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The Switronix Powerbase-70 is a new battery system for the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon 7D. It combines a 70 Watt-hour V-Mount battery with a Canon power adapter that plugs right into your camera. With 70 watts of power the battery will run the camera for 6 times longer than a normal Canon battery. Additionally, the system features two P-taps, a battery gauge, and shoe for direct camera mounting. This is a great way to get longer record times on your HDSLR, and at the same time power multiple accessories. Check out the video above to learn more. The Powerbase-70 is now offered at a special introductory price of under $300 – an incredible deal on any V-mount battery. Also check out the various accessories I mention in the video: the P-tap charger, BlackMagic adapter, the AJA Adapter, the Zacuto Z-Cage, and the BlackMagic HDMI-to-SDI converter.

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One of the great advantages of HDSLR cameras is their small size. One of the supreme disadvantages is that there can be all sorts of little fiddly bits to keep track of. My old Super16 Aaton kit was a dozen cases — when I had to pare down to a Run ‘n’ Gun doc kit, I could get it to four — but that’s not how so many of us fly these days. We needed to get a fairly complete camera kit into a single case.

With this in mind, Abel and PortaBrace worked together to develop the “ultimate” HDSLR shooter’s case. The goal was to fit a camera built with front rods, follow focus, mattebox and optical viewfinder, along with a complete set of prime lenses or zooms, an HDMI/HD-SDI converter, and lots of batteries, chargers, CF cards, etc. It had to be easy to run around with on a shoot and fit inside a hardcase for shipping. After much work with PortaBrace, reconfiguring some products and creating new ones, we think we’ve come up with the Ultimate HDSLR Travel Kit. Take a look at the video to see more.

New firmware for the Nexto Video Storage Pro (NVS2500) was recently released, which adds several new features to the product. These updates include preview support of AVCHD clips, preview support of the new Canon XF300/305 video format, and greatly improved data protection and backup options. One of the new backup options includes the ability to copy data back to Compact Flash and SDHC cards. It may seem a bit odd to backup video footage shot on one memory card to another, but there are some advantages. Compact Flash and SDHC memory are relatively inexpensive, easy to find, and fast to download. So if you are working with P2 or SxS cards, the Nexto can copy them to its internal drive, and then to another card for delivery or storage. Or if you are working with CF or SDHC, the Nexto can be used to make a copy. Why walk away from set with one memory card when you can walk away with two? Because the Nexto is not capturing video in real time, you could even utilize cheaper cards with slower read/write speeds as backups. Download the latest firmware here, and make sure to read Nexto’s workflow document to learn about their new data protection and recovery options.

Singular Software has announced DualEyes, a stand-alone program for those of you recording dual-system sound. Similar to the popular PluralEyes, DualEyes can actually replace the audio track on your video files with the audio from an external recorder, such as the Zoom H4N. This should make editing much easier, since you can now drag and drop your clips from your bin to your sequence without having to make a separate “PluralEyes” sequence.

Singular has posted a video tutorial online, which you can find here. A free beta of DualEyes is available (currently Windows only) and can be downloaded here.

We sell a number of different quality shoulder mount rigs for HDSLR cameras, but often we have customers that just want to keep their cameras small and lightweight. One of the major advantages of shooting with an HDSLR is the ability to blend in with a crowd without anyone knowing you are shooting video. Here are a couple solutions that will allow you to add function and stability to your HDSLR camera, but still keep it small and relatively invisible.

iDC Run & Gun Kits

iDC has made a Run & Gun Kit for the Canon 5D Mark II, 7D, and Rebel T2i that is both small and very functional. The Run & Gun kit combines a modified Hoodman LCD viewfinder with a simple follow focus. The follow focus butts up against the lens and rotates focus or zoom using friction only, so there is no need for gears. The system does not utilize rods, which keeps it small and light. Additionally, the viewfinder is designed to quickly attach and detach from the camera for easy viewing. When held up to your eye with one hand on the camera body and the other on the follow focus, the Run & Gun kit is very stable and easy to use.

Zacuto Target Shooter

If you are looking for a small way to stabilize your HDSLR, then you might like the Zacuto Target Shooter. This small support is designed to add an additional point of contact with your body for increased stability. It may not seem like much, but with both hands on the camera, the extra support is sometimes all you need. The Zacuto Z-Finder Pro can also be added for better viewing and yet another point of contact with your body.

Manfrotto Monopod & Fluid Head

A unique solution that one of our sales agents, Matt Livingston, came up with is combining a Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod and the Manfrotto 701HDV fluid head. While using a monopod is not popular in the video world, it can be used as a useful stabilization tool for HDSLR cameras. Matt combined the monopod with the 701HDV head to allow for quick position changes as well as fluid pan & tilt control. Check out this music video Matt shot using his monopod creation, and four Canon 7Ds (with Zeiss ZE 21mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 100mm macro lenses) and a Canon 5D Mark II with a Zeiss ZE 85mm.

We’ve been selling the BlackMagic Design HDMI to SDI mini converter box, and it has quickly become popular with our clients. It is the only HDMI to SDI converter that will accept both HD HDMI signals, as well as the SD HDMI signal from the 5D Mark II camera. For those of you that don’t know this unusual fact, the 5D Mark II outputs HD HDMI until you hit record. When recording, the signal changes to SD and most converter boxes just stop working. BlackMagic’s box will work with both signals, at least up until recently. BlackMagic released a new firmware for their box – version 1.5 – which has some nice fixes but it also happens to break the SD conversion option. If you upgraded your BlackMagic, or just purchased one recently, then it might not work 100% with the 5D Mark II. BlackMagic knows about the problem and will address it in the next firmware, but until then we recommend sticking with firmware version 1.4. You can easily downgrade the box also if you are having this problem. Download the firmware version 1.4 for Mac here, or for Windows here and just attach the converter via a USB cable – it should only take a couple of seconds to install.

Recording audio on an HDSLR has always been a bit tricky. With limited audio level control and a single mini-plug microphone input, these cameras aren’t built for professional audio recording. There’s good news though – two products have hit the market that will make your sound guy really happy. The BeachTek DSA-SLR and the JuicedLink DT454 are XLR audio adapters specifically built for HDSLR cameras. They both include functions designed to make your still camera perform more like a video camera.

…continue reading New Tools Extend HDSLR Audio Capablities