Cinevate's Cyclops is coming

Dennis Wood

Dennis Wood

DVXuser Sponsor
Sneak peaks of our rapid integration jib (mount your shoulder/steadicam rig to a jib in about 5 seconds) for use on our Atlas linear tracking system are up.

The big one for us (and the folks raving over it) is Cyclops, our full face DSLR LCD viewer. The unit provides a mounting sled for your DSLR (so you can use multiple cameras!!) integrates grip handle mounts, and provides a viewfinder that is usable from either close up, or up to 3 feet away from the rig. The base "sled" can be used with our Medusa handles as a standalone rig, go straight to a quick release plate on your tripod, our Proteus rails, or directly integrated with our soon-to-drop Medusa rig. It is also fully integrated with a new rails system coming from Cinevate geared to SLR photo shooters who want to keep things uber simple. The optic we're using should be no surprise as Cinevate has been manufacturing very high quality optics for quite some time. The 72mm achromatic optic can be removed from the rig in seconds, and used as a very high quality macro filter out front....turning any SLR lens into a powerful macro lens. Our expected price for the rig is in the $450 area. There are a few more features integrated which we're not talking about just yet.

Cyclops is in pre-production right now :-)

 
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The funny thing about the product is that at least one person (that being Stillmotion's Patrick Moreau) wandered around for about 30 minutes using it more like a TV, rather than an LCD enhancement. It's great for sharing footage via the LCD too.

Thanks for your comment Herm.
 
Very interesting Dennis. Still not 100% sure what it is, but know the DSLR world needs some innovative thinking. Keep pushing and innovating and we will keep buying!
 
John, it serves three purposes when shooting video, which forces use of the LCD:

1. It magnifes the LCD by nearly 100% which takes all the guesswork out of correct focus... and allows you to move nearly 3 ft away from the screen. If you wear glasses, you'll love us for this :-). It also completely shrouds the LCD for use outside in the sun.

2. The sled forms the basis of a support rig to which you can add two hand grips and/or your tripod QR plate for a very guerilla DSLR rig. If you're using our DSLR shoulder rig, this of course integrates to that too.

3. The fully coated 72mm achromatic optic can be removed from the rig in about 10 seconds and screws onto any standard 72mm filter thread. This turns any SLR or video lens into a very powerful macro lens where extreme close up imaging is required. This is something we've designed in as a value-add.

Hope that helps. As with everthing we sell, expect a comprehensive Cinevate Video University piece on the product.

Cheers,
Dennis
 
this picture does very little justice. You have to see this in person to get the full affect. Great product Dennis. Hmm that guy looks very familiar too! :)
 
Can the viewfinder piece be used without the rest of the rig? Like for people using other manufacturers setups?
 
Mc, I know...what a handsome model we've got there :-) The picture is a bit obscure to keep the finer details "under wraps" for now pending some legal work on the patent side. Sq, no not +1 dioptre...more like +7. Because it's coated and achromatic, resolution is extremely high.

Ecking, the base plate of the sled is designed to integrate with pretty much anything on the planet using standard 1/4 20 or 3/8 threads. In other words, if your camera integrates with your rig right now, so will this device. The sled is highly engineered so that not only will it integrate with what's out there, but will work for those just wanting one or two 360 degree adjustable handles.

Our new Medusa handles (you haven't seen them yet) integrate 1/4 20 mount options which allow a monitor to be mounted in any orientation...but still serve as a grip at the same time. The system represents over 8 months of design work, a series of very expensive molds, and some impressive CNC machine work in aluminum.
 
Yes, however everyone we've shown it to seems to think it's a whole lot better :-) There are a quite a few fundamental differences.
 
anticipating the cyclops Dennis:-) I was about to buy the z finder but I think I have to take a look first for this one. can you give us an idea how it is mounted on the camera?
 
The camera mounts to the "sled" which is a highly engineered CNC aluminum plate. This plate accepts pretty much every quick release plate on the market, but can be used standalone also with our Medusa grips which you haven't seen yet. We have two 3/8" threaded holes there for direct attachment to ball heads and grip gear too. The viewer optic/hood is adjustable for both XY and height to match up with the the Canon 5D, 7D as well as Nikon D300s and D3 cam LCD's. The sled and optic are separate parts which means you can use multiple sleds but only purchase one optic system. This product really neads one of our videos to fully do it justice.

Medusa itself is a very cool handling system that integrates with this unit of course, as well as our Proteus solid carbon rail systems.

We're finally at a point where we can offer nearly infinite rig variations from full on cages, to super simple mono-tube support (hint there!) in both 15mm and 19mm options :-)

Cheers,
Dennis.
 
By month's end you'll see Medusa followed closely by Cyclops. We just received key components shared by both systems which tested out perfectly. This means we're on track. A certain very well known still photographer (you'll find his name on Apple's site as well on a Pulitzer prize) has been tweaking the unit to make sure profesional still photogs will be happy with it too.

Next week I'll post up some pics of last minute changes to the grips that we rapid prototyped locally. We're obsessiing over last minute details on the size/shape and feel of the new grips until we feel they're perfect.
 
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