My Review of the best precision Screwdriver set available so far.

Read below to find the ultimate precision screwdrivers set when it comes to opening something tiny. I did not get money for this review and paid for it by myself. But sometimes, something is too great not to be shared.
The only question you will face after buying one for you is to find who else you will be pleased with this great precision screwdriver set.

You can fix anything IF you can open it

We have witnessed in the past years a clear increase of different shapes when it comes to screwdrivers bits. It looks like each brand does not want you to get something compatible with competition. At the end of the day, you will spend time investing in a precision screwdriver again and again to try to follow the trend. Each box has a different shape and you never know which one to bring when starting a repair job.

That’s a shame because many things can be fixed for very cheap. Here is a great example of a 2 USD fix for your Digipass. But getting into the enclosure is sometimes just impossible without the right screwdriver.

No risk of falling all over

The First clear advantage of this 55 piece precision screwdriver set is the way each item is firmly locked into the set box. You can literally flip it over without losing anything. All these are tiny and they could easily slip under the table and end in a place where getting them back would be impossible. This is not the case here.

The only “moving” piece is the magnet that can drop. I have just inserted a piece of paper for it. it can be used directly from the box this way. Really not a big issue.
Also the box is firmly locked with 2 large plastic pad. There is no way that you will loose your precious tools.

55 screwdriver pins available

The Second advantage is to buy once for all. With 55 different screwdrivers bits; you are covered for anything that needs to be screwed or unscrewed.

Here is the list of the different tips.
Hex : 0.9,1.0,1.3,1.5,2.0,2.5,3.0
Nut Driver Size: 2.0,2.3,2.5
Flat head : 0.8,1.0,1.2,1.5,1.7,2.0,2.5,3.0,3.5
Phillips head: 1.2,1.5,1.7,2.0,2.5,3.0
Torx : 1,2,3,4,5
Torx Security: 6, 7,8,9,10,15
Pentalobe: 0.8,1.2,1.6
Tri-point : 0.6,2.0, 2.5
Square: 0 ,1
Triangle: 2.3,2.5,3.0,3.5
TH 0.6 ; 4 Claws Nut driver:2.0 ;
Spanner: 2.0
Iphone Standoff Bit:2.2
Star nutdriver :2.1,2.2,2.6.

I have attached this picture to help you put them back in the right order if needed.

Long tips for reaching screws anywhere

There are hundreds of possible precision screwdrivers set available, but almost all of them have very short tips that can be exchanged. The lock is done within a shaft that connects to the tip. Doing this way causes a big issue when the screw is a bit deep and the locking  forbids you from inserting the screwdriver. You have the right shape, but simply can’t use it.

In this set; it’s just long enough for every screw you will find on the market whatever the depth they are inserted, almost. If you put the amount of tips available and the fact that they are long; this set is simply the only one on the market, period.

Each tip is 45 mm long. The shape and official designation is engraved on each of the tips.

tips are locked to the screwdriver handle

Where other sets have a magnet to hold the tips, this great set has a locking system to make sure they will not fall into the equipment you are working on. There is no gap, it’s firmly static. They are made of alloy steel and I have this set for a year without one rusting despite the very wet weather in Hong Kong.

You have a magnet to even help you remove the screw without losing it. This is a nice add-on to have it always with this set.

Wait, there is more

And a feature I found almost by mistake is that the tips can be extended in case you like. It’s the same way the tip are locked into the screwdriver; another ring let you unlock the full length with the help of a spring.
It can be locked when fully extended for maximum pressure when screwing.

Ultimate set as a gift

Buy it for you first, but you will quickly realize how great this precision screwdriver set is and you may like to offer to others. It’s a nice gift with a 100% chance of getting great feedback later. It will last way longer than any other set you already got.

You can order it directly here on Amazon or copy and past this link: https://amzn.to/3fHg9Zv

[ I have paid full price to buy it and have no connection with this brand; I just like this set ]

Canon R5 overheating hack. [SOLVED]

Time is everything, I was actually writing about all the findings that you could find online on the infamous Canon R5 overheating and the possible hack.
By doing so, something becomes obvious that the camera had some hole in the booting sequence when you are using the “drop power” hack. So is a timer issue can be solved by simply changing the time?
Please read below and don’t forget to click on one advertising to support this hack!
It’s a long article where I try to be as precise as possible.
This overtime hack does not remove the overheat sensor in the camera, it only resets the fake counter that Canon put to limit your recording time and increase artificially recovery time.
And there is even a upgraded version of this hack from EOSHD below with new details and simpler way to do so.

The worst camera launch ever: Canon R5 Hybrid lie.

Canon; after teasing that the new R5 DSLR ability to record video for professional work, released a product way below their heavy marketing campaign promises.
It was advertised as a perfect hybrid DSLR, having both a high pixel count for photography and fantastic video capabilities. A big 8K logo displayed on each product announcement.
But at the release, all users noticed that the video capabilities were below any standard in recording capabilities. Most of the time, the video in any HQ mode could not be achieved past a few minutes of recording before the camera locked itself in a “cooling time” for an hour or so.
There is no way to use this camera if you need real 4K and up.
Here comes the Canon R5 Overheat timer and the timer hack to solve it.

What is going on with Canon R5 recording limit announcement?

Strangely enough; even if all electronic devices have to stop working if they get too hot, Canon releases almost immediately a very clear chart about the maximum time their camera will work, at best.
This was quite new to get a certitude that you will never record more than a certain amount of video due to time usage, even shooting at freezing temperatures.
Many cameras got recording time limits in the past, but here, the “overheat time” label was kind of suspicious.
The fine print also said it was the maximum you could get and it may actually be less than this.
And something new was also displayed: the overheat recovery time. The chart displays about an hour minimum to get full recovery after overheating, whatever the external temperature.

This is the first time in camera history we have such forced cooling time annoucement.

But it get worst in real life usage.

It started to be quite scary when deeper tests were done by real users and not people paid by their product reviews.
When, in all website announcements, the new Canon camera was the new photography king; No one reported about the Canon R5 overheating timer. Even worse, comments were removed by site administrators and people banned for writing about it.
I never experienced such a chaotic product announcement.

On my side, I surfed on the hacking wave by doing a little SEO stunt as everyone else was publishing fake news on product that do not even existed.

So what is actually happening?
It shows that the camera overheat lock down is done without any relationship with the actual camera temperatures. Yep, you are reading this right.
It also shows that, in most situations, your recording time will be actually zero minute if you were to turn on the camera prior to any video recording to take pictures or just reviewing previous takes with the back screen.
I know; it’s hard to read, but it’s still inside the Canon spec.
Zero recording possible is below 25 minutes!
That’s to avoid any lawsuit, but quite embarrassing for the users.

Why no news coverage either on the overheating or the hack?

Bloggers are paid by brand and audience. They receive either equipment, freebies and free trips by the one they are supposed to write about. (or they hope to )
There is no room for them to be too much out of the brand editorial line. All products are perfect if the brand says so.

Here is a screen-grab of a conversation by a blogger calling himself a “journalist”.
It gives you the full view of how twisted these “news” blogs are.
They are only checking the brand’s Facebook page to contact them. There is not one possible analysis on actual facts.

