C300: Easyrig and c300

anatusa

anatusa

Veteran
Hello

i ve been filming a short movie recently .... and its all was handheld , i do have as i think a very useful Tilta shoulder support, but for the whole day... you know by the evening my setup was crazy heavy! i am not an athlete and its just killed , i really could not do anything for the next 2 days, my shoulder was in pain...

so i started to think that shoulder support are kind of useless, even my tilta is kind of perfect..... sits right on shoulder , c300 monitor is in front of my eyes, but its no go for a long period of time... and there was no wifi sound receiver and the mic was smallest one just for reference.

so i wonder if that Easyrig is kind of a solution? not sure if there is anything better then that for handheld, but i wonder what model would be ok for c300 (dont want to over pay)
i wonder if anyone using? how useful it is?

Regards
 
I havent used it but I'm also thinking about getting one. I'm fine shooting handheld but If I was shooting a show and had to shoot long days for weeks I would get the Easy Rig. They make a version for smaller cameras. It's like a fluid head on a tripod. The rig has to match the camera weight. If you've watched Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown on CNN the DP Zach Zamboni uses one and he shoots 98% handheld with a Sony F3 and other cameras. The guy is amazing! They aren't inexpensive but worth every Pennie to stay healthy.
 
I want to answer your question from a different perspective

well, in my experience after visiting a doctor to check on my upper back muscle pain (result from 19hrs of wedding in one day), the doctor says the pain will keep going if

1. I still doing the same, no massage treatment

2. I dont build core muscles.

this was a result from handling my C100 on a manfrotto monopod ! (not even a shoulder rig)

no matter which kind of support you use, it is unbelievably heavy in the first place (just C300 or C100 plus lens, serisouly, you just handheld for a whole day your wrist and palm etc still hurts like s*%t), no matter which part of your body carrys it, the muscle of that part is going to be harmed in 20 mins.

regardless of the creative part, videography/cinematography is a labor job physically you must admit.

this cant be solved by rigs or other kind of support unless you start building your core muscle. its better if you start building your whole body, but if you just build the muscle that holds the weight (for example, upper/lower back muscle for shoulder rig) is ok. you will see immediate difference after few days of workout.
 
Rented an easyrig for my last short shot on BMCC, shot all hand held. My DP loved it, said it saved his back, especially with the kitted out camera.
 
My answer to anatusa is yes,yes yes get an Easyrig Mini Strong for you C300. I use mine all the time and wouldn't be without it for this unergomonically designed camera.C300 with Easy Rig Mini Strong2.jpg
 
thanks for the info guys! i wonder if anyone one have any clips posted where easy rig is used with canon C cams? would be cool to see,-

if say true i ve been thinking to by easy rig or china steadycam, i understand these are different tools for different needs, but just cant afford both, so had a problem to decide, but after that last social movie .... i decided that probably easyrig is something that i ll use most.
 
From a creative point of view I dislike easyrigs. They restrict mobility and the speed in which I can grab unique angles. Try running up a 12' ladder with a easyrig on. Buying a c300 this year after 25 years of shooting was major revolution for me in how I shoot. Now I can make 35mm - broadcast approved images VERY quickly and they are gorgeous. I shoot handheld high/low camera angles, rarely at shoulder height. I have a Zacuto shoulder rig for those shots but try to use it as little as possible cause the directors I work for find those shots boring. If I was shooting, lets say cooking shows handheld, where it calls for a majority of the shots at shoulder height - i would maybe consider the easyrig, but would more likely switch the camera to a ENG shoulder mount camera like the F800 XDCAM. The great ergonomics of the C100/300 is the beauty of this camera and why I pride it over a RED or an Alexa. People on this thread are complaining about the physical stress of the camera on their body. This is true with any camera but I would think less with the C100/300. I'm 50 years old and I lift weights and do pushups to keep my arms strong. I see it as part of the job.
 
i dont have 25 y of experience/ i would say i am very new to it, and for now i try to make at least my boring shots usable! yes i am going to go to gym club this week and will start my exercises but i am sure it will take time before i ll come to the point when i can hold my cam in my hands steady long enough.... so i am going to need something that could help me out for now..... as i am shooting now. for a few sec/min shots my tilta shoulder support is perfect, but after i tried it for the whole day like non stop from 9am till 4 am (yes 19h).... at the late evening i just could not hold anything stead..... the whole body was shacking...... and pain in shoulder next morning was killing me....
 
