With my CoolLCD order I got 3 Super Clamps, little widgets that are priceless bargains for any photographer out there.
If there's not much I can say bad about the actual clamps, the included extender with 1/4" and 3/8" thread on the other hand is pretty poor design.
First, it lacks any rubber washer on the base of the threads. Second, it doesn't offer any firm grip area when you want to tighten or loosen the screw. And last, I tend to think the material is on the soft side as I noticed with one of the extenders that the 1/4" thread got bended.
At least I got rid of the first two problems with home made washers from a rubber carpet and a little lathe work to get that needed grip area.
I included a before and after picture (without the washers though).
Since my Zaganu project is already operational I am now looking at the photo side of the project. As I've said in the first post about Zaganu, I intend using this behemoth in aerial photography, and in order to do that I need of course to attach a digital camera to it, and also video a camera with live feed would help. The video camera's purpose is to get a better idea of how the machine is oriented during flight or hover relative to the subject that we want to picture.
I got the video camera and AV transmitter from HobbyKing and I think it was quite a bargain at a little over 50$. The missing link in this chain was a portable monitor on which to view the live feed. In RC business they usually use video goggles for FPV (First Person View) experiences but this didn't suit my needs and that's partly because I also wanted this monitor for something else. I wanted to use it as a "director's screen" on my DSLR when it comes to shooting video.
This portable monitor market is quite big and diverse now and it's not so easy to make up your mind. But since I wanted to go cheap on this one and avoid having to spend around 500$ for the monitor alone, I turned my attention to CoolLCD. I found them by google and at first I thought it must be a prank or something. Two weeks after and a lot of googling, my order was on the way.
I knew it's not going to be high end quality or top features and I was quite afraid of the worse but boy was I wrong. All those good comments from their site weren't for nothing. From start I must say their before-order support is great and the time of delivery unbelievable.
I just got the chance to unwrap the products (as I bought quite a few stuff) and do a video while doing it. More infos will come later as I'll play with them and put them to work.