Long story short; they presented a product to cool down the R5 using a fan + peltier module. This product couldn’t possibly work as the issue is not temperature, but time.
Whatever temperature or usage you are doing with the camera, the overheat issue will appear at a certain time (after an hour).
It’s the same with the cooling time. It’s all regulated by a timer and not an actual temperature reading.

But still; this blogger will publish a product announcement from something he never saw, never tested and is absolutely useless.
If he were to know about the camera, he would find it ridiculous to claim cooling the R5 will give extra time.

There is zero analyses, zero correction to the article afterward and comments are even blocked for readers to express their concerns.

Next time a laboratory will announce on their Facebook page they found a cure for cancer, I know who to send to publish about it!

So be aware of the link between most of the major blogs and their paid publishers.

Funny Facts on Canon R5 overheating.

I will not link to each of this finding, Google is there for you. It’s quite hard also to understand who just analyses facts and who finds them.
But you will be happy to read from EOSHD, from someone who open the camera and did some internal thermal readings, of people starting to reverse engineer the main board. All these findings can be easily repeated and  videos to back them.

I will also not talk about the low resolution 4K video recording modes that are always possible without any overheating. There are already plenty of cameras with such capabilities. There is not so much to talk about except that it does not make so much sense to hear “sensor overheating” when the same sensor is read in both cases.

• The camera will overheat only when playing with the Wi-Fi menu. With zero pictures taken, your max recording time will be zero after an hour with the menu on.
• The camera will overheat in a fridge by taking a picture every minute during an hour. The body is not even warm.
• The camera will not overheat if you are using an external recorder, but will be extremely hot to touch.
• The temperature displayed on EXIF picture data is accurate and represents approximately the internal body temperature.
• The recovery time is exactly the same, whatever temperatures the Canon R5 is set to cool down.
• The recovery time is insane. It’s more than an hour, very similar to an oven that is designed to keep things warm to cook them. What kind of design Canon did on the inside or the R5?
• Removing the camera battery will not help reduce recovery time.
• Cutting off the camera power without removing the battery (using dummy battery) will reset the overheat warning logo. That starts to be funny, you have to do it before the full overheat situation.
• Removing the internal Battery cell that holds the camera date and time is actually also removing any overheat warning. What?

Some of these findings forced the camera body; some are easier to check but anyone with a brain starts to wonder what is going on here.

What is actually happening when the Canon R5 overheats?

All findings point out that the Canon thermal management is based on time usage and not actual temperature.
There is nothing wrong about that except you should call it what it is; a timer and not a overheating issue.
The first chart also has a column with the condition the recovery time is accurate. That a second trick as any temperature will give you similar time.

They limit the time you can record, simply and purely and lie to their customers by blaming temperatures issues.
Even Canon officials have suggested you put a fan to get extra time which will not change anything on the recording time. This is another lie.
Yes camera can overheat but the timer kicks in way before this for no reason.

This got even worse when a Chinese camera accessory company decided to offer a “cooling fan kit” to get extra time.

Again, all websites, blogs and so self-declared journalists announced the product without any fact check.
There are simply no ways to reduce the recovery time because it’s solely based on time.

6 month later, this Tilta product still never to be found. Thanks Eric for your professional review coming out of your wet dreams only.
With such “professional” reviewers, no wonder Canon was able to get completely fake positive feedback. This is a beautiful world such fraudsters are promoting.

New R5 Canon Firmware V1.1

With the release of R5 Canon Firmware V1.1, things start to be a bit more obvious.
Canon decided to tweak a bit their timers and also gave detail about how the real heat sensors are working. It’s a de facto proof of the limitation by time.

Again, another shameless event in news coverage where the same websites who said nothing about overheating issues suddenly published the firmware announcement as it was the biggest news ever.
Overall, the recovery time is reduced a bit and the max record time may be also a bit longer. It still does not make any sense compared to real and factual temperatures reading.
The most funny fact from Canon is to explain that they have an EXTERNAL temperature sensor to let you record or not.
I would have thought the actual INTERNAL was the one I should care about. When I’m shooting, I may be moving from outside under the sun, 5 minute later, the camera will be in  my bag and I can be at an office desk under air conditioning the next 5mn.

It will also be easy to trick this part of the camera even if the internal are still too hot.
But overall, they extended their counter and this is actually also helping this hack. You don’t need to do it every 20 mn (but every 25 mn)

Canon R5 overheating hack by simply dropping the power.

I have a first problem with Canon lying about overheating when they just put a recording time limit.
Now, I have a new one with this simple hack. After 15mn of recording video, you will see a fake overheat logo on the screen. If you keep going, it will turn off the camera about 20mn recording total.
But if you literally “drop” the power during recording and connect it again, suddenly, the overheat time is reset to 0.
If you do that every 15 minutes, you can even go for a full hour without any other warning.
Of course, this is not a viable recording option because your recording clip is damaged when you drop the power.
There are some tentative fixes to fix the video files but this is not so much my point.
This test is showing something a bit scary.

When the power is restored; There are no actual temperature readings before allowing 15 new minutes of usage? And even during these 15mn, not one single temperature reading?
Or more likely: the camera is totally fine with the internal temperature and the time limitation is completely fake?
This is where I have a second problem.

The camera body used with an external recorder is way too hot to be safe for a long time run.

It really looks like they “forgot” to turn on their overheat infamous counter on this one, or forgot to do real heat measurement.
In either situations; this is scary.

Is Canon engineering really that bad?

It really seems to look like the team who designed the product itself got scammed by the one developing the software.
The camera seems to not heat so much and you can see a temperature stabilization after a while. This chart is based on EXIF data with a constant recording, almost.

You can see how fast the temperature drops at each card replacement, we are far from one hour to cool down the body.
Another finding is that there are not even any ways to drive the heating part (Processor, Sensor, RAM, Card,) to the external body part. For sure, using an aluminum cage locked to the camera bottom will help dissipate a few degrees.
There is no thermal conduction as they don’t even dare to put any thermal paste.
Anyone dealing with their computer understands that you need to conduct the heat to a zone where it will be cooled down and not keep it at a precise point.

Honestly, I will call it a mess of mechanical heat management and an even messier software design.
All the trolls I can read saying that hacking thermal management will kill my camera suddenly get silent when you talk about how hot the Canon R5 is during external recording, approved by Canon R5.
The last sad part is to do a quick check on the published pictures of the board and do a search on the datasheet. Most electronic components have thermal readings and can be easy accessed. So why Canon is not even reading these is beyond comprehension.
One explanation is to develop the heat management software as fast as possible by putting a time limit only and maybe tweak it later?

Hacking Canon R5 overheating by hardware.

This camera is a marvel and is able to get a real hybrid, a desire of many photographers. So, despite Canon being lying to the community, there are plenty of fighters to get things done right.
As similar to what happens with Magic Lantern, few teams are trying to gather knowledge on overcoming limitations without damaging their camera.

The battery drop and memory cell removal gives some hope that it should be possible to do so.
The idea is to rely on real temperature reading and bypass the timer limitation.
If the fake overheat timer is still running even without battery, it has to be stored or run during battery loss. There are only 2 or 3 components that are still powered without the camera battery, one is RTC and it has to be a EPROM as well.

When removing the 3.3V battery cell, the fake timer resets. It also reset the time and shooting parameters.
If you like to do so, you may need to read about a set of precision screwdrivers post I wrote.
The used RTC chip is a RX8130 CE from Epson and also present on the Canon R6. It has no memory but can have a counter that will keep running during camera power loss. There is an interrupt that could have been used to trigger the time limit.

