Videography Gadgets

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rokinon-14mm
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.

rect-fish
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.

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

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Anytime you slap the words Audio, Video, or Photo on a product the rule of thumb is to mark it up about 500%. This applies even to small pouches and travel cases, but for people on the move, it's a necessary evil. I've found my own ways of staying organized with all the bits and pieces in my rolling bags, by using transparent tackle boxes made by a company called Plano. I wrote an article about this back in May found here: http://cheesycam.com/diy-camera-gear-organizer-tackle-box/

The clear tackle boxes from Plano have taken my beatings and it's a solid product. Small items are separated and the transparency helps me find things quickly. A quick dry erase marker on the inside helps me determine used or unused CF cards and batteries.

Now looking to break all of my Audio gear into a seperate case, I find myself turning back to Plano. I have a number of shotgun microphones, lav microphones, Zoom H4n, Zoom H1's, shock mounts, clips, and cables. Putting all the audio gear together and laying them out for easy access will help me stay organized instead of throwing things in a bag. A trip to the local Walmart revealed a number of plastic hard cases with handles for Guns, complete with break away foam lining. Some single layer cases start at just around $9 dollars.

single-case

Of the ones on display, my favorite one is a 4 gun case designed with 2 stages of foam and extra deep. Plenty of space to store all of my different microphones and audio recorders with room to spare, while the handle makes for easy transporting. The break away foam will help to protect, keep items from shifting, and provide a clear view of what needs to go back in the case.

plano-4-gun-hardcase

There's a number of different foam lined hard cases in the gun section and even more that can be found online. From plastic to aluminum, deep and shallow. Great for protecting a variety of small video, audio, and photo gear. The only suggestion I have is you stray away from the Logo branded cases like 'Glok' or 'Smith & Wesson' in case you plan on jumping on a plane, and if someone asks you what's in the case, you should probably say 'Microphone' and not 'Shotgun'.

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Aluminum Foam Lined Gun Case

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diy-follow-focus

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.

idc-follow-focus

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Sorry guys, another Canon G12 post, but I can't help it. The Canon Powershot G12 camera is not only fun, it's very functional. I decided to take a trip down to the local bart station to get some movement for an HDR Timelapse test. What's special about this video you see before you? There is only about 240 images in this timeline, but keep in mind that every single image of this Timelapse is actually 3 different photos, taken with 3 different exposures, that were automatically stitched together by the Canon G12 and saved as 1 single photo. It's not that overly posterized looking HDR we often see, but a more delicate balance of shadows and highlights for a more pleasing balance. The camera did all the work as I just sat nearby surfing the internet from my phone. From my results, it does an excellent job for something this small. Everything on the camera was left on default Auto including the ISO, and I even left the focus on Auto!

You can see the camera does a great job with exposing the highlights and shadows by using this built in HDR technique, but who knew you could Timelapse with this feature? Literally just grabbed all the images and dumped it into Sony Vegas. I've been asked several times to provide timelapse footage for client events, showing setups, breakdowns, and just crowd movement, but I never wanted to deal with the post image correction and especially having to leave one of my DSLR's behind. Now after testing the G12 with the built in HDR processing I can see this camera fitting perfectly into my workflow and offering client timelapse video footage. In fact if you had the funds, grab yourself a few G12's and setup timelapse in multiple angles. It's not the best, but it could definitely be incorporated into any video for additional creative footage that would make your production value stand out. This was my first run and I think it went well. With practice, i'm sure it can be refined and useful. I'm going to try it on some sliders and dollies next.

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Click image for pricing on Canon Powershot G12 with Built in HDR

The remote i'm using for the Canon G12 can be found at this article: http://cheesycam.com/canon-g12-vs-nikon-p7000-real-time-hdr-timelapse/

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Someone responded to my earlier video about the Nikon P7000 and Canon G12 review. I mentioned that the Canon G12 can accept a remote for Timelapse Photography and the Nikon doesn't accept the remote. Turns out Nikon has an Intervalometer feature built in and you don't need to carry an extra gadget. Touche' I say, and well played Nikon...well played indeed. So I stand corrected about Nikon and Timelapse Photography.

