DIYPhotography.net

First major win for the Nikon Hacker team - removing the 30 minutes (or 29:59 if you wanna be picky) video recording limit on Nikon DSLRs .

Ever since DSLRs introduces video capabilities, there has always been a recording time limit for 30 minutes. Interestingly enough, this limit is not coming from hardware of software restrictions, but rather from a regulatory requirement that classifies devices recordings over 30 minutes of video as Camcorders, thus increasing their custom duty rates.

While Nikon's hacked firmware is not nearly as advanced as CHKD or MagicLantern, it is slowly making its moves into becoming a reality. (Why make it so hard Nikon? Why? See what MagicLantern did to Canon and how it helped embrace the 5D +ML as a beloved tool for videographers). Click to continue ›

A little while back I was contacted by Bruce Devon and & John Irwin and they pitched a post about a new "hack" - an intervalometer/firmware hack that ramps the camera shutter to 1/93000, allowing to action-freeze action sports. Indecently it was April's first.

Now, I am not really sure what "ramping the shutter to 1/93000" even means, but I loved the resulting video, and asked them for some explanations on how the video was made. Turns out that while shooting the video took a bit under two hours, creating the freezing effect took about 35 hours of after effects effort. The prank, textual explanations and a how to video after the jump.

DOP Ted Ramasola has an interesting build tutorial converting a bunch of house hold items into a pro looking matte box. At the ingredients section are a waste basket, drawer organizer, sprinkler donut, splash guard, mousepad, bolts and nuts and aluminum bits and rivets.

Click to continue ›

About three years ago Vincent Laforet released Reverie which was the first proof of concept that quality films can be shot with a DSLR, the Canon 5Dmk2. The movie stirred a huge commotion on the web. The thing is that even before releasing it, Vincent knew it was going to change the game with video and dSLRs.

Now Vincent is declaring what he thinks may change the game again - a hand held gyroscope power stabilizer - MōVI by Freefly Systems.

MōVI is a handheld 3-axis digital stabilized camera gimbal. This means that you shoot hand held, no tripod, no body mount, no jib, Steadicam or dolly and can still get smooth, great looking shots.

In fact, Vincent is so sure that he says it would be easier to use the MoVI and shoot a scene rather than trying to describe it: Click to continue ›

In this post Andy Pearson solves one of the most annoying issues for DSLR shooters - the location of the record button. The default "start video" button is placed in the most inconvenient location ever. If only you could operate it from the rig....

While filming the other day with some of my colleagues for a short project we’re producing I noticed that the cameraman was having to balance the DSLR Camera rig with one hand while trying to press the record button on the back of the camera.

I had a little research on the internet and searched for how the pros do it with their camera rigs. It became apparent that unless you paid a ton of money for bespoke remote triggers for the model camera and rig you owner, it was something that most people lived with… Click to continue ›

Griffin Hammond over at Indy Mogul has a great video about how to build a $35 DIY teleprompter. That is pretty awesome compared to the cheapest one I found on B&H which was $449.

For anyone who's wondering what a teleprompter is, it is a device that allows you to read text while looking directly at the lens. It is made with beam splitter glass positioned at 45° with a camera behind it and running text below it. The beam splitter does not block the camera from seeing as you look at it, while reflecting text that you can read. It is all explained in the movie after the break. Click to continue ›

Many of the video hacks we share are about dollies and sliders. It is not surprising as both make a huge impact on production value.

Most of the wheeled sliders we featured are using aligned skating wheels for smooth movement. This makes sense as they come with bearings and provide smooth motion. The only down side here is that the smooth movement is limited to the length of smooth surface you have.

Enter RigWheels. RigWheels is somewhat of a DIY product, but also somewhat of a high-end product, mostly depending on how you use it.

A few days ago we shared a quick sneak peak at the RotoRig - A light weight jib that resembles Light Craft's trapezist, Zolinger's ZP1800 and DSLR devices MK4. It's the kind of jib (or crane) that lets you do amazing Hollywood style sweeping shots. But, in some aspects it is even better. If you are a solo shooter and have to carry your gear alone, the RotoRig saves you from having to carry multiple rigs. It doubles as a video shoulder rig and triples as a hand held jib. We also shared a shot flick shot entirely with the rig in its three positions, and the fact that it can so easily transforms really makes me sad that they did not have a movie autobot back in the days.

The response has been overwhelming and basically everyone said the same thing? How do you build one? In fact, Amazon's stock of the monopods was nuked.

Well, Chad Bredahl is not the guy to keep you waiting and he put up a video showing how the rig was built. He also shared a complete parts list (as noted below). So everyone who grabbed the monopods off Amazon before the price went up can go ahead and complete the build. For the rest of you, Walmart has them for $9.99. Click to continue ›

When I get asked what's the first thing an HD shooter should get to boost production value, I usually say a slider. But things are changing and light weight jibs are starting to emerge and take the spot of the first thing you may wanna buy for added production value.

DSLR devices makes the MK4 for about $350 and Zolinger makes the coveted ZP1800 for $750. Both would be a good start in the jib world. Chad Bredahl made a DIY jib - The RotoRig - that is not only travel friendly, but also doubles as a shoulder rig and a hand held jib. (which used with the IS-enabled 18-55 Canon kit lens is way more stable that what I would have thought possible).

To make his point Chad made a short movie made entirely with jib/shoulder rig shots using the RotoRig. Click to continue ›

Photographer Patrick Luke built quite a clever video Dolly. While we have had our share of dollies and sliders before, I don't think I've seen something this cost effective yet.

Here is a break down, curtsey of Patrick. We did not put any sizes down as those may vary depending on how wide or long you would like your dolly to be, but the guidelines should provide enough direction if you would like to build your own. Click to continue ›