The Camera Bag: Turn Your DSLR Into an ENG-Style Video Camera with HandiZoom

Now that just about every digital SLR on the market shoots HD video -- and some even 4K video such as the recently announced Canon EOS-1D C -- is there any way to make zooming with these cameras any smoother? VizTools thinks its new HandiZoom handgrip and control unit is just the answer.

HandiZoom is designed to turn your DSLR into an ENG (Electronic News Gathering)-style video camera with automated zoom lens control of your manual zooming attached lens. The HandiZoom device is shaped like an ergonomic handgrip that attaches to your DSLR, giving you motorized zoom lens control and other functions at your finger tips.

There is no announced price yet but HandiZoom will be on display at the NAB show in Las Vegas next week.

"We are in the pre-production prototype stage, so prices have not been set," Roland Bouchard of VizTools told us. "But we intend to be priced for the market."

Aside from motorized zooming, here are some other controls that HandiZoom will give your DSLR, according to VizTools:

Zoom Speed and Direction; Record Start and Stop; Auto/Manual Iris and Set Iris; Fine Focus Magnification; Maximum Zoom Speed; Set Zoom Range at Lens Change; and Still Photo Shots.

HandiZoom is also designed to let you focus and adjust the lens with one hand while being able to grip and control the zoom and camera with the other. The device's "see-saw control" offers precise zoom and direction control, letting you create slow and fast zoom effects. HandiZoom's Magnify Button lets you increase image size to 5x, 10x and then back to normal view.

More details here or watch the video below to see it in action.