Zacuto Z-Finder And Rode Mic Installation On A Canon 7D
If you find it difficult to shoot video with a DSLR (aka HDSLR) straight out of the box, then I've got some accessories that will help out alot. DSLR camera bodies were designed for photo shooting so the ergonomics are far from ideal for video production. My experience with the Canon EOS 7D has been a challenge at times but I’m still learning new techniques with the camera.
I know many of you are considering switching to a DSLR, but if you've only shot with video cameras in the past, here are some of the things to consider before using a DSLR for video production:
There ...
Canon 7D vs HDCam – Preliminary Test
Update: I've revised the original video and did some color correction to it. So after you read this post and watch the video, see Canon 7D vs HDCam - Preliminary Test Revisited. The difference is quite amazing!
The other day, we took out a Canon 7D and a Sony HDW-700/1080 to compare HD video shot with both cameras. This is a preliminary test and we're going to do another one sometime soon. One of the problems we had was that the 7D was on a photo tripod with a grip release on the head so panning/tilting was very difficult to keep ...
Create Professional Looking Videos Without Any Software Or Editing Experience
Now anyone can become a video producer and sell awesome looking videos without any editing experience or knowledge of any editing software! Yes, it's true! Anyone can create slick, professional looking videos while investing relatively very little time in front of the computer with Animoto!
I am jealous to say that even I cannot recreate the quality of videos produced by Animoto without spending hours and hours in an editing program layering graphics, images and videos.
Before I get into too much detail about Animoto, check out this beautiful full-length wedding video produced by SchmidtPhoto.com which incorporates photos and HD video shot with a Canon 5d ...
Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 750GB Ultra-portable Hard Drive Review
We're storing more and more files on our computer these days. And not only are we storing more... files are getting bigger and bigger. Music, videos and email attachments quickly eat up hard drive space, especially when you're working with HD video. When you're running low on space on your desktop or laptop computer, the 750GB Western Digital My Passport Essential SE Ultra-portable Hard Drive can help. It is super compact and offers
Creating Reflections in Photoshop
There are many ways to create reflections in Photoshop. In this tutorial, I’ll go through the method I used when working on graphics for an automotive related TV commercial.
Open your image in Photoshop. This happens to be a
There are lots of Bluetooth speakers on the market but today I’m taking a look at one of the budget wireless speakers from Xeneo. This is the Xeneo X21 Bluetooth speaker and it’s water resistant and it also offers True Wireless Stereo which means you can run two of these together in stereo from your phone or computer without having to use an app to connect the two together.
The Xeneo speaker features two aluminum bass radiators similar to what you’d find on the JBL Flip and Charge series. This helps enhance low frequencies and produce louder sound. With the speaker being water resistant, it takes a lot of worry away when using these speakers outdoors.
To me the sound quality is about average where frequencies seem to be mainly in the midrange. And if you have an older non-Bluetooth device you can still connect this with the included aux cable. And if you happen to have no mobile device, you can simply insert a micro SD card into the speaker and listen to MP3s. And furthermore, if you find yourself without a handy audio source, there’s a built-in FM tuner to listen to your local stations.
But the feature I like the best about the Xeneo 21 Bluetooth speaker is the True Wireless Stereo. You’ll need to buy two speakers but I think it’s worth it. In TWS mode the sound is so much better than with the single speaker. It’s louder and there’s definitely more bass. You can also connect this to a TV and use it kinda like a stereo sound bar.
The Xeneo X21 speaker would work great in the bathroom or you can take it on the go. The Xeneo speaker will even fit in a standard bike water bottle holder. One speaker sounds pretty good but I totally recommend buying two of these and running them in stereo mode. They’re about $50 a piece and you won’t have to worry about them getting damaged in the elements. Overall the Xeneo X21 is a nice speaker packed with features at an affordable price.
If play Xbox you know how many batteries you can go through. And when you don’t have any fresh batteries around you might be taking a last minute trip to the store to stock up on AAs. But Fosmon has a great solution for rechargeable batteries. Please a take a look at my review video!
