tripod mounting hole.

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VisualRebel picked up on one of my earlier posts found here about cheap ways to shoot Macro. I'm not sure if anyone really believed the quality you can get from flipping a lens backwards, but the proof is in the pudding. This video was shot by VisualRebel using a standard 18-55mm on a 550D / T2i, and handheld used the cheap $99 dollar 50mm F/1.8 in reverse. This awesome little video does a good job in showing the quality of Macro with equipment you probably already have. Now take this setup outdoors with more light, and get in on those creepy crawlies like National Geographic.

Here's a tip folks, if you want to use the exact same setup as VisualRebel, the filter on the 18-55mm is 58mm and the 50mm filter is 52mm. You can buy this special adapter for less than $4.00 dollars + Free shipping to 'mate' the two together (one in reverse) so you don't have to do any handholding. Save yourself the headache. For less than $4.00 + Free shipping, you can get this adapter to hold the lens for you.

reverse-macro-ring
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I'm not sure what's the best combination of lenses to do this reverse trick, it's more trial and error. Apparently this video shows superb quality and definitely sounds like the cheapest (and lightest) combination for reverse macro. You can find other Rings here to match different size lenses against other size lenses by clicking here.

If you've already got two lenses to do reverse Macro, then the adapter is cheap. If you're looking to simply work with 1 lens, especially the 18-55mm, remember to check out my review on the cheap Macro Bellow found here:

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Waylon and his family join a bunch of us in Brentwood, CA for some Cherry Pickin'. I remember going as kids, but haven't been in decades. This past holiday weekend we decided to BBQ and try our hands at some traditional family cherry picking for the kids. We didn't last very long in the heat, but it was fun and definitely an experience for the kids. Waylon traveled light, shooting with a Canon 7D, Monopod, Canon 24mm F/1.4 Prime, Fader ND and I was suprised he could pull off this great video. Thanks Waylon, great job, feel free to drop him some comments too.

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On the set of the Sherlock Tones music video a slate was used with a special iPod Touch / iPhone application for video. Now that the iPad is released with a much larger screen, take a look at the DSLR slate application. Now that's what i'm talking about. Available for $4.99 on the iTunes store.

Get more information from the Company website Here:

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blue-mikey

blue-speaker-ipod

Here's a true story. At my own wedding the videographer sat at the far end of the Luau table. Spontaneously someone decided to stand up and start making a speech. Me knowing the camera would never be able to grab this audio, I quickly threw my iPhone on Voice Recorder mode and placed it on the table in front of the speaker. It works, try it sometime.

A reader wanted to share this item and thought it might come in handy for those times you need some quality audio recording. The manufacturer 'Blue' is known for making several quality models of microphones and has this product available that adapts to most iPod & iPhone devices. It also has a built in Speaker too for better playback, but you'll probably be on your headphones. More information about the product below.

Product Description
With positional/directional design and stereo capability, you can record your rehearsals or gigs. Other features include a mono confidence speaker, variable gain control, overload protection, recording status light and up to 1.5 hours continuous recording. It's never been easier to record your world. Meet Mikey, Blue's new iPod recording device that makes recording lectures, voice notes, live music, interviews and more - Mikey can capture it all with audio quality unheard of in a hand-held device. But hey, you'd expect that from a company with years of experience designing and engineering award-winning studio mics! Mikey features Blue's superior quality stereo condenser capsules, 3-position user selectable gain settings, and built-in speaker for playback. You can fine-tune Mikey to record everything from the barest audible sound to extremely loud sources without losing audio fidelity. Mikey's unique user-positionable head swivels 180 to provide maximum flexibility and usability, allowing you to position Mikey towards sound sources in various directions. Record up to 1.5 hours continuously Compatible with iPod nano 2G, 3G & 4G; iPod classic; iPod 5G & most cases

514g5NB6y9L._SL500_AA300_
find-price-button Blue Microphones Mikey iPod Recording Microphone with Speaker

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mast-photography

Random post, ignore this if you're busy. But if you're truly bored, and you've got time to kill, check out Mast Photography around Google. Interesting hobby and some crazy setups out there. Might even be some new equipment you'll use on your next Video or Photo event. Follow this link, but don't blame me if you waste the next hour researching Mast Photography.

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zoom-h1

What's going to be the hottest selling item in the DSLR world come July 30th? Well It's not going to be a DSLR. I predict the hottest selling item is going to be the new Zoom H1 portable audio recorder. C'mon for $99 dollars, and it's portable size, it's the perfect recorder for DSLR shooters. It's not going to match the many inputs of the H4n, or have as high quality, but it'll do the job where the H4n can't. One of the things i'm already thinking about is using these instead of wireless receivers on a Bride or Groom. Given the right lav microphone attached, these will run much much cheaper than any wireless set and guarantee to provide a high quality recording capture. More information can be found on the Samson Tech website.

But if I were you, i'd start getting on the pre-order list where available. It's already showing up on the BHPHOTOVIDEO website, Keep checking this article and click here when it comes around.

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Rod based rigs are nice, since you can slide for adjustments to fit pretty much any body type. The problem is finding cheap clamps for those 90 Degree angles. Here's a guy who was able to machine some of his own clamps for standard sized rods. The DIY video above was submitted to me by Igor which is very similar to Zacuto's $1000 dollar 'Striker' rig. I'm guessing Igor didn't spend $1000.00 dollars for his DIY project. Thanks for sharing, check out his DIY rig, and leave Igor some comments at his video link here.