af100 video rig combinations - i'm having some issues!

R

robbrobb07

Member
Badically, I've invested in some nice AF100 kit.
the camera, obviously.
voigtlander 25mm f0.95 lens (beautiful!)
all sorts of battery accessories and bits and bobs and cards etc...
Cineroid Viewfinder etc...

my main beef is with the combination of rig equipment...

I bought the Kinomatic Movietube CR... a seemingly great rig for the F3 and AF100 (that's what it advertises)
There's a reason why all the marketing pictures on CVP.co.uk have the F3 sat on it...

the AF100 is awkward on this rig if you want the side handle of the camera to stay on while sat on the rig...
because the movietube CR has a solid metal pillar halfway along the rig, which can't be slid forwards or backwards, and houses a grip handle and brackets for swinging a cineroid monitor etc...
this pillar CAN be slid further out away from the rig body, but even then, the AF100 manages to awkwardly hug it and even with the side handle taken off the AF100, it's a tight fit...you can't house a radio mic reciever onto the side instead of the handle for example, or even on top of AF100 where the main horseshoe mount is,...because this movietube CR's handle floats above the AF100 (thanks to this annoying pillar) but it floats directly above the AF100's top handle, meaning you can't house anything on the AF100 without serious fiddling and moving the Movietube's floating handle off-center to clear space for the AF100.
You 'could' take the top handle off of the AF100 - revealing another horseshoe mount lower down,..but then you have nothing to hold the AF100 with if you need to snap it off the rig quickly for whatever reason...

I hope this all makes some kind of sense...

Once you manage to choose a compramise somewhere, fitting the VOCAS follow-focus on is interesting also, because the AF100 camera and voigtlander lens are very short, i have to bring the camera right up to the rim of the movietube CR's camera mounting rail, where the VOCAS follow focus just about recieves it on the other side of some clunky black metal body work that doesnt shift...

the movietube CR has small and large bars sticking out the front. small on top, large underneath. nice!

problem is... the VOCAS mattebox i spent loads on only takes small bars, so it sits towering above my lens...
Fair enough, i should invest in a camera riser plate etc, like a Zacuto thingy...
BUT
if you do that, then DEFINITELY no chance of using half the movietube CR's rig (the annoying pillar that houses the floating handle and monitor brackets etc) due to the fact that you'll be raising the camera up into the floating handle above it....all very tight space....

so as you can see, the VOCAS gear doesnt work well with the AF100 with the voigtlander lens when all mounted onto the Kinomatic Movietube CR...

Yes, i should've found out if it's all compatible first...but it's very difficult as many of you may be aware... and I thought i'd studied everything about all this kit! ..i was wrong...

anybody got a similar setup?

R
 
My suggestion is to return the rig and just order the individual parts you need from Redrock or Zakuto and BUILD your own rig. But I would suggest you not get a redrock baseplate but rather a Zacuto or the new Oconnor Universal Baseplate. I've had all three baseplates (redrock, Zacuto, Oconnor) and the Oconnor (which just came in just) is easily the best baseplate I have EVER used but I swapped the 4 vertical 2.65" rods for 4 2.0" redrock carbon fiber rods.
 
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ShapeWLB stuff is nice, just expensive in the UK as there's only one supplier.

They have brought a range of rigs out recently designed for F3's - on top of the other stuff they brought out last year.

Regarding the rig purchased from CVP, you should be able to discuss with them and return it... maybe loosing a re-stock fee? But, if the rig isn't working for you, there doesn't seem a lot of sense in keeping it.

One thing though... you should be able to get away with the built in ND's for most outside usage (and handheld)... so, unless you need extra ND from the mattebox (or flagging) that'll be one less thing to mount on there. Also, are you using a gear ring on the Voigtlander lens? Just asking (forgive me if you are!) but, where at all possible, you'd try and gear all lenses to the same pitch - especially stills lenses being re-purposed for video (eg you'd have 0.8 arri pitch for cine 35mm style lenses etc).

Sounds like the current setup is a real PITA for you :(
 
Hey Rob,

I've built a few shoulder rigs that work quite nicely with the AF100; some that use the built in EVF, and others that use an external monitor or EVF like your Cineroid. All are counter weighted, and all 15mm standard so your Vocas mattebox and follow focus should play nicely. The rig is designed to be as lightweight as possible, so I actually don't even use the Redrock Camera Support baseplate, but instead a Bogen 357 mounted on a microShoulderRodClamp. With this compromise though you loose the ability to shim the rods if need be to adjust for the height of your Vocas. I'll post up some photos of the rig by at the latest Monday, but hopefully sometime Saturday.

As Brent suggested, the best thing to do is to go and build out a rig yourself. Everyone has different tastes and Redrock prides itself on being incredibly customizable due to the modular nature of our components. Feel free to email me at loren@redrockmicro.com and we can get you a rig for your exact needs, or visit one of our resellers and build one yourself!


Cheers,
Loren Simons
 
Hey guys,
Been a little swamped with the release of our new LiveLens MFT adapter, so I finally got around to snapping some photos for you if still relevant.
LiveLens_mft_3340.jpgLiveLens_mft_3354.jpg
 
Hi Loren. That rig is similar to my set up. I'd like to be able to ditch the monitor in the rig but still keep the rig as small as possible.

Any news on the microEVF?
 
Jackie,

Nothing public yet, but if you want to go lighter-weight then there's nothing lighter-weight than using the onboard EVF haha

LiveLens_mft_3357.jpgLiveLens_mft_3352.jpg
This is by far the lightest rig I've built for the AF100. One hand rests in the camera's handgrip, and the other rests on the follow focus for quick focus pulling.
 
Thankyou everyone for your wonderful help and support!
Ill take my time in examining all your sites and offers!..it may be abit late to return the kinomatik movietube CR rig now,..but we'll see!
RedRockMicro do indeed seem to be the most versatile...
 
if anybody in the UK ever wanted to meet up and show me their rig, that'd be a real help! thanks again for all your help on this forum, ppl! :) im really pleased a forum like this exists! where we all can help eachother!
 
You might want to take a look at Shoot35. They just launched their shoulder mount system. Runs 299 pounds in the uk and a tick over $500 us with shipping. I have their complete setup with follow focus, mattebox and rails and love it. If I get the shoulder system the whole setup would total less than 2k.SCF AF-100 V.jpg

Al
 
robbrobb07 said:
if anybody in the UK ever wanted to meet up and show me their rig, that'd be a real help! thanks again for all your help on this forum, ppl! :) im really pleased a forum like this exists! where we all can help eachother!
Click to expand...

Wish I could :-) But maybe the next best thing is a picture. I have a combination of three different "rigs". Genus is the camera platform. Then a Berky shoulder mount plate. The a Olaf pistol grip mounted to rods. I also have a Zacuto EFV. Waiting for pistol grip to arrive before I post photos. IMO, the key to balancing the AF-100 on your shoulder is to get the shoulder pad directly under your shoulder. Mounting the shoulder pad behind the camera makes it nearly impossible to balance. I had so much counter weight when I was trying it was heavier than my old Betacam! I think all of us are experimenting to find the rig that works best for us. That maybe different from person to person. But IMO my rig comes as close to replicating a "real" shoulder mount camera. In a few days I'll post some pictures of my rig.
 
However, Might I humbly suggest something truly universal and at the same time purpose built for the AF100?

http://www.hotrodcameras.com/product/x-baseplate

I get emails every week from AF100 owners telling me that nothing is it's equal.

CVP can get it for you via special order if you request it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I do sometimes work for Hot Rod Cameras :-)
 
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