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Holiday Gift Guide – The best new camera gadgets and accessories of 2022

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It’s December again, which means lots of us are sitting there wondering what to buy for ourselves or the photographer in our lives this holiday season. We’ve been saving up all year to get that something special, but we don’t want to deal with in-store queues – or maybe we’ve just slacked on our Christmas shopping this year. We want to stay at home where it’s nice and warm and see what we can find online that gets delivered straight to our door!

So, this means it’s time for the 2022 DIYP Holiday Gift Guides. It’s the last day today, so we’re going to be going through the list of our favourite new gadgets and accessories that have been released during 2022. Have a look at our previous guides in the series this week covering cameras, lenses, lighting, sliders, tripods and gimbals.

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Zacuto turns to mobile creators with its new Smart Z-Finder viewfinder for smartphones

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Zacuto, the company famous for its high-end (and expensive) cinema rig accessories has turned to smartphones with their latest release, the Smart Z-Finder. As with many of Zacuto’s more popular products over the years, this one’s a viewfinder. Except it’s not for cinema cameras or even mirrorless cameras. This one takes aim at mobile creators. It’s designed for smartphones.

A first of its kind, the Zacuto Smart Z-Finder allows you to film with a smartphone in a way that feels a little more like a “real camera”, allowing you to fill your view with the screen while blocking out external distractions. It’s compatible with most smartphones on the market and allows for both horizontal or vertical filming. It’s currently running on Kickstarter.

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Zacuto scales down their Recoil Rigs with new “ACT” line for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras

Zacuto believes that DSLRs and mirrorless cameras still have a big place in video, and have now announced a new line of ACT Recoil Rigs designed specifically for use with them. Claiming they can handle everything from the teeny tiny Sigma fp up to a giant Canon 1DX Mark III. They come ready-to-shoot right out of the box, and come in a variety of different kits for various specific camera models, and there’s a universal option to cover the rest.

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Zacuto Kameleon Overview

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A while back I wrote a review of the Zacuto Gratical HD, where I wrote about some of the benefits of using a third-party EVF. This time, I want to look at the other EVF from Zacuto, the Kameleon.

Let’s start with the why though. Essentially, third-party EVF offers you consistency across any camera no matter how good or bad the built-in EVF is. If you use a product like the Zacuto EVF, you always know exactly what you’re seeing in the EVF is consistent. You can trust that the colors are what you think they are. It’s good to know that the scopes and focus assist are accurate. Some cameras don’t allow you to install custom LUTS, which is another very handy feature that the Zacuto EVFs have.

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Zacuto Gratical HD Review

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Just about all cameras come with a built-in EVF, so why would you spend thousands of dollars on a Zacuto Gratical HD EVF?

Well, not all EVF’s are created equal. Also, not all cameras are created equal when it comes to monitoring options. Here are some examples. The resolution and quality of built-in EVFs on cameras vary hugely. You may get a camera that is amazing, but its EVF is not the best. You may then also get a camera that has an amazing EVF, but the camera may be missing features.  When it comes to the EVF, here are some of the features that could be missing in-camera, but the Gratical adds:

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For IBC, we are giving away Pro Gear: Lights, Power and a VTC Plate to ramp your movie making

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Welcome to DIYPhotography’s IBC Sweepstakes! With IBC (International Broadcasting Convention) coming soon we wanted to make you cinema-happy, this is why we teamed up with Spiffy Gear, Zacuto, and Core SWX to give you everything your camera needs to make great movies. (well, technically all your camera needs is you, but pro gear always helps). Check out the form below to enter our IBC sweepstakes. All you have to do is answer the question in the form below. And tell your friends, they’ll love you for it.

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