But the real hack below shows that it’s a useless finding. Canon is doing a simple subtraction between 2 times.

(UPDATE) Even water cooling do not reduce shooting/recovery time!

Some crazy folk at DIYPerks decided to go even further and water cool his Canon R5 camera. But, even with such dramatic cooling system; it does not reduce the recovery time or gives him extra shooting time. (!)
This is another proof of completely fabricated timer limitation instead of actual heat management. The video have about half a millions view so far. Not sure I would like to be part of Canon marketing team.
Later he decided to go for more classic upgrade by simply adding a different copper plate in place of the useless one in the Canon R5. This is the same remark we got from August from the fist user who opened his camera and saw how bad the thermal conductivity was done.
With a copper plate a bit larger than the original one he manage to get almost double recording time.
A simple hack to do without opening the camera is to get an external drive instead of the internal CF Express-B card. This way the heat produced by the card is not done internally. This external card can be used in many other camera and also help you reduce the cost of card. You can order it here: https://amzn.to/3wZjEQx

This modification shows another weakness in Canon team: The engineering is simply wrong.
The cost of such part is about 1 USD extra compare to the original one. This hack is putting another shame on Canon.
I would love to hear from these so called engineers/trolls that claimed nothing can be done when we are dealing heat in a small camera body. Please explain me how someone in its garage manage to get twice the shooting time by adding a piece of copper inside his camera!

It’s also pathetic to see the same websites that never acknowledge there was a problem with this camera displaying this proof of concept video.

The software way! Bingo!

This is something that was bothering me about this power drop hack. It seems that the camera booting in this case is doing it by forgetting a lot of things. So my big idea is to change the camera time for the next day and drop the battery. When I do time-lapse setup, I know we need to manually turn off the camera cause a loss of power did not save your shooting parameters.
It will show if the day is actually read from the chip or not.
The RX8130 chip has a “date change ” bit that may actually be not written. So the camera will boot and just do a date comparison between the last overheat date.
Here is my test request:

And Guess what?

IT’S WORKING! It’s simple and effective. No clip lost and no need to do it at a certain time. Just stop when you need, Change the date and you are good to go.
Canon, I love you, really…

Here are the message from a magic Lantern user, yourboylloyd, who was nice enough to test on his Canon R6. He will publish a video soon to support the finding.

So, the camera DO a  simple time difference between the actual last overheat and the actual time, but as you drop the battery, the time change bit is not read.
I guess the software engineer have applied a filter to not do a time difference if the day is reset, but this is bypass by this kind of boot.
It also shows the RTC do not run a overheat timer when camera is off.

Thank you very much for trying.

Of course; you will not read anything about it on the major paid by Canon reviewers. Be aware of these fraudster next time you are try to rely on their biased advise.

How to make the hack easier.

This hack works because Canon does not write all data when power is suddenly lost. It makes sense because the last thing you want to do when power is lost is to write something into your main memory.
When you are removing the camera battery, a little switch is telling Canon that the power will be lost soon, so it has little time to save actual parameters. It includes ISO, aperture and this infamous counter among other things. Each time you are turning off or removing the battery, the camera is doing such.
One way could be to get something to push this switch when dropping the battery, but this is not practical.
The best is to get a dummy battery inside the camera body powered by a second battery on the cage itself. So you just have to disconnect and reconnect again. It’s as simple as this!
You have to keep the battery door closed on the Canon 5R, of course.

Also, turn on and off the camera before doing the hack once. So your current shooting parameters are saved.

When you power on, go to time/date, add a day or so, “drop power” and you are good to go.
You can order these by using Google with the search keyword “Battery Mount Plate DR-E6“. Here is a selection on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3z5DefR .

And the Canon R6? updated firmware? Next step?

Well, it’s confirmed that the hack is working with the Canon R5 firmware V1.1 and the R6 on this day, September 6th 2020.
So, yes, you can update and keep shooting with no fake overheating timers.

One remark: This hack is turning down the “overheat” blocking flag. It does not remove any heat sensors or bypass them.
Photographers have been reporting another overheat icon during long photo sessions; so there is thermal management based on temperature anyways.
I will strongly suggest to not overdrive these in a possible future hack.

The second important point is about shooting duration
The counter is not blocked and will keep popping up every 25/20 minutes. So you will never be able to do a one hour non stop recording.
This hack reset the counter to zero and gives you 20 mn of recording. If you are planning an interview, make sure to reset it prior to start recording.
If you already have recorded 19mn and just pause, the timer will appear at the next take just after one minute.

In short, here are my hack, step by step

1. Power the camera with a external battery and close the R5 or R6 battery door (you can also do the screw trick if you like)
2. Record video until you see the overheating logo, or even until the camera shut down.
3. Turn OFF the camera by using the power button so your recording parameters (ISO and so one) are saved.
4. Turn back the power ON.
5. Go to the menu, Change the time of the day to +3 hours at least (or add a day).
6. Drop the power by disconnecting the external battery.
7. Wait 30 seconds or even less.
8. Put back the external battery. The overheat issue should be gone. (if not, you may actually be in real overheat situation), try in 10mn…

Extra step to put back the time: You can do this after step 8. This have been confirmed working by dellfonic from MagicLantern forum.

1. Turn OFF the camera using power button. [this is the extra step]
2. At this time, the “overheat flag” is now written into memory.
3. Turn back on the power with the power button. The camera is now booting from a regular boot.

So if you have no more warning here, the camera is absolute fine with temperature. This not a “special boot” anymore.
And the beauty of it; you can now push back the day as the actual day.
So with this extra step, all your clips are even with the rel timestamp.

Disclaimer on hacking the Canon time limit.

Overheating is an issue that need to be considered seriously. But I have confident that Canon have put enough “real” temperature sensors to actually stop the camera if it needs to be stopped.
The overheating issue is also possible in regular picture mode and the logo is a bit different on screen, btw.

If you do the extra steps to put back the real time and date, your Canon R5 is booting from a cold start. Which means Canon have to be reading the temperature there. There is the normal way of starting the camera.

Overheat do not appear when recording with external recorder and I don’t see a drastic temperature change because you are doing it internally.
But still, please try this at your own risk.
Having a cage that connect to the bottom of the camera will help dissipating few heat. Adding Peltier module may also be a good way. This time, you are on your own.
Turning off the power is supposed to be harmless is there is no active recording. Most of the time-lapse controllers I’m using are doing such battery powered control sequence. They did not suffer any damage after years being turned off and on this way more than 20 time per day.

I will be interested to receive comment from Canon. And see how the block this on the next firmware. Of course.

Please click on one advertising below if you can to support this quest! It’s about 25 cent per click, long way to go before I can buy a coffee!

And do a link to visionrouge.net website if you like to use this article content.

Overall, It’s quite crazy that I found how to hack a $4,000 camera during my free time only by reading and personal analyses.
I even don’t have a Canon R5 or R6 body to test, so I have asked users to do this for me to validate my findings.
If you like to hire me for your next shooting or software development…

Whats is next for Canon to cripple again the Canon R5?

I guess it’s quite simple for Canon to block this hack. They just need to write the overheat time in EPROM when the event occur, and not just when the camera is about to loose power.
They may also want to periodically write the camera real time usage using a counter more than a time difference. The RTC extra counter are here for that.
This way, they will limit the usage of their camera to protect their cinema segment.

