Redrock Micro has announced a new line of DSLR support rigs, the “nano” line. These are compact solutions aimed at the handheld DSLR user. And they are of particular interest given their price point - well under $495 for most configurations. Check out three of the seven new rig configurations in the photo below.

You can order nano rigs now, so for more information, check out www.redrockmicro.com. Press release follows.

Redrock Launches New “nano” Line of DSLR Rigs and Accessories
Compact, Economical Rigs Deliver Professional Quality on a Budget

Hollywood, CA – Redrock Micro, the recognized leader in affordable professional-quality cinema accessories, today announced the new nano line of accessories and rigs for video DSLR cameras. The nano line of equipment is an extension to Redrock’s current award-winning rigs and accessories for HDSLR cameras, and is designed for low-cost entry level, photojournalism/documentary, and discreet shooting applications. The nano rigs are manufactured to precision professional standards, and can be easily upgraded to more advanced rigs as needed. Developed from extensive customer interviews and input, the nano line delivers the ideal balance of economy and professional quality in compact support rigs.

The nano line of products consists of 7 new rigs and 5 new accessories:
* Grippit™
* runningMan™
* LowDown™
* LowDown Deluxe
* Stealth™
* Stealth Grip
* Stealth V (“vee”)

Nano accessories:
Nano baseplate
Nano focus+zoom lever
microHandle Plus (with integrated shoe mount)
2” 15mm carbon fiber rails
2” handlebar rod

“We developed the nano rigs from extensive input from professional and aspiring still/motion photographers,” said James Hurd, Chief Revolutionary for Redrock Micro. Customers said they wanted additional options that were smaller, more lightweight, and offered an affordable entry point, all while maintaining Redrock professional quality and interoperability.”

Redrock nano rigs are aggressively priced and are generally under $495. Specific pricing depends on model and desired configuration. Nano rigs are available for immediate ordering through Redrock’s online store at Redrockmicro.com or one of the worldwide Redrock authorized resellers.

Apple just updated a few products. Engadget has all the deets:

* Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999
* Apple iMac line gets speedbumped, low-end gets a Core i3
* Apple Cinema Display goes to 27 inches, 16:9 aspect ratio
* Apple Magic Trackpad official, shipping now for $69

Over at PVC, Mike Curtis provides his Patent Pending detailed specs analysis to answer the question “iMac or Mac Pro?”

For starters, let’s be clear…nothing can replace the value a good teleprompter operator and gear can bring to a production set. The ability of a professional to pace the text along with an individuals reading style is not something learned overnight, and when you are making script revisions on the fly a good prompter operator will make your life much easier. Also, there’s a reason professional prompter gear costs thousands…a good kit needs to work with any number of camera or rod systems. Bottom line; when I bid out projects with a lot of on-camera script, I always include a proper teleprompter op and kit in the budget. It’s a lifesaver and pays dividends in time savings.

That being said, there is a place for simple, more DIY prompter solutions. One of which is ProPrompter, an really solid $10 app that runs on the iPad and iPhone, and works beautifully for small jobs. We shot an interview with them at NAB 2010 (second half of the video at around 5:30). They’ve even built in integration that allows you to control the iPad or iPhone from the other i-device, swiping to control speed, and remotely loading scripts. It’s a beautiful thing to have in your toolkit, and it’s saved me in situations where the client was underprepared with their script.

ProPrompter offers a number of kits and brackets for the iPad and iPhone, but they’ve always felt a touch overpriced to me, given that I don’t see ProPrompter as a primary teleprompter solution, only as a backup to get me out of a jam. Now there’s another el-cheapo option for an iPhone running ProPrompter (or any other teleprompter software for that matter). It’s the Prompt-It kit, and it consists of a smartphone holder along with a small wedge of beamsplitter glass and a glare shield. This is a really small kit, intended for webcams and compact camcorders, but at $130 it looks to be a cheap way to get better results from your DIY-tastic prompter solution. I’m thinking about adding one of these to my kit for the next time an executive promises he can memorize his lines and won’t spring for a prompter in the shoot budget. Check it out here.

I’ve been enjoying the Able Cine video series “At the Bench” with Mitch Gross, and the following video overview of Ianiro’s IANILED54 LED light/system is no exception. This is a seriously cool light kit, with a neat 3-in-1 hat trick. It looks extremely versatile. Check it out below.

