X-mas list!

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Snapper123

Well-known member
Hey guys this is sort of a emergency scenario here but hoping ya'll can help tackle some important items all in one:

1. What's the absolute cheapest yet fully functional (able to adjust shutter speed, ISO, aperture, and two-at-a-time) Light Meter for the DSLR camera?

2. What's the cheapest but fully useful microphone for the T2i/60D? I prefer something very small and something that fits easily on top of the camera. Also, if this requires different types of mics, say one for close up work and one for range work, and wind shields please help.

3. What's the absolute cheapest external recorder for multiple mics, preferably something very small that can be screwed between the camera and tripod head?

4. What's the cheapest but most decent quality of ND filter sets?

5. Are there any recommendations for a very cheap mini-roller useful for table tops and smooth floors?

6. Are there any free websites that allow for uploading videos (like Youtube) that allow for basic editing, such as adding text, minimal effects, editing on a timeline, and adding sound?

7. Are there any very small and cheap shoulder mounts or stabalizers that work great and work great with prime lenses?

8. Are there any recommendations for extremely cheap aesthetic/knick-knack products, things like fancy looking $5 lens hoods, very cheap battery grips, anything I can sort of lump in for very cheap.

9. Are there are very, very small soft white light devices that are basically only made for at most shining soft light onto a person's face for an interview, something that's small and battery powered like the size of a small book.

10. Are there any cheap but efficient devices or products you'd recommend besides this?

As some rules, these questions are truly an emergency and are really important to me (I hope I get some responses in the next few hours to be completely honest), and whatever yall recommend, please note that it is essential that everything I need can be collapsible or small enough to fit in a army-sized backpack and nothing more. I also can't buy things from ebay or from other users, credit card only so please don't hesitate to recommend something off amazon.com or product sites, I truly don't care about the brand, I only need everything off this list (each thing can cost no more than $100) and a form of it that in some way works.

Please guys, I hope for some responses and I think that these questions are also useful to an extreme amount of people as well!
 
A lot of the questions would be best answered by doing specific searches here - plenty of this has been addressed, some ad infinitum and posts requesting this much existing info often go unanswered. There are sections of this forum that deal specifically with things like filters, on-camera lights, etc. (Essentially, show a little love for all the people who have shared their info here once - or twenty - times already).

My .02:

1. - The cheapest most functional meter is the one built into your camera. Especially having the ability to view histograms of specific scenes. There are far better things to spend your money on than an external light meter - spend time learning to expose.

2. - Sticking a mic on the hot shoe is pretty useless for most scenarios - unless you simply can't get someone to boom or use a lav. And then, do you want a cheap mic with 1/8" stereo plug or a quality mic with an XLR - 1/8 adapter box? Do you want phantom power? Decide how important quality audio is and which way you want to go. In which case you'll still deal with the substandard audio of the T2i. Search the audio threads regarding wind protection items. I feel the best deal for a lav setup right now is the AT-88W, about $100 and really not too bad. Has a 1/8" output, but an XLR adapter is available.

If word like TRS, XLR and Phantom are new to you, get "Producing great sound for digital video" before you spend any money.

3. - The M-Audio MicroTrack (latest version). $169-$199. I haven't seen anything close with dual balanced inputs (TRS, not XLR, but hey, you still get balanced ins) & phantom power, decent metering. You will need some female XLR to Male TRS cables to go balanced with phantom power, but those are cheap. The Zoom H4N is $299, which has XLRs and phantom power. There are loads of new and used Rhode mics out there, possible something under $100; you should be able to find a decent small-diaghragm condenser for well under $100; I really like the ADK SD mics, about $69.

4. Use screw-ons for now; use adapter rings. Cheap chinese screw-on NDs (glass, not plastic) work very well and with the T2i's compression/aliasing, I don't see a difference between those and my pricey 4x4's. You'll need some rubber lens hoods with these to prevent flare.

7. Not for $100; your best bet is to copy one of the PVC designs out there. All you need is a hand saw and some glue.

8. Battery grips are overated for video and make a bad form factor even worse (IMHO). By "Aesthetic" I assume you want your rig to look "cool" or "pro". Waste of $$ at this point - for really useful gear that looks "pro", you can't beat a set of rods and an indian matte box - $400-$600. Seeing your "$100 limit" for some important gear (audio, ND, etc) I really would put off spending on "looking cool" until your footage "looks cool".