The Fosmon Xbox One Controller Charger and Batteries come with a charging station and two 800 mAh battery packs. The charging station is a dock with dual slots and provides high-speed charging of two controllers at once.
Each battery provides about 30-33 hours of playtime and takes about 4 to 5 hours to charge. Green lights on the charger flash while read more…
The Drocon Blue Bugs 3 brushless motor drone is an affordable alternative to the much more expensive DJI quadcopters. The Blue Bugs 3 can support GoPro and other action cameras. The brushless motors provide more power, longer running times and more accurate flight control than conventional electric motors. The Blue Bugs 3 is packaged with a camera mount but it does not include a camera. Only certain GoPros and other action cameras will fit with the included mount. I’m using this with the DBPower SJ4000 action camera.
The remote is large and a bit bulky like a DJI remote but it does feature a solid antenna mast. The Blue Bugs 3 comes with a MJX R/C battery and has 1800mAh capacity. The battery fits very snugly underneath the drone body and won’t read more…
The Drocon Traveler U818A Plus drone is packed with features that make this an ideal drone for experts and beginners! Out of the box, it requires very little assembly. Just attach the landing gear and camera and it’s ready to go.
The on-board camera can shoot 720P HD video and is also used for FPV flight. FPV viewing is achieved through a WiFi connection with a smartphone. In the package, there is also a 4GB micro SD card included so you can start recording with the Drocon drone right away!
The battery lets you fly for up to 15 minutes which is about 2 to 3 times longer than you get with other drones of this size. The remote is simple with one button take-off plus headless mode button so you don’t have to worry about directional orientation when flying.
At the top of the remote, there’s a slide out phone mount bracket. This mount holds phones securely and allows you to see the view from the drone’s camera on your screen.
Connecting the Drocon Traveler to your smartphone is easy with its built-in WiFi network. With the drone powered on, find the drone’s hub in your Wifi settings. Once connected, you’ll be able to use FPV or First Person View on your smartphone. Please see my video review to see all the cool features of this drone!
Another cool thing you can do is view the recorded video from the drone’s SD card right on your phone without a computer! This is really hand when you’re out in the field.
Your phone can also double as a remote control and for an immersive flying experience, you can activate VR mode and use VR goggles during your flight and fly from the perspective from the front of the drone. Just use your favorite VR goggles with your phone!
The camera has a 120 degree lens and shoots in 720P HD video. The quality is pretty good but not like that of a GoPro. However, you can get video from amazing angles during flight using your phone to start and stop the recording.
The Drocon Traveler is an affordable and easy to fly drone. However, don’t fly in enclosed areas like I did. I crashed the drone about 40 feet up in a tree but luckily I was able to fish it out with a really long pole! Now I’m able to fly it again on another day! Whew!
Camera sliders add an extra dimension to your shots. And this carbon fiber slider from Imorden is a handy tool that can help you create cinematic shots. I mainly shoot product videos for my YouTube channel and it helps me stand out from other product reviewers with my moving shots. The tracks on the Imorden sliders are made of light-weight carbon fiber tubing and are very smooth.
The ends have adjustable legs that can be pivoted and the feet are also adjustable for uneven surfaces. There’s a quarter-inch screw on the dolly to attach a tripod head for your camera. The dolly is quite large and offers several mounting holes for accessories including quarter-inch and 3/8” inch. Movement of the dolly is incredibly smooth even with heavier cameras. But the actual smoothness in your shot depends on how steady your hand is when sliding.
The ends of the slider has five quarter-inch screw holes but none on the bottom. That means you need to be creative when connecting two tripods on the ends. However, with the mounting screws on read more…
For years I really disliked the neck strap that came with my Canon camera. I always thought that it put my camera in an inconvenient spot whenever I wore it. To me, having the camera hang between my chest and stomach felt really uncomfortable especially walking around. It would swing weird and is in the way of things. Not to mention I felt like I looked like a tourist.
