Crowdfunding?

Just came across a stunning piece of photo/video journalism. A trailer, a pitch, a teaser or whatever you want to call it, for a 'crowdfunding' project; a term that has reached my eyes for the first time today. People on the internet decide whether or not they find your project interesting enough to donate money to, starting at US $10,-.


Sin & Salvation in Baptist Town-by Matt Eich-Emphas.is from Emphas.is on Vimeo.

Gear rings on the cheap (relatively speaking)

I never understood why a focus ring has to cost ridiculous amounts of money. Even the rings from the manufacturer of my budget follow focus, DFocus, makes focus rings that cost 30,- albeit that one size supposedly fits all (lenses). But ideally you don't want to mess with taking them off and readjusting them to a new lens every time you go out for a shoot.
So you basically want effective and affordable gear rings. Enter Half Inch Rails with their zip-tie solution. 40,- for a set of 4 gear rings. Just placed an order.


HIR Zip Tie Focus Gear from Sam Morgan Moore on Vimeo.

Byebye trusted mate

After years of great service the time has come to say goodbye to a great travelmate, a trusted partner and protector of my greatest assets. We have crossed great distances together, withstood the rains, kept eachother company in trains, planes and automobiles but now are roads will separate.
It feels somewhat blasphemous to let him go and I would love to keep him until he meets his final resting place, but this house is too small for him and all of his colleagues. One of them has to go. The Petrol PCUB-1N camerabag will start a new life elsewhere and will assist his new owner for many years to come. Bye bye, trusted bag. You have served me well. May good care carry you far into the future. And may you carry great camera's in return.

Mailbox: unboxing the DFocus V3

Just received my DFocus V3. First impressions: light, plasticky but solid, nice rotation with dampened friction. The big question with this product is, as far as I'm concerned, how it will stand the test of time. I'd be interested to hear from others how this thing holds after thorough use. I'll be posting a review after I've used it a few times.

Unboxing the DFocus V3 from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

Mailbox: budget timer remote for GH2

I don't know why it was relatively hard to find a cheap intervalometer for my GH2. I was searching the forums but noticed people were spending $45 and up for a device that shouldn't cost more than 25,- (which is exactly what I paid for my remote for the Canon 550D) And they seemed to be really happy with that deal..! Was Panasonic stuff more expensive or was it just the GH2 stuff that was more expensive? Because apparently the remote that works on the GH1 doesn't work on the GH2, so I was made to understand.

Mailbox: close, but no cigar

So I got myself a Pentax 6mm f1.2 for 14,99 and I'm dying to mount this thing on my Panasonic GH2. Today I got one step closer but there's about one millimeter between me and happiness. One millimeter of metal.

My C-mount to micro 4/3 adapter arrived and it's another ring like they've been showing up regularly here lately. There is a guy who does reviews of adapter rings but the only thing I can say is that it's black metal and fits my camera. But it doesn't fit my Pentax CCTV lens and that's not the adaper's fault. There is something unusual about the design of this lens and so you must modify it.

In review: Varizoom VZ-LSP shouldersupport

I thought I wouldn't use it anymore after I bought my beautiful, modular Gini rig. But the Varizoom VZ-LSP has held its ground and remains my first choice when shooting with my Sony EX1R.
The biggest advantage over the Gini rig is weight, or the lack of it I should say. The second biggest advantage is the abdomen support. The rig just sits on your abdomen and takes away a lot of strain from  the arms.

free Final Cut Pro tutorials

I have been following FCP-guru Larry Jordan for many years. He has a voice that holds somewhere between a therapist, a hypnotist and a grandfather- very easy to listen to. Besides that, he is a knowledgeable guy with who knows how to get a message across. Even though I subscribed to his newsletter, I somehow never knew Larry had his own YouTube channel with lots of mini-tutorials. Do you know the best way to output HD to DVD? Just one example of some very valuable -and very free!- tutorials:

My first night with the GH2

Just me, my dog and the GH2 with Panasonic pancake 20mm 1.7 during our daily (nightly) walk around the block. All of this is literally within 100 meters of my home.
It just shows to prove (or proves to show??) that the beautiful stuff is all around. But the touchscreen focus makes this possible. I would not have even attempted a lot of shots without it (or the swivel lcd for that matter)- too much hassle, can't judge focus from unusual angles.

All handheld (smoothcam filter), no grading... dancing with light!

My first night with the GH2 from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

Hands-on with the Sony NEX FS100

This really is the new type of marketing: ask a filmmaker to talk about designing a new camera and then have him sell it to his peers. I mean, the camera certainly looks promising but some comments, like "look, a headphone jack so you can monitor your audio- something we really really wanted..." (is it, really??) and "a peaking function that help you with focusing- really exciting!" (yesss, it's the latest in focus technology!!) set off my alarmbells. (And notice how they flash good ol' Philip Bloom for a sec, just for 'street credibility')

Aside from this being an obvious sales pitch, I wouldn't say no if someone shoved a FS100 in my hand for the upcoming birthday...

