CineSkates Camera Sliders - Roller Skates for Your GorillaPod

Here's the video to a very interesting project by Justin Jensen, a mechanical engineer from Austin, TX. Definitely the best idea I saw since a long time ago - roller skates for a GorillaPod. What I like most is the fact that you don't need to buy an extra slider and carry around tons of equipment with you. This product is super simple, small and as it works with 3 wheels instead of 4 you can roll over bent surfaces, too!


Definitely something you should support. So please visit this site for more information.

Cheers,
jonni

Canon 550D on the Delkin Fat Gecko mount

As a big fan of cool camera angles I had to try mounting the 550D to my car and shoot some clips while driving around.



There are many products on the market which make it possible to mount your camera to a car, bike, door or whatever. But after comparing all these products on the web I had to get the Delkin Fat Gecko. It is a really solid, small, cheap and reliable product. I got mine for 70 Euros which is about $90.

Here's a video of the Delkin Fat Gecko. I thinks it shows pretty well how strong this mount is (you don't have to understand the words, don't worry):



The build quality is almost perfect. I didn't expect to get a product with this quality when I ordered the Fat Gecko. It's pretty heavy but the adjustment screws keep everything in place all the time.

I tested it with my 550D, the 18-55 kit lens and a lens hood. The suction cups do their job very well. In the beginning I was sceptical and afraid that the mount could get loose, but after a few minutes I knew that there's really no reason to be afraid when using the Fat Gecko. You only have to make sure that your mounting surface is smooth and clean.

The only thing I have to test is if it works better with IS turned on or off. The clip above was shot with IS on all the time. But I tested it with IS off, too. Have to compare the shots.


My rating - go and get it. 5/5.

arigato gozaimasu,
jonni

Canon 550D underwater photo and video with the DiCAPac SLR Case

Since underwater cases for DSLR cameras are way to expensive for my budget ($1000++) I was searching for an underwater bag for my 550D and came along the DiCAPac SLR Case. It's a $115 (90€) bag for your DSLR camera which is meant to be waterproof up to 5m. It's pretty big so you can even put in a 7D or 5D if you want to. You can find even cheaper cases on ebay, but to be honest - I don't trust them. The DiCAPac case has a large optical lens with a diameter of 85mm, so you can use it with a big variety of lenses. And the quality of this glas is really good. I couldn't notice any light loss at all.

To keep this article short, here are the facts. After some tests I took a few underwater photos and shot some videos with this thing and it works! The quality is amazing! This is a product I can recommend without any doubt.

Here's a short video to show the abilities of this bag


But before you hit the buy button and get this thing you should be aware of some things. Handling your camera with this bag is really hard! You can fit 2 550Ds in this bag easily. I think it will work better with bigger cameras. Making adjustments during a shot is almost impossible. So you have to make all your settings first (even zoom and focus) and then start the shoot. Another problem I had was that my 18-55mm kit lens was way to small, so I had to push the tube for the lens against it all the time to avoid filming the inner side of the tube. But with some practice or by taping the tube towards the bag (or using a longer lens) you should get some really nice shots, even if this bag can't replace any professional case for your DSLR.

I can't wait to test this bag on a rainy day...

My rating:
price: 5/5
quality: 5/5
handling 2/5

Cheers,
jonni

Super cheap and lightweight video / timelapse setup (Canon 550D, 10-inch flexible tripod, Bilora Professional 1153 fluid head, H&Y Fader ND, 3-way rubber lens hood)

A fried of mine sent me this link where you can buy a 10-inch flexible tripod for $11.90. Basically it is the same as the "Joby GorillaPod SLR-Zoom" (the biggest GorillaPod) which you can get here for $49.95. The only difference I know is that the joints of the cheaper one are a bit stiffer. I decided to get one because I don't want to carry my tripod with me all the time. Shipping to Germany took 2 weeks and I'm really satisfied with the quality of this product. It carries my 550D with the 50mm or the 18-55 kit lens, a metal stepping ring, the H&Y fader ND and a big 3-way rubber lens hood without a problem. And the best thing: It also works nice with my new "Bilora Professional 1153 fluid head" mounted to it. I got the head for 39.99€ ($52) from a local electronics store in Stuttgart. I tested a lot of fluid heads (cheap and expensive ones) and decided to get this one. It's really cheap, build quality is great and panning is comparable to some of the cheaper Manfrotto heads. So all in all it's a great small head for shooting stills and videos - and it comes with a nice quick release plate.

This is a really lightweight and small setup with all the basic accessories you need for shooting nice timelapses or videos with some smooth pans. But you'll definitely need some more stuff for handheld shots or if you need to record usable sound.

My rating:
10-inch flexible tripod: 5/5
Bilora Professional 1153 fluid head: 4.5/5
3-way rubber lens hood: 4.5/5