I don't know if this has been discussed in this forum, but I am interested in others experiences researching/buying/using various rigs and their accessories. I am specifically in middle or lower priced alternatives and know there are a ton of them from India and China-but at what sacrifice in longevity. I am also interested in 'friction' based focus units, EVF's and quick releases. I know this is a tall order, but if anyone knows of a good resource in explaining functions of various accessories I will most appreciative.
Building a rig
- Thread starter daplight
- Start date
drapeama
Well-known member
I can help as I'm in the same boat if I can say so!
On ebay, I have a couple of "trusted" seller that I buy stuff since a couple years now. Jinfinance is one of them. This follow focus, for the price (around 110$ shipped), actually does a decent job for my needs:
About a mattebox, I would definitively recommend you to invest a little bit in a good one. The one I currently have isn't bad, except that the filter holders are very cheap:
Except that, I only own a DSLR cage like this one:
That I must say worth the investment. You can mount a lot of acc on it. The handle can come in handy and the quick release is also a nice thing. Even if you don't use everything at the same time, the price for the whole set is interesting.
Good luck with it!
John Andersson
Well-known member
I've bought and tried different solutions to rig many cameras. I have a large case with rigparts to build just about any rig gathered over the years but often try to do without as many as I can to make things uncomplicated. In the end I came to the conclusion that rods and blocks in different forms and shapes works now and in the future. I would stay away from to many custom fitted parts because often they become useless when you change camera.
Michael Carter
Veteran
You could search DVXuser for days and days and read all about this stuff. Might be a plan, it's been discussed to no end.
When I got my T2i, I bought some cheap stuff to see if it was a good direction for me. Cavision rods and loupe, Cavision shoulder mount and grips, D|Focus, Indian matte box, Jag35 baseplates.
3 years later, it's all still attached to the camera and gets used weekly. Never found a need to upgrade. Some of the Jag stuff, though strong, isn't super-accurate. With longer rods, you have to pound shoulder-mount gear on the ends, it's like the angle's off just enough to make the rod-ends too wide. Only issue I've had so far, but after chopping a battery-access hole in the baseplate, it works too well to change out.
When I got my T2i, I bought some cheap stuff to see if it was a good direction for me. Cavision rods and loupe, Cavision shoulder mount and grips, D|Focus, Indian matte box, Jag35 baseplates.
3 years later, it's all still attached to the camera and gets used weekly. Never found a need to upgrade. Some of the Jag stuff, though strong, isn't super-accurate. With longer rods, you have to pound shoulder-mount gear on the ends, it's like the angle's off just enough to make the rod-ends too wide. Only issue I've had so far, but after chopping a battery-access hole in the baseplate, it works too well to change out.