NEX FS 100 Video Blog from Den & James on Vimeo.

Mailbox: 15,- multicoated UV filter and 2,- step-up ring

46-52mm step-up ring with 52mm LCW variable ND filter

Luxury problem: you have several camera's and want to be able to use your lenses and filters on both of them. Enter the world of adapter rings, step-up rings, stacking and threading.
I was particularly looking for a solution to mount my 55,- LCW variable ND-filter, which I bought for my Canon 50mm 1.8, on my Panasonic pancake 20mm 1.7 The step-up ring cost me less than 2,- and thus saved me over 50,- A great solution.

Lumix pancake with Kenko multicoated UV filter

I paid 350,- for the Panasonic pancake lens and needed to protect the glass with an UV-filter. The Kenko seems to represent good value for the money: 15,- for a multicoated piece of glass. I'll post some tests later to show the affect on picture quality.

Sony's answer to the Panasonic AG-AF100?

Will be around 6000,- Here's a list of the features. Another one to research, boys and girls. Here we go again!

Follow Focus on the way

I've ordered the D|Focus V3 and today I received an update that the unit is shipped. An acquaintance has had the V2 for a while and told me it is 'pretty good', especially considering the price. I figured the V3 must be better, perhaps even 'almost good'. I was looking at two Follow Focus options:

-The CineFocus R2 for around 430,- (including   shipping from England)
-The D|Focus V3 for around 160,- (including shipping from Finland. This price is only for businesses, for non-business customers you must add 24%)

extremely short review revised

About a week ago I did an extremely short review of the small Vibesta Clamp (aka Vibesta Clamp small). I contacted the reseller, Cameratools.nl, and they sent me a new one. This one works and is what I hoped for. In combination with the articulating arm this is one great addition to my toolkit. It's small, easy to setup and holds a camera without a problem. It has two threads, one 1/4" and one 3/8". For unboxing or other types of short, simple video's I won't have to set up my tripod anymore. I can connect my camera to a shelf and get a nice birdseye view. At 24,- it's not cheap but cheaper than the nano clamp by Manfrotto. Very handy.

Buying camera's abroad

The world is our shopping mall: we don't visit the shop around the corner to buy our new camera but scour the internet to find the best deal. We research our new camera over the internet, find the most information on American websites and... wind up buying in China via eBay :-| (it 'd be interesting to see how important eBay has become for the Chinese economy...)

The one and only FlyCam

I've seen these things more and more. Remote controlled helicopters with camera's. And people using their iPhone as a controller for all sorts of flying devices, some of them also equipped with built-in camera's. This particular machine is probably way beyond budget for most of us but I am sure that in the near future we can get flying HD for the masses! Meanwhile, enjoy the ride with the one and only 'fly-cam'.

FreeFly Cinema Behind the Scenes from tabb firchau on Vimeo.

babysitting or videoproduction...

I got suckered into re-editing my assignment 3 times, buying several types of dvd-packages that were rejected and I am now designing and printing dvd-covers which I vowed never to do again. And between every step sits around 2 weeks, which means that this assignment has been lingering for months and I haven't received a penny so far.

I thought I had my bases covered: in the contract I noted that 'the customer has a right to one editorial round' (one re-edit) and that I will deliver one master dvd. 'Customer is responsible for DVD-box and design, if desired.'

35 mm adapter deals

A friend and colleague just snatched a Redrock M2 35mm adapter off eBay for just a few hundred bucks. That's only a fraction of the original retail price. Everyone's so hung up on DSLR's and the likes that some very nice -and practically new- pieces of gear have become 'outdated' at a rapid pace. Well, at least to some...
Others have a lot invested in their 'traditional' camera's like my friend's EX1 and are waiting for 'the generation after the DSLR's', which would be something like the Panasonic AG-AF100. But if you don't have the money yet or are waiting for something like the Red Scarlett, you can get that 35mm look for just a few hundred euro's, as opposed to spending thousands on a DSLR plus accessories. There's a lot of 35mm adapters out there and prices are getting better every day.

Sony HVR-Z1U (+ tripod) for sale

I don't intend to use these pages for classified ads but it just so happens a female friend asked me to sell an immaculate Sony Z1 for her. This camera has extremely low hours, 150 hours tape run, and looks like it came straight out of the box. A great camera, a workhorse that is NTSC/PAL switchable and shoots HDV and DV (DVCAM and mini-DV).

The camera comes with a Kata bag, a Manfrotto 755B tripod with Manfrotto 501 head, 10 Sony HDV tapes (factory sealed), 2 cleaning tapes, a Sony HVL-20DW2 camera light and 4 NP-F750 Li-ion 4000mAh batteries (replacements). Manual, component & composite cables, remote control and ac adapter/charger are all included, as well as the training DVD  'A Complete Guide to the HVR-Z1U' with over 100 minutes of instructions and tips.

Extremely short review of Vibesta Clamp 'small'

The Vibesta clamp fell apart the first time I used it

It sucks.