DSLR Shoulder Rig Advice (Letus or Redrock?)

N

nemisis633

Active member
Hey Everyone,

I've been lurking around this forum for several months but this is my first time jumping into the fray!

I'm having a tough time deciding on what support rig to get for my DSLR. I'm primarily a record producer, but I've recently gotten into shooting music videos / documentary type work for some of my clients. I really want to get some sort of shoulder rig and the sheer number of options is a little bit paralyzing. My budget is $2000 or less and I think I've pretty much narrowed it down to the Letus K5 Shoulder, and the Redrock Field Cinema Bundle.

The best I can narrow it down, the pro's of each rig look like this.

Letus K5 Shoulder:

- Hawk LCDVF Included
- Telescoping rods give a lot of versatility
- Lifetime Warranty
- Price

Redrock:

- Top Handle
- Field Monitor Mount
- Nicer Quick Release System
- Probably better resale value

Can anyone chime in with any further insight or things to consider? Thanks in advance for your input!

Jon
 
x3 on the gini rig. I have a redrock and gini rig. The build quality is the same, the gini is about an 1/8 of the price. Letus is also overpriced as far as im concerned. If your hell bent on spending a few grand on a rig, look at edelkrone (formerly known as handy35, they also made dof adapters back in the day. their gear is top notch, and pretty much destroys everthing in the comfort dept.
 
Irrelevant of brand you need a rig to do what you want

If you are shooting with a VF on the back of the camera you need the rig to be offset and put the camera near your eye

if you are shooting with a monitor you want a non offset rig keeping the camera on the shoulder and the external viewing device near your eye with an EVF or infront of it with a monitor

The rigs you mention seem to have different function

-an EVF will be the lowest stress rig but may work only on your shoulder
- a monitor rig will be heavier but may work from more viewing angles like down low
-a finder rig with will have no external power requirements

a small unbalanced rig will be easy to carry round but stressful for long takes
a heavy rig can be tough to carry but comfortable for long takes

S
 
Express35 and Gini both make great rigs for a fraction of the cost of a Redrock or Letus. The build quality is essentially the same and I've used both and found them comfortable and durable.
 
Do remember that there is nothing preventing you from creating a Frankencamera from all kinds of rig manufacturers. The many industry standards (15mm rails 60mm apart, 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 threads, .8 follow focus gear pitch, standard Arri follow focus accessory mount, etc.) of camera rigs makes interchangeability possible. With a little research, you could save money and get exactly what suits your needs.

For example, I'm using:

Redrock Shouldermount
24" heavy duty rails from eBay
D|Focus, Lens Gears, and Single Rod Accessory Clamps from Jag35
Redrock 18" Whip
Camera Cage from CPM Film Tools
Articulating Arms from COOLLCD
Matte Box from Shoot35
Rail Blocks from Cinevate
And more


Also, while I have not used the Gini rigs and cannot comment on their quality firsthand, there are many stories on these forums about the abyssal customer service of the Gini rigs manufacturer. I mean, they do business through eBay, so there is not a reliable website or phone number you can use to make direct contact with their company. And I don't believe they are in the US. Customer Service is invaluable when packages get derailed (I've had that happen a lot lately with new gear I've ordered), things break and need replacing, or you need to bounce ideas off one of the designers to try and find something that suits your needs.

And I have a very, very hard time, as an owner of quality equipment (Redrock and Cinevate, namely) that the Gini Rig is the same quality as Redrock products. When it comes to camera rigs, understand you ALWAYS get what you pay for.

Just saying.
 
Jordan Scott Price said:
Also, while I have not used the Gini rigs and cannot comment on their quality firsthand, there are many stories on these forums about the abyssal customer service of the Gini rigs manufacturer. I mean, they do business through eBay, so there is not a reliable website or phone number you can use to make direct contact with their company. And I don't believe they are in the US. Customer Service is invaluable when packages get derailed (I've had that happen a lot lately with new gear I've ordered), things break and need replacing, or you need to bounce ideas off one of the designers to try and find something that suits your needs.

And I have a very, very hard time, as an owner of quality equipment (Redrock and Cinevate, namely) that the Gini Rig is the same quality as Redrock products. When it comes to camera rigs, understand you ALWAYS get what you pay for.

Just saying.
Click to expand...

I have used the gini rigs and if I could send them back I would. As well as being too expensive, lockdowns have broken off two of my pieces from them. If you want to try some good stuff that you won't have to go into debt for try http://www.berkeysystem.com/

They have great customer service.

This is a link to another DVx user forum that has pictures. The pics are not of a DSLR but Berkey does make stuff for DSLR users and the beauty of the stuff is I can use them on my Canons DSlr's too.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...ewfinder-rig-system-matte-box-etc.-for-FS-100
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the advice everyone.... So is the general consensus Gini is equal in quality to that of redrock, letus, Z, etc?
 
nemisis633 said:
So is the general consensus Gini is equal in quality to that of redrock, letus, Z, etc?
Click to expand...

