On my travels at NAB 2010 I managed to secure some great giveaways for followers of DSLRnewsshooter.com. Then I got so busy covering the UK election (in stills) for The Guardian newspaper and website that I had no time to post this until now – a thousand apologies. If you are interested in what I’ve been up to you can look here

To be in with a chance of winning one of these marvellous pieces of kit you need to register for the site, if you haven’t already, and then post below so I know which one of the three items you want. After one month the names will be put into a hat and the lucky winners drawn out. But you can only choose one item and you can only enter once – multiple entries will be disqualified and as in all good competitions the judge’s decision is final.

Your entry should look something like this:

Yourname – I would like to win a Redrockmicro DSLR baseplate…..

It’s as simple as that. Humorous comments are allowed after the item of your choice but will make no difference when it comes to the draw.

First up is a Redrockmicro DSLR baseplate that forms the basis of the Redrock DSLR system and can be added to any 15mm support rods. The giveaway is Redrockmicro’s demo unit from NAB so is not brand new, but it’s a great piece of kit which I use myself. For more info look here

Redrockmicro DSLR baseplate (demo kit)

Next up is a very cute Zacuto Point and Shoot grip for improving your video with a compact camera like the Lumix LX-3 or the HD Flip. I put one of these in my day off kit with my IXUS. More info here

The Zacuto Point and Shoot pro handgrip

And last but by no means least is the Genus GAP plate which when attached to your DSLR rig or camcorder allows you to mount your system on a professional Sony VCT-14 tripod quick release plate. If you are used to shooting ENG you know what I’m talking about. A great prize for any serious newshound. More about it here.

The Genus GAP plate to mount a rig on a Sony VCT14 tripod quick release plate

I’d like to thank all the manufacturers for donating the prizes and taking the time to talk to me at NAB – it was a great show and hopefully DSLRnewsshooter will be back there next year for more. I’d also like to give a special thank you to Scott Karlins and Den Lennie of F-Stop academy for helping at NAB.

Jehu Garcia of Jag35 proudly shows off his budget lightweight DSLR cage which he hopes to ship in the next few weeks. Shot by site contributor Khalid Mohtaseb and Fstopacdemy‘s Scott Karlins.

NAB 2010 – Jag35 DSLR cage system from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Steve Rushworth demonstrates the Genus products shoulder support system on the Manfrotto stand at NAB 2010. Many many thanks to Fstopacdemy‘s Scott Karlins for shooting and editing this when I was too exhausted to do any more video.

NAB 2010 – Genus DSLR shoulder support system from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Ikan had a whole range of new products at NAB 2010 – check out the Elements DSLR rigs, VX7 HDMI/SDI field monitor and the Multi K LED light. Video by Fstopacdemy’s Scott Karlins and Dan Chung.

NAB 2010 – Ikan DSLR rigs and monitors for 5DmkII and 7D from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

K-Tek show off the strangely named Norbert DSLR video rig. Also watch the end of the video for a cool new mini boom pole for audio recorders like the Zoom H4n. NAB 2010 video by Fstopacdemy’s Scott Karlins and Dan Chung.

NAB 2010 – K-Tek Norbert DSLR rig and the mini boom pole for audio recorders from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Wayne Shulman of Manfrotto demonstrates the new 504HD tripod which the company developed with the DSLR video shooter in mind. Also featured is the new Genus products DSLR rig. Video by Scott Karlins and Dan Chung.

NAB 2010 – New Manfrotto 504HD tripod for 5DmkII and 7D shooters from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

“Shooting video is easy”, was a quote on another post on this blog. Like many DSLR shooters, I’m from a stills background so just learning but this is what I know. Shooting video is engaging, challenging, testing, difficult and great great fun – anything but easy

Shooting 25p progressive is even harder than that because you need to be super smooth – a shocking leap from the 30p 5d or an interlaced video camera. The mind is busting with thought for every moment that you roll. Focus, pan speed, shooting angles that will cut, following the action or letting it move into the frame and of course composition, but as a DSLR shooter that is easy and has to be instant.

Shooting motion puts your thoughts under a microscope there is no doubt, I shot this for fun having shot stills of the gang for a magazine last month

Fight Club Truro – Canon 7d from Sam Morgan Moore on Vimeo.

We arrived at nine and departed by eleven, my edit was done by 3am having shot another job in the afternoon. The majority is done with a 70-200 nikkor G lens with the aperture jammed open at f2.8 , stuck on a good Miller tripod which has a wide choice of panning frictions right down to nearly nothing. Follow focus with the lens was the main challenge of the day particularly the lack of monitor and the minute adjustments that the small sensor and DSLR AF lens implies, I used a home made Follow Focus.

Other shots are done on my shoulder rig (www.halfinchrails.com) using both a 14mm nikkor 2.8 and a 50 1.4 nikkor at 2.8. Slo mo reallys cheats handheld moves, but it just doesnt look good with my 14mm – I think I need to stop down a little to sharpen it up

The 50mm lens sings for both perspective and sharpness at f2.8

The edit is probably a bit weak, it starts a little slow and I should change my POV more in some of the cuts – I hope the video is fun

Oh ? the camera – 7d – my initial appraisal is you need a lot of light to keep the ISO down and give yourself some options with aperture to sustain focus, especially in 50FPS mode – Im loving the look of the camera having been initially scared of a ‘small’ chip

I think what DSLR shooters can take away from this is the selection of shot angles and cut choices, Im trying to make an engaging sequence – not a moving slide show which is what I think a lot of DSLR shooters are tempted to do.

SMM

Sam Morgan Moore is a professional stills photographer who works for the ‘heavy’ newspapers and commercial clients in the south west of the uk
he is available to hire to create stills, motion or preferably both
www.sammorganmoore.com

Matt Jasper, a cameraman for the UK’s Channel 4 news, picked up his Canon Eos7D this weekend and promptly rigged it up with some cool toys so he can use it for ENG. He’s planning to blog here about the experience of changing from a big, heavy ENG camera to a 7D rig, stay tuned. Here’s a quick video we did as his first instalment.

Products from Canon, Redrockmicro, Genus, Zacuto, Zoom, Sony and Pinknoise systems.

Canon 7D – TV cameraman Matt Jasper unboxes and rigs up his new 7D from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

You can see more about Matt and his work covering the Chinese earthquake on the Channel 4 news website here