• 14 Comments

•

Over at WPPI Benro displayed some of their new Benro Video Tripods along with their new S2, S4, and S6 video fluid heads. The unique bit about each video tripod is a half bowl leveling base that sits above the center column. Much like a bowl mount tripod, this gives you the ability to quickly level your shots without bending over and fussing with individual legs. This feature is much appreciated when you have a heavy rig thrown on your tripod. The benefit to the Benro design of course is to still retain the raised center column that gives you extra height without adding overall length when the tripods are folded up.

Benro Leveling Tripod KitBenro Leveling Tripod Fluid HeadBenro S2 video tripod

These new Benro leveling tripods look pretty good, but unfortunately according to Benro the new Video Tripods come as a kit and can't be purchased separately from the heads. Of course, if you wanted to achieve this leveling base with your existing tripod, you could add on this Manfrotto 438 compact leveling base (found here).

The new Benro Video Tripods are already available in both Aluminum or Carbon Fiber legs found via B&H (click here).

fluid head video tripods benro s2 s4 s6
find-price-button Benro Leveling Tripods with S2, S4, S6 Video Fluid Head


• 13 Comments

•

NAB is one of those shows where companies try to announce new innovative products. Now that we're about a week away, you'll start to see a few product teasers being released online, just like this new product teaser from the Konova company.

This Motorized Slider (slash) Motorized Pan Tilt Head (slash) Crane / Jib product combines several tools in one unit and is controlled by their Smart Controller system which offers advanced Motion Control Time Lapse functionality. That's about all the information I have so far, but expect to find many new products to be released following the NAB show at KonovaPhoto.com.

Konova-JIBCRANEFULL
find-price-button Konova Slider Jib Crane Pan Tilt Head Motorized

• 9 Comments

•

These little Blue Hand Held Video Stabilizers have been available for quite some time, but tracking down reviews on the item are still scarce. I often get questions about these particular stabilizers, but it's not something i've had the chance to play with in person, so there's not much information I can offer.

Cheap Blue Hand Held Video Stabilizer NanoMini Blue Cheap Stabilizer nano

This stabilizer collapses down to less than 10", with an adjustable X/Y top stage, and what appears to be a quick release plate, it looks pretty decent for a price less than $140 (includes free shipping). If anyone has any experience on these i'm sure other readers would like to know your feedback in the comments section. These are constantly rebranded, but you can find them via eBay (click here).

Blue Mini Nano StabilizerMini Blue Hand Held Stabilizer
find-price-button Blue Mini Nano Hand Held Video Stabilizer

• 13 Comments

•

Robert from JuicedLink gives us an NAB preview of the latest BMC366 Low Noise XLR Preamp designed to tackle audio issues with the BlackMagic Design Cinema Camera. Robert has also been aware of the many comments and questions regarding Tascam's latest DR-60D product announcement and shares some of his thoughts.

If you're not familiar with best practices when working with Audio on the BlackMagic Design Cinema Camera, or to find out more specs on the BMC366, you can find that information at the JuicedLink blog: https://www.juicedlink.com/blackmagic-cinema-camera.

BMC366_01_150
BMC366 Low-Noise Preamp for BlackMagic Design Cinema Camera

• 7 Comments

•

There's a number of iPhone shutter remotes that can add features your camera may lack such as a basic intervalometer (time-lapse) or HDR bracketing. Some systems offer an additional hardware receiver to sync up via Bluetooth and operate wirelessly. One major problem is that you may not want to tie your iPhone down just to be used as a shutter remote.

Here's another iOS shutter remote App that pairs with a small bit of hardware. The unique feature of this Raydio Master Professional Bluetooth Trigger allows continued operation even with your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad disconnected.

Here's a few additional features of the product:
- Half-press (AF) / press the shutter / continuous shutter / bulb, delay timer, long time exposure, bracket exposure and intervalometer (time lapse photography).
- Delay timer up to 100 hours.
- Use of bulb shutter can support bracketing functions for HDR bracketing Photography
- Smart Scheduler - once the long exposure/ time lapse comment is sent from iPhone, you can feel free to disconnect the iPhone from RDM-ST1. It will carry out the remaining job automatically for you.
- Long battery Life for more than 3 years.
- Bluetooth 4.0 (Low Energy).
- Small in size, it can be attached next to the camera

The Raydio Master Wireless Trigger for iOS is sold with different shutter cables compatible with Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Olympus, etc., and can be found via eBay (click here).

