A7sII Cage - Hand Grip Suggestions

H

hopkins802

Well-known member
Hey all,

I recently starting building out a small cage system for my Sony A7sii. Right now I have a the basic Smallrig cage that's made specifically for this camera. My normal setup will be handle on top, with a monitor mounted somewhere on top as well. The monitor I use, takes Sony NP-F batteries, so it's a little heavy on top. It's on rails that have a battery adapter plate mounted to it so I can power the camera with the large Sony NP-F batteries, this also helps balance out the weight on top. Everything's working fine, but I'm noticing that holding onto that tiny ass right hand side grip of the camera is causing the hand to cramp quite a bit, especially when it's just handheld, but even on a monopod. I'll be using this setup for weddings next season, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to make this more ergonomical for shooting long days.

Right now I have two ideas and would love to hear opinions / experiences.:

-1. The bottom of my cage can be taken off, and so I could buy the cheap knock off of the A7sII battery grip, and use that. However, those grips don't come with a battery door that's made for a dummy battery like the one on the camera is. So I'd need to either remove the battery door, leaving them exposed, or figure out a way to cut a small hole in the door to snake the dummy battery wire through.. Seems doable, but not sure it's the best option.

-2. I've seen these wooden handle grips that mount to the right side of a cage. They seem pretty good...But the whole reason I always have my hand on the right side of the camera is to have quick access to the mode dial, my custom punch in button and custom record button, which are all right there at a fingers reach. The wooden handle would at least let me carry the rig around a bit easier, but when operating, it may just get in the way...

Anyone have this issue ?

Thanks!
Dan
 
Hey Dan, after operating the A7sii for over a year now with the Tilta wooden handgrip I can say it should NOT impede any buttons/dials. That being said, I found that the idea setup was using the Tilta cage/15mm rod combo w/handgrip, and then relocating the handgrip, along with a left-hand side one, onto a new 15mm rod clamp, and situating that directly under the lens. This gives you an insanely well balanced and very ergonomic handheld rig for the A7sii. Your left hand can reach all the lens gears/functions you might need, your right can still reach most of the other buttons. It's not perfect, but it's damn near a perfect handheld system for these cameras. (For visual reference take a look at the pics/ thumbnail of my wooden shoulder rig build video - basically if I'm not going shoulder mounted during a LONG day, I'll just remove the back shoulder case and hold it two-handed with the wooden grips.) I've had this camera rigged up a lot of ways and this is seriously the best I've found. Happy to answer other questions about this too!
 
Hey man!

Wow, you took this whole rig to a whole different level! I honestly just need a way to grip my camera so I can still have access to the record / custom buttoms / mode wheel all right there. There is a Tilta wooden grip with a record button built into it, but Ive heard it's not that comfortable. Is that the one you have?
 
hopkins802 said:
Hey man!

Wow, you took this whole rig to a whole different level! I honestly just need a way to grip my camera so I can still have access to the record / custom buttoms / mode wheel all right there. There is a Tilta wooden grip with a record button built into it, but Ive heard it's not that comfortable. Is that the one you have?
Click to expand...

There is only one Tilta wood handle with the trigger button. I still use it. It is very comfortable.
 
I can confirm it's super comfy - the sealant has worn off a bit, but the handle itself and the button are still holding up very well after over a year of very heavy use.
 
The handle attaches via a standard rosette mount, and there are only two problems I've had with the handle - if I'm below 5% battery (rare, but happens) the trigger will NOT work, and my cord suddenly and inexplicably stopped working (handle still had LED power, camera still worked, so had to be a cord issue). Tilta customer service was very helpful and responsive, BUT, new cord cost just under $50 which sucked, especially when there was no way to tell what had happened. Even with those hiccups I still strongly recommend this handle for an A7sii.
 
Thanks! I'm a part time wedding filmmaker, so the fact that the cable just randomly stopped working worries me a bit. I guess it wouldn't be a huge deal to just have to use the regular record button in that case. I'm going to keep thinking on it, but thanks for the input!
 
Yeah, camera and everything still work fine, but I was on a shoot when it happened, so it was a bit unnerving. Might be worth just having a second one on hand :)
 
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