Looks like the easyrig would be right for you or a better shoulder mount support. It sucks that you are experiencing so much pain from carrying the camera. it's a tough gig being a camera shooter. I spend a lot of time in the sauna to keep my body aches downs.

Good luck.
 
Read an article about the making of "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe" the shooters said fitness was one of the most important things to capturing quality over and over. With over 400 episodes Id say they were right.
 
I'm a huge fan of the Easyrig. It's not the be all hand held solution but for what it does, it does it really well.
 
DL Razinkas said:
From a creative point of view I dislike easyrigs. They restrict mobility and the speed in which I can grab unique angles. Try running up a 12' ladder with a easyrig on. Buying a c300 this year after 25 years of shooting was major revolution for me in how I shoot. Now I can make 35mm - broadcast approved images VERY quickly and they are gorgeous. I shoot handheld high/low camera angles, rarely at shoulder height. I have a Zacuto shoulder rig for those shots but try to use it as little as possible cause the directors I work for find those shots boring. If I was shooting, lets say cooking shows handheld, where it calls for a majority of the shots at shoulder height - i would maybe consider the easyrig, but would more likely switch the camera to a ENG shoulder mount camera like the F800 XDCAM. The great ergonomics of the C100/300 is the beauty of this camera and why I pride it over a RED or an Alexa. People on this thread are complaining about the physical stress of the camera on their body. This is true with any camera but I would think less with the C100/300. I'm 50 years old and I lift weights and do pushups to keep my arms strong. I see it as part of the job.
Click to expand...

Most of my shooting is ENG style, handheld at shoulder height. The last two videos i shot were for a client who wanted the whole thing including portrait lit interviews shot handheld. This would have killed me without the easyrig.

For the record i hate these potato shaped cameras. You have to put up with a lot of rigging to make them sit on your shoulder nice for a long period of time. I wish the camera manufacturers were able to house the guts of a C300 into an Aaton body or a Betacam style body. The pictures are very nice but the ergonomics suck.

Thats why the easyrig is necessary. Yes its a bit restrictive in terms of running up a 12' ladder, but on the other hand I find waist level shots easier to achieve, as the Easyrig connecting cord will pull down far enough to feep the camera steady.

I am 54 years old and have been shooting continuously since I started as a camera assistant at 17 years old. My back is OK, and I feel very comfortable indeed wearing this rig. The rig allows a very smooth type of handholding for long periods of time.

The weight of the camera rests on your hips so you can achieve some very nice subtle moves, just by moving your hips a bit.

As a cameraman you don't always get to choose the filming style, so you must be prepared to handhold at shoulder level if thats what is required. This rig makes it easy.
 
if by any chance any one knows about any similar to easyrig tool, plz let me know. maybe some one else does something like that or close to that idea. CVP does not sell easyrigs at all, and as its turned out no one at europe has it currently, so i kind of have to wait till the stock will come!
 
I've been using the Easy Rig Mini Strong ( latest version) for about a year with the C300. I'm 56 yrs old and have a curved spine as result of 25 years of full sized ENG shooting. Switching to the C300 and the easy rig is extending my shooting career! I decide to try this as I shoot a lot of documentary work. Decide to give it a try after I saw and read about Beasts of the Southern Wild. Film was shot with full sized Easy rig. Easy Rig GREATLY cuts down on camera fatigue. For the shots that need to be handheld outside of its range simply unclip it get the shots and re clip, very fast. I got mine from B&H.
 
