17Mar Budget cold shoe bracket from Dzone2
Sometimes it’s nice to add two or three items to the top of your camera. For $36 Juicedlink sells the VideoMic accessory bracket or for $35 you can buy the Cool-lux Light & Sound Bracket. But what if you want something a little bit cheaper?
Well you’re in luck, at $12.50 the will probably do the trick. For the price you get a small bracket with 2 cold shoe adapters and a mount for your camera. I wouldn’t call the bracket rock solid, but for the price it can handle a reasonable amount of weight.
The nice thing is that you can remove the two cold shoe adapters and you’re left with a nice bracket that gives you room to slide in a few extra items. The bracket is about the same length across as my t2i so adding more then two accessories can get a little crowded, but if you set it up just right you can fit the Zoom h1, a Rode VideoMic, and a wireless receiver all on one bracket.
The camera shoe adapter also has a 1/4 20 on the bottom so you can easily mount this to a , or anything else you can think of. The bracket even had enough strength to support that Haier 7″ monitor while I was testing, although I wouldn’t walk around with it on there.
For $12.50 the seems like a pretty good deal.
17Mar Haier 7″ HLT71 Video review.
So after spending a few days with the Haier 7″ monitor I had a chance to run all the tests I could think of. I also spent some time going through all the settings in the menu. The color and contrast aren’t amazing out of this monitor, and the screen isn’t extremely bright. But It will work fine for pulling focus, setting up shots, and framing. The built in battery made it just over 2 hours on both tests so you might want to have a few extra batteries with you. Unfortunately the batteries (part number HLT71BAT) are still around $20 so an extra battery is half the cost of the monitor itself. If anyone comes up with a better battery source let me know and I”ll post it.
The mounting whole on the bottom of the monitor wasn’t quit 1/4 20. I had to use a 1/4 20 tap to clean up the threads before I could properly mount this little guy. I was happy to find out that the monitor is much lighter then amazon published. The Haier 7″ monitor is also a bit thinner and lighter then my Lilliput monitor. The built in headphone amp also worked quit well.
For our UK friends I put my camera in PAL 1080p 25 frames and the monitor blinked then came back up. I don’t think you’ll have any luck with the tuner but at least the composite inputs take PAL.
I have the photo gallery up in this earlier post.
16Mar Lavalier Windscreen with Adhesive Mount.
The picture makes it look like some kind of retro heart monitor, but in practice it can be a very handy little device. The Rycote Undercover Lavalier windscreen works with most Lavalier microphones and provides both windscreen protection and an adhesive back so you aren’t forced to fold up a shirt for a clip on. It also helps the mic pick up a little more sound from the talent’s chest which adds a little low end bass to the sometimes thin sounding lavalier microphones.
The Rycote Undercover Lavalier windscreen is also very cheap at around $12-$14 for a 30 pack, and you can through them away when you’re done with them. The adhesive strip on the back sticks quit well and doesn’t leave much residue. Its sticking power is very good and I find it works well for interviews and public speaking events. I usually Use a lent roller on the spot where I plan to place the lavalier for maximum staying power.
15Mar Haier 7 Inch monitor, $44 and it works.
A number of you sent e-mails requesting a full review of the Haier 7″ HLT71 monitor. So I went ahead and picked one up. As you can see it showed up today and I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. First thing to note is that it’s actually lighter and thinner (1/4″ thinner) then my Lilliput monitor. It also has a wide screen mode that allows you to use the whole screen. I wouldn’t color correct or set my exposure based on this monitor, but for framing and monitoring on a large screen this should do the trick.
I was actually expecting it to be larger with the on board speakers, so it’s nice to see that it’s the same size as my Lilliput monitor. I also tested the built in headphone amp and it works quit well with magic lantern.
On the down side the threads on the bottom of the monitor aren’t quit 1/4″ 20 so I had to give it a little bit of love to mount the Haier 7″ HLT71 monitor on my . It also crops a little bit on the top and the bottom of the monitor, which cuts off part of the magic lantern audio monitor bar, not all of it but about a quarter of it.
I’ve got it on the charger right now and once I get some time to do some more testing I’ll post a full video review. For now, it works, it’s affordable, and it picks up PBS in my living room. Now I just need to hunt down a battery source.
15Mar Odd ball Cold shoe adapter.
I had to blink a few times before I realized what I was looking at. The is an interesting refresh on what would otherwise be a plan Jane item and it isn’t very often you see something new develop in this department. Frio has taken away the tightening knob and replaced it with a quick and easy button release which also acts as a nice slide in snap lock. There is also the standard 1/4″ 20 threads on the bottom. At $14 it’s a little more expensive then the
, but it might be worth it to have the snap lock instead of the twist to tighten knob. I’ve got a few on order, so I’ll let you know how they turn out.
14Mar Low price Matte box for your DSLR.
I will start off with a little rant. I think matte boxes are a waste of money. A matte box performs 2 tasks, first it prevents lens flares by keeping the lens in the shade, and second it gives you a place to mount your filters. Most DSLR lenses come with a lens hood which prevents the majority of lens flares and almost every DSLR lens that I know of has threads at the front of the lens so you can add any kind of filter you like.