Raydio Master Wireless Trigger Bluetooth
find-price-button Raydio Master Professional Wireless Bluetooth Trigger

• 8 Comments

•

GoPro DJI Phantom Quadcopter DJI QuadCopter
find-price-button DJI Phantom GoPro Quadcopter Kit GPS + NAZA-M - eBay

The DJI Phantom Quadcopter for the GoPro Hero cameras are still gaining popularity, but getting smooth footage is impossible without a few modifications. The first step is to ensure your rotors are balanced properly, and then start looking into a way to create an isolation mount for your camera. There's been several ideas on how to create this, but this DIY Wire Isolation Mount seems to be a great and more secure solution.

The single wire isolation mount design is adjustable to have more or less tension. A few web searches show how to DIY one yourself, or if you're not the DIY type, check out one ready made GoPro Hero Wire Isolation Mount for the DJI Phantom now available via eBay (click here).

iso wire gopro phantom jello fixGoPro Wire Mount
find-price-button DJI Phantom Single Wire Isolation Mount GoPro

DJI Phantom Quadcopters Currently on eBay



• 11 Comments

•

1st April 2013, Sydney Australia – Australian-based microphone designer RØDE has announced the i16, a surround sound microphone for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch that combines sixteen discrete microphone capsules to capture the user’s surrounding audio environment in broadcast quality.

RØDE’s iXY stereo microphone for iOS devices was released in January, and has already gained critical praise from both musical and mainstream media, including a recent Red Dot product award.
The company is quickly emerging as the leader in microphones for Apple’s portable devices, and the i16 aims to consolidate this reputation.

i16_livemusic_web

RØDE’s founder and president, Peter Freedman, explains: “When developing the iXY we were focused on providing the ultimate in stereo audio capture for iOS devices. But during the project it became that there was a large proportion of the market who wanted to record in complete surround. We’ve taken that seriously and produced the i16.”

The new microphone uses RØDE’s own field recording app, RØDE Rec, to record the sixteen tracks simultaneously at quality up to 24-bit/96kHz. At the heart of the i16 is an incredible sixteen individual gold-sputtered cardioid condenser capsules, which allows the user a high amount of freedom to record in either surround, stereo, mono, or anywhere in between.

“Once the user records the surrounding environment, software processing inside RØDE Rec will allow them to cancel background noise through phase manipulation of the other channels, working much in the same way as noise-cancelling headphones.” explained Mr Freedman. “In this way the i16 is even more effective at recording dialogue than a traditional shotgun microphone.”

Once the user records the surrounding environment they can then use that track to phase cancel any background noise, very much like noise-cancelling headphones. This results in highly intelligible dialogue and crystal-clear audio.

The i16 is available with both Apple Lightning (iPhone 5, iPad mini) and 30-pin connections. Both are shipping now, with a MSRP of US$399. Definitely sounds like an April Fool's joke..

Rode i16 iOS Microphonei16_01_Rode

• 25 Comments

•

Tascam DR-60D Overview:
The Tascam DR-60D is a brand new 4-track solid-state recorder utilizing TASCAM's decades of experience. The recorder utilizes high-grade HDDA pre-amps, legendary AD converters, and a durable but lightweight structure and shape.

main

This device will fit snuggly under any camera or into any rig, and record up to 96kHz/24-bit high quality audio straight to SD/SDHC media. Filmmakers have at their disposal two 1/4"-XLR Locking Combo MIC/LINE Inputs, 3.5mm Stereo MIC Input, Camera In, Camera Out, Line Out and Headphone Out. Both 1/4"-XLR Combo Inputs supply +48V Phantom Power and the 3.5mm Input supplies Plug-In Power for microphones requiring a bias voltage.

dr-60d_p_front

The DR-60D is incredibly easy to use, employing TASCAM's very popular user interface and external controls for every major operation. The body structure, soft-touch keys and dials are designed specifically to help eliminate handling noise. The multiple record modes include, 4-Channel Record, Auto Record and TASCAM's Dual Record "Safety Track" Mode make the DR-60D one of the most versatile recorders on the market. The new DR-60D is available for pre-order via B&H (click here)

dr-60d_p_leftdr-60d_p_user
find-price-button High Quality Audio Recorder + Mixer Integrated Linear PCM Recorder

• 3 Comments

•

Here's a time saving tip if you have to constantly mount and dismount accessories like Portable Audio Recorders, LED Lights, or Wireless Mic Receivers from your rig. The Tamrac Zipshot Quick Release System was designed to work with one of their tripods, and it comes with two different sized quick release plates.

Quick release system

The larger is rated at 3 lbs. (that's plenty for an accessory). It can be mounted to a ball head, friction arm, or be creative to mount it on your cage. It just needs enough clearance to pinch the tabs to release the plate. These are handy when you need to pull gear out of the bag for a quick shoot, or when it's time to pack stuff away at the end of the day. The mini quick release adapters (found here).

Tamrac Zipshot Quick Release System
find-price-button Tamrac Zipshot Quick Release Accessory Kit