10. I think a magnifying loupe is the one thing that you can't live without. Focusing is much more precise and it's the only way you can shoot out in the sun. You can get a hoodman and a redrock mounting plate pretty cheap. Or the cavision with the 550d adapter plate is very good. And hey, it looks kinda cool.

You haven't mentioned a tripod, so I assume you have something sturdy that is capable of very smooth, controlled pans and tilts.

It sounds like you have a lot of research and reading to do. There's a ton of info already existing and searchable here. And check amazon for some of the new DSLR filmmaking books as well.
 
Michael pretty much covered it (even though I'm a fan of battery grips for t2is. if you've got a t2i and want to use nice, big lenses, you need a battery grip to let the t2i sit flat.)

#9 - Search for "z96" on ebay and buy from a hong kong vendor.

Hold off on buying these until you feel like you really need them: matte Box, Follow Focus, rail system. Lots of people on the board see these as a necessity for DSLR shooting but it simply isn't true. With practice, I can pull jiggle-free focus on a the cheap 50mm canon's focus ring. If you don't have a dedicated AC in your rolodex, you don't need those things. if you don't know what an AC is, you REALLY dont. Let you work dictate to clients how much your time is worth, not the appearance of your rig.

Instead, buy a Zoom h4n, a not-cheap mic (nothing NOTHING is mor get what you pay for than audio). When I was starting out, I got a cheap $250 audio technica and wasn't satisfied, then I bit the bullet and got an Rode NTG3. The difference isn't even comparable. I've been using the NTG3 for about 8 months now and haven't looked back. I know i'll never have to invest in another shotgun as long as I take care of this. Definitely worth the money. And if you message Guy Cochran over at DVeStore, he'll give you a DVXuser rate that's hard to shake a stick at.

IMHO, this is all a shooter needs to get started (and work real, paying jobs too!) as a one man DSLR production machine:
t2i
Zoom h4 or h4n
good shotgun mic + boom kit (i also invested in a light stand + boom pole holder kit. worth every penny.)
one decent wired lav mic (i rarely come into a situation where two people need to be mic'd, in that case, the boom comes in hand.)
decent cardioid mic (check ebay and craigslist for oktava mk012, i got a stereo pair used for 100 and use it all the time.)
good tripod (I use the cheap davis and sanford and love it)
z96 light
5-in-1 reflector card
cheap white/grey balance card
a mic stand and clamps for the bounce card.
some sort of shoulder mount, people have had really good luck with this 24 dollar one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0036NMQ7S

loupe is definitely necessary for shooting on sunny days, but for inside, I use the "magnify" feature on the camera to pull focus. Works fine.

As for lenses, get accustomed to shooting before upgrading glass. If you NEED NEED NEED another lens right now get the canon 50mm f1.8 for 100 bucks. Other than that, shoot shoot shoot until you need another lens to propel your craft. Don't let strangers on here tell you what glass you need for your shooting.

Just remember that these are TOOLS. The finished product depends entirely upon YOU. You can dress up a camera to look as "pro" as you want, what clients will judge your work on is the final product. And just because you bought a follow focus and matte box doesn't mean that the final product is going to be pro-level. I liken it to finding a good general contractor: you don't ask to see their tools, you ask to see projects they've worked on in the past.
 
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A decent beginners mic is the rode videomic. Search around and everyone'll say the same. Learn editing sound on that first and then upgrade I reckon.
I'm only using the videomic for my films and it's really pushing me in final cut, making everything sound seamless and what not.

I think Nicksnow and micheal have done a good job covering everything else :)
 
A great resource for audio is "producing great sound for digital video" - can't recall the author (my son swiped my copy - he wants a tascam field recorder for xmas, not a bad kid to have!) but google it. Very good overview of the whole process.
 
Michael Carter said:
1. - The cheapest most functional meter is the one built into your camera. Especially having the ability to view histograms of specific scenes. There are far better things to spend your money on than an external light meter - spend time learning to expose.
Click to expand...

While I'm able to read external light meters, how does this work out with a T2i? Do you switch between photomode and video-mode all the time? What is your workflow?
 
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