Just posted up an article about using three LED Video lights on a single shoe adapter, and Herb shares a link to an LED-5080 video light [Thanks Herb]. This dimmable light uses a few high power LED bulbs, comes with barndoors, built in diffuser and tungsten filter, powered on Sony Batteries (comes with battery and charger), and has optional DC input for external power source. This light has been around for a few months, and i'm curious if anyone has experience with this light? If so, comment below. You can find the LED-5080 all over on eBay (click here)
LED-5080 Dimmable Video Light with Sony Battery and Charger
To create more or less contrast, he could switch out to different sized umbrellas or use a shoot through, or even adjust the angle of each light. When not in use, this lighting kit idea should break down to several small parts. There are two different Triple Adapters I talked about, and both types can be found for just under $14 bucks via eBay (Click Here).
Triple Flash or LED Video Light Shoe Mounting Bracket
Tom writes in and shares this new Matte Box find. Product description shows dual 4x4 filter trays (only one rotatable). [Thanks Tom] Comes with height adjustable 15mm rod clamp, Top and Side flags, and a couple of black-out neoprene donuts. No swing away design here, but It does look much lighter than the ePhoto MatteBox (seen here).
If you've used one before, you'll know how important a simple LCD View Finder is when shooting DSLR Video outdoors on a bright sunny day. Or how an LCD View Finder can add additional stability as another point of contact during hand held shooting. For cameras like the Canon 5D Mark III, there aren't many options. For under $30 dollars you'll find the the cheaper magnetic stick on types and for over $230 dollars you'll find one or two other great options. Here's a new LCD View Finder available at Carry Speed at an introductory price of just $120 dollars
Fits on most DSLR cameras with a 3" LCD, but from corner to corner it's actually 3.11" inches, so it's almost perfect on cameras like the Canon 5D Mark III. The brackets are designed to adjust for a variety of different cameras, something shooters will appreciate if you own more than one model (Nikon, Canon, Sony).
(Above)Perfect fit on a Nikon D7000 with or without OEM Battery Grip!
(Above video) Fits perfectly on Canon T4i / 650D with or without Battery Grip.
Without the battery grip, you can still access the Battery Door on a Canon T4i.
The new Carry Speed View Finder can flip up to be used as a quick sunshade, and locks in place when closed. There's a built in diopter, build in lens cap, and attaches to the camera through a quick release base plate system.
Very solid mount to the camera, yet easy to unlock and remove entirely. The base plate is Arca Swiss designed to attach to most Arca Swiss tripods, and has a few 1/4-20 threads for mounting other QR plates. Find out more about the LCD View Finder at the product page (here).
In bright daylight, it's difficult to focus and set exposure on a bare LCD. Sometimes a quick LCD View Finder attached to the back of the camera is all you need (no batteries required). I still find an LCD View Finder a valuable tool to have, but haven't seen many options available for the Canon 5D Mark III. Just curious as to what LCD View Finders people are using on the back of their Canon 5D Mark III? Comments below...
So Rokinon had news a few weeks ago about releasing new 35mm, 24mm, and 14mm Cine style lenses. The 35mm Nikon mount version shows in stock status', and have already listed pre-order prices for the upcoming Rokinon 14mm T/3.1 and 24mm T/1.5.
These lenses already in exist in the Rokinon lineup, and the Cine versions are about $50 bucks more with a de-click aperture, relocated markings, and built in lens gear. Check out the new Cine lenses from Rokinon over at B&H following the link (Click Here).
Konova has just announced a new K2 version of their popular sliders. If you follow Konova products, previously they offered a K3 (mid size) and K5 (larger size) video camera slider. The new K2 version and more affordable at $100 dollars cheaper than the K3, yet still based on the same roller bearing design with the same adjustable legs / feet.
So while everyone is checking their mailboxes hoping their new Blackmagic Cinema Camera has shipped, at the end of the year the BMCC will release a new native MFT (micro four thirds) mount. There's so many options to mount various lenses to MFT cameras, this might end up being more popular than the first EF mount BMCC. So how many of you have already pre-ordered a BMCC?
Pricing will remain the same at $2995 and expected to ship end of December. Preorders already available over at B&H (Click Here).
It's nice to work in large spaces, but sometimes those large spaces will cause echo in your audio. Too much echo can be distracting to the viewer. Adding furniture like couches, or even inviting more people into a room will help to absorb sound, but that's not always possible. So in this space I setup Audimute sound blankets on Light Stands to help absorb some sound, block deflection, break up the emptiness, and basically just add texture to an open space.
I have dozens of these blankets, and can setup as many as required. These are the same blankets I used to line the walls in a DIY vocal booth (video and example seen here). It's not a perfect solution, but it makes a huge difference and it's easy to stow away for transport. You can try this with heavy moving blankets, and although that should help, I don't think they will perform as well as the more expensive Audimutes.
AudiMute Sound Absorption Sheets
I know the Audimute stuff is expensive, and only sold in packs of (4) or (5) count, so if you still need to look for sound absorption type blankets, there are a few on eBay (that look like heavy moving blankets) found here.
LED-5080 Dimmable Video Light with Sony Battery and Charger
