Videography Gadgets

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Wanted to put the T3i's new 3x Zoom featuer to the paces, so I shot some bugs with the 100mm F/2.8L IS Macro. At 10x you do notice it gets soft and it's pretty hard to see what's going on with these little guys. So for now here's an all 3x Zoom video which shows the original camera position. (except for the first few seconds. You'll see the text change). The shakiness was because it was a windy day, it's not from the camera. It's also pretty hard to pan at 3x Macro, everything is exaggerated.

I know what you're thinking. Wow, what a rare treat to find a flower full of sooo many lady bugs with great fill lighting? A very unique experience to have outside in nature. Ok, I admit. I cheated. Just a little.

I'm going to try this again in a more controlled environment when I get my real lights setup. I was at home and limited to what I could use. You can't use bulbs that generate too much heat or the flower will wilt and the lady bugs will 'crisp'. These little FLO's don't output as much as the LED panels which i'll try (maybe tomorrow).

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find-price-button Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR

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The Canon T3i is in, and so far looks very close to a Canon T2i. There is one cool feature that none of the other Canon's have and it's the 3x-10x Zoom feature. The T2i and 60D had something similar but could not perform this while shooting in HD resolution. The Panasonic GH2 already had this feature built in, so it's nice to see Canon stepping up with the same.

canon-t3i (1 of 1)

The new T3i has this Zoom ability that can only be used in 1080 either 24fps or 30fps. You can't use this feature when shooting in 720. It's not a hard set Zoom factor, as you can start at 3x and slowly work your way to any Zoom in between all the way up to 10x. For people trying to find a solution to shooting far (wedding guys?), this new feature can essentially change my 100mm F/2.8 into a 1600mm F/2.8. So a simple 50mm F/1.4 can become a 500mm F/1.4. You see where this can come in handy? Oh and because my 100mm is one of Canon's finest 'Macro' lenses, the 10x feature on this lens is 'INSANE!!'. A must see, I mean seriously this is where this feature really really shines. It's crazy....

Let's hope Canon has the ability to throw this feature in via Firmware updates to our older cams, but don't hold your breath.

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find-price-button Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR

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Sometimes you get too caught up with high end DSLR's, you tend to forget the awesome abilities of the little GoPro HD. This camera has laid out a nice portfolio of things no DSLR camera would dare to venture. Here's another one from VERB TV about the sport of FlowRiding, put together by Jason Johnson cranking out what looks like a faux 1000fps from the little cam. Details of the video below, but you might want to catch this video in full HD over at the YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWQRhqxM5xs

Mission Beach San Diego, a place called Wave House.
Edited in Premiere Pro CS5, After Effects CS5 and Photoshop CS5
Twixtor within After Effects for the super super slow mo.
Everything else was shot at 60fps slowed down to 24fps in Premiere as a baseline for the footage.

Time to dust off the old GoPro and throw some footage into After Effects.. [Thanks Jason]

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I couldn't make it out to the studio just yet, so I decided to shoot a 'First Glance' video of the new LED Light Panels hitting the market. This one in the video is the 1200 LED version, but they are available in 600 and 900 LED counts. Some versions are available with V-mount battery adapters and all lights are dimmable. We ran some color temperature tests just using the meters in the Sony EX1 and they had excellent results being 5600K and 3100K with the provided tungsten (yellow) filter.

I'll have to do a side by side comparison, but the 600 LED version of this new panel is said to throw light further than the older (more popular) 1000 LED panels. The 1200 LED panel i'm playing with here is 'extremely' light weight. Much easier to pack, travel, and handle than the other versions. Uh and FYI, I'm considering posting my (3)pcs 500 LED kit online very soon to upgrade to more of these. When that happens, you'll find it in the Cheesycam Classifieds.

600-LED-Video-Light
find-price-button 600 Led Light Weight Studio Photo Light Dimmable Video Photography Lighting Sony V mount Battery adapter 14.8V DC 110V-230V

900-led-video-light-panel
find-price-button 900 LED Dimmable Photography Video Camera DSLR 5400K/3200K Lighting Light Panel Sony V Mount battery Adapter INCLUDED 14V OUTPUT 110V-230V


1200-LED-Video-Panel
find-price-button 1200 LED Dimmable Video Light Panel Still Photography Studio Portrait Lighting 24V DC, 110V-230V

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Should the available US links (above) be out of stock, then you can find them over seas (below)
600-LED-Video-Light
find-price-button eBay 600 LED, 900 LED, and 1200 LED Dimmable Video lights

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600-900-1200-LED-Video-Lights1200-900-600-LED-Video-Light-Panels