Not to sound too biased (again), but the Intervalometer feature built into the Nikon isn't so great. There's also a nice little feature for HDR photography already built into the Canon G12 that makes Timelapse Photography even more fun. I'm loving the G12! Many times we cover events and want to timelapse the whole setup process and footage throughout the day. For you Wedding Videographers, the G12 is a great camera to throw into a corner and get some Timelapse footage to incorporate into your videos. For Real Estate agents or anyone doing interior work, grab a tripod and let the camera process out a more balanced exposure. Check out the video above for more information about HDR timelapse with the Canon G12, and I can't wait to take this out for some Timelapse fun.

canon-G12
Click image for Pricing on Canon G12

canon 550d timelapse timer remote
click

The Timer Remote i'm using is the same for the Canon 550D / T2i and Canon 60D found here: http://cheesycam.com/canon-60d-timer-remote-timelapse/

If you're looking for a remote that fits the Canon 7D & 5D Mark II you can find it here: Canon Intervalometer Timer Remote for EOS 7D and 5DMark II

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buyer-beware
False LCDVF Advertisement on Amazon

Ok, I just wanted to point out something over at Amazon that needs some attention to prevent confusion. I don't want anyone getting confused on what they might think is a great deal. I've posted information about the 'LCDVF clone' and made it clear that it is definitely not the real LCDVF. You can find that article here: http://cheesycam.com/evil-little-lcdvf-twin-vs-lcdvf/

Sure quality is great for the cheap price it was sold out to be, I own one myself, but this ad over at Amazon looks quite suspicious. To me it looks like they purposely hid the box, and name of the product, and is hoping people will purchase the item with the intent that it is indeed the real LCDVF, while in fact it isn't. The MEIKE brand of the clone is labeled clearly on the box and on the pouch, but all images on this Amazon ad appears to be intentionally hiding that information. Whether you buy the real deal or not, that's totally up to you and your business, but I just wanted to point out to those looking to buy the REAL LCDVF, stay clear from this product advertisement: LCDVF LCD Viewfinder for Canon 5D,5D MarkII, 7D, Nikon Digital SLR Cameras by Cowboystudio


False Ad on Amazon

Hey, you might be thinking i'm a bit harsh on calling them out on this and sure they aren't blatantly stating it's the real deal. Now take a second to check out their eBay auction, and you'll see they are listing the same 'LCDVF Clone' and are hiding any reference to the Meike brand. One image is even using the actual LCDVF product with LCDVF logo stamped on the side! Yeah, that's going a bit too far with the trickery to make a sale...

fake-lcdvf
click image for large view

If you're looking for the real deal LCDVF viewfinder, that can be found here: The Real LCDVF DSLR View Finder

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canon-60d-body

Just a reminder that those Canon Rebates I posted about are still valid, especially for anyone searching for a new DSLR body and lens combination. To take even more advantage of these rebates the Canon 60D has been discounted an extra $100 bucks off the Body or the Body+Lens kit. The discounts on the Canon 60D are only valid for the next few weeks.
You can find the discounts on the Canon 60D via Amazon here: Canon EOS 60D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only)
Or via B&HPhotoVideo here: Canon 60D DSLR Camera Body

Check out those rebates that would still apply with the Canon 60D and save you even more on selected lenses: http://cheesycam.com/canon-dslr-combination-rebates/

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Just received the Nature brand Neutral Density filter today. It's possibly the cheapest Fader ND on the market right now, so I wanted to see what the quality was like. I picked one up to test on the Canon 85mm F/1.2 which requires a 72mm filter. The Canon 85mm F/1.2L is one of Canon's sharpest lenses in it's lineup. With the lens at 85mm on a Canon cropped camera, you're looking at quite a distance. I was expecting to see extreme softness, which some Variable ND filters can cause, especially over 50mm. This wasn't the case with this Variable ND filter.

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Nature Fader-ND Variable Neutral Density Filters

There is some noticeable difference in sharpness, but not very noticeable unless you're really trying to nitpick, so not bad at all. It's definitely not as soft as my other Fader Filter which is very noticeable when zooming into a subject. Again, i'm asking alot since i'm putting it on an 85mm F/1.2L, but for any wide lens under 50mm, definitely a solid product that will yield excellent results. I'll be posting up some samples of the lens with and without the filter soon for you guys to check out, but i'm very happy with it and will be planning to get a few more. For now the Nature brand Fader ND can be found at this link: Nature Brand Fader ND Variable Neutral Density Filter

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find-price-button Nature Fader ND Variable Filter

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power-adapter-canon-t2i

If you've got plans to keep your Canon T2i powered up longer than the normal battery can provide, here's a cheap AC wall adapter. Great power source for taking those super long day to day timelapse photography shots. If you're the daring type like myself, the battery adapter provided is perfect to hack up into a DIY Power pack, perhaps connecting it to something like a Radio Controlled toy car rechargeable battery. You can find several aftermarket AC wall adapters here: Canon T2i / 550D AC Wall Adapter Power Plug

For those running the LP-E6 battery type like the Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 7D, or Canon 60D the AC wall adapter can be found here: http://cheesycam.com/a-diy-canon-dslr-power-pack/