DIY Equipment

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From on camera LED lights, to wireless Audio kits, and portable audio recorders, there's something in your bag of gear that will require AA / AAA batteries. Here's a couple of helpful AA / AAA battery charger reviews that touch on smart-chargers which work on an individual cell basis.

This first video from @HDSLRNOW (follow twitter here) showcases the La Crosse BC-700 (also available in BC-1000) Battery charger. Can charge NiCad and NiMH AA and AAA rechargeable batteries simultaneously, featuring 4 modes: charge, discharge, refresh, and test, 4 separate LCD displays for simultaneous readouts, and offers Overheat-detection to prevent over-charging.

La Crosse Charger
find-price-button La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger

The next battery charger review from Shuttertastic.com is almost double the price of the small La Crosse, but this Powerex Maha MH-C801D offers a large LCD display with Eight independent slots, Selectable soft and rapid charging speeds, Built-in battery deep-conditioning system, and works with a variety of popular rechargeable batteries.

Powerex-Maha-MH-C801D-1
find-price-button Powerex Maha MH-C801D Eight Cell 1-Hr PRO AA/AAA Charger

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GoPro DJI Phantom Quadcopter DJI QuadCopter
find-price-button DJI Phantom GoPro Quadcopter Kit GPS + NAZA-M - eBay

The DJI Phantom Quadcopter for the GoPro Hero cameras are still gaining popularity, but getting smooth footage is impossible without a few modifications. The first step is to ensure your rotors are balanced properly, and then start looking into a way to create an isolation mount for your camera. There's been several ideas on how to create this, but this DIY Wire Isolation Mount seems to be a great and more secure solution.

The single wire isolation mount design is adjustable to have more or less tension. A few web searches show how to DIY one yourself, or if you're not the DIY type, check out one ready made GoPro Hero Wire Isolation Mount for the DJI Phantom now available via eBay (click here).

iso wire gopro phantom jello fixGoPro Wire Mount
find-price-button DJI Phantom Single Wire Isolation Mount GoPro

DJI Phantom Quadcopters Currently on eBay



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Here's a time saving tip if you have to constantly mount and dismount accessories like Portable Audio Recorders, LED Lights, or Wireless Mic Receivers from your rig. The Tamrac Zipshot Quick Release System was designed to work with one of their tripods, and it comes with two different sized quick release plates.

Quick release system

The larger is rated at 3 lbs. (that's plenty for an accessory). It can be mounted to a ball head, friction arm, or be creative to mount it on your cage. It just needs enough clearance to pinch the tabs to release the plate. These are handy when you need to pull gear out of the bag for a quick shoot, or when it's time to pack stuff away at the end of the day. The mini quick release adapters (found here).

Tamrac Zipshot Quick Release System
find-price-button Tamrac Zipshot Quick Release Accessory Kit

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Here's a simple way to DIY a Top Handle for your DSLR Video Camera for those low shooting scenes. The hot shoe of these cameras are very capable of mounting this little top handle, but please use common sense as to not overload your setup with bulky rigs. This is mainly a way to carry the camera in it's simplest form. The build is easy and cheap, assembled with common parts you may already have, or find it through the links below.

Giottos Ball Head Top Handle
find-price-button Giottos MIni Ball Head 1/4" 3/8"

The Giottos Mini Ball Head is a native 3/8" mount, so you can get a 3/8" adapter, or use the reducer to 1/4" (comes with ball head) and use a 1/4" hot shoe adapter (click here).

Hot Shoe Adapter 3-8 Cold Shoe1-4 shoe adapter
find-price-button Hot Shoe Adapter 3/8 or 1/4 Screw

These handles are all metal, knurled finish for grip, and you can actually stack them together if you want it to be very long. They come in a variety of colors if you want to spice up your aesthetics (click here).

Camera Grip Top Handle DIYTop Handle camera gripTop Hanlde
find-price-button DSLR Video Camera Handle 1/4

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So I just received the LanParte Li-ion Battery Packs a short while back. I was pretty curious to see what the run time was actually going to be like, so here's a video showing a continuous time lapse test with a Canon 5D Mark II. Specs state that the LanParte External Battery is equivalent to 4 LP-E6 batteries. The overall run time during this continuous shooting test ran for just over 5 hours.

The only problem was that my order did not come with was the proper plug for USA outlets, but we happened to have a converter on hand to charge up the pack. Or maybe you may already have a 12V 2A adapter with a 2.5/5.5 tip like this (found here). These battery packs are available in LP-E6 or LP-E8 battery adapters so it can power most Canon HD Video DSLRs (including all REBEL HDSLR cameras) out on the market today. You can find the LanParte External Battery for Canon Cameras via eBay (click here).

