5 Filmmaking Gear Hacks THAT ACTUALLY WORK

Real life camera gear tips & tricks for your next photoshoot

If you’re a Run & Gun Filmmaker or a Youtube Creator these 5 Filmmaking Budget DIY Gear Camera Hacks from Fulaan Creative are going to help you get beautiful Cinematic Videos.

These simple tips & tricks will level up your cinematography & cideography right away. Enjoy!

Camera Trick #1 – The STRAP HANDLE

Looping your camera strap around your lens allows you to create an easy on-the-go stabilizer for taking videos without a gimbal or special camera rig.

By simply letting the camera rest on your hand and resting your elbow on your knee, you turn yourself into a go-anywhere tripod – Perfect for locked off shots, AND for low light conditions when you’re forced to lower your shutter to grab sharp photos without high ISO.

By letting the camera free fall from the strap, you can get some incredible drop transitions for your edits!

Camera Trick #2 – The CHEAT SHEET

If you’re putting together a product b-roll sequence inside of a studio environment, this photography trick is perfect for you.

All you need is a piece of paper – Placing it on a table and placing your camera on top gives you a mobile slider WITHOUT the slider! Perfect for broll sequences.

In order to do this trick, you’ll want to make sure you take your framerate up as fast as possible, which will let you “speed up” your motion while filming, and then slow it down to get everything super buttery smooth

Presto – You’ve got a DIY ultra low budget (aka FREE) camera slider to make sweet product videos!

Camera Trick #3 – The SLINGSHOT Follow Shot

If you’re looking to get a nice low profile follow shot of your subject, the strap handle won’t work very well. To get super low tracking shots without having to throw out your back, grab your belt and loop it around your lens.

By combining this trick along with the STRAP HANDLE, you can get a super low profile shot without having to sacrifice your back

(Just make sure you’re wearing pants that won’t fall down without that belt!)

You can also use this technique along with a high framerate to create some really interesting swinging shots and transitions for b-roll by swinging it back and forth like a pendulum.

Camera Trick #4 – The STRAPABIS

By placing the camera strap around your neck and bracing your camera against your body, you can make you shot much more stable than simply shooting handheld. The beauty of this is especially powerful if you don’t have IBIS, or if for whatever reason your IBIS isn’t appropriate for the shot.

It’s also a great technique for adding subtle movement to your shots by swaying back and forth with the weight on your legs, while still keeping things super steady.

*HACK* you can use the EXACT SAME method by attaching the strap to anything else around you! Want a steady low shot? Wrap that strap around your leg. Want to lock off a telephoto shot? Brace that strap around a pole or fencepost etc, and that will hold things far more steady than you EVER could by yourself.

Camera Trick #5 – The RUBBER (band)

Fluid tripods are fantastic, but most of us photographers or light weight videographers aren’t using $2000 tripods meant for those perfectly smooth pans!

That’s where the rubber comes in.

All you need is a rubber band. Attach it to the end of your tripod, and then stretch the band to slowly apply pressure. You should wind up with an ULTRA smooth pan that would normally be IMPOSSIBLE without a much more expensive tripod head!

BONUS TRICK – The Gravity Tilt

Another great way to improve the smoothness of your tripod tilts is by letting gravity do the work for you. Simply dial in the tension on the tripod head so that it’s juuuust not quite enough to hold your camera level – Then let gravity slowly tilt that baby towards the floor! This is a fantastic way to get perfectly smooth transitions that accelerate naturally in a way you could never pull off manually.

What do you think?

Have a camera trick of your own you’d like to share?!

Name your fav go-to trick or gear hack in the comments below!