Videography Gadgets

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Client-Kata bags

Producing/filming/editing-Johnnie Behiri

Shot with the Nikon D90 (all but the Antarctica and wild life)
No CC, only a bit contrast corrections.
Lenses used: Nikkor 50mm 1.8, Nikkor 16-85mm, and Tamron 70-300.
Tripod: Manfroto 756XB and 700RC2 head
Voice-over recorded with Edirol F1-field recorder (hard disk video/audio recorder for dv/hdv/sound only purposes).
Editing on Adobe Premiere CS2 with Cineform Prospect 4k plug in.

The 717AH is a great fluid head, but what other options are there for inexpensive Micro video fluid heads? Well the Manfrotto 700RC2 Mini Fluid video head drops down a few bucks with B&H surprisingly coming in cheaper than anything over at eBay and slightly under Amazon. Keep in mind it's rated to support only 5.5lbs, something that might be good for the growing Panasonic GH2 audience. Don't expect this to support a camera slider, it's best for camera only.

Over at B&H Photo Video they also have a special kit thrown together combining it with the 190XDB Tripod if you're in need of that too. I've never used one, but there's quite a few videos via Vimeo that show some serious travelers using the fluid head for it's small size and light weight (such as the Kata video above by Vimeo member Johnnie Behiri).

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find-price-button Manfrotto 190XDB Tripod Legs (Black) with 700RC2 Video Fluid Head

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The 717AH or similar fluid head is a pretty beefy camera mount for it's price, but there's been some inconsistency in fluid panning. Most people are happy with the video head right out of the box, but if you've got stiff panning try the fix below. The solution to getting smoother (looser) pans are to disassemble the head, clean out the old lube, and add your own. If you've been experiencing such harsh movements you might want to try this yourself. I didn't have time to shoot a video so if anyone has one online, please share. For now you'll get to see a few images of what's inside (not much).

The fluid part of this head is not really a cartridge. It's two sections combined to be a machined bearing. The lube that is used adds more friction rather than more smoothness. It's some really really sticky stuff inside. Personally I find it's best to clean everything out and not leave any traces behind and then add in your own lube. A small dab of white grease from an auto parts store should do fine. You'll know more once you have it apart.

Tools you'll need are some Carb Cleaner. This will help break down the old grease. You'll need a 2.5 & 3 Metric hex tool. If you have everything accessible, you can get through this in less than 10 minutes.

Remove the three screws in the middle which removes the bottom cap.
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Remove the 6 hex screws under the cap (cap shown on the right)
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Take out the two piece metal machined Panning bearing and clean it out.
Fluid-Head (4 of 5)

Lube it with your white grease and put it all back together. (Make sure your Panning Brake is setup correctly before assembling.) Done, should feel super smooth and like a brand new Head.

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find-price-button Heavy Duty Video Tripod Fluid Drag Head Kits WF717A

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find-price-button Opteka View Finder with Glass Diopter

For those struggling to find an inexpensive View Finder with Diopter, Opteka's got a new VF-10. Claims to have all Glass optics, adjustable focusing lens (diopter), and rubberized coating. Looks very similar to the 'Hood Dude' but only half that price. First version of this is only available for 3" 4:3 aspect LCD screens and mounts via Bungee cords. Hopefully we'll see some different sizes start to show up for the T2i / T3i / 60D sizes or even the GH2 and Sony NEX. Doesn't have the large eye-cup if that turns you on, but for those DIY'ers out there, this might be a better start than trying to craft your own. For those who are strictly into photography and just need a good Magnifying loupe to review images in the hot sun, it's not a bad deal for a Loupe and a Lanyard.

