Duke M.
Veteran
I wanted to speed up my setup and take down times as well as give myself more mounting options, so I was excited when my CineLocks had arrived. I thought I'd share what I learned.
First impressions:
PROS:
The two halves dovetail together very well and they look very sturdy. The locking mechanism seems positive and reliable. They come with a bag of little parts, screws, washers, set screws, a lop sided threaded piece and bodies.
CONS:
I bought two and neither one had any instructions or illustrations. I made a quick trip to the 16x9 website. Again no instructions. There are a few photos (very few) of an older model. (The current model has both 1/4" and 3/8" holes. There is no washer for the 1/4", but two for 3/8" in both packages. Of course I needed 1/4".
I assume we are supposed to assemble them however we want for whatever configuration we need, but I really have no idea how I would use some of the parts they provided. Providing some suggested configurations, at least online, would seem like a smart thing to do.
USAGE:
I wanted to do two things, a) Make my monitor fast to take on and off. The CineArm can fold flat along the handle when not in use so I didn't need to remove that arm. I mounted the CineLock under the monitor. The problem I found was that the 1/4" set screw was too long. The lop sided threaded piece in the CineLock is lop sided so it doesn't turn, a good thing. The lop sided piece is not threaded all the way through so you don't screw the set screw too deep and break the CineLock, also a good thing. But the set screw was then too long for the top or bottom sockets on the TVLogic monitor, hence the need for two washers. That seemed chintzy and I hate having extra pieces connected together.
It does work. Its sturdy, and fast. With the arm fully extended I can put the camera balanced on my shoulder and see the monitor just fine. I don't like the way the camera body flexes around the mounting hole though. I'm probably going to have to buy or make a mounting plate for on top of the camera.
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b)Make my Ki Pro Mini fast to take on/off, and get out of the way if I need to fiddle with a big battery or something on the back. I've seen the hinged rail mount that attaches to the cheese grater. I didn't think it got out of the way enough, although that system does give more options for mounting other items in the back.
I used a Cinevate rail block and mounted the CineLock to that. Then an LCD arm. I turned the cheese grater upside down because I only found one 1/4" hole that was centered, which I wanted near the top not near the bottom.
In this instance I wanted the arm to be quickly removeable and I wanted the KPM to be adjustable to any height or angle. Doing it this way gives a lot of flexibility and its cheaper. When shoulder mounted this also allows some leeway for balancing. It also makes it easy to change the battery. An additional bonus is the arm folds flat against the KPM for storage. Everything seems sturdy enough. If I was going to run with the camera I might move the KPM so the bottom edge was sitting on the Cinevate rail block for peace of mind.
Overall I'm impressed by the CineLocks. At that price I do wish they would provide some suggested usage illustrations though. I'll probably buy more in the future.
First impressions:
PROS:
The two halves dovetail together very well and they look very sturdy. The locking mechanism seems positive and reliable. They come with a bag of little parts, screws, washers, set screws, a lop sided threaded piece and bodies.
CONS:
I bought two and neither one had any instructions or illustrations. I made a quick trip to the 16x9 website. Again no instructions. There are a few photos (very few) of an older model. (The current model has both 1/4" and 3/8" holes. There is no washer for the 1/4", but two for 3/8" in both packages. Of course I needed 1/4".
I assume we are supposed to assemble them however we want for whatever configuration we need, but I really have no idea how I would use some of the parts they provided. Providing some suggested configurations, at least online, would seem like a smart thing to do.
USAGE:
I wanted to do two things, a) Make my monitor fast to take on and off. The CineArm can fold flat along the handle when not in use so I didn't need to remove that arm. I mounted the CineLock under the monitor. The problem I found was that the 1/4" set screw was too long. The lop sided threaded piece in the CineLock is lop sided so it doesn't turn, a good thing. The lop sided piece is not threaded all the way through so you don't screw the set screw too deep and break the CineLock, also a good thing. But the set screw was then too long for the top or bottom sockets on the TVLogic monitor, hence the need for two washers. That seemed chintzy and I hate having extra pieces connected together.
It does work. Its sturdy, and fast. With the arm fully extended I can put the camera balanced on my shoulder and see the monitor just fine. I don't like the way the camera body flexes around the mounting hole though. I'm probably going to have to buy or make a mounting plate for on top of the camera.
[Log in to see pictures.]
b)Make my Ki Pro Mini fast to take on/off, and get out of the way if I need to fiddle with a big battery or something on the back. I've seen the hinged rail mount that attaches to the cheese grater. I didn't think it got out of the way enough, although that system does give more options for mounting other items in the back.
I used a Cinevate rail block and mounted the CineLock to that. Then an LCD arm. I turned the cheese grater upside down because I only found one 1/4" hole that was centered, which I wanted near the top not near the bottom.
In this instance I wanted the arm to be quickly removeable and I wanted the KPM to be adjustable to any height or angle. Doing it this way gives a lot of flexibility and its cheaper. When shoulder mounted this also allows some leeway for balancing. It also makes it easy to change the battery. An additional bonus is the arm folds flat against the KPM for storage. Everything seems sturdy enough. If I was going to run with the camera I might move the KPM so the bottom edge was sitting on the Cinevate rail block for peace of mind.
Overall I'm impressed by the CineLocks. At that price I do wish they would provide some suggested usage illustrations though. I'll probably buy more in the future.
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