There's been some new LED Video panels floating around the Internet, but mainly coming from over seas companies. Not much has been said about these panels, probably because someone is waiting to hear what the quality is like. Well now it's finally available via Amazon and ships from the US. I got my hands on a set and I'm going to try to make it into the studio today and throw up some examples of these new LED Video Light Panels. So far we've been drooling over them for the past few days. These are from a different manufacturer and priced higher than the popular 500 and 1000 LED panels found here: http://cheesycam.com/bts-sample-with-cheap-500-led-video-light-panels/

These new 600, 900, and 1200 panels are thinner than the other models, extremely lightweight, dimmable, and can be powered via DC batteries. It sits centered in a Yoke mount which makes it easy to reposition and keep the units balanced. The biggest difference with this light compared to other ones is the 'throw' and color temperature. These LED panels throw light much further and is very bright. Putting the 1200 LED panel against a Sony EX1, the temperature was detected at 5600K - Yes! Throwing on the provided Tungsten filter, the Sony EX1 registered it as 3100K - very close. These new LED Panels come in 600 LEDs, 900 LEDs, and 1200 LEDs - all dimmable and options for Sony batteries V mount.

I'll have more information soon, but there's only a limited amount available from Amazon so im just giving you all a heads up. You can find out more information about them here.


600-LED-Video-Light
find-price-button 600 Led Light Weight Studio Photo Light Dimmable Video Photography Lighting Sony V mount Battery adapter 14.8V DC 110V-230V

900-led-video-light-panel
find-price-button 900 LED Dimmable Photography Video Camera DSLR 5400K/3200K Lighting Light Panel Sony V Mount battery Adapter INCLUDED 14V OUTPUT 110V-230V


1200-LED-Video-Panel
find-price-button 1200 LED Dimmable Video Light Panel Still Photography Studio Portrait Lighting 24V DC, 110V-230V

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Should the available US links (above) be out of stock, then you can find them over seas (below)
600-LED-Video-Light
find-price-button eBay 600 LED, 900 LED, and 1200 LED Dimmable Video lights

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visit-button Panasonic AG-AF100 Rental from Borrow Lenses

If you've got a big project coming around, one of the cameras creating buzz is the Panasonic AG-AF100. You might think it's a large GH2, but it's got quite a few more bells and whistles. Of course, if you don't shoot enough to consider owning one, the Panasonic AG-AF100 is available to rent via BorrowLenses.com. The AG-AF100 records to basic SDHC cards which you probably already have, and with the right adapter, you'll be able to mount pretty much any lens to this camera giving you more flexibility. You can find more information here: https://www.borrowlenses.com/f386e017

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Arri Alexa 352 LED RING LITE


Arri Alexa LED RING LIGHT screen shot

Gustavo from www.o2lighting.com writes in and provides a few BTS images of the 352 LED Ring Light on an Arri Alexa! That's one fancy camera, and i'm glad to see this thing in use by these guys. It definitely is a kick-ass ENG Light. Traditionally most people want to use this light by putting the lens through the center, but it can also be mounted as a top light or off to the sides with a light stand. [Thanks Gustavo]

I used my 352 LED Ring light with my lens through the center when working on a Steadicam setup mainly to try to keep things balanced. When the light is used off camera this LED Ring throws a very soft even diffused light that can be still be controlled via Dimmer. I have to say that the bracket that comes with the item pretty much sucks. The unit itself is awesome and very very lightweight. I removed the brackets from my unit and just used a Friction Power Arm to the hot shoe of my DSLR. You might have caught that in my video here: http://cheesycam.com/last-minute-glidecam-mods/

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find-price-button 352 LED Ring Light with 12V AC Adapter

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I'm still set on getting some type of Tilt Shift lens (eventually), but if you just want to experiment putting some videos together you can do this without an actual Tilt Shift lens. One of the popular tricks is to shoot far. Really far. Here's an example of a Tilt Shift video I posted that used post processing software to create the effect: http://cheesycam.com/tilt-shift-without-the-tilt-shift-lens/

Here's another example from Vimeo member Mark Rigler. In order to get these shots, he used an inexpensive Samyang 500mm mirror lens. Afterwards, the Tilt Shift effect was added in post.

Sounds like a monster telescope, but mirror lenses use a technique to multiply the image inside a small form factor. The cons to using this technique is some softness and loss of light and the best of the best Mirror lenses at 500mm might be about F/6.3. The pros are you're able to get a crazy distance in a lightweight lens for super cheap. These lenses are often rebranded so Samyang is just one name. You can also find them in Rokinon, Vivitar, and Bower. Imagine using this lens on a GH2 or T3i with new Cropped modes - Crazy far!

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find-price-button Cheap 500mm F/6.3 Mirror Lenses