French Flag Solution

[Dana Salsbury]

I need to get a french flag for my FX1, but they seem very expensive considering how simple they look to make. Thoughts?

[Christopher Witz]

I know this sounds cheesy.... but have you ever seen those gooseneck bendable things with a magnifine glass on one end and a clapt on the other?

well..... get one of those...... then get 2 8.5"X11" sheets of that black foam sheet stuff they have in the craft section of walmart or at craft stores.....

spray mount/sandwhich the sheets over the mag glass....

clamp the thing on the cam or tripod..... and voilá

cheesy I know. but for under $20 it works.

[Dana Salsbury]

Of course I would never admit it if I followed your advice, but thanks for sticking your neck out there!

Hey, I would have a great close up shot if I wanted to fry ants with the magnifying glass! LOL!

[Fredrik-Larsson]

You might wanna check out http://www.geardear.com/

They are at least a bit less expensive than what I have seen on the market. You might also want to get used to the thought that a french flag is something that last a lot longer than your camera will. Buying something cheaper will probably not last as long as a high quality manufactured product.

[Giroud Francois]

cost almost nothing.
just glued a flash/accessory socket on the sunshade so a can slide in a folded aluminium sheet .
http://www.giroud2.com/divers/fx1a.jpg

[Christopher Witz]

hey.... what type/kind/brand of glue do you recommend?

[Jeff Rhode]

Nice job Giroud !

[Giroud Francois]

in fact i used double sided tape (the thick one, like with foam, not the thin one to fix carpet).
This way i could fix a small aluminium plate (U shaped) holding the accessory socket (because the top of the sunshade is not perfectly flat) and I can remove all the stuff easily if necessary.
it is very compact because it just out of field from few milimeters.
You can also see at the bottom of the sunshade the modification that allows me to rotate the circular polarizer screwed on the lens inside the sunshade.(not looking good, but works really well)
Here i used glue for PVC (contains solvent that slightly dissolve plastic, so when it's dry it is rock solid)
(hoya makes an ultraflat one that just fit, and you can find it on ebay for less than half price).
the next step will be to cut a cokin filter holder to glue the plastic rails on the front of the sunshade, so i can slide a progressive ND filter (must be the X-Pro size 130mm x170mm).
B&H is selling a kit with filter holder and 3 filters for less than 200$.
(do a search on B&H web site with "X-PRO" as keyword and select cokin.
They got several kit, one with only ND filter, another one with blue and tobacco.
( http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search)

if you want to go cheap, just buy the filter (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search)
and get a cheap filter holder from ebay (the Z format) for about 10$ (i still have to check with filter thickness, since the X-Pro serie is probably thicker than the Z-pro)

and the last step will be to add a line of white led all around the sunshade so i got a kind of ring led.
that is my Frankenstein-all-in-one sunshade.

[Brian Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Dana Salsbury

I need to get a french flag for my FX1, but they seem very expensive considering how simple they look to make. Thoughts?

DANA
I have attched a french flag to my original sony lens hood on My Fx1 And V1u.

http://www.dvdaction.net/index_005.htm
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...518#post641518

[Dana Salsbury]

Thanks for the idea! I read that you used a Hama flash mount and bought the shade from eBay. I'd like to do the same, but I don't know enough about finding a shade. What key words should I use for the search, or is there a specific model I should look for?

[Brian Rhodes]

DANA

try this link the french flag will have to be cut approx. 3/8"

http://cgi.ebay.com/French-Flag-For-...QQcmdZViewItem

I can do the mode for you if you buy the parts.

[Dana Salsbury]

That's very generous of you. I have access to a shop, so I would see if i could do it myself, but again, that is really generous.

It seems that you could glue the visor straight onto to the camera. I can't see the need to twist it all around with the flash mount. Thoughts? The only problem I see is the desire to take it off for stowing.

[Brian Rhodes]

You glue the flash mount to the lens hood using Goop you can buy this product at Home Depot. First remove the lens hood from the cam lightly sand the area with 600 grit sand paper. Apply Goop to the area for mounting and also apply it to the bottom of the flash mount. Let it sit for approx. 3min. Then apply the flash mount to the lens hood, let it sit for approx 24hrs.The French flag is removable.




flash mount
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

[Christopher Witz]

gosh.... you could make a larger mattbox/flag that wraps aound the side with this solution..... maybe put a flash bracket on both top and bottom ( or sides? ) so the whole thing slides on sturdy..... I'd by one or 2 if it was sub $100!

I'm just a little hessitent to glue anything to my camera ( or shade ) as i tend to sell off my cams for the next best thing every 18 months or so...

have you seen the mattblox? looks cool... but I heard it's to flimsy.

[Dana Salsbury]

It might increase the value of the cam to have it.