But if they are smart enough, they could also see the R5 as a turning point in the industry, as they did with the Canon 5Dmk2.
The Canon R5 is a marketing mistake and shows how reviewers are blinded by a brand communication.
If Canon was to apologize by unlocking the true potential of their camera, it will simply be the best hybrid you can buy. Even adding some extra USD to get a firmware mod will not stop people to buy it. Right now, all this mess is embarrassing from a customers point of view. there is 0 pro that will be using the video functionalities as Sony have much better offer.

There is also a readjustment to be made by all these Youtubers or so self-called journalist about the content they are publishing. It’s important that they disclose the real way they got their information and link with the brand, or not. Let see if they prefer come out clean on this fake overheating communication or bury themselves in deny.

This Canon R5 is a technological marvel and no other brand did such. Sony is far behind in AF performance + high pixel count and 8K possibility.
Little contender as sigma suffer from poor AF and lack of lens offer.
I’m looking forward to see how Canon will implement the next firmware to make a move on buying one. And I think I’m not the only one.
I also already have other ideas on the next possible way to hack it again if they block this software loop hole.

UPDATES: It’s even simpler that I thought

EOSHD personal findings shows that simply removing the battery is also working depending on your firmware.
It’s great and suggest Canon did not write the time if the battery door is open.
It suggest they are writing the new time only when you turn the power button, but not when the battery door is opening.

This is tested with Canon R5 ALL Firmware versions until V1.1.1 and Canon R6 with new firmware V1.1.1.
Canon R6 user’s with firmware V1.0 still needs to use the external power supply option as I described above.
I will suggest to upgrade your R6 to this new firmware anyways as it offers longer recording time anyways.

Here is the new shorter sequence to hack the timer.

1. When camera overheat logo appears; Go to the menu, Change the time of the day to +3 hours at least (or add a day).
2. Drop the power by opening battery door and remove the battery, do not use the camera power button.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Push back the battery and close the door. The overheat issue should be gone. (if not, you may actually be in real overheat situation), try in 10mn…
5. You can now put back the real time in camera menu and shoot again

You can do these optional steps before dropping the battery to save your current camera / lens settings.

1. Turn OFF the camera using the power button, your recording parameters (ISO and so on… ) are saved.
2. Turn back the power ON.

That’s a great way to see how a community can work around a fix to remove fake limitation for commercial reason.
And I guess someone at Canon will have to explain to their board how such simple hack is unlocking the full potential of theses cameras.

If it’s not working; some users report that you want to try it again but remove the battery right after you change the date and pressed OK. Do not wait between [OK] and opening the battery door.

How to really increase recording time on the canon R5?

After you are done playing with this hack, you have now in hands an amazing camera and reducing heat will be your next target.
Adding a cage around the camera body will help to dissipate the heat if you screw it firmly from the bottom plate. Smallrig have a nice one with 3 points on the bottom to help make a bridge heat. You can order it here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3cky06g .
Another option to reduce the camera temperature to help recover from real overheat is to go for the CFExpress-B dummy system. It will also help you reduce storage price by using cheaper SSD than Expensive CFExpress card.
And final step is to get plenty of extra Canon battery cause the R5 is now way more power hungry that the previous 5D iteration. This aspect is also completely avoided by bloggers paid by Canon, of course.
Let say that the 5R is using 4 time more battery than the Canon Mk4 for the same usage. You got warned!
I will strongly recommend using the new canon battery LP-E6N from Canon itself. These battery can be charge within the camera body. Trust me, this may be a life saving. I lost a charger once when traveling. There is a dual batteries pack to be order on the Canon official store. They will last longer and be safer to use on your camera. I went cheap once and one time the camera little fuse just blow by using cheap Chinese branded. I was down for one week without a camera; waiting to be fixed. I learned my lesson.
But, if you still like to play cheap; go for 3 of these nice orange set. So, you can charge all you batteries at once when back to the office and the nice color help you find them when they drop on the floor!

[FIXED] Canon R5 Overheating issue : SLFA-R5

The Canon EOS R5 and R6 have just been announced and many video bloggers noticed a quite stunning limitation on the recording capabilities when reading Canon announcement.
Even in a 4K 30p, at a low room temperature of 23 degree Celsius; the camera should overheat and shut down.
The Canon R5 was supposed to be a perfect balance camera able to serve cameramen and photographers with a limited investment in one unique body.
But this overheating issue raise a large concern among the videographers audience to check if this will be the camera they actually be able to use for a paid job where they can’t control the pace.

Which recording modes are impacted by overheating on the R5?

According to Youtubers who never touch the camera; it seems that not only 8K, but all recording modes except pixel binning have overheating issue.
It’s even worst for 4K mode than 8K as digital compression is kicking in.
The camera will shut down for about 20mn after 20mn of non-stop recording.
It’s getting stronger after this as the next forced stop is coming only 10mn later.
It’s not clear for now if adding an external recorder will remove or ease this limitation.

What can you do about the Canon R5 overheating issue?

The first obvious way to remove this overheating bricked issue is to not shoot any video: period!
It’s simple to avoid pressing it by mistake as there is a dedicated recording button.
You can add some masking tape on top of the red dot push button to make sure you will never hit it. This way, the camera will never overheat.
The downside could be quite annoying as no filming can be done either. That’s quite a choice to make.

The picture mode will just keep working fine.

You can also ask your clients to plan their interview on refrigerated room and get few extra recording minutes.

Here come the cooling fix: The SLF-R5

Any video camera these days come with an active cooling to solve this issue.
It’s quite obvious that a fan will be needed at one point to push the air inside the camera. On this particular case; the answer came as a extra slice of cooling device to be added to the camera body.
The device will not remove water sealing capability. All other video cameras do have such fan and do not accept to be used under the rain.

On the contrary; the SLF-RA Canon R5 cooling unit use waterproof fan and the electronics is not in the possible path of water.
The device include 2 rubbers part to keep the original part of the camera from getting wet. As a classic sandwich bread; it is to be installed in-between the camera screen and the sensor.

For copyright reasons; we can only put a picture of the box for now.

What is the cooling slice device?

To cool down the electronics, an extra layer need to be inserted inside the camera to support forced air path. The air intake is under the camera to hold it without blocking the vent.
The fresh will circulate in a S shaped path to follow all the processing unit and is sent back to the bottom to extract the extra heat.
Most of existing cage will be compatible with the add-on.
Please be aware that the extracted air may be extremely hot. Such high temperatures can start melting the paint of your rig. If you are planing for a long hand-held shot; we advice to wear gloves similar as the one you use for removing baking tray in your oven.
This SLFA-R5 cooling path is directly powered by the camera itself but do not impact so much on battery life. The overall consumption is only few extra watt.
The unit have a temperature sensor and will be activated only if the temperature approaching the shutdown limit. The standby current is almost negligible.
One downside is the extra space this slice will bring to the camera body. The Canon R5 is already 1 cm thicker than a Sony Alpha R7. The device will had an extra 5mm to that. It may be hard for photographer with small hands to keep getting a grip to the camera with the cooling module in place. Please make sure you can firmly still hold the camera in a secure way. If you are suffering from arachnodactyly; the new SLF-RA device is designed for you.

