FS7: Another Baseplate/Shoulder pad/Rig thread for FS7 thread

Wire. I've got one - it's very solid.

-- EDIT -- Sorry, that sounds very fan-boy. To qualify - it's a passive chunk of metal, so it doesn't have any interface with the proprietary socket (none of the 3rd part solutions do, to my knowledge.) I shortened the included D-Tap cable and sits very securely between the plate and DC input on the camera. If you get one, I strongly suggest using a couple of small nylon washers at the points where the plate bolts on. It otherwise digs into the body of the camera by a mm or so - nothing outrageous, but it seems a shame to put small gouges into your new camera.

Others commented that a wire connection might be insecure, but so far I can't imagine a scenario where something might get in there and dislodge it.

One criticism I'd make - the push lever on the Tilta battery plate to disengage the battery sticks out a bit too far and can catch. I much prefer the Hawk Woods press-button and I might retro-fit the HW plate on to the Tilta bracket, if and when I get a mo. It makes this an expensive piece of dumb metal, but 'twas ever thus.

Ben.
 
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too far aft

too far aft

Joe Shaw said:
That looks well balanced - but how do you operate the camera? All the buttons are back behind his ear.
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That was the first thing that jumped out at me when I saw the Zacuto setup.

Just seems to place the camera WAY too far back for practical use. I'd like to hear from someone who purchased the Zacuto rig and has been using it. Preferably someone with experience on traditional broadcast camera rigs who is used to the positioning of such rigs.
 
I had a job shooting all hand-held for long days and with the stock configuration it worked out great. The only real issue was fogging of the EVF which I plan to solve.
 
Has anyone used the Zacuto FS7 Recoil system with the rosette micro mount? It looks like a decent "complete" setup but wanted to see if anyone else had an opinion. I'm also attracted to this setup as I occasionally get booked for jobs with other cameras like a C300 that come with awful rigs and thought I may be able to put this to use on those gigs as well.
 
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I just had two nights in a row shooting a live concert with the base setup but with the Shape extension. Only issue was fogging of the EVF which was pretty bad at times but all in all not that uncomfortable, if I was doing that regularly I'd want a little more weight at the back and a comfier pad and I'd be happy.
 
To resurrect this thread...

Tried the Zacuto Recoil Rig solution today at NAB.

The shoulder pad on the VCT Universal plate was nicely cushioned. Very comfortable. But even nicer was its position which really allowed me proper balance of camera as Zacuto had it rigged (no XDCA back but with a rear brick battery mount). Would balance on my shoulder without holding, which as we've discussed in this thread is proper balance.

Jens told me that there would be an option to mount a rosette on the plate but the current Recoil configuration is rod mounted rosette. Handle mounted nicely to it and was comfortable to use. Zacuto is working on-- no ETA-- a replacement handle for the camera. Unlike the Shape handle, it will replace the entire Sony assembly down to the handgrip.

The demo rig also had the Tornado focus grip mounted to the Z-focus. Could use left hand to hold that Tornado grip and balance camera. But I thought that just made for too clunky a rig. That's something I really want to avoid. If I want a franken-rig, there are a lot of other cameras I could configure like that.

Demo unit also had the Axis Mini and the Graticle. Axis mini is a great replacement for the Sony rod mount. More more adjustable than the Sony supplied piece.

Graticle is very sharp. I like the scopes beneath the image rather than covering.

I am honestly more impressed with the Zacuto plate than I am with my Chrosziel.

Ned Soltz
 
Ben, IIfound the tilta v mount is just right with the big pro X 90 v mount batteries. It just sticks out enough to be able to push the button.

The wire is to long but I haven't been able to convince myself to cut it.
 
Has anyone noticed that the Tilta BS-T10 top plate doesn't fit the FS7?

Two problems (so far) are that it's not machined deep enough to accommodate the front of the handle and the under side of it is not machined to slide far enough back to line up with the mounting holes on the FS7 body (the front angled surface of the camera stops it from sliding back. It's 2.5mm short of where it needs to be for the bolts to line up.

A second minor issue is it blocks the Tally lamp.

The rest of the rig seems okay, but it appears I will have to spend extra for a cheese plate for the top, unless Tilta fixes this and replaces the plate.

Seriously, don't they actually TEST their products with an actual camera? Or did they design it based on early engineering drawings from Sony?
 
I bought the Sony brand vct-fs7. After NAB I decided it was the most comfortable option and as it was sony, I figured surely it would work without a hitch. Currently, the front piece (oh yeah, it isn't one piece? and off the camera is not anything but a bunch of odd shaped parts) well the front piece comes loose, there are four small screws that hold it on to the camera but i need to leave a screwdriver in my bag and adjust them after every two shoots it seems. I thought maybe a dab of loctite, but then... why should I need to do that for something I paid top dollar for and was designed for this camera?

-Wes
 
Sure fire cure for eyepiece fogging - though I have't tried it yet on the FS7, it worked great on older cameras. Cut 2 small perpendicular slits in the rubber eye cup and insert a small plastic tube that you can put in your mouth. Suck Don't Blow!. Clears instantly. Thanks to DP Steven Lighthill, now at AFI.
 
The Sony baseplate is almost a thousand dollars and that's all it is basically, though the shoulder pad has a deeper curve so it should be more secure and comfortable in use.

My two ergonomic issues at the moment are that:

a: the camara lacks three points of rugged contact for setting the camera down during a break (laying it on the viewfinder is the shortcut to breakage)

b: there's no quick way to mount / unmount the camera from the tripod. Can't use a sliding baseplate because the handgrip arm gets in the way and has to be removed each time I want to put it back on the tripod.

I'm sure there's a quick release out there that will avoid the sliding action, but it's hard to tell just from catalog photos how these various quick releases work.
 
As I find the grip annoying to fit in my bag, I just bought 2x Smallrig rosette dogbones and handles. The rosettes are slightly smaller than, but still completely fit, the fs7 and Wooden Camera baseplate Arri rosettes, and they pack away nice and small.
 
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Ben Scott said:
As I find the grip annoying to fit in my bag, I just bought 2x Smallrig rosette dogbones and handles. The rosettes are slightly smaller than, but still completely fit, the fs7 and Wooden Camera baseplate Arri rosettes, and they pack away nice and small.
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Searched for that on B&H's site, but comes up not found.

Most pressing issue is a way to get the camera on and off the tripod without having to remove and reinstall the handgrip arm every time due to the sliding action of my current mounting system.
 
Back in the DIY DSLR rig days I went through a whole bunch of these things and to be honest of the cheaper companies I'd say the Smallrig stuff is the best bang for buck, or Tilta handles if you can stretch a tiny bit more. The cheaper stuff than Smallrig tends to be a bit ricketety and well, even lower budget versions of the Smallrig stuff. Occasionally you'll also find on the super cheap stuff that their rosettes aren't Arri standard compatible which can be an issue if you find yourself wanting to mount directly to the FS7 rosette or other Arri type gear.
 
As with all the stuff that's cheap, buyer beware. I'm watching an auction for handles right now. They look like a ripoff of Zacuto handles, and appear to be very good construction. Of course the devil is in the details.. the metrics could be off and the whole thing may not fit on my rails. That's what happened with the Tilta rig that I bought from B&H.. the top cheeseplate won't fit the FS7.. it misses the holes by 2mm because the front notches for the handle aren't deep enough and the angled face interior isn't deep enough. Oops.
 
If I recall correctly they updated it. Might be worth contacting them to see if you can swap it?

Like I said though, you can't really go wrong with Smallrig for the money in the low budget arena.
 
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