So if that’s the case, then why do people want them on their DSLR Rig? Well, I’ve asked the same question and the two most common responses are these: “Yea but it looks cool.” and “I have one so I may as well use it.” The first answer was by far the the most common, but I did get a few of the second from people who made the transition to DSLR video from older rigs and already owned a matte box.
All that said, I still get e-mails weekly asking for ideas on affordable matte box recommendations. With that in mind, the most affordable matte box I’ve found is made by PROAIM. I don’t care for a lot of PROAIM’s rigs but their matte box is a good design at a reasonable price. You can find the for $249, it’s more affordable then most of the matte boxes on the net and it mounts on rails, which is better then some of the
.
13Mar Affordable 300 watt CFL lighting setup
People are always looking for affordable lighting rigs and I’ve received a number of e-mails asking for lighting ideas that fit into a $100 budget. I’m a big fan of CFL bulbs for their life span, power draw, and low temperature performance. There are also a lot of lighting options out there that use CFL bulbs.
So after looking around for awhile I found the Cowboystudio 1200 watt (equivalent) studio light setup for $95. The setup includes 4x 300 watt (equivalent) CFL lights, 2x light stands, 2x double socket light mounts, and 2x 33″ Black White umbrellas. You also get a few light bags and cases.
For $100, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot out of this setup, it’s nice to be surprised. Each Light socket has a ON/OFF switch and a easily adjustable light mount. The umbrellas are as expected, and the stands aren’t rugged but if you treat them well, they should last you awhile. The CFL lights are 5500k so it’s very easy to setup your camera’s white balance.
The best thing is that these lamps sip power. With 4 lights plugged in I was measuring about a 2 1/2 amps draw, and with 6 lamps plugged in I was drawing just shy of 4 amps. That means no tripped breakers, hot extension cords, or fire hazards. You also don’t have to worry about ultra hot lights or fragile filaments.
The one thing to keep in mind is that CFL lights aren’t very directional. They work great for good even lighting, but if you’re trying to get pin point directional lighting this might not be your best option. I think over all the Cowboystudio 1200 watt (equivalent) studio light setup is a great bargain for the price, and if you’re looking for a simple and easy lighting rig this could be a great way to go.
If you don’t want, or need the light stands, you can pick up the bulbs alone for about $14 a peace. They should work just fine in any of the small lamps or light sockets you have around the house. This would also make the lighting setup even cheaper.
Update: The Cowboystudio lighting rig is currently back ordered right now. So you might want to check out the PBL PHOTO DIGITAL VIDEO LIGHT KIT
, same price with a slightly different lighting mount.
12Mar Cheap 1/4″ 20 Rail mount for your DSLR RIG.
Sometimes it’s nice to mount small items to your camera rails or other parts of your indie DSLR rig. One cheap option I wandered across is the Veho MUVI adapter. For $9 this little adapter will open up to over 1 1/2 inches and has a 1/4 20″ threaded adapter built in. It doesn’t close up quit small enough to fit on my 15mm rails so I added a few peaces of electrical tap to make up the difference.
The Veho MUVI adapter was designed to mount very small cameras on the handle bars of bicycles and motorcycles. So it isn’t really designed to handle a lot of weight, but a cold shoe adapter or Zoom h1 might be the perfect match for this little guy. Also, if you’re looking for a cheap way to add a 1/4″ 20 adapter to your homemade PVC DSLR Rig, this could be a great way to go.
11Mar $35 wireless Bluetooth Transmitter Receiver.
Just got home from the trip and found my next experiment in the post office box. On the left is a and on the right is a
. I have to let them charge for about 4 hours before I can begin testing, but I’m hopping I can pair these two devices together as a very cheap stereo wireless unit. The package says that the transmitter has a range of 50 feet, so if I can get 20 feet out of it I’ll be very happy at this price.
It’s hard to tell from the first picture but these units are very small, not much bigger then a CF card. Each one has a built in battery that can be charged with the included USB charger and cable. The outside has a rubberized coating and a single button for operation. I have a few things I plan to try once I’ve got these units charged up. I will keep you posted as the project progresses.
09Mar Haier 7 inch monitor for $44, is it any good?
So I’ve seen this monitor pop up before, but the last time I looked, the price tag was over $100. It seems the fine company that everyone has heard of (Haier) has discontinued production on their 7 inch hand held LCD TV. Which means the price has been cut in half. 44 dollars gets you a standard definition 7 inch monitor with a rechargeable battery, headphone amp, and a 1/4 20 thread mount on the bottom. The pictures, by the way, are taken from amazon.
I did a little bit of searching and finally found the manual for this little guy. Looks like you should be able to plug your DSLR right into the Haier HLT71 monitor and since it has a built in battery, this might be a better option for those of you who don’t want to mess with battery packs. The down side looks like battery life and weight. The manual claims 2.5 hours, so I would guess closer to 2 hours, and the monitor weighs close to 3 pounds (according to amazon), which is kind of heavy.
I did find one person who’s tested it out on a little camcorder Rig and you check that out on youtube. If you’ve given the Haier HLT71 a try let us know how it turned out. I’ve already got plenty of monitors laying around the house so I don’t think i’m going to spring for this one. But maybe the Haier HLT71 is a diamond in the rough.
Update: I received so many request asking for a review on this monitor that I went ahead and picked one up. Pictures and first impressions are here, full video review coming soon.