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Looks like Rod's been busy, but it also looks like he's been saving - some cash. This is originally a short review of the Express35 RigX DSLR shoulder bundle, but i'm catching all kinds of cool budget gear over the entire rig. RigX was a project Chris designed after I mentioned about adapting to rails to my cheap shoulder support. The version Rod is showing here might be an earlier version of the RigX bundle as I believe there's some new redesign around the baseplate. Don't quote me on this, you might want to check in with Chris over @ Express35 first. Or sometimes he comments in the articles. More info on the RigX can be found here: https://express35.com/rigs/rig-x/

Besides the RigX rail system, he's mounted it to the cheap $24 $30 dollar shoulder support. This small setup looks super lightweight but very functional. Fast off the shoulder and fast onto a Fluid Head. Rod's also got a Zoom H1 over top with hot shoe shock mount, Sescom cable with splitter from Markertek to feed audio directly into a Magic Lantern loaded T2i, and one of the cheapest follow focus systems - the D-Focus. Rod's got a bit more information over at his Vimeo page which you can find here: https://vimeo.com/19856612

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find-price-button Cheap Shoulder Support for Video Camera

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Submitted by one of our readers in the comments section [Thanks Jerry]. Here's an interesting video on a DIY Lego follow focus from YouTube member havok2. Small, Lightweight and stable. It is attached directly to the lens, and variable sizing helps to adjust for other lenses. Taking it even further, there's a complete 3D Rendered video tutorial on how to put everything together. Additional photos can be found via slideshow https://slideshow.havok2.imageloop.com/en/index.htm. To help you get a better idea, you can check out the video description, questions, and additional comments at the video page.

3D Rendered Build Video

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Vimeo member LoweRuno Productions adds a bit more reflective material into some inexpensive Halogen shop lights for a better spread. Aside from these lights running really hot and requiring a bit of voltage at your location, they can offer some really great results. The hardest part is diffusing the light output and color temperature to something more usable. Of course if this is your only source of light, you can do a simple white balance.

Take it all a bit further, here's another great DIY video left in the comments on adding Dimmer controls. This one comes from YouTube member aadailey. I've seen the simple inline DIY's but this in-housing is a nice mod that keeps the dimmer with the lights at all times. Don't forget that not all dimmer switches are created equal. Make sure you choose the right dimmer to handle the ratings on your shop light.

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Since I mentioned I had the 352 LED Ring light, I've had a few questions about it. So before walking out the door I took a few pics of what diffusion would look like with the LED ring light and compared it against the popular Z96 LED. This is not a test of color temperature, this is just a test on diffusion of the ring light. Settings on the camera were at 1/80th F/4 ISO 640. Keeping these settings, you can see how much more or less light there is compared to each other.

As a standard I first started out with the Z96 about 3 feet away from the subject. The subject (Yoda) was about 3ft. away from the white background. You can see the coverage of the light in the full image. In the closeup photo, you can see how much shadow the light casts along with how much diffusion there is around the face.

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Next is the 352 LED Ring light. I have this light powered up from my 12v battery that came with the 183 LED light. Besides outputting much brighter light, you can see how much more area of coverage this light has over the Z96. The light is also very well diffused around the face with soft shadows that wrap around the subject.

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So how well does this light work? It works great, but it requires an AC outlet or 12V battery pack. Even though this ring light is dimmable, it's a very bright source of light that might be uncomfortable for your subject to stare at directly. If you're not working with people then it's a great LED ring that provides very soft even lighting. So to be fair, this should be considered more of an option to the 500 LED panel over an on-camera LED light (even though it can be an on-camera light).

The light itself is extremely light-weight made mostly of plastic. There is an OFF/ON switch as well as a dimmer knob. There are no filters provided with this ring light. If it's too bright for your subject, you could put it off to the side with a light stand. Carry a few and it can serve as a portable lighting kit great for traveling interviews. The options already built in to run on AC power or through a 12V power source make it more flexible than a 500 LED without added cost (batteries not included). This would easily run on a portable jumper battery with built in Cigarette lighter adapter (like the one I have). Long lasting 12V rechargeables are easy to come by. You can even use the batteries from 'Power Wheels' kids electric cars found at Toys-R-Us.