Not in the least whatsoever.

Zacuto's and Redrock's price points are justified. I own their gear, and the money spent was worth every penny. You will not get that kind of quality from something on eBay copying other manufacturers' designs and charging a quarter of the price. And what happens when something breaks or is lost and needs replacing? Then you're in Mico's situation above - SOL because the Gini rig manufacturer has no customer service.
 
Gini's customer service has been great in my experience. Sure, there's a language barrier, but shipping has always been lighting fast (faster than domestic orders, in fact) and when I did have a minor issue regarding some differently-sized handles, it was rectified immediately.

I have Zacuto gear and and Gini gear and the quality does appear to be comparable, though longer term usage is needed to really evaluate the two. I will say this, when I received my Gini rig, I was very impressed. Everything is quite "beefy" and substantial. I find no comprises in the quality of the materials or craftsmanship due to the lower cost (as is often the case).

That being said, I do like the look of the Berkey components and will have a look at them when I need to pick up a part or two. With Gini rigs, you get a really good deal when you buy a whole rig ($10-15/component), but not so great if you just need to pick up a clamp or monitor arm ($30-60/component). My recommendation would be to get a Gini rig that has enough components to let you build a few different configurations for different shooting situations and then buy parts from Express35 or Berkey as your future needs dictate. Redrock and Zacuto components are not 2-3 times better to justify the 2-3x difference in cost.
 
If you can't spend as much as you'd like for Zacuto, Letus, or Redrock gear, look at CPM Filmtools, Shoot35, and Jag35. Jag35's gear is a bargain (not the highest quality, but you do get what you pay for, in my opinion - and I own several of their items). CPM's is lightweight fiberglass and carbon fiber, which is great, and their stuff is very affordable - whole rigs for $400 and $500. Shoot35 - from my little experience so far - is awesome. Their CineBox came in today, and I absolutely love it. It is rock solid and built like a tank - a 3-pound tank.
 
Jordan Scott Price said:
Not in the least whatsoever.

Zacuto's and Redrock's price points are justified. I own their gear, and the money spent was worth every penny. You will not get that kind of quality from something on eBay copying other manufacturers' designs and charging a quarter of the price. And what happens when something breaks or is lost and needs replacing? Then you're in Mico's situation above - SOL because the Gini rig manufacturer has no customer service.
Click to expand...

I don't really get what you are saying here. How does awesome customer service pay off when the price of gear is so high??? You could buy two gini rigs for half of the price of a zacuto, and then if something went wrong, you could have replacements on hand... And not have to wait for customer service. What good is a phone call to an awesome rep, when you need the part NOW!

In this price range, I'd rather use Arri or Vocus. I am sad to say they are not so American, but they are better than zacuto and red rock.

I have never used zacuto, but I have used red rock micro, and I very much discourage anybody from using their rig and matte box solution. Red rock micro is not a very good company, imho. (not fond of their ff either)

My only issue with gini rig, is that it is not American, otherwise I have enjoyed using gini rigs very much. Nothing has broken in 2+years of use.
 
Last edited:
Here is a fairly extensive review......hope it's up to date enough:

http://www.cinema5d.com/news/?p=1474

btw, the Gini rig is referred to as the "Magic Spider" in the comparison. It was omitted from the review as the rig was not suitable for dslr shooting, but the reasons are not listed. I found the early set a little simplistic, but reliable. There are many more options now, so who knows.

Red rock micro had the blog remove them from the comparison, because it was so unfavorable. Zacuto is not a part of this review... go figure, they are very good at controlling their image. Cinevate has made some changes since this review, but I don't like their track record up to now.

Hmmm.... maybe this link has nothing to do with OP's question, as none of the companies asked about have their products reviewed in the article. Hahaha.
 
Last edited:
I would love to see Gini try to build something like Redrock's shouldermount.


@OP

There are your opinions. Hopefully you are closer to making your decision. Also, do remember that no one is forcing you to buy your entire rig from one manufacturer. I recommend shopping around for the parts and pieces you need - a shouldermount and rails system here, a follow focus there, some rail blocks here, a matte box there - because you will be happier with what you've built and will have saved some money.
 
I think this pretty much settles it for me. The Letus seems like a nice blend of quality and price.. It's somewhat in the middle of the other rigs and they have a great reputation for support. Letus K5 Shoulder here I come.
 
SHAPE rig are in my opinion the best on the market. I always shooted with a redrock rig and now that I used a SHAPE one, my life completely changer, seriously. The rig is 100% made in Canada, Quebec. Life time warranty. Incredibly good build quality. This is seriously my dream rig. It come with a belt with a pole, and seriously it changed my life.
take a look at the
Composite Stabilizer: http://goo.gl/hHjuw
Composite Fiction: http://goo.gl/WNT81

I'm in love
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top