goodfocus

We are not a company that likes to toot its own horn. We shy away from blatant self-promotion, shameless plugging and personal back-slapping. Alright, let’s be honest, any paragraph that starts like this one has only one place to go – straight into the slap-our-own-back, look-how-great-we-are slosh bucket. And this one is about to do just that. I apologize in advance.

Apparently the Maine Arts Commission has decided that goodfocus (3rd person self-reference) has, in fact, had a good idea. We thought we’d had a few recently, but apparently it’s really just the one. That one being our currently-in-production documentary ‘Designing Change.’ They have sent word regarding the goodness of the idea for this film in the form of their ‘Good Idea Grant.’

Aside from making us feel happy, warm, cozy and perhaps even smug, the wonderful aspect of this grant is that it is intended to be used to buy nifty gizmos to help one make their idea a reality. In our case, this means a small bevvy of filmmaking tools that we’ve been eyeing for some time.

To wit, we’d like to share this list with you so that you, too, may oggle the beauty and niftiness of each of these gizmos.

First, two 16GB SanDisk Extreme CompactFlash Cards for our new Canon 7D (video) camera. SanDisk is fond of saying that their cards feature a RTV silicone coating for added protection against moisture and humidity (perfect for mid-western Alabama). They are also tested to perform in extreme cold to hot environments (-13° to 185°F / -25°C to 85°C), such as are found nowhere we hope to be in the near future. The Extreme cards are subject to rigorous stress, shock, and vibration testing, which is very handy when rattling at great speed down the crevasse-laden byways of Alabama in our 1981 Volkswagen dasher (anything but) that we politely call sh*tbox.

Next, the very nifty Novoflex lens mount adapter for Nikon lens to Canon EOS bodies. Novoflex is keen to point out that although the lens will fit physically, automatic diaphragm (AE metering), or any other functions are not retained using this adapter. Unfortunately, this means that our Nikon lens with handy espresso-making function will not play on our Canon body. But our growing collection of Nikon primes will.

Possibly our favorite addition to the gear bag is another Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 Series UHF lavalier System. We’re getting this set in the new extreme lavender color scheme.

And to round out the gadgetry, a beautiful, midnight grey Zoom H4n Handy mobile 4-track recorder. The fact that it is both handy and mobile was what landed our interest. It’s so often that something is handy, but weighs ten stone, or is mobile, but never where it needs to be when it’s needed. This baby has both, in spades.

Thank you, Maine Arts Commission.