Photo Gadget Question
Suppose you want to stick your 40D camera - or any current Canon dSLR on a very high tripod and raise it up way over your head to do high-angle shots. (I’ve been fooling around with this). But you want to be able to see what your doing at the same time; or in a pinch, right after the shot is taken.
You get your remote control cable or wireless remote control, and then you’ve got two choices. You can run a USB line down to (what - I’m not sure); or better yet, run a video cable down to (what - again I’m not sure).
I have a lot of questions about the best way to do that in the field.
Example ideas:
- Buy some storage device that takes the USB input and transfer the last image immediately (say the Epson p-5000). Can you download the last image without having to put the camera into some special mode.
- But the better idea is (I guess) to put the camera into live mode (again I haven’t played with this yet) and run a video cable out of the camera and down to some portable device (call it x) that takes video in.
That’s about as far as my thinking goes, but I don’t know what the X Device for viewing would be.
So to sum up, I have put together a lightweight rig that can extend to about 15 - 18 feet high, and I’m able to trigger the camera, but I can’t see what I’ve got unless I lower the camera to look at playback. That’s not too good because I don’t have a way to raise the camera to the exact height and angle… I’m shooting blind.
A low-tech solution is to have a 6-foot or so ladder with me, but that’s too much to carry and attracts even more attention than I already do.
I’m sure that people who do studio work do this all the time. I don’t want to lug a laptop either. I just want a sort of video viewer with a small screen that weighs less than a pound or so…
What do you think - is there a simple way to do this?
* * *
UPDATE
I bought a SONY fx820 dvd player and video extension cord, plus large RCA to small mini-jack for under $200. This works great (at least in the house anyway). The DVD player fits in my camera bag; I believe the battery will last for six or so hours. The thing with DVDs is that they don’t all have video line-in, so you need to check that. Although this isn’t LIVE VIEWING, (although it could be if I set the camera to live view) the camera is set to show the image until the shutter is pressed, so that is fed to the DVD player and I can study the framing etc. All-in-all, pretty cool. Thanks everyone for your advice. And if I don’t use if for photography, I have a nice portable DVD player.
*** ANOTHER UPDATE ***
Just returned from my first use of the SONY DVD hooked up to the Video Output of the 40D. The pros: it is light enough to easily hold in my hand while I’m reviewing the last shot. It’s clear enough so that I can check framing and see most of what’s going on in the shot.
The cons: don’t expect VGA quality, or HD quality out of the video feed. It is fairly coarse. On the other hand, with the little focus checkboxes turned on in the parameter settings I can tell what it focused on.
The only thing so far that’s bugging me is that it starts up in widescreen mode and I have to set it to normal mode, otherwise the image is stretched badly. I want to see if I can figure out how to keep the thing in normal aspect mode. Otherwise - it’s a great deal. It fits in my small camera bag. And I was at least able to see what I had just shot and what the framing was; which is all I wanted.
Comments
Comment from luke
Time: June 5, 2008, 8:53 am
A portable DVD player. Use the plug on the camera that you would normally use to plug into a TV (video out), but plug that into a portable DVD player.
Or see if you can borrow an Olympus E-3, which has the LCD screen on a swinging arm with a hinge. Then you can hoist the camera up, angle the LCD screen down, and off you go.
Comment from hc
Time: June 5, 2008, 9:49 am
hi dave…
i’m not sure if the zigview can do what you want. it’s an lcd that shows you what your viewfinder sees. i think there’s a tethered/cable version.
Comment from dave
Time: June 5, 2008, 10:46 am
Thanks — the zigview is exactly what I am looking for.
Here’s a link to a video of it on YouTube:
Comment from dave
Time: June 5, 2008, 11:51 am
Uh, maybe not. After reading a bunch of reviews from users - I couldn’t find anyone with a decent experience. The main issues: build quality not good; noisy to move the LCD screen into different positions; and most of all the screen quality is pretty bad… So yeah, in the $400-$500 range (depending on the cable length) I dunno…
I need to experiment a bit with the video out to my normal t.v. first… I have a bunch of questions that I’ll be able to answer from that… if that is feasible, then the portable DVD player may work.
Comment from Ed Richards
Time: June 5, 2008, 12:01 pm
Check this out:
Comment from dave
Time: June 5, 2008, 12:10 pm
You know what — for me - the simplest thing is the DVD option. I take the picture with the video line connected to the t.v. or DVD player and the setting review set to hold. I can then see the shot and rearrange if needed the tripod etc. It is not a live thing but it is good enough for my needs which are fairly static right now. In other words, this isn’t for sports photography - it’s to get shots of urbran scenes from a higher angle. And when I’m using a wide lens, I know where things are in the frame without looking. I just needed to be able to have more control over the composition.
Just for further info, I have a Canon right-angle finder which I use sometimes for “sneaky” sort of pictures. I’m on my way out now to pick up a DVD player that has video in; and will test it in the store if possible.
Thanks for all your help.
And yes - the breezesys.com remote controller - that is another idea I was thinking about and wondered if anyone had.
I don’t want to spend much money on this operation because frankly - so far - my keepers are usually just handheld something happens type shots. But I do like the idea of experimenting with one of the properties of photographs - which is THE ANGLE. Whether high or low. That has fascinated me since the beginning.
Comment from Brandon
Time: June 5, 2008, 12:12 pm
Hi Dave,
I use something like this in the video world. Mine is a hacked together 7″ automotive LCD + portable power supply. Not sure if your camera has the outputs (RCA) but it may be worth a look.
http://www.bargain-camera.com/store/product.php?productid=16254&cat=273&page=1
Cheers,
B.
Comment from dave
Time: June 5, 2008, 1:11 pm
Oh, this is real time comments… Just back from the store. Picked up a SONY DVD player (tested it first in the store) and worked fine; just needed to convert the big RCA plug to a mini-plug. And this way, even if I don’t use it that much, I have a nice portable DVD player.
Comment from hc
Time: June 5, 2008, 8:25 pm
sorry about the zigview. it sounded good on paper, but i guess it pays to do your research.
hope the dvd player works out.
Comment from Craig Nisnewitz
Time: June 5, 2008, 10:56 pm
Sounds good but be careful if you use this in the rain or when there is lightning.
Comment from Patrick
Time: June 5, 2008, 8:43 am
Hi Dave,
If I’m at any location were it is important to see the images, clients, etc I bring along my laptop. As awkward as it may sound the camera and Macbook pro work great together. The shutter can be fired from the computer and the resulting image is almost instantly viewable on the screen.