Here is the how your Canon R5 body will look like with and without the SLF-R5 cooling device.

How to clean from dust the SLFA-R5?

As any device with fan, and depending on the shooting environment, dust may come inside the cooling path reducing it’s effectiveness.
It’s recommended to clean it time to time, especially after using your camera on polluted area.
The operation is quite simple and consist on using only water without any cleaning product. The fan are waterproof and can even run under water at reduced speed.
As the camera is water-sealed, you can directly put the camera under a simple warm running water. It’s better to do it with the camera turned on and with a water around 40 degrees Celsius, so the fan will be activated.
This way, its will ensure the entire cooling system is clean.

According to our sources; a new upgraded version is in test in a undisclosed location. It take a regular water hose input and output to get continuous water cooling for conference and convention coverage.
Another hose will get the hot water out and can be connected to existing piping. If you are into green renewable energy; you may want to use this high temperature water for SPA, steaming bath, coffee maker,…

Does the fan bring any noise or shake?

The SLFA-R5 is designed to keep the noise impact super low. It’s composed of 2 small fans that spin at different speeds and direction.
This way, the noise generated by one fan is canceled by the second one.
As the air intake are located under the camera body, it will not generate any audible noise.

If you are planning on shooting in phone/portrait mode, the noise may get higher, but video camera are not designed for people that can’t flip a screen with their hands anyways.

The vibrations issue are solved in the same way. One amazing feature this cooling device brings is an extra stabilization steps.
As the 2 fans are rotating at high speed,; they are acting as a gyroscope. Any small movement will be automatically corrected in-body.
This feature alone can be the best selling point.

How to install the Canon R5  cooling slice?

The best and preferred way is to use any dedicated and approved maintenance center. The operation will take about 20mn to install the extra slice to your Canon R5. You can also ship your Canon camera to any of the authorized centers.
Another way is to order the SLFA-R5 device and install it yourself. The unit come with a clear description how to mount it. The overall process do not required specific precaution.
It consists of removing the back of the camera, insert the cooling slice and put it all back together.
This operation will necessitate the removal of about 352 tiny screws, all with different sizes. You will need to replace with longer one provided withing the package.

As you may understand, this manual operation will remove the Canon warranty.
We strongly recommend you to come to the approved maintenance center and let professional doing the fix for you. That the same kind of professionals that mess it up at the first place, so you can trust them.

What is the cost and availability?

The SLFA-R5 is already available and come at a low USD 499 price per unit. It will enable you to shoot 4K/8K without any time limitation due to overheating.
You can order it today or contact any  authorized centers  to get it installed during opening hours.

This is not a camera software hack and the 30mn recording limit per clip is still active.
The SLFA-R5 model is also compatible with the R6 version of Canon DSLR as well as the upcoming R8 and R9 models.

What SLFA-R5 stands for?

The SLFA-R5 is the first of a long list of cooling device to come. With global warming getting worst; the list of place below 23 degree Celsius temperature is reducing everyday.
The name came after a Google search to make sure it will not compete with another existing product.

SLice FAn for Canon EOS R5 is the first idea that came to the designer mind. It took about a year and half to get with the exact name.
“As a slice of salad in an burger; this extra layer to your camera body will bring you freshness for years to come.”

What else?

Please keep a link to this article if you re-post it.
This is obviously a satirist post and do not represent any product (for now).
This is what happens when a camera brand is focusing on specs and do not think that people will actually shoot any video for real with it.
Canon or Sony name are copyrighted.

If you actually wants to shoot without this limitation, I found the real way by changing the time and dropping the battery. You can read the real R5 time hack here.

VisionRouge is a video production company based in Hong Kong and China, specialized in corporate communication and time-lapse system design.
Feel free to connect with us if this dedicated SEO boosting post interested you!

[DIY]Create your studio to film grow and bloom plant time-lapse video

How a simple and cheap shutter remote controller for your photo camera can pilot a full studio lighting with few external component?
How can we achieve a day/night sequence as well as getting a nice growing + blooming plant time-lapse?
What kind of lighting we need for the growing part and the picture part?
There are many ways to achieve a plant growing studio, but I wanted to get one as simple as possible to reach a larger and cheaper result. I did not find so much online, so decided to write about this simple DIY time-lapse system.
This DIY plant time-lapse setup is based on a very simple intervalometer hack that you need to read first. Clearly, a simple Arduino or raspberry Pi would have done great, but many don’t even know how to program it.
The veg/bloom lighting I have choose is described here with the mod you may want to do.

Plant time-lapse growing photography principle.

To do such photography, you will need a completely dark room and a growing lights.
At desired interval, a camera shutter should be fired but the lighting will have switched to something with a much better color rendering than the growing light.
The room should be dark so only you can decide to get the exact right lighting, for the growing, blooming and picture time.
With only one kind of light source, the flower will also direct its grow to it.
I’m will describe first the kind of lighting you may need.Later, the way to connect to your camera and finally some tips on the camera and lens you may want to get.

Growing vs blooming light color

All plants, almost, goes from different phases.
The growing part is usually done within colder environment and a need for more blue color.
Blooming is happening faster in a warmer temperature with a red oriented light spectrum.

On top of this, you will need to have nights simulation for your plant to grow the right way.
Depending on your project; you may want to get the ability to choose one from the other.
For example: the growing part is tricky as the plant will move in many directions, while focusing on the blooming only seems easier.

On a creative perspective; blooming is usually more impressive than growing, so you want to check if you actually need a real “growing” lighting system or more a blooming light.
You may want to ask your local flower shop to get the bulb before they open; carry them in a low temperature bag until your setup is ready to shot. You will turn on warm yellow light for this phase (and even a bit of warm water to them too). The plant may open in the following hours!

It’s also interesting to notice than blooming can happen in few hours and may don’t need the dark night time. So I have separate this remote part as well.
As a single LED can only produce one specific spectrum, you need many kind to cover it. Some LED called “COB” actually have many small LED together to create a full range of frequency. In my simple setup,
I have opted for a array of light.

Here, you have some infrared and ultraviolet led that do not produce visible light for the camera to catch it. But your flower will.

#Blue color for grow

During the growing time; the plant need a bit more blue. Don’t over do it either, but a 20% to 25% is the most commonly accepted. This is what most of specialized shop will sell you. To your eyes, it will look a bit purple/blue lighting. It’s called plant growing light.

#Red (+BLUE) color for bloom

When you feel you need to speed up the flower opening; more red need to be added. It do not mean that blue should be removed, but you have to think about a mid June sunny day compare to a cold February. These light have a red/yellow color when turned on. Actually, the white LED contain enough blue. It’s usually called full spectrum light.
This is an example of full spectrum light I will be using that have the full spectrum + a bit extra yellow.

This particular one can be order online on this shop, but others will work too. I love the fact that it’s lightweight and easy to disassemble.

#High CRI white for picture

During the picture time; you need to get the maximum flat light response for the camera sensor. A high CRI rated LED light is necessary. It’s quite unlikely your growing light will have such (and of course, neither your growing led). CRI stands for Color rendering Index. 95 is considered as good.
For this project, I choose a light I have been using quite a lot on many shooting for it’s compactness and power. It’s a ring composed of 300 LED that can be dimmed. It accept a large input voltage from 10V to 18. I will add the milky diffusing filter to it. It’s a magnet that is holding both together. As the flower will be quite close to the lighting, you need something quite soft.
The ring shape color will also avoid any unwanted shadows as the idea is to do a shot from the top of the flower bulb.
You can order this light fixture here if you like this one.

