El Cheapo Hand grips DIY

T

Tim Naylor

Veteran
I finally shot my first RED job over the weekend. The RED handgrips sucked so bad (slip easily) I went to my old standy - the cardellni clamp.

In this case I used a mini cardellini directly onto the rods for a handgrip. Although the stud isn't an ideal handgrip, the cardellni jaw had no slippage whatsoever. And with it's large surface area damaging the rods was out of the question.

The mini cardellni has a 3/8" male thread on the end. If I could just find some hand grips that'll screw in the end.

Here's what I found:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/529346-REG/Pearstone_GRIP_Universal_Microphone_Hand_Grip.html

combined with this:
http://www.filmtools.com/minorskinmin.html

You're looking at 170.00 pair of grips. No slippage and you can set it at different lengths on the rods.

Anyone who can find better hand grips with a 3/8" female end let me know. I'm going to grab them tomorrow at B&H. The cool thing is you can screw tw together for an extension. Let's just hope they're strong enough for a camera rig.

What's cool about the cardellinis is that they extend the width another inch on each side.
 
I dunno if those would be strong enough for a decked out RED but maybe a barebones setup. I've been debating the same thing, the problem on my end is outfitting two cameras with the same deal.

Arri Blue grips/handles are gonna be too expensive for that, but if you were investing in something I would have thought you would have picked a set up. =D

I could see Cartellini's slipping but you said you used it last weekend, so suppose they're not so prone?
 
I used it riding hand held on the front of a Land Rover on some rough streets in Jamaica. No slippage whatsoever. The RED grip was all over the place. I even had the Cardellni in an outrig position (to get over the windshield). My RED had batt, MB, Two 4x5.65 Filters, RED Cradle, 19mm, FFocus, EVF, SuperSpeed and Red 5.6".

The full size Cardellni would definitely hold in all situations but it's much heavier. You'll need 5/8" to 3/8" adaptor (film tools has it) as well.

I used to use Cardellinis (full size) all the time with film cameras back in the day when a shot called for some unexpected hand held and we didn't get a proper set of grips. If you're really worried, clamp it to a bridge plate.
 
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But here's the killer. Brace yourself.

http://www.racingjunk.com/post/1320549/Hurst-Aluminum-Pistol-Grip-Shifter-Handle.html

Now who has the coolest looking grips on the block. Just paint some flames on your rig and your ready to go. Hurst also makes these if you want to save another 15 bucks.

http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductModelDetail.cfm?ProductModelId=13353

Eitherway, I've got to try this route instead of the mic holder. Not only does it look super cool. But if it can handle the torque of hot rod shifting, it should be able to deal with hand held.
 
That solid aluminum looks awesome. Wonder what it'll be like when you get a little sweaty in the palms though? Hurst makes some tough s*** and I'll wager you won't have any breakage or other nonsense with those on the mini-Cardis.

e
 
For sweat, I'll buy some Pirelli driving gloves.

I'm quite excited at the notion of sub 200.00 set of grips that can go onto 15mm and 19mm rods, be at different lengths, can remove without having to take off the MB or FF, and are built for major torque and abuse. And like Timur said: I've got two cardellinis.
 
Tim Naylor said:
For sweat, I'll buy some Pirelli driving gloves.

I'm quite excited at the notion of sub 200.00 set of grips that can go onto 15mm and 19mm rods, be at different lengths, can remove without having to take off the MB or FF, and are built for major torque and abuse. And like Timur said: I've got two cardellinis.
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I like the way you roll, cowboy. And I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

e
 
I'm ordering all the parts tonight.

re: Newletter. The Tim Naylor Cinenblog is on the way. In about a week. Another thread.

Back on topic. Anyone sight anything cooler than the Hurst Shifter or a way to make extensions?
 
I don't know if the cardellinis are a good choice. I never managed to fit them tight enough to rails without any play. The rubber between the metal clamps seems to be the problem...
 
Hey Tim, post some pics up of your grips in action when you've got 'em made. I'm interested in seeing how it all looks.
 
cordvision said:
I don't know if the cardellinis are a good choice. I never managed to fit them tight enough to rails without any play. The rubber between the metal clamps seems to be the problem...
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I hear what you mean. I've had that issue when the Cardellini is a full size on 15mm rods but also when it has the hard plasticy rubber insert (maybe the Matthews brand). The Cardellini I got from Filmtools has an incredibly grippy rubber insert and doesn't slip on my 15mm or 19mm. It's grip is much better than the hard rubber older style cardellinis.

