VIEWFINDERS
These are a must have for shooting in bright sunlight and also help to keep your camera steady whilst shooting handheld. I have been looking for an alternative to the Zacuto (which is amazing yet super expensive) for quite a while and I certainly want going to shell out $79.95 for the Hoodman H-LPP3 HoodLoupe which looks like it was made in someones basement. A couple of weeks ago I found the NEEWER Hoodeye HD viewfinder on Amazon and have been really happy with it.
Zacuto Z- Finder Jr.
$236.95
ALTERNATIVE: NEEWER Hoodeye HD
$52.45
RIGS
Most camera rigs are expensive even for the most basic, entry level models. If you're looking for something to give you a bit of stability and ability to hold the camera at low angle for shooting something like skateboarding, then the Opteka X-Grip is great value for money. Compared to something like the Can Caddie you cant go wrong.
Cam Caddie Starter Kit
$109.95
Opteka X-Grip
$34.95
MEMORY CARDS
I've been using the Transcend cards ever since I started shooting video with DSLRs and they have been great and usually get good reviews. The class 10 is way cheaper than the Sandisk Class 6 too. Can't beat the price!
SanDisk Extreme 16GB SD Card - Class 6
$43.50
Transcend 16GB SD Card - Class 10
$24.14
LED LIGHTS
Here is one that has a massive difefrence in price... LED lights. LightPanels makes the model below which retails for over $400 but you can pick up a very similar light from ebay or Amazon for under $50. When I first used the LightPanel model I thought it felt very cheap for something so expensive.
Pros of the cheaper models: Price and the fact that you can use various camera batteries as well as AA batteries.
Cons of the cheaper models: The mount is usually plastic and breaks easily (but I use mine hand held or on a stand i made in 5 minutes for 90% of shots)
LightPanels MicroPro
$404.90
Opteka VL-126 LED
$59.00
DOLLY/SLIDERS
One more piece of equipment that I have recently started using that is a much cheaper alternative to what else is currently on the market. The Motion Slider is a bare bones camera slider. it can be mounted on a tripod and can have a tripod head attached or have the camera directly mounted onto it.
Pocket Dolly v-2.0 Basic
$499.95
Motion Slider 36 Camera Slider
$159.00