Considering the price. The 352 LED Ring light is about the same price as the popular 500 LED panels. The Ring light also cannot produce the same amount of brightness as the 500 LED panel, but if weight and size is a concern, this Ring Light cuts that inconvenience down to half. Besides being smaller and lighter than a 500 LED, it can be mounted with your camera for mobile use (something you can't do with a 500 LED). Price might seem high when comparing LED count, but for some traveling types it might justify the cost. You can pack several of these into Airplane carry on luggage as opposed to one single 500 LED light panel.

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

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DIY-colored-gels

Looking to add a bit of color to your Photos? Throwing colored gels over a flash is the easiest way to add interest into what would normally be a boring photo. This DIY tip may not be color accurate to industry standards, but at least you can create an entire lineup of colored faux gels on the cheap. Using transparency film which is fairly heat resistant and durable (for overhead projectors) sent to a printer at your local Kinkos, you can print any color you need, in any size you need, and in any amount needed. Could be great to add a splash of color to your videos too. Check out more information over at Instructables: https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Photography-Gels/.

My other DIY project:
One thing that i've actually been experimenting with and am finding excellent results have been the color changing LED light bulbs.

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There's different versions of these high powered LED lights, but you'll want to go with at least a 5W for the most amount of power. Another thing to look for is the 120 degree beam angle so that it doesn't look too narrow. What i've found was that you need to use a few of these to really spread into a full background. For a talking head shot a single or two LED bulbs would work great in adding a bit of color. So far the 1 that I have is kick-ass for adding colored backgrounds to small product shots.

Here's a video from someone's YouTube using a 3 watt version.

The throw on these LED's are pretty far, and i'm seeing the color from even 10ft away. These are standard light sockets (E27), so building a 4 light head with the LED bulbs slightly spread apart is not a problem. I'll be using these twin E27 light socket heads stacked one on top of the other with a single light stand.

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find-price-button E27 AC Socket Light Studio Mount Umbrella Twin Holder

With my new DIY LED head using (4) 5 watt color changing LEDs i'll be able to carry around a fairly small, durable, low power, low heat, no gels, multi-colored backdrop to any location. These bulbs can not only adjust color, but are also dimmable in brightness. It's a bit of cost up front, but if you consider what a multipack of Gels + Lights would run you, the convenience for adding color is well worth it (for me). Hopefully i'll get around to showing what my version would be like soon.

You can see how background color was used in these video examples (via gels + tungsten):
http://cheesycam.com/cheap-3pc-lighting-kit-photography-samples/
http://cheesycam.com/need-for-speed-hot-pursuit-bts-interview/


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find-price-button E27 5W RGB LED Bulb Spot Light 20 color changing remote

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Canon-T3i-600D

As if there isn't enough cameras in Canon's lineup, they recently just announced the T3i or 600D. Looks very close to the Canon 60D sticking with the Vari-angle LCD screen and i'm sure taking in a few other similarities. Some new tricks with in camera processing of photos and videos, upgrades to EOS utilities and Zoom Browsers, but technical specs within the core processor don't surpass the 60D. Don't expect this camera to bring any better image quality.

There is a new Zoom feature that can zoom in 3-10x while maintaining HD video output. Hey that's pretty cool, and can take advantage of shorter lenses. I'm sure there will be some added softness to the effect. Another step up from the T2i is manual audio levels and built in flash trigger. Guess what though, this 600D goes back to the LP-E8 battery unlike the 60D which uses the LP-E6. Sorry guys, no headphone out monitoring added to this DSLR (what's up Canon?).

For those who really wanted the swivel LCD, but could not afford the 60D prices, this T3i would be the answer. And to throw in even more confusion, Canon's released a T3 camera (not T3i). This almost seems to be the replacement for a T1i. The T3 is an even lower entry level DSLR, a bit slower in photo fps, lower megapixels, smaller LCD (no swivel), and only 720 capable.

The prices of these new Canon cameras are coming in low so i'm assuming this will discontinue sales of the T2i completely (unless they are willing to do a huge price drop). If it's true then expect remaining T2i inventories to drop prices even lower in the coming weeks. Canon sure has been moving pretty quickly through the lower end of consumer cameras, let's hope they come out with a replacement for some of the top end soon!

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find-price-button Canon T3i & T3 DSLR Cameras