Ebay cheap dslr rig - looks cool

treynolds said:
Yeah. The screw that holds the camera to the rig is theaded underneath. It will mount to a tripod.
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Great. Have you tested this rig on a tripod? Does it work well?

It seems to me that using the same screw for the camera and the tripod plate would be problematic, but let me know if it still works fine.
 
yeah the handles can point directly forward.

You could add it to a tripod to give yourself more weight on the head to make moves smoother.

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Ive never actually mounted it to a tripod with a camera so i cant really say how sturdy it will be for sure but it feels pretty solid. It would also depend on how study your tripod is.
 
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I got one last week. I'd recommend it. It is a little flimsy and the plastic knobs feel cheap, but I did a shoot with it a couple of days ago and it was fine. I mean it's pretty damn inexpensive right!? I've got the feeling it's not going to last more than 6 months, but for the price it would have cost me to hire a higher end rig for the one day shoot... I got this, so it's already paid for itself!
 
dudewaba said:
I have the original DV Multirig, which is not compatible with their current tirpod quick-release mounting dock. When the Multirig first came out, it was said to be compatible with tripod quick release plates hence the mounting dock was not needed. Unfortunately, as it turned out I was one of the early adopters, and have a Vinten Vision 3 tripod. The plate on the Vinten wasn't compatible as the mounting screw/pin are fixed in a position, and the plate is long enough that it couldn't be mounted without blocking access to the threading receptacle for the spring loaded pod. I tapped/drilled an extra hole on the tripod mounting area to make it possible to mount my plate; however, this then wouldn't allow you to use the shoulder mounting configuration (which I did not purchase).

In any case, I'm in the market for a DSLR rails/rig setup and want to keep the spring-loaded pod, plus the compactness of the Multirg setup, and the free-flowing adjustment of the arms to the most comfortable holding position.

As it is, it does not appear that DV Tech sells the shoulder mounting upgrade as a later add-on option.

Basically, thanks for bringing this "knockoff" to my attention. From the looks of it, here's what you're sacrificing...no spring pod, no accessory mounting attachments included, AND, most importantly, NO real tripod quick-release mounting capability.

This is a HUGE reason not to buy. The actual quality of the unit, I would not be *that* worried about. This isn't the kind of item, where machining tolerances are of a critical level as with a follow focus.

Honestly, this is NOT something I would recommend buying. I think you would be far better served purchasing the Multrig brand new. While it is more expensive, it comes with mounting accessories, shock pod, and a very nice tripod quick-release docking station option for not a whole lot more.

This is one of those items that on paper seems like a good value until you look a little closer. You'll regret not saving up a little more in this case, no doubt about it in my mind.

For me, however, I think it's worth purchasing if DVTec won't sell me the shoulder mount attachment by itself.

I have a drill press, so I'm reasonably sure I could retrofit this plus my original DV rig to give me what I want...an uber totable, flexible, and well to-do performing, Swiss army knife, of run n' gunning rigs.
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i agree with most of this post as well. i also have the DVTECH MultiRig. if you take away the monopod feature of the Multirig then the unit is "worthless" IMO unless you want to shoot in low modes then it is nice but i normally dont.

the reason why the unit is not good without the monopod is because there absolutely "NO" weight being distributed behind your shoulder. so that little arm that goes on your shoulder does zero to help with the forward and front weight of the camera and rig.

also...and this is a huge also. if your going to use this with a DSLR and still plan to manually focus with your left hand on the barrell of the lens...good luck. what happens is that most of the support to hold this very front weighted system is now 80% on your right hand so your left hand can mostly adjust focus. i can tell you that its not very doable without the monopod.

i think this is a good deal for what it is but if you go for it id suggest that you try to rig some sort of a monopod to your belt in a pouch to do the real work of supporting the system. with a monopod like on the Multirig you can hold this thing for long periods of time without fatigue.

one final thing ill say about this kind of rig. for my EX1 it was great. left hand on the forward left handle, right hand on the forward right grip *with thumb controller for zoom start and stop*, and monopod. very good rig overall. i tried to use this with my 5DmkII but found overall the having my left hand do manual focus from the barrell of the lens did disturb the shot somewhat vs a rail system with a FF where my left hand on the FF was less disruptive than my hand directly on the lens barrel. i was completely happy with the Multirig with normal video camera until i started using DSLR's then the reagular type rig seems more effective. also, my shoulder rig is very heavily back weighted so the camera is almost balance from front to back.

good luck
david
 
Soldier said:
I got one last week. I'd recommend it. It is a little flimsy and the plastic knobs feel cheap, but I did a shoot with it a couple of days ago and it was fine. I mean it's pretty damn inexpensive right!? I've got the feeling it's not going to last more than 6 months, but for the price it would have cost me to hire a higher end rig for the one day shoot... I got this, so it's already paid for itself!
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in the picture this thing looks really good and amazing for the price. for you to say though that you feel it might not last for more than 6 months is a bit scary i guess. i dont use my Multirig as much these days but ill say that its build quality is exceptional and should last a lifetime unless it gets run over by a big truck. most of the time you get what you pay for although i can appreciate take the money and run purchases. they are hard to avoid sometimes!

david
 
well, david_p, so if the Multirig is out for DSLRs, then what rig would you recommend for us DSLR folk, something that can take all sizes from the 5D to the GH2? It seems there are so many options, and it's really hard to figure out...
 
