As we have seen before (more than once), you can take photos even with a potato. And what about video? Can you make it cinematic with a crappy camera? YouTuber Potato Jet didn’t use a potato to shoot a cinematic video, but he limited himself to a $94 compact camera and some items from a dollar store. Let’s see how it turned out.
As a Canon fan, Potato Jet wanted a camera of his favorite brand. So, he bought a Canon ELPH 180. It costs $109, but he found it on eBay for $94, so he had just enough cash left for the super-fancy accessories he used: a clay pot, bricks, sunglasses and so on.
Since the camera doesn’t have image stabilization, the handheld footage was really shaky. So, Potato Jet solved it by attaching the camera to the clay pot and adding some bricks. The weight made the camera easier to manage, so the footage was less shaky. It needed some stabilization in Adobe Premiere, but the end result still wasn’t satisfying. Time for plan B! The next handheld rig was a bit more sophisticated. Potato Jet attached the camera to the middle of a rod with holes. I really don’t know what it’s generally used for, but it looks something like this. Then, he added the glasses in front of the lens to make an improvised ND filter. And of course, he fixed the glasses with some duct tape. Classy! Now, to put his build to the test, Potato Jet filmed a sequence you can see near the end of the video. He first recorded the sounds of a motorcycle with his lil’ camera, and then he got the footage. He put everything together and added some slow motion and cool music in post. You can see the end result from 9:13 of the video. Considering how cheap and DIY Potato Jet’s gear was for this video, I’d say he did a great job. When you have a good idea, some DIY spirit, and decent editing skills, I guess you can do a lot even with an under $100 camera. [$94 CAMERA | Can it shoot Cinematic video? via FStoppers]
