GH4 Best Cage for the GH4 with locking device for it's HDMI connector.

I really like the varavon cage , but one question if I get metabones speedbooster Will the anti twist on the front lower part of the cage be a problem or? does someone have both an can tell me?
thanks
 
I've been shooting with Wooden Camera's Small Quick Cage for a while now. The full access to the GH4's hand grip and controls is nice because it lets you hold the camera normally, which makes it more comfortable to use if you aren't using any kind of rig.

The top and bottom plates are rather beefy (15mm thick), so while they do help the camera feel a lot more rigid an solid, the cage will add a bit of weight to the overall rig.

There are a lot of threaded holes on the top plate and vertical 15mm rod, which gives you a lot of options when mounting accessories.

Wooden-Camera_Quick-Cage_036_GH4-hand-grip-is-accessible.jpg
Wooden-Camera_Quick-Cage_047_Zacuto-EVF-mounted-on-Quick-Cage.jpg
Wooden-Camera_Quick-Cage_049_Zoom-H5-recorder-and-handle-mounted-on-Quick-Cage.jpg

I also recently wrote a blog post about my experience with the cage if you want more details.
 
Lindquist said:
I really like the varavon cage , but one question if I get metabones speedbooster Will the anti twist on the front lower part of the cage be a problem or? does someone have both an can tell me?
thanks
Click to expand...

You can take off the tripod support bracket on the bottom of the speedbooster. Its just two allen screws. I removed mine because when its all rigged up it was hard to twist out. I don't have the Varavon cage but the Fhugen one.
 
Just received the black version of the Cubecage from MotionNine and I'm really loving it:

IMG_20140906_193753.jpg


It has a great locking connector (not shown in the photo sorry, but visible on the website above).

HTH!

Cheers from Tokyo,

Paul :)
 
I'm still trying to find a GH4 cage that will allow the Metabones Speedbooster to be attached without removing it's bottom mounting plate. I obviously want to use that plate to attach the camera to tripods/steadicam etc to help ease the strain off the camera lens connection itself when using heavy canon glass. I just don't want the GH4 body taking the strain of a metabones adapter and say a 24-70 hanging off the front! Would much rather the speedbooster take that strain. However none of the cages seem to fit with the speedbooster installed?

It's both the room to add and remove the speedbooster, AND to be able to put a quick release plate on the speedbooster and for that to be the same as or slightly lower than the cage itself - so it'll fit on the tripod and not be obstructed by the cage. Does that make sense?

Anyone got any news on this with Varavon/Honu/Motionnine cages??

Thanks
 
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I like this Fhugen cage. It's pretty affordable at $150 and comes complete with handle and HDMI pinch. The control dial is a little tough to get to but I'm okay with it. Don't need to change settings when in video mode. The handle needs to be locked down tight on the cold shoe slot. I wish a screw could be placed in front as a safety just in case it loosens up. I might tap a small hole and add one. Again it's very inexpensive and gives you lots of mounting options all the way around.

A side not. The Speed Booster has a Arca Swiss mini QR plate attached and it bumps into the anti twist pegs on the cage making it impossible to take the adapter off. You need to remove the QR plate from the adapter. Pretty simple.
 
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I have this cage, and it saved my GH4 from a 5 foot drop onto concrete last week! Even though it does obscure the top mounted controls, I will never again want to use a cage that doesn't cover the majority of the camera.
 
I have the fhugen and love it. Had it for my Gh3 and just ordered the top handle and HDMI pinch to add to it. I didn't like handholding the cage and because I keep the camera in it all the time I made myself a nice walnut side grip for hand holding. I actually prefer it to holding the GH4 as its bigger so its steadier in my hand and my fingers can still reach all the buttons. I don't switch up the dial often mid filming and find that the bump on the iso button (gh3 didn't have this) makes it easier to put a finger on WB/ISO etc while caged. On the GH3 I was fishing a little more and hit WB instead of ISO but the GH4 isn't an issue.

Erik- That is a great idea about adding a screw to prevent a catastrophe. Up till now I had been using a tiny Shape handle and am always paranoid and tightening. At least this handle prevents side to side movement which the shape handle doesn't.
 
mypetfrog said:
Thanks, good to know. Does look a little tight though? not much room for those dials?
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I don't mind it being tight, as I am not going to be changing things on the fly most of the time.

My main concern when buying a cage was camera protection and compactness. With this ViewFactor GH4 cage I can permanently store the camera with the cage in my Pelican case, so it's instantly ready to go when I pull it out of the case.

Here's a photo that shows how the Metabones Speedbooster and the Viewfactor GH4 cage match-up...

ViewFactor_GH4_Cage-1.jpg
 
TheDingo said:
Here's a photo that shows how the Metabones Speedbooster and the Viewfactor GH4 cage match-up...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the photo. It's a bit hard to tell from the angle, but would it be right to surmise that the Arca-Swiss dovetail of the Speed Booster's tripod foot cannot be used when the camera is in the cage? In other words, one would need to attach a separate quick-release plate to the bottom of the tripod foot in order to attach it to a tripod?
 
Sol M. said:
Thanks for the photo. It's a bit hard to tell from the angle, but would it be right to surmise that the Arca-Swiss dovetail of the Speed Booster's tripod foot cannot be used when the camera is in the cage? In other words, one would need to attach a separate quick-release plate to the bottom of the tripod foot in order to attach it to a tripod?
Click to expand...

...I haven't used it this way yet, but I'm pretty sure I can attach my standard Sachtler camera plate to both the Viewfactor cage and the Metabones mount using two camera screws, and I imagine it would work with any other long-ish video camera plate.

ViewFactor_GH4_Cage-2.jpg
 
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