Genus was one of our NAB 2010 sponsors, and we covered their booth at the tradeshow back in April. What they didn’t talk about at that time was DSLR LCD viewfinders, something that they are now offering. I’ve not had the chance to shoot with one yet, but they seem very reasonably priced. These are a sunshade type design that allow you to use your DSLR screen without an eye up to the body, at high and low angles. They’ve also shown an LCD loupe design that I can’t yet find in stock yet at B&H. I’ve been impressed with Genus products after I reviewed their perfectly-priced mattebox earlier this year, and look forward to a chance to work with their DSLR viewfinders.

As a side note, Genus is now in a partnership with Manfrotto, and you can find Genus products at your local Manfrotto dealership. We happen to prefer B&H. And any purchases there via these links help support FreshDV original content.

Canon has posted some guidelines for CompactFlash media compatibility with the new XF305 and XF300 HD camcorders (purchase here).

The following media is compatible and Canon-tested. Links to buy are included where we could find them in stock, all purchases via those links help support FreshDV. Note that the Lexar cards do not officially support all recording modes as noted below. Also, some card model numbers may vary from Canon’s list, based on where they are purchased. This was acknowledged by Canon as well.

SanDisk ExtremePro 600x (90MB/s, works with all recording modes)
64GB SDCFXP-064G-E91
32GB SDCFXP-032G-E91
16GB SDCFXP-016G-E91

SanDisk Extreme 400x (60MB/s, works with all recording modes)
32GB SDCFX-032G-E61
16GB SDCFX-016G-E61
8GB SDCFX-008G-E61

Hagiwara SYS-COM Z III 300x (45MB/s, works with all recording modes)
8GB HPC-CF8GZ3U5
4GB HPC-CF4GZ3U5

Lexar Professional 600x (90MB/s, works with all recording modes except Slow Motion)
16GB LCF16GCRBEU600
8GB LCF8GBCRBEU600

Lexar Professional 300x (45MB/s, works with all recording modes except Slow Motion)
16GB CF16GB-300-386
8GB CF8GB-300-386
4GB CF4GB-300-386

Lexar’s 32GB 300x (45MB/s) is not listed by Canon, and I’m wondering if it was even tested? Specs seem to match the other smaller capacity versions listed above. Amazon has a two-pack of those 32GB cards for under $300.

We’ve covered Redrock’s forthcoming MicroRemote at both NAB 2010 and Cine Gear 2010, so there’s not a lot we don’t already know about this oh-god-please-come-soon device. The only thing we haven’t see a lot of is the finished, fully-functioning version, which is supposed to ship this summer. So if like us you’re already suffering from Redrock-blueballs for the MicroRemote, you might not want to watch the following teaser video…

Redrock microRemote preview from Redrock Micro on Vimeo.

We all know that you generally get what you pay for with DIY. But recently Anthony Ajit Prem tipped me off about a DIY wireless external monitor project for Canon DSLR shooters (photos or video) for under $200 that looks pretty stinking sweet!

Robert Benson is the photog who cobbled together this solution with off the shelf parts and is selling them for $196 shipped. He makes no grandiose claims about the device, being careful to note that this is a very DIY thing built in his garage…but a wireless monitor? For $200? I’m impressed. Watch the video below for a demo that shows it working in both stills and Live View mode. In the blog post where you can buy this monitor, Robert specifically states that this monitor works in both Live View and Video Record modes (I knew someone was going to ask). Watch below.

As a side note, I liked this project so much I just bought one.

Looks like LetusDirect has some new DSLR baseplate and support kits available for pre-sale, including a new carbon-fiber viewfinder design with a hard mount. Nice.

The Letus Talon K1 is a $649 baseplate solution with DSLR quick-release design. We saw an early preview of this at NAB 2010 and it looked really sweet up close. The Letus Talon K2 adds the $385 Letus Hawk viewfinder to the baseplate and comes in at $999. There are plenty of other kit options with the telescoping rods that we saw at NAB and a new cage design as well. Ship dates on this new gear is scheduled for early-mid June. Head on over here to check them out and for pre-orders.

