Other: The Sony ILME-FX6V Owners Club
- Thread starter Ben Scott
- Start date
H32MB. It has good reviews on B&H, I could get it in Australia, was cheap.... so I thought I'd give it a go adapting it to the FX6. The 3D printed adapter works well, but I'm no expert on Loupes and with nothing to compare the H32MB against quality wise... all I can report is that the two elements lets me set the dioptre so I can see the screen in focus without wearing reading glasses. Much better when shoulder mounted than just trying to look at the screen. The adapter is very easy to put on / remove.
Grug
Well-known member
Yep. I'm using an Arri Dovetail based shoulder rig, and with a v-mount on the back of the camera, am getting perfect balance with the Zacuto loupe, Sigma Cine Primes and an Arri MB-25 matte box up front.
With the LCD (+Zacuto) as far forward as the cable will allow it (which is pretty much inline with the front of the mattebox), it's balancing nicely.
With a heavier lens out front, I'd just have to use a heavier v-mount battery, or pull the existing v-mount battery further back on the rails to compensate.
Ben Scott
New member
Cool would love to see any images. Funnily enough I just sold an old Arri dovetail-based shoulder rig because I didn't think it would work!
morgan_moore
Well-known member
As non ownwer Im mainly keeping off this thread but this is a universal point.
The camera shoud slide fore-aft on a decent rig to allow balance with 'any' lens (or rather a typical range from small prime to 70-200)
Arri plates can allow this or my more prefered for small cameras 100-200mm arca plates.
Choosing a different battery is not that realistic.
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Ben Scott
New member
That's pretty much their purpose yes.
Another simple way to change the centre of gravity if you don't want the added weight/space that a long Arri plate takes is with rails based battery plate. Or even those Zacuto Gripper batteries.
That said for the FX6 because it is so light there is a clear handheld hold by the grip hold at chest height lightweight run and gun fix, and a heavier proper shoulder rig where added weight is needed to combat jitters from it weighing nothing.
I think Arca plates are great for a camera this footprint.
Another simple way to change the centre of gravity if you don't want the added weight/space that a long Arri plate takes is with rails based battery plate. Or even those Zacuto Gripper batteries.
That said for the FX6 because it is so light there is a clear handheld hold by the grip hold at chest height lightweight run and gun fix, and a heavier proper shoulder rig where added weight is needed to combat jitters from it weighing nothing.
I think Arca plates are great for a camera this footprint.
Joshua Milligan
Active member
I finally finished my FX6 build. Like the FS7 I owned before it, it took some trial and error with different parts to get it where I wanted it, but it's very comfortable to film with from the shoulder now.
This setup includes replacing the FX6 monitor with an FX9 monitor and FX9 monitor mount. It also has a Zacuto Z-Finder for the FX9 monitor, a Zacuto Z-Trigger Grip with a LanParte ARRI Rosette Adapter and a Shape FX6 grip extension cable, a Letus35 leather shoulder pad, and a custom built rod plate which is essentially a Kessler short Arca-Swiss plate that I had a machine shop drill and tap so I could bolt a SmallRig 15mm dual rod clamp into.
Overall this allows me to film docu-style from the shoulder, but can easily be stripped back down to the basics for projects that don't require shoulder filming. It's the lightest kit I was able to build that allows me to have a reliable LCD loupe, a shoulder pad and rails, as well as four channels of audio. Overall when compared to my FS7/FS7II cameras, it's much smaller and lighter which is exactly what I wanted.
This setup includes replacing the FX6 monitor with an FX9 monitor and FX9 monitor mount. It also has a Zacuto Z-Finder for the FX9 monitor, a Zacuto Z-Trigger Grip with a LanParte ARRI Rosette Adapter and a Shape FX6 grip extension cable, a Letus35 leather shoulder pad, and a custom built rod plate which is essentially a Kessler short Arca-Swiss plate that I had a machine shop drill and tap so I could bolt a SmallRig 15mm dual rod clamp into.
Overall this allows me to film docu-style from the shoulder, but can easily be stripped back down to the basics for projects that don't require shoulder filming. It's the lightest kit I was able to build that allows me to have a reliable LCD loupe, a shoulder pad and rails, as well as four channels of audio. Overall when compared to my FS7/FS7II cameras, it's much smaller and lighter which is exactly what I wanted.
