DIY Camera Goodies for the Filmmaker with Little Money (Me)

While poking around the instructables website, I came across some cool add-ons for your camera that may come in handy. None of these are new, but they are useful and bear repeating in case someone reading this may not know about them.

PieterPost came up with this cheap shoulder mount that will be of great use if you shoot a lot of your video hand-held. It is only made up of about three parts that should be easily had from any hardware store. This thing looks like it could really steady your shot, not to mention keep your arm from falling off due to fatigue.

Sooner or later, you'll have to shoot in wet weather (rain is very cinematic!), so protecting your camera is paramount. Cheap types (myself included) use plastic baggies, but the result is usually a cumbersome, cobbled-together mess that barely works. Aneel takes this step one further, refining the baggie idea to a real workable solution. He made it for a still camera, but it will work for the video variety as well.

Ever need a fish-eye lens? So wide it distorts to a disturbing degree, these lenses can come in handy for peephole effects, general comedy (everyone looks dang funny close up), or lend to the idea of surreality. Richard Baguley at camcorderinfo shows how to attach a real door peephole directly to your (smaller) camera. Video clips are also provided.