VEG/Bloom Switching mode lighting fixture

Some lighting have even both mode and you can switch one to another depending of your flower age.
Usually, each part need different led to cover the light spectrum. It’s specific to LEDs as they are very precise on dispensing a specific color. There is no for example a real “white LED”; it’s always a Green+Blue+Red chip enclosed together. The power of each channel is controlled to give a specific spectra only.
If you are focusing on the flower blooming, it may not be recommended to go for the growing lamp you can easily find online but focusing on something which have more red/yellow/white LED than blue.
The LED I have automatically switch from one mode to the other if there is a 2 seconds loss of power. This is absolutely not what I need, so I have rerouted the power to get it working only in the maximum power mode: Blooming mode. You will need to open the light fixture, please unplug from power to do so. And here is my new set of precision screwdrivers that you surely will love!

LED or High intensity discharge (HID) or fluorescent

The answer is super simple: LED all the way.
On this time-lapse studio setup; you will have to switch lighting at each picture, so it’s absolutely necessary to use a light that accept to be turned on and off without damage. LED are perfect for this. It also need a fast response time to be able to switch as fast as possible from one or the other. HID light will need few minute to reach full spectrum as well as fluorescent tubes.

Blooming / growing light max power.

As all your lighting will be controlled with the relay board, you need to respect the maximum power they can control.
Be aware that you may read 2 different power on your growing plant light fixture. Some brand are displaying the power equivalent to boost their number. The actual electric power consumption is lower and you need to care about such only.
I will think that a growing light of 200 Watts is way enough per flower bulb! I have 2 x 45 W in my setup for a unique bulb.
The Rule is quite simple: P = U x I.
Power in Watts = Voltage x Intensity.
So if the relay display 250V, 2 A; it means it can commute 500W of power, purely resistive load.

As you are running a time-lapse plant growing studio; it’s quite unlikely you will need a lot of power anyways. One single flower do not request 1,000 W of light!
I will also choose a lighting fixture WITHOUT internal fan to be able to turn it off and on without a “loading” effect. The power supply with LED should already make your load not fully resistive, so, no need to play more with this.
I always try to get a 20% factor as safety. If my relay is said to control 1,000W; I will not be using it for more than 800W.

Disclaimer.

This DIY home studio will include many different current and electric power. The 220V or (110V in the U.S.) can kill you, so it’s important to have still a bit of electric knowledge before putting all together. At the same time, plant needs water. Please build your studio according to safety requirement to avoid any potential problem.
Don’t rush anything, built it step by step.
All camera will have their power supply and may be connected with the same shutter cable. It’s important to respect the right wiring to avoid potential ground loop. On my power supply, there is no ground, but some may have..

What do you need to create your plant grow photo studio?

Here is the list of element you will need:
-> Shutter release camera controller + Relay board, based on the hack described in this post.
-> 24 h timer plug to simulate night/day if needed.
-> Camera + lens + large 256 gb memory card + power supply (you can run on it battery, but a real plugged power supply adapter will let you run it forever. On this project, I did not use Sony or Panasonic trigger remote, so only Canon or Nikon camera can be used.
-> White LED lighting for picture time. (I’m using a LED ring around my lens for perfect light without shadows), you can find them here, but others will work too.
-> Growing / blooming light fixture depending on your desired plant blooming video. I prefer 2 stripe on each side of the pot, so the flower keep growing in the middle of these. You can find a similar led growing panel available online.
-> black/white cloth to cover the wall of your studio and get a final time picture standing out.
-> a bit of your time!

As you can see; there is nothing hard to find or which need any software. The camera shutter remote will be the brain of the setup. It have already a screen + input buttons; so my hack is only a way to distribute the output to different power.

Build your growing plant DIY studio

The way it will work is quite simple.
Let’s explain step by step.
Here is a basic time-lapse setup: one camera + one intervalometer.

Now, we can have the same setup, but all will run on external power supply.
This is to run it forever.

In this new setup, we are adding the relay box that can also control the lighting.
At regular interval sequenced with the trigger remote; the full lighting will switch from Veg/bloom mode to picture mode; a picture is taken few second later.
The remote activate 2 relays:
– one for the camera shutter release to take the picture
– one for the lighting swap between grow/bloom and studio picture.
I have assume your shutter duration will be quite short. If you need longer exposure, you will have to change the duration of shutter press from the remote screen.

The last and complete setup include an extra input the get the night/day sequence.
During simulated night time; only the picture mode light is activated (or not…).

The shutter remote (intervalometer) should be programmed with a bulb mode of few seconds, so the relay for the lighting commute first, and the camera shutter is activate next. Other sequence are possible, of course. Depending on your time-lapse plan, you can think of a picture every 5mn for fast blooming and one every 20mn for the growing part.

The full electric schematic is here.
The input 1 and 2 of the relay box have been linked together to get 2 relays working in parallel. This will allow a day/night illumination, but still taking picture during this time with the White LED system.
The third relay is connected to the camera trigger system.

Which camera / lens should I go for my time-lapse studio?

There is no need for a very professional camera body as the most important part is the sensor more than the body itself. You will be putting the camera indoor on a fixed tripod, so IBIS or water sealing is not a necessity. Also, you will have a video at the end, quite likely to be compressed for social media export. So each picture just need to get enough pixel and dynamic range.
It needs to be compatible with the remote system, so most likely Canon or Nikon.
I also do not recommend a full frame camera as you may want to get a large depth of Field to get most of the flower blooming in focus. With a crop sensor as APS-C; it offers you already better option.
My go to is a Canon 800D (The Canon 850D is now available too) It’s a perfect camera for such time-lapse using the RAW file as output. The JPG pictures directly out of the camera body are not so good.
On the lens side, You need to get a manual focus NOT driven by wire to be able to lock it down). I love the Tokina range as they have a mechanical hard stop o the focus ring. For this project; I’m using the sigma 35mm ART. It will gives an equivalent of a 55mm Full frame so the flower is not distorded.

The lens is equipped with a printed focus ring to be able to adjust it precisely and lock it down eventually.
I will use an aperture around F8 to get the full flower in focus and the best sharpness from the lens.
I put a huge 512gb SD memory card, so I don’t need to remove it from the camera the entire duration of the blooming. This will avoid any shacking. This card is quite cheap as you don’t need a super fast model.

Possible add on to your plant blooming time-lapse studio

Obviously, as we have now a powerful relay to control one camera; it’s easier to remote many camera shutter altogether! So you can easily have multiple cameras focusing on many different framing or bulb working in parallel to maximize the time-lapse video impact. Make sure you connect all he ground the same way and you can easily have 10 shutter released at the same time!
I will suggest to get same camera brand if you connect directly the shutter plug together.
The second thing to add maybe some battery backup, especially on the main controller side. If power drop for one second, the intervalometer lose its sequence and your time-lapse video is over.
It can be done simply by adding a battery in parallel with the power supply + a diode to avoid charging it. In case of power loss, the battery is taking over for the few minute the power is missing.