Ben Scott
New member
Which is great, until you need to use a cine lens and a wireless follow focus, and a wireless video tap etc etc etc...
FX6 gives you the options to build up or down to the requirements of the gig.
Ben Scott
New member
Looks great, although I was never able to get to grips with a single arm shoulder rig.
Joshua Milligan
Active member
I've tried the two arm rigs, but I personally prefer a single arm so that I can keep a hand on the focus ring. This setup will be really nice with the 28-135 whenever I get my hands on one.
Grug
Well-known member
This is semantics, but I'm not sure I could say that the camera necessarily "gives" you those options - you kinda have to take them by force!
It really can't be understated just how fiddly and specific you have to be to get the rigging just right on such a tiny camera.
Grug
Well-known member
The issue is the length of the LCD cable. There simply isn't any leverage to move the LCD further forward (while moving the camera body further back) to achieve that balance. So using your v-mount batteries as ballast (and 15mm rails to adjust the position of that ballast) is really the only option.
This is where the tiny size of the camera really does complicate things. You want to keep it small (because "small" is so convenient for most things) but you need to be able shift things around (without too much pain) to balance the rig for shoulder-mounted work.
That's another area where I really dig Bright Tangerine's Left Field baseplate - you have a single knob to loosen/tighten the rear 15mm rails clamp. So if you have a v-mount plate mounted out the back of the camera, it's quick and painless to shift that weight backwards (both for balance, or to access the card media bay).
Ben Scott
New member
Haha fair point.
A bit pricey but I think the Wooden Camera full setup is probably the best 'big rig' setup out there. Until Arri does one at least.
Grug
Well-known member
I've got the Wooden Camera top plate and PL-mount adapter. Unfortunately the lens adapter still isn't rigid enough (even braced from the top plate) and flexes an uncomfortable amount with Cforce motors.
I'd consider the Vocas option, but it doesn't allow for non-standard top handles (and is short a few too many Arri locating-pin mounting points for my taste).
So I'm hoping Bright Tangerine's solution will address some of these issues. I've run the problems I'm having with the WC unit past them, so I'm hoping they listen to the problems.
Tilta's design has some interesting solutions: https://tilta.com/shop/camera-cage-for-sony-fx6-advanced-kit/ and is very well priced. Again though, they've made the unfortunate decision to use random 1/4"-20 all over the cage, rather than stick to industry standard 3/8" Arri-locating holes (which are what the people who need these kinds of cages on the camera - actually use).
I am interested to know whether Tilta's baseplate-mounted lens adapter support post, might be more rigid than WC's top plate mounted one. That's really my major concern with the camera at the moment.
I like that Tilta's V/Gold-mount battery plates, have taken a novel approach to allowing access to the media card bay and I/O ports, by making the battery plate itself thinner. A simple solution to a quite significant problem.
Grug
Well-known member
Unfortunately you can't use both the shoe support and the top plate support ring at the same time. I'm looking into modifying the support bracket, or possibly tapping an extra 1/4"-20 hole into the bottom of the PL mount itself, to see if I can brace it from the bottom and the top at the same time (and hopefully can gain enough rigidity from that, that I can stop the flex).
Wooden Camera does have a baseplate and support for the FX6/9 that is very rigid ... but you have to use their mounting plate system for it
to work ... however it allows camera only or camera and rods to be released from the tripod. Very rigid ... with a small adapter to skirt the small
lip on the FX6. However I doubt that if the axis of torque is perpendicular to the support it would be perfect ... almost need a support that is in line
with the exerted force ... I use the Metabones Cine EF-E mount and an additional lens support near the front and have no movement.
Their pro Gold and V mounts release and swing out 90 degrees allowing full access to batteries and cards and cables.
to work ... however it allows camera only or camera and rods to be released from the tripod. Very rigid ... with a small adapter to skirt the small
lip on the FX6. However I doubt that if the axis of torque is perpendicular to the support it would be perfect ... almost need a support that is in line
with the exerted force ... I use the Metabones Cine EF-E mount and an additional lens support near the front and have no movement.
Their pro Gold and V mounts release and swing out 90 degrees allowing full access to batteries and cards and cables.