I’m sure some CDMotion readers must be wondering if I actually own a DV camera considering the stop-motion and still camera focus these last couple of weeks. Rest assured I both own and even on occasion wield a DV cam, however my DSLR has held me in thrall with its beautiful images, shallow depth of field and sweet, sweet resolution.
Perhaps I’d be more excited about DV shooting if I was to buy one of the lovely HD Cameras the cool kids are talking about, or I could upgrade my current one; lower it a little, give it some chameleon paint, a spoiler, some oversized exhausts, fat rims… Ok, so I can’t think of anyone who’s undertaking cosmetic camera mods. However there are some fantastic mods and accessories, both commercial and DIY, which can help you get better video from that humble DV cam.
Beautiful Image: 35mm lens adapters
Redrock Micro was built from the Micro35 Project, which itself was based on the extremely expensive Mini35 from P+S Technik. These projects all throw variously sized chunks of money at the same concept: Using film lenses on a video camera.
At the lower end of the price spectrum, RedRockMicro sell a DIY guide on how to make their commercial M2 Adapter, which will set you back US$995 or more, depending on options. They also sell a Follow Focus unit to go with the M2, which looks rather cool.
More recently, Make has featured a rather smooth looking DIY 35mm adapter. It uses the hacked-off front of a Nikon SLR as a lens mount, and has the traditional spinning clear CD-Rom “ground glass”.
I spent some time last year DIYing around in a similar vein. It didn’t produce anything particularly useful, but I still have a collection of lenses and Diskman spindle motor assemblies. That DIY project is tempting me to break out the dremel and get back into it.
Stable Image: DV MultiRig and DIY Steadicams
The recent DV MultiRig is a folding, reconfigurable camera stabilizer… thing. No real reviews online but the forum buzz seems positive.
There are plenty of DIY camera stabilizer projects around, ranging from the absurdly simple, to the polypipe, to the Homebuilt Stabilizer Community, who are producing some amazing looking rigs.
Loads of weekend projects there, take your pick!
Hi all,
Thanks for the writeup on our gear. We have also come out with microWhips and will be releasing our microMatteBox later this year.
One point of clarification – the M2 adapter is not based on the mini35. We have never personally seen nor used that adapter. It was based on the DIY work of James Hurd – our Chief Revolutionist – started many years ago at dvinfo.net
Cheers
Brian
The M2 is a nice adapter. However, the Letus35 line of 35mm adapters "flip" the image upright so you don't have to mess with an upside down image which can be challenging for some shooting situations.