I've been talking about new lenses a lot lately and I wanted to also talk about some of the other new gear that I've recently bought. Primarily, a new support system for my slider.
Anyone who watches my movies knows that I love a good slider shot, and I had come up with an inexpensive support system for my Glidetrack Hybrid. I bought a couple mid-weight light stands and put Manfrotto quick release plates on the top. While this worked, even the mid-weight stands got a little wobbly, and if you tried to extend them up past about 5 feet, it was unusable.
I decided to buy another set of the Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod legs to use as the support. Since I won't be using my tripod at the same time as the slider, I can take the head of my current tripod off and put the quick release plate on it (and do the same with the new legs) and voila! I'll have a much steadier support system. I'll also have more flexibility as the tripod will go higher (if you extend the center column) than the light stands and it will go lower than the light stands were able. All in all, it's a much better choice.
I also decided to invest in a reflector kit. Too often I'm in a space where I need a little bounce or fill and don't have the lighting or time to really get it right. So I bought the Interfit 5-in-1 reflector kit. The coolest part about this kit is that it comes with a bracket that allows you to mount the reflector on to a light stand, so I'll still have some use for the light stands that I have. It's a 42-inch (in diameter) reflector that comes with Gold, Silver, White, Translucent and Black.
I decided to pick up another battery as I've been shooting more and more and find myself running low in the field. I had experimented with some off-brand batteries and some of them are good and some are crap, so I just went ahead and got a new Canon battery which I'm sure will work great.
Picked up some lens cleaning supplies and some other odds and ends, but I'm most excited about the new slider support. I'm directing a piece for a local restaurant today and it'll be the first time that I get to try it out. And I'm sure whatever the Decemeber film ends up being (seriously, I have no idea right now), there will be a little slider in there too...