PowerMax has an interesting monitor option for Mac users, a 24″ Cinema Display knockoff called CinemaView at less than half the cost. It has similar specs that nearly match Apple’s 24″ display, and is available for $399 w/ free shipping. In comparison, Apple’s 24″ Cinema Display is $900. To be clear, there are some spec differences between the two. But the important specs are close enough, and the price difference is so significant, I thought it warranted a heads up to the post-production community. Key differences; the Apple includes an HDMI input, CinemaView does not; the Apple is LED-backlit, CinemaView is a standard LCD backlight design. Apple also includes speakers in it’s display, the generic knockoff does not have them. However, if you can live without those features, CinemaView looks like a strong offering. Here’s a comparison review from Macsimum.

For those who aren’t fans of the fruit, Dell’s got a 23″ 1920×1080 model for $300. Good deal. Dell makes great monitors and this one looks to be no exception.

Apogee showed off a pair of Display Port to HDMI converters at NAB, both under $65. DVinfo’s got the scoop.

“The iAdapt 5.1 takes video from the Apple’s mini-display port and gets 5.1 channel surround audio using Toslink coming from the audio mini-jack. Both signals are then sent out over a single HDMI cable to any HDMI capable monitor. The iAdapt 2.0 has the same video capability, but only takes 2 channel analog audio from the Apple’s mini-jack USB.”

The $65 iAdapt 5.1 requires a DisplayPort, USB, and Mini-TOSLINK connection. It then merges all those signals into a single HDMI signal for simple connection to your display of choice (as HDMI can carry audio). Power is provided by the USB connection. The $50 iAdapt 2.0 plugs into your DisplayPort and USB. Analog stereo audio is streamed over the USB connection and the A/V signals are merged into HDMI. Looks like a handy A/V connection option, and you can’t complain about the price point!

CML has compiled and published an edited collection of discussions from 2009 on the use and operation of the RED One camera. They are calling it the Little Red Book. It’s 309 pages, and available in printed paperback form for $31.90, or PDF download form for $9.97. The perfect holiday gift for the RedHead who has everything but the time necessary to read through discussion forums.

Looking for something to stuff your Christmas stocking this year? Check out Cinevate’s 12 Days of Festivus, where they are offering daily 10% off deals on twelve different products. To date they’ve posted specials on the Cinevate Follow Focus (speed) Crank, Carbon Rod kits, and the Follow Focus Hard Stop.

So if your idea of a cheery holiday ditty sounds something like “on the second day of Festivus my true love gave to me…19mm Carbon Rods” then head on over to the Cinevate forum where they have all the details.

Gizmodo wrote an interested blog post recently about the powerful new 2.8GHz Quad-Core iMac with the Intel i7 processor. They argue that in terms of raw horsepower and bang for buck, that it’s “straight stupid” to sink your $$$ into a 4-core Mac Pro tower. From an editors POV, Scott Simmons has written a fantastic counterpoint to that argument, discussing the many reasons why a Mac Pro is still a viable option for editors, and why an iMac is limiting.

They are both correct, of course. The new iMac is spanking Macs across the board in benchmark performance numbers, and if you simply need some horsepower on the cheap (+ a nice 27″ display), it’s a great option starting at around $2200 (buy here at B&H and support FreshDV). But many editors need the pro monitoring and expansion options of a Mac Pro, as Scott argues. So I guess it comes down to the question “what do YOU need?”

To muddy the waters even further, the current Mac rumor de jour is that a monster 12-core Mac Pro is due in early 2010, offering 12 physical and 24 logical cores to Snow Leopard’s multi-core Grand Central Dispatch tech. Mmm, tasty tasty cores…

Chrosziel has announced a unique dished baseplate for their DV Light Weight Support kit for the Sony XDCAM EX3. The new plate reportedly offers a more solid connection and twist stability.

“…Chrosziel has designed a form-fit dished-end camera plate that considerably enlarges the contact surface to the camera. It thus distributes holding forces beyond the thread areas, providing twist protection and safe hold of the camera. The form-fit plate takes into account the screw sticking out the camera’s base: a cut-out in the plate prevents the camera from damage and ensures perfect contact between the camera base and the plate of the Chrosziel support.”

Suggested retail price for the baseplate and rods is €310 ($463), or €109 ($163) for the parts to upgrade your existing DV Light Weight Support kit.

(Via @jstunzi)