So you only have $100.00 maximum to spend on your favorite filmmaker or videographer? Here’s a list of some great little stocking stuffers that will keep your guy or gal happy through the holidays.
Here’s our top 10 list that’ll excite that person on your list, but yet not break your bank account. Some of these are favorites that we use, others are items that we’d love to get under the tree.
- GAFF TAPE
At around $20-30, this gift is extremely handy to have in any kit bag. It’s poorer cousin (cost too) will do in a pinch, but it’ll leave sticky residue on expensive equipment. Gaff or Gaffers Tape really is the only way to go. It comes in a wide variety of colors too. Get it here. - MEMORY CARDS
Really. You can’t have enough memory cards. There I said it. We usually have a small case full of them when we go out on a shoot, in various types from MicroSD, SDHC, Compact Flash, to others. The most common are the SD format, as they fit a wide variety of cameras from FS100s/700s to GoPros (older ones), to field recorders, so are extremely handy to have. When you’re getting into the 128Gbs and up, the cost per Gb gets quite high. Our personal rule of thumb is to have several 32s or 64s instead. These will still give you hours of continuous shooting. Having extra ones won’t break the bank, and can help you extend your shooting time by a magnitude of hours without having to offload to your computer. Pricing anywhere from $10 – 200+ depending upon speed, capacity, and if you get it on sale. - BATTERIES
Another item that you really can’t have enough of. If you have several different camera systems, this CAN get expensive, but there are third party/after market brands that can help. Be wary of these as some are little more than low capacity units with lead weights. Yes, this DOES happen! One of our rental houses we deal with on a regular basis actually takes a hacksaw to their batteries just to see if it’s as advertised and is not ‘pullin a fast one’ over on them. Well, they ‘hack’ the first sample in the batch at least. We typically have about 5-8 batteries for our primary camera systems. Some also have dual use and can power external monitors and portable lighting. Cost is dependant upon capacity, manufacturer, and camera system you’re using. These ones for the Sony system run around $20+ - MINI TRIPOD
These are great for throwing a small camera, camcorder, mic, or field recorder onto a desk or flat surface. They range from $20-50 depending upon the model and source. This one in particular has been used by Dave Dugdale as a pseudo slider to fair effect. - SLING FOLLOW FOCUS
This little follow focus or even zoom focus tool by Varavon is quite handy, and won’t cost you more than $15-20. It works well to give you a quick handle so that you can rack focus a bit better, or give you an extra grip point for a zoom lens. Sure you can use the ol’ jam jar opener trick, but this one at least looks a bit more professional. - SKATER DOLLY
If you have a nice flat surface, a skater dolly can provide you with some really nice professional looking moves. You can find them anywhere on eBay, to retailers from $40 and up. We’ve also used them on a smooth floor to give some unique perspective shots. - ROBO or GORILLA POD
Flexibility. You can see this written all over this device. You can mount anything from a small camcorder, a gopro, smartphone or a DSLR to it. These ones also have the ability to have spiked feet, or suction cups allowing mounting to a vehicle in a pinch. Another unique function is since each ‘segment’ is rubberized, you can wrap them around lightstands, sign posts, trees, or pretty much anything. One thing we found, however, is that with age, the plastic CAN and HAS fractured on a model that we used. So there may be some mission critical shoots you may want to be wary of when using this type of unit. Monoprice has a particularly decent sale on their robopod. - CAMERA CAGE
When you’re mounting lots of items onto a camera system, a camera cage really helps. The benefit really is two fold. One: most of them are comprised of cheese plates both top and bottom. This gives you many mounting points in which to attach mics, mixers, field recorders, LED lights, monitors, and any kitchen sink type device you’d care to throw at it. If you haven’t totally unbalanced your cage with the accessories, this brings us to… Two: Stabilization. Essentially having your camera in the centre (or near centre) of the cage gives you a wider/farther apart grip. This helps to reduce the shakiness and jitters especially when filming HD material and higher. Cost on cages can vary from inexpensive, to extremely high cost powered cages. This company sells one at just under $100. With this particular one, you can also detach one of the handles, mount it directly to your camera Bolex style. Very cool! We have used this one, but actually prefer the sister company’s product as it offers extra mounting points and a more robust feel. It does come at a slightly higher cost.
- FRICTION ARM
These little guys are great for mounting small external monitors, Lights, mixers, wireless receivers, or a plethora of other devices. We usually use them to mount shotgun mics, and for mounting external monitors. Friction arms, or magic arms can pivot the mounted device in essentially any direction you desire, and then they lock in. One word of warning, there are many many different manufacturers of these, and we find the best ones have a rosette, or lock washer feature. We’ve used ones from inexpensive eBay manufacturers, to Ikan (theirs developed a crack which rendered it useless) to Red Rock Micro. They all pretty much do the same thing. Costing can range from $20 and beyond depending upon manufacturer. Realistically though, once you find a brand you like, just stick with it, but it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. (Pun intended) - ON CAMERA LED LIGHT
Having a bit of light when your camera gear when you’re shooting in challenging conditions (read dark dark dark!) can make all the difference to your shot. On board LED lights work really well in this case. These ones are very flexible as they provide you with magnetic ‘gels’ that adjust the harsh glare of the light, to adjusting the color temperature to match your shooting environment. Another nifty trick is that they can actually be ganged together to create a composite light fixture. You can also purchase different connectors so that they can be powered by the same power source. They also make a great little kick light if you want to hilight a product, or throw a tiny catch light in your subject’s eye. Usually they’re powered by the NP970 batteries, but AAs can also work in a pinch. We find the AA option not as good, as they can produce unwanted flickering which could potentially ruin your shot. These can be purchased from around $65 and up depending upon where you source them i.e. eBay or Amazon.
We wish you a very merry holiday season, and hope that the special Film or Video guy/gal in your life finds one of these goodies in pile of presents! The staff at Digital Cyclops hopes you have an excellent 2013, and see you all in the New Year.