However, with the Imorden Falcon F-2 Shoulder Sling, carrying around my DSLR is now very comfortable and it sits safely on my hip. Here’s my video review of the Imorden camera sling:
The Imorden Shoulder Sling uses several metal buckles to connect the different straps. These are not going to break!
Attaching your camera is easy with the metal ball joint connector. It securely fastens your camera to the shoulder strap and they also include a safety strap so you won’t read more…
Using a hand grip with your camera can dramatically improve the way you shoot hand held video. Hand grips are usually simple devices and the Imorden Hand Grip for DSLRs, GoPros and smartphones offers your wrist a break when getting your shots. Using a hand grip eases the tension on your wrist by allowing it to be in a more natural position when holding the camera in front of you.
The Imorden Hand Grip is made completely out of metal and covered in a soft rubber grip that won’t slip. It’s very comfortable to the touch but because it’s made of metal, the Imorden grip is a bit heavier than others that are made of plastic.
Imorden has an entire line of affordable camera accessories that are high quality and useful for video makers. And they continue to develop new products to help video producers. I’ve used the grip on many different types of cameras and I’m surprised just how much better it is using this while shooting. It’s even better on a DSLR if I use a viewfinder on it too.
The Imorden Hand Grip is small enough that you can carry it with you at all times in your bag. When you’re in a run-and-gun situation, it’s easy to screw the grip on and start shooting. So far I have been very impressed with the types of products they have.
Shoulder rigs are an essential part of any video shoot. But shoulder rigs don’t have to be used just for handheld shooting. I recently got a hold of the Imorden IR-02 Shoulder Rig and got to test it with a variety of accessories. The IR-02 is great for getting steady handheld shots with 3 points of stabilization but you already knew that. However, when I started attaching some of my other camera gear to this rig, that’s where the fun began!
First of all, the Imorden IR-02 Shoulder Rig uses 15mm rails in a standard width for smaller cameras. The rig feels pretty solid and is made of mostly metal except for the handgrips and the cover on the shoulder brace. Mounting this rig on a tripod is where I’m going to be using it most of the time and it’s what I’m most excited about.
The first attachment I mounted to the rig was the Kamerar FF-3 Follow Focus. This gear knob assembly attached easily to the rails and provided a good positioning of the gear to the lens. read more…
I really feel like Tony Stark with this easy to make Arc Reactor that won’t break your budget! It’s not meant to be pretty looking but it looks good when glowing under your shirt. My DIY Arc Reactor is powered by AA batteries and a string of micro LED lights so it won’t get hot against your chest. And it’s super thin! I don’t really like costume parties but the Arc Reactor is impressive and it’s virtually unnoticeable when the LEDs are powered off. The main part of the Arc Reactor is made of CDs or DVDs. I used a regular sized DVD and a mini-CD-R disc. Also, we will need the clear filler disc found at the bottom of every stack of blank discs.
The only thing you need to buy are the micro LED lights. This project uses a small string of 20 lights. You can use whatever color you want but the Blue LED lights are more authentic looking when building your Arc Reactor. You may even need to purchase some of the mini-CD-R discs if you don’t have any around.
Connecting and recording audio from an external microphone on an Android phone should be an easy thing to do but many people have found that it is not as simple as it seems. On the surface, one would think that you just plug the microphone in and it should naturally work. But if you’ve tried it you know it won’t work.
There are not dedicated jacks for headphones or microphones on Android devices. Headphones work perfectly fine on Android but so do microphones. You just have to know how. The only place you can plug in a microphone is in the headphone jack. But to get the microphone to work you’ll need an adapter cable. The single port fully functions as a microphone input as well as an audio output for headphones. In my video, I’ll show you exactly how to get a 3.5mm microphone up and running on your Android device.
The adapter cable I used in the video is from StarTech.com and I carry it with me all the time now. The StarTech adapter splits the audio connections to and from the phone into separate jacks/ports. When it’s plugged in, you now have the ability to plug in a microphone and headphone in at the same time. Both will function at the same time also.
The StarTech TRS to TRRS adapter is available on Amazon for under $7 and is a useful cable to have around for many devices that only have one headphone jack.