OldCorpse said:
well, david_p, so if the Multirig is out for DSLRs, then what rig would you recommend for us DSLR folk, something that can take all sizes from the 5D to the GH2? It seems there are so many options, and it's really hard to figure out...
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with a monopod the Multirig is pretty good but...IMO not quite as good as a shoulder rig with a FF...at least one for me that is very heavily back weighted behind my shoulder so my front hands dont have to put much effort in holding it up. i held out for a lot longer than most people in actually purchasing a rail system because the Multirig was still serving me ok and i guess ignorance is bliss in my case.

after seeing a rail system in stock to try, i ended up going with the Genus rail system with the Genus Bravo FF. im happy with it but then there are bundles of other options that are probably as good if not better, i dont know and will never know if i cant touch them. i was surprised to see this in my local camera store and after testing it out for a bit i bought it. no play in the Bravo FF @ $500 sealed the deal for me. had i not been able to try it in person i probably would just still be using the Multirig for my DSLR.

the whole system cost me about $1,450.00 with an extra gear. nothing to sneeze at but it very easy to spend a lot more. also, since its part of the Manfrotto family i figured it would always be easy to get replacement parts if ever needed. systems from places like thecinecity are cheap but always seem to followed by comments of poor quality machining and always "some play" in the FF so i always avoided the real cheapo units. i guess we all have different degrees of what we can live with vs price paid.

finding one to touch in person is of course the best way to really know. im no expert and this is the only one ive ever tried (lol) but im very happy with my purchase and nothting comes to mind for criticism. it should do me well to never touch a $3.000.00 FF like an Arri though. like i said ignorance is bliss. ill never get rid of my Multirig either though. its a very clever unit as long as the monopod is attached.

david
 
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Thanks, david_p, that was very informative. The Genus stuff looks very nice - shoulder rig, FF, and even matte box. It also costs a pretty penny. I mean, I'm not complaining, I'm sure the economics of small volume gear are what they are, so it costs what it costs... it's just hard to look at a shoulder rig like that and see almost $1,000 for a couple of rods, metal plate, weight and a few screws :) However, I'm sure at the end of the day it's all worth it... I wish I could spare the $ - it's not that I don't have it, it's just that there is so much OTHER gear I need to get, it's hard to part with $1500 - $3000 for the Genus stuff that's really just compensatory gear to make DSLRs a bit more ergonomic... at some point you start thinking, if I buy a GH2, but have to spend thousands of $$$ to make it work, why not just buy an AF100, but what do I know. Anyhow, thank you david_p, there are so many competing products and claims, it's hard to make a decision!
 
I just received mine. Honestly for the price I am pretty impressed. Yes this is not the best built ever, the knobs kind of s*ck and sometimes don't lock very well (you have to make sure they are strongly locked), the top handle doesn't work very well like in michel's video on vimeo. But you can configure the thing the way you want and you have so many possibilities. I would personnaly not spend more than the $90 I got it for but at this price it is a really cool tool.
For the tripod plate, it does not work well for me but I am thinking of making a DIY bracket like the DVtec tripod bracket here: http://www.dvtec.tv/tripod-bracket.html
Also My setup is light, and I always try to keep it to the minimum.

Let me know if you have questions about it
 
Also received mine at the end of last week and used it with my GH2 shooting some B-roll at a racing event.

The flexibility (from a configuration standpoint) is nice; with the single 1/4" screw point, I mounted the GH2 at a slight angle, and with the rear grip folded, I could use the rig at an angle and still use the GH2 EVF easily. Stability with the 14-140 and OIS off (just to test it) rivaled that of bare handholding with OIS on, so that's nice and makes my longer manual primes somewhat useable off of a tripod.

The nice thing about this unit is that the low low price leaves me with no qualms about attacking this thing with drills, dremels, and whatnot to customize. First plan is to affix a Manfrotto 577 QD plate via screwing in a 501PL plate through the bottom; that should solve the deploy time issues. Next would be to add a 5lb linotype weight off the rear 1/4" hole to add some counterbalance. The super-bendy knobs that don't care to keep the grip handles in one place are going to be easy enough to upgrade to solid locking units with common hardware.

Maybe this is worth my first-ever video review of anything.
 
Hi mcbob,

I totally agree with your post. Please, would you mind sharing the upgrades you are planning to make with pictures when you get to it ?

Thanks !

Cedric
 
Never EVER unscrew one of the metal arms! I unscrewed the big one and can't get it back on, it completely lost it's stability. Plus, the screw got screwed :) They may look rugged but those screws are rubbish, pushing them just a tiny bit too hard destroys the inner form and you lose the grip to tighten it. I'll try to find a similar screw to replace it, maybe I can get it working again.
 
Got mine the other day and took it to a shoot. I use AF100 so manual focus is very difficult with this but for pans and tilts it worked really well. I wasn't too impressed by what I got when I walked and then again I need some more practice with this. Overall well worth what I paid. BTW if you look around they have the same thing for different prices. I think I got mine for $65-$70 with free shipping.
 
Oh and if you are going to use a heavy camera like my AF100 you should turn the handles up instead of down. They bend otherwise.
 
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