I've used pretty much every easy rig produced from the mini, turtle x vario, 200-400N for various jobs with various cameras scaling from C300 with ef lenses to full boat RED epic with master primes and I swear by the easyrig.... That being said, the Easyrig is a specific tool and not an end all be all. It's great when you're having to handhold for a dialog scene, it's great to have when you need to get a bunch of shots quickly with a heavier camera (400N+) and don't have time to adjust a tripod, monopod, or other style support (knocking off b-roll), it will save your back but the weight doesn't just disappear, rather, the weight of your camera rig is distributed to larger stronger muscle groups (think compound lift vs isolation lifting) so this is invaluable if you're shooting run-n-gun, a commercial that requires handheld and a strict deadline or even ENG style shooting on location.

The easyrig is NOT a steadicam, you're not going to get those sweeping floaty dreamy follow shots (you can do some floating on the cable but not when walking/running), that's not what it was designed to do. It's not a jib or a slider or any other kind of motion controller but that of a fairly static (cameraperson) that needs a handheld camera that won't abuse shoulder and mid/lower back muscles. For me, the easyrig is sort of an insurance policy for my future back, it's been doing great thus far. Make sure you get the correct weighted ER to your fully kitted rig and then add 5lbs as a buffer. There is a tensioner on the back of the rig which will allow you some leeway as to how much weight can be suspended. Hope this helps.
 
The EZ Rig is very popular in New York City rental market for TV and Feature production. Many of these shows have been shooting hand held and when using a heavy rig - like an Alexa, or back in the day an Arri 435 having the EZ Rig was a big deal over the course of a 5 day a week show. There are a wide variety of units and you can get different size counter weights and arms depending on the size and weight of the camera(s) you will use the unit with.
 
guys! got and used my Easy Rig mini Strong with my c300 on a shoot! Not sure how else to say that - f Wonderful!!! I must say its now my most loved accessory that i got since my C300 order! what a joy to use it! i had to buy it much earlier..... if i only knew!!!! GREAT GREAT tool! i highly recommend it, and its not that crazy expansive, many shoulder supports coasts more! but i must say i put c300 on my Tilta rig and use it all together with the Zacuto grip relocator!

If u r going to buy it dont expect much - it does exactly what it should and nothing else!!! its not a magic stick - its just takes the weight and hold the cam..... exactly what i need! but i can say that we were filming outside .... the girl were walking down the street and i had to film it so that it could looked like she was on a hurry ..... so the way its all shacked while i was running away from her.... looked really natural.... was cool

its NOT a steady cam and nothing will make it act like steady cam, again all it does - it just takes away the weight from the shoulders and put it on your hips!
 
anatusa said:
guys! got and used my Easy Rig mini Strong with my c300 on a shoot! Not sure how else to say that - f Wonderful!!! I must say its now my most loved accessory that i got since my C300 order! what a joy to use it! i had to buy it much earlier..... if i only knew!!!! GREAT GREAT tool! i highly recommend it, and its not that crazy expansive, many shoulder supports coasts more! but i must say i put c300 on my Tilta rig and use it all together with the Zacuto grip relocator!

If u r going to buy it dont expect much - it does exactly what it should and nothing else!!! its not a magic stick - its just takes the weight and hold the cam..... exactly what i need! but i can say that we were filming outside .... the girl were walking down the street and i had to film it so that it could looked like she was on a hurry ..... so the way its all shacked while i was running away from her.... looked really natural.... was cool

its NOT a steady cam and nothing will make it act like steady cam, again all it does - it just takes away the weight from the shoulders and put it on your hips!
Click to expand...

What was the weight of your rig? I believe the easyrig mini strong maxes out at 9lbs correct? I'm planning on buying the easyrig cinema after dragon for my epic but is twice the price of the strong.
 
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