Here are some affordable pro-filmmaking tools which won’t break the bank.
Follow focus with adjustable A/B hard stops – $350
Buy it now
Lightweight carbon fibre viewfinder – $165
Buy it now
Cinematics Mattebox – $499
Buy it now
These are professional grade DSLR video accessories and are a step up from the previous ‘value’ range of Chinese DSLR accessories I’ve seen in terms of feature-set and quality. They are more expensive but not by much. $160 for a carbon fibre viewfinder and baseplate is pretty good especially considering the cost and difficulty in machining carbon fibre.
The box swings out so you can change the lens quickly. It is aluminium apart from the plastic filter holder (to avoid scratching the square slot-in filters). It folds flat for storage and transportation. It aluminium flags of reasonable durability and thickness (for those not familiar with matte boxes, these are the large parts that flip out at the front). Uniquely for the price range it has 4 flags, top, bottom left and right.
Best of all it makes your DSLR rig look more professional in the eyes of clients!! 🙂
The follow focus is similar in design to the JIN Finance one I featured last month. This is more expensive but it has hard A/B stops which can be very useful especially on modern lenses with their silly fly-by-wire focus rings with infinite rotation. The stops allow you to feel where infinity and the minimum focus distance are at each end so you can stop turning. They also allow you to mark a hard stop anywhere in between that corresponds with an actor’s marks on the floor, or any object’s distance from the camera.
Very impressive stuff!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mItZTTHBv7Q&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]