Stuff. It's relentless. You're either needing to buy or upgrade - constantly.

For someone new to the business, it can be daunting. Manfrotto or Satchler? Most newcomers couldn't afford either.

What to do? Velbon? That was my choice when I got back into this business nearly a decade ago. But it was a mistake.

Middle of the road gear sounds like a good compromise, but often it is a waste? Why? Because sometimes only the best will do and anything less just won't cut it.

So what is a newbie with limited funds, to do? You'll find some surprising answers in this article!

I found myself facing a similar situation on a wedding shoot in Seattle recently. We'd lined up a well known rental firm, weeks in advance and I personally made arrangements with the owner to rent tripods and a camera crane. The amount of paperwork was ridiculous. I filled out at least eight pages with references, credit info, etc. The next day, the owner said we were all set and our gear would be ready for us the day before the wedding.

But when we arrived at the film & video equipment rental office, the owner was nowhere to be found and the office manager had apparently slipped out for an early weekend. A creative, artsy-type, scatter-brained, chatterbox lady was unable to locate the paperwork after twenty minutes of looking into the same three places over and over.

Disgusted, I walked out and visited a Best Buy store. Surprisingly, they had a Manfrotto tripod with head at around $200, but it was very lightweight and would never work with our hdv cameras. Besides, I thought it felt cheap.

Then I tried their Sunpak 7500 tripod ($79). It was also lightweight while still having some heft (if that is possible). We bought three and they were great. I even braved a pan attempt or two and they worked out ok. No, probably not as smooth as my Manfrotto 503 fluid head would have allowed, but at least as good as my Velbon which cost more than twice as much, and all three Sunpaks weighed much less than my single Manfrotto tripod.

Am I recommending Sunpak 7500 tripods for wedding work? Not exactly. I wouldn't trade my Manfrotto tripod with 503 head for 100 Sunpaks. But I will keep them around for those shoots that require a lot of hiking or for boating shoots. And if I were just getting started in this business and flat out could not afford Manfrotto or Satchler, I would definitely buy Sunpak and put the money saved into a jar until I could afford a "real tripod".

A $300 field monitor? (you may need to click the "read more" link)

Those little two and three inch LCDs make it difficult to pull perfect focus and be certain of exposure and color. If you're shooting hdv, the demands are even greater.

The solution is to use a field monitor, but they tend to be pricey and bulky and thus have been known as a tool for the corporate shooter and not the event shooter.

But what if you could have an 8" widescreen lcd mounted to your camera? Wouldn't you feel more confident in pulling focus, especially hi-def focus?

My wife, Jean, spent days researching a solution and came up with the Sony DVP-FX820 dvd player with 180 degree swivel and flip screen and six hour battery life.

She always shoots from her Manfrotto tripod, but how was I going to mount a dvd player to her rig?

I'm not much of a craftsman and this would have to look professional. I scrounged around closets (no telling what you might find there!) and came up with an unused door for my full-size computer. I measured, then cut a slot to fit the tripod adapter screw, but the screw would be too short. We found a longer screw and ground down the neck to be able to fit the adapter slot.

Then we added two velcro strips to keep the player from slipping off, and we were done. There is even room on the right side of the camera for receivers, light, etc. (No, not coffee - we've found that liquids and cameras don't mix well).

The image is a bit coarse, so we may keep looking for a better lcd. But it is much easier to pull focus and to analyze your image on a coarse 8" monitor than a fine 2" monitor.

With the recent upheaval in frequencies involving wireless microphones, we've started checking out non-wireless solutions like iPod/iTalk and iRivers. More in an upcoming article (so stay tuned!).

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