Eitherway, I'll post some pics once my parts come in.

It didn't occur to me to take it further until the Cardellini held on some real bumpy vehicle work (Far more torque than the average hand held). The Red grip was a complete failure while the Cardellni saved my butt.
 
the filmtools.com cardelinis are AMAZING.

Im not sur what brand they are, but i got a couple of the full sized ones and the rubber on them will grip ANYTHING.

I spent 500$ on Zacuto grips and they are USELESS.... complete crap.
 
Got a hot rod in the making. Went a bit nuts when I began to think of the possibilities.

So I ordered a pack of Redrock Micro mounts. I'll mount two to my 15mm rods and then mount a 12" 15mm rod across going through both micro mounts - eliminating side torque slippage that can happen with Red rocks hand grip system (the rod doesn't go through and the leverage with the outrigger can cause slippage).

Now for the fun part. I ordered a bunch of 1/2" male to 3/8" female adaptors and 1/2" female to 3/8" male adaptors from a Scuba parts company.

I'll mount a Cardellini to the cross rod and the Hurst shifter to the Cardellini's 3/8" thread. The cross rod mount allows me now to adjust the angle of the handle, something not possible by going cardellini directly from the iris rods as well as the width. I like to go wide on the left arm and near on the right.

So why the adaptors? If I want to extend the handles, I can go 3/8" thread from the Cardellini to 3/8" female / 1/2" Male adaptor to Zacuto 1/2" female and male threaded rod (I'm thinking 7" length would be nice). Then at the end, I go from 1/2" male on the Zacuto rods (or Letus) to 1/2" Female to 3/8" Male adaptor to Hurst Shifter.

Now the last experiment which may simplify all this is I'll test the extra Redrock micro mount that comes with the 3pack and clamp it to the cross bar and see if it can hold the amount of torque with the extension rods instead of the cardellini. This would be preferable as getting to align the Hurst shifter straight with the Cardellini method will take an extra lock nut while the extensions to micro mount just require a quick loosening of the micro, align the handle and tighten.

I'm hoping these micro mounts do the trick. The Zacuto 15mm to 15mm right angle adaptor I have can easily handle the torque (it's awesome) but it is over 144.00 each. Three micros are 110.00 for three and are designed to do the same thing. Let's hope they're the deal of the century.

If the micros work then here's the whole "deluxe" package

Two Hurst shifters: 90.00 (or your can go less stylish for 50.00)
Four Red Rock Micro Mounts 150.00
Two 7" Zacuto Extension Rods 70
One 12" Zacuto Rod 40
Two 1/2 Female to 3/8" Male 12.00

352.00 is the total

This package allows for width, angle, distance and height adjustment of the extensions.

For the simple staight to Iris Rods we're looking at:

(2) Mini Cardellinis 104.00
(2) Hurst Shifters 90.00

Total 194.00

Anyway, you probably could find a cheaper rod for the cross bar. But you will need a threaded rod for the extensions to attach the Hurst Shifters.

What's nice about the theoretical deluxe package is that you won't need an adaptor to go from 15mm studio to 15m mini. 19mm is another story (you'll need a 19mm to 15mm adaptor - none are cheap).

Anyone have anything to say about the Redrock Micro mounts?
 
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TimurCivan said:
the filmtools.com cardelinis are AMAZING.

Im not sur what brand they are, but i got a couple of the full sized ones and the rubber on them will grip ANYTHING.

I spent 500$ on Zacuto grips and they are USELESS.... complete crap.
Click to expand...

What gives? They got the slips?
 
They use the standard Zacuto threaded 15mm rods as extension, but any little bit of torque and they come unscrewed and the handle rotates loosley in your hand ... with a 30lb camera attached to it... while youre angling down off a balcony.... SCARY as ****.

Also, the handles are secured in place by a ball socket with a friction lock... comes undone by blinking at it.

Four points of failure actually 6 if you count the four places where they screw together on th 15mm rods....
 
Im in the midst of assembling a rig, and am considering several options when it comes to handle grips and shoulder mounts. Will definitely be interested if someone can assemble Tim's "Deluxe package", also interested to hear what do people think of shoulder pads options like redrock, cinevate (only works with their rods), zacuto, as well as the Birns and Sawyers double handle shoulder support sold at BNH.

anyone?
 
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