Build a tiny cinema camera kit for under $300

High-end video gear cost a lot of money, and if your budget is thin, it can be frustrating. Fortunately, there are often cheaper solutions that maybe won’t get you a Hollywood-level image quality, but they’re good enough to turn your ideas into an engaging movie. Caleb Pike from DSLR Video Shooter often introduces us to these affordable solutions, and in this video, he has assembled an entire video kit for under $300. It doesn’t include only a camera and a lens, but even adapters, a filter, a cage and much more.

This setup can be a backup camera or a kit you’ll use when you don’t want to expose your expensive gear to potential damage. As for the camera, Caleb uses Canon EOS-M. It costs from $257 on Amazon (with a lens), but on eBay, you can get it for around $100 or even less. You can download Magic Lantern onto it and add plenty of useful features.

The lens Caleb added to Canon M is made for C-mount: Fotasy 35mm F1.6. It costs around $40, and it has a uniform thread size at the front, so you can add any filter you want. There are a few more affordable options, and you can check them out in the video below:

With this lens, you’ll need an adapter (C Mount to EF-M), and you can get it for around $7. Add a step-up ring for Filter (also $7) if you want to add a fader ND filter to the lens ($16).

There’s even a small cage in this setup. It’s designed for Sony A6500and A6300 and costs under $40. Caleb had to cut a piece of it off so he can access the battery and SD card compartment. But other than that, it fits nicely.

Within this budget, you can even include a side handle for $30, an SD Card ($9) and two extra batteries and a charger for under $20.Finally, there’s a small tabletop tripod ($20), which can be for timelapse videos.

If my math is correct, all this should be under $300 (depending on the deal you find for a used Canon M). But even for slightly over $300, it seems like a pretty good price for an entire kit. Sure, it’s not the fanciest kit there is, but it’s pretty good for a start.

[Tiny Cinema Camera Kit for Under $250 – EOS-M Video Review | DSLR Video Shooter]