Congratulations to Jason from WA who won the Alzo Digital DSLR Rig!

On February 29th I will be giving away a Nikkor 50mm F1.4 to another subscriber. So if you haven’t already, sign up in the box below.

You could win this thing.

Remember that interview I did with Director Ken Simpson and DP Alex Dacev? Well, they have recently finished their feature film HEADCASE. You can watch the trailer here. Ken has put together a great series that debuts today. This series gives viewers a look into how these filmmakers made such an ambitious film for only $50,000. Every monday they will be releasing a new episode.

They also set up an IndiGoGo page to raise money for marketing and distributing the film. Definitely take a look and give them a hand in getting this film out.

Watch all the episodes as they come out here.

You can also get more updates on the Facebook page.

Don’t forget to sign up for a chance to win an Alzo Transformer Rig! And other gear every month! Subscribe to the DSLR Video Shooter newsletter below this post to enter to win. More info here.

Remember that killer little shoulder rig I did a show on a while back? Well its price just dropped to $16 on Amazon. Grab yours before the deal is gone or they are out of stock! I’ve shot several projects using this little rig and it has perform very well for me. Check out the images below for a couple rigged up versions.

Folding Shoulder Rig

Shooting Contact Jugglers With Shoulder Mount

Shoulder Mount Used in "PILLOW FIGHT" Project

Just stumbled across this brilliant project by Frederic Brodbeck. He has been working on a way to visually give films a finger print and has come up with a clever way to do so.

Check it out the video below and the project home page.

This is pretty cool. Finally a HDSLR that allows easy clean HDMI recording, and audio monitoring via headphones. To bad its a Nikon and that its expensive. But this should also get other players like Canon thinking more about camera outputs.

Dslrnewsshooter video: Nikon D4 – video feature run through from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Thanks to Dan Chung for getting this video up.

For a while I have wanted to start a newsletter and start giving back to you guys through giveaways. I have set up a TinyLetter newsletter which you can subscribe to via the box at the bottom of this post.

What You Get When You Subscribe

A chance to win free gear. I will be giving away gear to a lucky subscriber each month. Starting with an Alzo Digital Transformer Rig (review here). All you have to do to enter to win is subscribe to the newsletter via the box at the bottom of this post.

Exclusive content. You will find content in the newsletter that you will not find on the site. I will also put together various gear deals that I have compiled or found.

Only 2 emails a month. I hate spam too.

What You Won’t Get

Weekly post update emails – Keeping the emails down.
Cluttered emails loaded with images – I am a strong believer in keeping things simple, readable and clean.

In the next few months I will be giving away one of these items on the last day of each month.

• Alzo Digital Transformer Rig
• Nikkor 50mm 1.4 with adapter
• Cowboy Studio Rig + Book
• 16GB Card
• Tripod

Conditions and Terms:

1. You must subscribe to the newsletter.
2. Winners must have a US address to receive the item. (NOTE: If you live outside the US and are willing to cover shipping costs I will get it too you).
3. You can only subscribe with one email address (don’t be a cheat).
4. The giveaways may take some time to ship and arrive.
5. On the last day of every month one winner will be pick using random.org and will receive one the previously mentioned items.

I have been considering selling some gear and getting a 5D2 as a second cam. With all these other cameras being announced the 5D’s price has come down quiet a bit. But now you can get your hands on a new body for $2039 now only $1999 crazy! That is incredibly tempting. Have someone really really special on your shopping list? This would make for an epic gift for that special filmmaker/photography in your life.

Canon 5D Mk II Deal on B&H.

I am not a super huge GH2 fan, because of the sensor size, lens choice and a few other little things. But I know with the new hacks it now sports a really powerful sensor.

If you have been eying the GH2 now is the time to grab one. Amazon and B&H have the GH2 with a 14-140mm marked $300 off. The offer only last until December 17th so better make your move!

I got an email this morning from Glenn Pugh sharing this article, and I wanted to pass it along. I had no idea how bad the Canon, Nikon and Sony counterfeit battery situation was. Be careful when buying “brand name” because you may be buy a total fake. For more info check out this article from The Digital Picture’s website.

I can’t speak for other camera batteries but I have found this off brand battery to be the a great compatible chipped LP-E6 battery.

Thanks for the heads up Glenn!

Image credit: The Digital Picture