Haven't done a gear post in a while, mostly because I haven't been buying much gear this year. Having stocked up on lenses and cameras and all that jazz, my inventory was pretty set. But about two months ago, I saw a piece of gear that really got me excited. It was the CamRanger, and I think anyone who shoots with a DSLR (stills or video) should take a look at it.

The CamRanger takes the video signal from your DSLR's AV Port (Canon or Nikon only right now) and transmits it over its own self-generated wi-fi network to a device like an iPhone, iPad or laptop...but it's so much more than that. You can also control the camera from the CamRanger interface. For example, if you want to make sure that the focus is set, tap on the area of the image you want it to focus on and it will set that focus. If you want to change the f-stop, color balance, ISO, etc., you can do that. Want to snap a photo from across the room, you can do that. Want to start or stop the video recording, yep, you can do that too. It also has a real-time, on-screen histogram (which the 7D doesn't), works as an intervelometer, takes and creates bracketed HDR photos and acts as a wireless monitor for video shoots. And, because it creates its own wi-fi signal, you can use it anywhere.

I bought the CamRanger about a month ago, but actually didn't break it out until a shoot I had last Sunday. I was shooting a set of straight-to-camera presentations in a suite at the W Hotel here in Austin when I decided to use it. I was shooting on a Canon 5D Mark III and it was sitting behind a Teleprompter which was in a corner of the room, so there wasn't much room to get behind the camera to monitor it or make adjustments.
The first thing that really got me excited was when the gaffer took my iPad mini and walked around the room, adjusting lights while looking at the monitor. What normally would take 20 minutes (going back and forth to the monitor to see how his adjustments had effected the lighting) took about 5 minutes. Once we got started, I was able to sit off to the side and monitor the video without sitting right next to the camera. I could start and stop the video, adjust the focus and keep an eye on the exposure all from one device and the client was sitting right next to me, watching it as a monitor.

The CamRanger site says that its wi-fi signal should reach about 150 feet (depending on how many walls, doors, and other stuff that's between you and the device), which will make this useful in situations where the camera is in a tight space and it's hard to monitor (which was really helpful for us) and the quality of the application was great, no crashes or bugs.
My first battery went dead at about the 4 hour mark, and the second battery I purchased took us through the rest of the shoot. I ended up buying three batteries, only because there's no external charger available for the CamRanger batteries, you have to charge through the device. So if you're on a shoot, and plan on using it all day, it might be best to have some spares.
The only thing that I would hope for in the future would be the ability to pair more than one device to a single CamRanger. Allowing multiple people to sign on to the wi-fi signal and monitor the image would be a great way for clients and crew to see what's going on without having to pass one device around. The first sign-in could be the one that allows you to make changes (focus, ISO, etc.) while subsequent sign-ons would be in a "client mode" where you can only monitor the image.
But for $300, this is a steal. And if you already have an iPad, iPhone or laptop, then you're in business. The downloadable app is free and they're working on versions for Android phones and tablets as well.