Need to hear from shouldermount users on HVX200

elektron - hmmm, im not sure exactly what youre hoping to achieve here. the only way to take weight off your ARMS when shooting on-shoulder with an attached 35mm adapter is to slide the whole rig backward on the rails. and YES you can EASILY do that with the zacuto setup. EVERYTHING that attaches to the rails can be slid anywhere forward or backward on the rails and any extension rails you have attached. the only issue might be that you would need to shorten your front rails if they came into camera view. but thats as easy as a quick un-screw ; )

but with ANY rails setup thats going to be a very delicate balance between the system being front or back heavy. its going to take time to get all that gear placed precisely and dialed in so that the weight is centered on your shoulder specifically.

two things to mention:
1. i just disassembled my zgrip setup and there is no way that the left and right arms can be moved forward and back independent of each other. each arm has a mirror image half-cylinder block at the end that fits yin-yang style into the other inside the mount - which i think is a dumb design. but like i said, this is only a minor annoyance.

2. my shoulder pad DOES NOT have the mounting shoe on it - or even a cut out for one. not sure whats up with that - not that id see myself using it anyway...
 
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oh and YES. you can put things on the rails in ANY order youd like (pad before the camera, etc). but you'll need the $175 Q release attachment (as shown in your photo above with the guy) the Q release makes it possible to add the pad between the camera and the 35 adapter. because the pad no longer rides the rails, just the q release itself. the pad will then sit under the rails - otherwise the pad would add 7inches of space between the camera and adapter.

though id be very wary about doing this. because putting the pad in front of the camera will likely make the whole deal back heavy - thus introducing a whole new set of issues for you.

what you could do is mount the q-release in front of the camera - BUT face it backward so that instead of the pad leading the whole camera, its just slightly in front of it. this would be interesting to try as you'll have several inches of wiggle room on the rails between the camera and the adapter mount to fiddle with
 
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I got this and a cheap Monopod that connects to my belt. It is cheap and without the Monopod doesn't help the weight issue, but the stability and tension release to my hip is so very important to all my hand held work.

The firestore also clips perfectly behind the camera on the flat metal.

http://www.dvcaddie.com/shoulder2.htm
 
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Monopods are great for the money. If your doing interviews or longer shots all the weight goes to the ground and there's zero stress. If your moving around you can shorten them all the way up and help support the camera with your left hand or brace against your stomach. Also you can raise them 4 or 5 feet above your head and get overhead shots.
 
YES, I love Zacuto as well. Kendal is right in saying the lunchbox makes everything balance. This is especially true in the case of DOF adapters and FF units. However, if you want a shorter package, the Q Release attachment makes the shoulder pad mount directly underneath the camera. With that, you don't need the lunchbox because everything balances out. If you are an eyepiece user, try the zoffset. It mounts the shoulder pad to the right of the camera so you can actually put your eye right up to it!

In terms of price, Zacuto's quality matches none. Try emailing them and see if they'll give you a discount. I love the aspect that almost everything is TOOL LESS. I look at it this way. If my Zacuto stuff ever breaks, well that must have been one powerful bullet train.
 
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