Lanparte Portable Battery Canon CameraLP-E6 Battery Power Lanparte
find-price-button Lanparte Li-Ion External Battery Packs for Canon DSLR Cameras

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External Battery LPE8 LP-E8T3i T4i External Battery

Recently I featured the Panasonic GH3 DC Coupler (seen here) used for running external battery power. Running external power is one way to swap batteries easily when the camera is mounted inside of a cage, or if you're looking to just have super long run times. If you're looking do the same for your Canon cameras, you can pick up the AC/DC adapter (as seen here) and slightly modify it, but you will still need to find the proper battery to run an optimal 7.4V DC.

Lanparte Portable Battery Canon CameraLP-E6 Battery Power Lanparte
find-price-button Lanparte Li-On Portable External Battery

Well here's a recent Portable Power Solution Product that offers a 6600mAh Portable Li-Ion Battery along with a dummy battery to provide long lasting run times for Canon DSLR cameras that run on LP-E6 or LP-E8 batteries. That should cover pretty much every Canon DSLR made in the last 3 years. Lanparte is a name that has been putting out quality stuff in recent years, and i'm hoping this is just as good. I have one on order now. Not too shabby on the price considering they state a full charge will be the equivalent to the run time of 4 batteries. Check out the portable power solution following the link (Click here).

LP-E8 external batteryLP-E8 battery adapter
find-price-button Lanparte Li-On Portable External Battery

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Here's a battery organizing tip from Larry [Thanks Larry]. The PowerPax Battery Organizing Caddies come in a variety of colors and sizes to hold various battery types from AAA, AA, 9V, C/D Cell batteries, etc. Some PowerPax Battery Caddies can carry a combination of batteries in one pack which is handy when you need a 9V for your Rode VideoMic and AA's for your portable recorders. It's also a handy way to prevent confusion on which rechargeable batteries have been already been used and unused. All found on Amazon (click here).

PowerPax Battery CaddyBattery Caddy PowerPax AAPowerPax 9V AA Battery Adapter
find-price-button PowerPax Battery Organizer Caddy for AAA, AA, 9V, C/D Cell

Pretty cool solution if you're just working with small batteries. If i'm packing with a larger bag and have to deal with more equipment, i've been working with Tackle Boxes (as seen below). The clear case makes it easy to find what you're looking for and the adjustable dividers can be tailored to what you're trying to fit.

pack_3

The tackle boxes are a great way to sort camera batteries, AA, AAA, compact flash cards, small cables, etc. Very inexpensive and durable. I can also label sections of the tackle box to determine Used and UnUsed Cards/Batteries. The tackle boxes i've found that work best and cheapest is the 'DEEP' versions from Plano which you can find in your local Walmart or via Amazon (here).

Plano Tackle Box Deep Storage Battery organizer
find-price-button Plano 'Deep' Storage with Dividers

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Here's a very simple and clean DIY counterweight solution to add onto your 15mm Video Rigs. This tip comes from Jason and he shows us how a Balance Weight typically used on telescopes will clamp nicely to any 15mm Rail. [Thanks Jason]. He's using a Meade 1422 counterweight, but i'm guessing there are other versions that may work as well. Check out the products via eBay (click here).

Telescope Counterweight Meade 1422
find-price-button Telescope Counter Balance Weight

There are also other versions of Telescope Counter Balance weights available via Amazon (found here)
Telescope Meade CounterweightMeade Counterweight
find-price-button Telescope Counter Balance Weights

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Clamps are handy little pieces of gear every shooter should have available in their kit. The images may not be the exact same clamps shown in this article, but it's a good reference of how i've used clamps in the past to mount accessories such as the Zoom H4n.

clamps (1 of 2)clamps (1 of 2)-2clamps (2 of 2)

Here's a couple of different little clamps to mount your 1/4-20 accessories to a tripod leg, or maybe even a light stand. The first clamp (below) is a recent product which opens to 4cm, is of metal construction, and offers a 1/4-20 male threaded mount which can be used to mount your accessories directly. Starts under $8 dollars/each via eBay (Found Here).

Mini Nano Clamp RodGoPro Camera Rail Clamp
find-price-button Super Mini Tripod Clamp

This next clamp has been around for a while, one of my favorites, and it's something that I use in combination of a short Friction Arm. The clamp offers a 1/4-20 thread and 3/8" thread. Since you'll need to add an additional friction arm, this is the more expensive solution to clamping your accessories. Starts around $9 dollars/each via eBay (Click Here)

Adjustable Mini Camera ClampMini Rail Rod ClampMini Super Camera Clamp Tripod LightStand
find-price-button Super Mini Clamp with 1/4-20 & 3/8" Thread Clamp

Here's another Mini C Clamp that works equally well with round rods (a.k.a tripod leg/light stand) as well as with flat surfaces like a table. It offers a 5/8" lightstand mount and a 1/4-20 threaded tip. With a bit of modding, you can remove the lightstand adapter and drill a new hole to mount a ball head for more flexibility. This C Clamp runs about $7.50 US/each via eBay (Click Here)

Mini C Clamp RodC Clamp Camera Light StandLight Stand Clamp
find-price-button Mini 1/4-20 Threaded 5/8 Light Stand C Clamp