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Output Two relays from camera intervalometer with a simple hack

There is many occasion where you need a simple timer; something easy to program (and re-program) with clear view of the sequence running.
My idea is to use an existing camera intervalometer (Shutter release control) and connect it to a relay board with a simple hack. This way, we can cascade many actions with sequence easy to program and a nice screen to help you. As the remote already have few integrated timer; you don’t need to reinvent the wheel and focus on the other part of your project.
The beauty of it is the low price and the fact that many existing shutter release technology exist already. As soon as you will understand the way it works, you can start experimenting with wireless flash repeater as well to cascade many action without wires.

What this camera intervalometer hack is about?

The idea is to use a old tech shutter signal from the photographic world and simply adapt it to a array of relays.
Most of modern camera can take remotely a picture using a 2 signal, 3 wire remote. It use to be a simple wire pushing down the real shutter, but all is done electronically since DSLR took over.
One signal is use to emulate a half press on the shutter and the second one is a full press.

You can assign on your camera what you like to do with the half press state; but the default mode is to focus.
If you are happy with the half press focus area, you press fully the shutter and a photo is taken.
As a photographer, I usually do not work this way and assign the focus to another button. It allows me to “lock the focus” and do as many pictures without losing it. So, I never really use the “half press” function. But that’s another story.

Trigger remote technology

It’s always hard to get into these steps, but I feel important to describe what is happening inside the intervalometer.
This principle is working for Canon and Nikon as far as I know and not for Sony or Panasonic. The reason is the way the trigger order is understood by the camera body itself.
On Nikon and Canon, it’s very simple. It’s a open circuit that we are closing. There are 2 circuits actually. One to control the half press button and one to control the full press.
So it’s a 3 wires and 2 switches.
At the predefined time, the intervalometer will press one after the other these 2 switches. For this DIY time-lapse studio; we only need the “take a picture” function. The first focus switch output will be there to handle the light swap. The second output will be used to take a picture directly, assuming you are using manual focus

There is no power distributed FROM the intervalometer to the camera. It’s only a switch and the camera feel it by using it’s own power. The cable can be super long as it’s really a 0 to 1 state. I run 10 meters long trigger remote cable without any problem.

Here is how things works.

The camera have the line at high state, supposedly 3.3V, and the remote simply connect the ground to either one or both inputs.
The remote have one manual button 2 transistors internally to connect the ground on request.
Depending on the camera model, the plug to connect is different. On the one I choose, it’s a mini 2.5mm jack, easy to work with.
Please note that Sony or Panasonic do not use such system, but more a different level with few resistors, so this hack will not work with a Sony/Panasonic remote and camera.

Running a simple picture sequence

I have many of these intervalometers but they all present almost the same options.
If you like to loop, you should put the amount of request pictures to “–“.
Bulb is the time when Shutter and focus are activated.
Interval is the space between picture.
The focus is always 2 seconds prior to the shutter release on this model. I guess you will find some where this timing is also adjustable.

And don’t forget that you can always take over by pushing the manual button on the remote itself.
Last but not least, a start stop, button to pause at any time.
A buzzer is also present to help you in the dark. A simple LED is also blinking once per second to let you know when a picture is supposed to happen. The screen display the remaining time.

The relay board

The relay board can be ordered in many websites and come with different names. What you need to make sure is the way it can be controlled.
As your intervalometer will connect the ground of each input, you need to find one where the ground is the “input”. That actually the most common one if you look into “relay board Arduino” under Google.
It should look like this one.

Here is how each input is working. It’s quite simple, with an opto-coupler that trigger a transistor that trigger a relay.
The power supply for the relay can be completely independent from the one for the led /opto-coupler side. But if you order a 12V board, both sides waist for a 12V signal. So the intervalometer may not be able to accept such high voltage.
I have tried 5V an 3V and both are working just fine.
These relay boards exist with 1, 2 4 or eight relays.  Here, only 2 are necessary, but it’s easier to chain them if you need extra output when ordering a larger board.
You can buy them individually and upgrade later.
The connection to the trigger remote is quite straight forward. The simplest hack ever!
To be noted that some relay board have the – connection ac common instead as the +3V as described here. No big deal, just need to to change le schematics if so.

What to improve?

The obvious missing part in this hack project is the power and I’m not sure how many days this setup can work. But as it’s powered with 2x AAA, It’s super simple to either put a 2 x D sized for plenty of juice.
On my time-lapse project, I’m using a 3V unlimited power on top of the battery. The camera is also powered with an external power supply.

I also suggest to remove the power switch on the side. It’s very weak and it may put your project at risk if it turns off by moving the remote. I have weld the contact internally to prevent this.

I ordered a 5V board by mistake, discovering later than some offer goes down to 3V. The relay are 3V and so the signal to apply to them too. It let you use only one kind of power for the entire remote + relay board. I suggest you go for such.
Funny enough, even with my 5V board, the 3V powered remote have enough voltage to light up the led and so trigger the order for the relay. I’m using a super cheap 5V usb charger as power for the relay.

Cost

The relay board can come at around 2 USD when the JCC intervalometer is bout 20 USD. The principle should work with many different models.
Building the same with an Arduino, including, board + screen + button + time to develop the software and debug will obviously be more expensive starting from scratch.
As you will see the shutter remote can be set as counter or indefinite loop timer going from few second to hours, have a screen and work on tiny 2 x AAA batteries.
Here is the 4 soldering points you will have to do; even the +3V power is almost ready for you!

Possible applications

I started this project as I wanted a simple way to trigger a picture with a specific lighting for growing time lapse studio. This way I could swap the growing/blooming lighting to a more accurate color rendering during a few lapse of time; enough to take a picture. You can read about my blooming photo studio here. So far, this is the perfect way to do.
One relay will simply trigger the camera and one will swap lighting.
I guess there are many applications when you don’t want to spend time programming an Arduino or Raspberry Pi.

Another usage from a Facebook audience suggest night sky picture . You can us it to turn on/off lights/lasers, etc during each time-lapse exposure at night. This device allows to get perfect exposure with those triggered lights along with the night sky.

Feel free to post your remarks below!

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Comparing Sony FX9 vs FS7mk2 vs C300 mk3 vs C500mk2.

We are all wondering what would be the next camera to buy. It’s time to compare Sony FX9 versus FS7mk2 vs C300 mk3 and C500mk2.
I wrote this blog entry following a post on social media looking like this: What do you think of the FX9 now that the C300 M3 has been announced? Don’t get into technical…just the elevator pitch.

So here is my answer comparing the new Sony FX9 and FS7 vs Canon C300 mk3 and C500mk2. Please note that I’m writing this at the end of April 2019 and I did not had access to a C300 mk3 to put it in front of the contender. It’s a bit longer than an elevator pitch but the idea is to get real use and work assignment done more than focus on pixel peeping. Continue reading

Repair H98 error on Panasonic NN-894s with 2M261-M36 magnetron : FIXED

Don’t move just yet, you are still in a video production website! I’m describing the different steps on fixing a NN-894s combi oven displaying the common H98 error by replacing the power board and 2M261-M36 magnetron. Reading this post will help any of your repair process.

With the current world situation; trying to spend time saving money and enjoy good food at home is a must. By doing your own repairing, you also reduce the overall waste and help making this world a better place.

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▷Autley silent Ergonomic Wireless mouse Review and test : FAILED

Before buying a new Silent Ergonomic Wireless mouse from Autley; please read here my experience. I wrote this review and tests after 2 months of use as the mouse started to malfunction. I have contacted Autley and god full refund. This product just failed after few months of regular use. FAILED.

