Update

It's been a while since my last post, but just wanted to add a quick update to the Blog. Firstly, I have recently purchased a DSLR base plate with standard rods from a supplier in Hong Kong via eBay. Usually these things retail for around £150 minimum, but I paid about £58 so very pleased about that. The beauty of these things is that they allow for better positioning of my DFocus follow focus and also, at a later date, it is easy to adapt it into a full shoulder rig too.

Here is a quick picture of it:


As can be seen from the picture, as I have a battery grip on the 550D, the rods become too low to allow the gears on the FF to match up with the lens gear. Therefore, I sourced an additional pair of 6" rods and a riser from eBay to effectively "lift" the FF up closer to the lens. One can obtain something called the "DRISER" from Jag35.com to do the same thing, but this actually works out more expensive than buying two rods and an adaptor!

I also fitted the DSLR base plate with a Manfrotto quick release plate so that it can be quickly detached from the tripod.

Also looking at purchasing either a Canon 28mm f1.8 USM lens or Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens but can't decide which one. The Canon is probably slightly better than the Sigma, but the Sigma is a little bit "faster" with its 1.4 aperture.

Very recently also bought a new microphone too. I didn't want a shotgun as I can borrow these quite easily, but did want a cheap hypercardioid mic for indoor work. The choices are either the AKG CK93 capsule on the SE300 body (about £300), or the AT 4053b (about £450 ish), the Oktava MK-012 or going much more expensive, something from Schoeps. I didn't want to spend a great deal, and was lucky enough to find some end of the line Studio Electronics SE2A true condenser mics with three capsules (OMNI, CARDIOID and HYPER-CARDIOID) for only £75. The mic is lightweight and seems to perform well.