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Some gear advice for my 60D
  • hi guys,

    just wanted to say hi. I am new to DSLR filmmaking and would like to say I love this forum. I just registered today, but i visit this site on a regular basis. I am picking up a Canon 60D next week on sale in Toronto, Canada for $899 Cdn. (body only) As I am on a budget I find the posts on here very helping in deciding what gear to get.

    I am looking at getting a few things over the next few months - any suggestions or advice?

    follow focus - trustmt/wondlan, others? in the $250 - $350 price range...
    lens gears - ?
    shoulder rig - gini/trustmt/wondlan others? in the $250 - $400
    matte box - cinematics/trustmt/pro aim, others? in the $300 - $500
    viewfinder - neewer? looking for something under $100

    any suggestions on must have gear?

    Thank you very much for reading and I appreciate any advice...

    Martin Mestre
  • 2 Replies sorted by
  • First, I recomment to invest in books and other knowledge sources, not gear only.

    Can't say about viewfinder.
    About all else. You can get TrusMT set, it includes rig, follow focus. lens gears, and matte box.
    You can look in our special deals topics to get some idea.
  • I would ask. What are you trying to do with your gear? And ask yourself why do you need these things?

    The only must have gear is the gear required to accomplish what you want to accomplish.

    If you are not sure what you want to accomplish, I would start there. What do you want to shoot.

    You do not need a follow focus unless you plan to track subjects with intricate, pre-staged patterns. Not very useful for on the fly shooting in my opinion, but it depends.

    I don't know anything about lens gears.

    Shoulder rigs I have no experience with, but I can see the value if you have the money. I know I can survive almost any shoot without one.

    If you're going to be on a tripod all the time, a matte box can be useful, but I have never been in a situation where I was glad I had one, yet.

    Viewfinder. I have not used one, but for my shooting style I do not want the fucking camera bolted to my head in order to track a subject. I value my peripheral vision or I run into shit.


    Velbon makes a very cheap "fluid head" tripod for like $80. I have used it with my 7D with much success, and I like it even more than a $500 Manfrotto. I think it was the 510 head, and this worthless Velbon head was much easier to manage, smoother, and has a longer handle which for some reason I am not smart enough to explain, assisted with smoothness.

    What Vitaliy said about this TrusMT set sounds like a good idea too.

    So what do you want to do? What do you want to shoot? There are exceptions to every rule.