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SLIPPING REPAIR Sony FS7 hand-grip  *FIXED

Here is the way to repair the slipping Sony FS7 hand-grip by yourself. It will involve some tools and some time, but still faster and cheaper than buying a new one. This fix is working on a Sony FS7 Mark I, and I’m not sure the Mark II suffer the same problem. It seems that the Sony FS5 or FX9 share another system, which is also faulty, but for others reasons.

What is happening when your hand-grip is slipping?

You have you nice FS7 camera for a while, or bought it second hand and notice something super annoying. When you choose the right position on the hand-grip, it do not lock anymore. The hand-grip seems to slip between each position with a scary noise at each step. It get hard to be confident when holding the camera in certain position and it start to worries you about the full rigidity of the system.
If your camera is under warranty, you may just want to ship it back as soon as the slipping start to shows. One main axis is broken and it will not be back by itself or with some glue.

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The Sony FS7 ND filter wheel problem and fix

How to fix the insane Sony FS7 ND wheel problem? Here is our solution to avoid being caught with such trouble?
There are plenty of great feature packed in the Sony FS7 camera. One of them are the internal ND wheel allowing you to shoot under very sunny condition with a large aperture and slow shutter speed.  There is no way to go out under such sun without ND filters. Here I’m using the 10-18 mm F4 Sony lens which can’t hold external neutral density filters, so the use of internal is the only way.

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DJI Inspire 2 remote control wont charge: fixed!

I let my DJI Inspire 2 remote control for 6 months without using it. That was the biggest mistake ever! When I try to turn it back on to fly; only the last white led was rapidly blinking with the alert beep asking for a full charge. The status LED was on. It was a bit a surprise cause all the other batteries for my DJI Inspire 2 drone were only half depleted.
It got worst when I plugged the DJI charger. I discovered a new embarrassing problem; my DJI Inspire 2 remote control wont charge anymore. When powered off and plugged to the DJI charger; the first white LED is blinking at fast pace for a while and turn off. The DJI Inspire 2 remote control charger is not even warm. There is way to charge it anymore. If It try to turn it on, I have the screaming waring that there is no enough power to use it.
One day prior to my assignment, that’s a big problem. And I guess another warning that you need to to not trust these DJI toys.

Open your DJI Inspire 2 remote control.

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Sony PXW-FS7, mark1 vs mark 2, Which one to choose?

This is a very classic question when you like to enter the Sony S35 camera world, maybe upgrading from a FS5 or switching, as for me, from a Canon EOS C300.
There are few obvious differences between the FS7 mark I and the FS7 mark II. Where most of them can be seen as an improvement, I have to agree that the new lens locking system is still not perfect. I own both camera, bough a FS7 mark 2 first to get my my work covered. I bought a second FS7 mark 1 when a second angle was necessary for interview.

Sony FS7 mark1 vs mark 2, which one is the best for you? Please check the differences below from an owner point of view.
And if you don’t know that the Sony FS7 is still the smartest choice for one man band ENG setup, please check the competition here.

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Zacuto, Wooden Camera & Smallrig for the 2019 ultimate ENG kit for your Sony FS7

As an happy owner of two Sony’s PXW-FS7 (FS7M2 & FS7M1), I wanted to share my findings on the best way to gear it up for my camera operator on ENG assignment.
You can already see a similar post there done about 15 months ago during Victoria Secret Fashion Show in Shanghai. This is the new version that I used as freelance cameraman in Hong Kong last week. To gear up y camera I used few different brand as Zacuto, Wooden Camera and Smallrig.
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My Smallrig cage for DJI Ronin M/MX and DJI Ronin review’s.

On a past work as camera operator in Hefei, I was asked to get my FS7 on a DJI Ronin for most of the shooting time. Is the SmallRig Handheld Ring would have been a great option? How the Smallrig cage stands in real life situation? What improvement can you make and get safety and usability fixed? You own already a DJI Ronin and looking for an upgrade?
Here are few tips to check if it’s the cage for you.

This is my final setup with few tweak and hacks.

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DIY remote support to put a CrystalSky screen and SmallHD on top (DJI Inspire 2 )

This is a DIY Hack describe how to stack in an elegant way 2 screens on your DJI Inspire or Phantom drone. Here the final result:

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Smallrig top plate handle #1688 review

Sometimes, I have a feeling my blog is more a catalog of Smallrig product presentation, but it’s also a way to says that something is happening in Shenzhen area and DJI is not the only one to get out of the copycat market. I have been using plenty of their products and have positive feedback to share here.

Going for a project last month where one of my Sony FS7 should have been used half of the time as a regular camera and the second half on a gimbal. I wanted to check how makes thing even smarter for me. I was planning on using with a Ronin-M as it was actual a successful test, but needed also a strong way to carry the camera when put on sticks. You can check my past setup here.

I love the Nato system as it keep the camera body with a limited weight on the gimbal, but still super sturdy and can be locked when adding a handle. I wish I could even have a longer NATO plate. It seems that Smallrig is thinking about it.
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ZhiYun crane 2 review and test

Things are moving fast, super fast.
From few years ago when hiring a steadycam operator was the only way to go, to the rise of Ronin and similar gimbals, to the new trend of DSLR only on top of one single hand held gimbal. I feel that every 2 years, a revolution is happening on how we produce moving images.

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Shanghai Fashion Show, How to prepare your gear

Covering Victoria’s Secret 2017 Shanghai fashion shows happened in 4 different parts; The Backstage/Make up where you can interview models during a 20mn session, The VIPs Pink Carpet where VIPs are coming to the show and can also be interviewed about 90mn long for 40 pax, the Show recording itself and another Pink Carpet for the party after the show where models have way more time to talk and feel more relaxed, about 1 hour long.
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Live U 500 review in real world

Streaming unit, LiveU 500, what to know about if you need to work with it.
I was recently asked to use a new device for me, the LiveU500. I first was surprised as I never mention my ability of working with these, but I kind of knew already what it was and was happy to see that my client will help me with some training.
Here is my experience working with one unit to let you one day, using it on your own. It’s actually simpler than I though.
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How to shoot S-Log in with the Sony FS7? (and why you should)

Shooting S-log is a bit like recording in 4K but watching it on your phone, compressed by Youtube.
You are recording more information and will decide later if you want to use it or not. Shooting large resolution as 4K let you have more room for re-framing or stabilizing your footage. With S-Log, it’s a bit the same; You record more of the highlight and shadows and see is you may want to change the exposure later. It works a bit the same than shooting raw. The main difference is that raw takes a lot of space in your memory card, where S log tried to keep all acceptable. There are less latitude than in raw, but way less space also, and it can be done without any external recorder.

Why this name?

S-log stand for Sony Log, You have also C-Log for canon, D-Log for DJI camera and so on. The principle is the same even if I will be talking here only about using it on a Sony FS7 camera. LOG stand for logarithmic as the shape of the mathematical calculation the camera need to do, have this S logarithmic shape .

How does it work?

Screens on you TV or your computer actually did not follow the fast development your camera sensor; you can record more information than your TV can display. This may change with HDR TV and preview screen, but for now; let keep it with regular TV/computer screen audience. Again, a bit like watching a Full HD video on a lower resolution screen, the picture look great, but you can’t tell the difference cause your screen is not able to display all of it.