Franken-rigging 101 help needed

hscully

hscully

Veteran
I need a hand held rig. One goal with this rig is to use the follow focus so an AC can pull focus with a whip after getting marks, or I can focus without grabbing the barrel. I like dollies and jib arms and my CMR blackbird but anyway... here I am. I need a hand held rig.

I have a shoot coming up requiring some outdoor hand held. I'm pretty happy with the EVF on the AF100 and have had good success with B&W/focus in red with it locked off outdoors. I just picked up the Hoodman for the TVLogic monitor but it's still glaring sometimes. I need the eyecup. I shot with this rig indoors last week and I liked it just fine. I can use the monitor to focus no problem.

Has anyone gotten a similar rig to work with the AF100 EVF? Should I just go for Olof's shoulder mount with this hand grip deal? I have been going back and forth with Redrock and they have been very nice and are trying to help. They have an offset kit http://store.redrockmicro.com/Catalog/microShoulderMountOffsetKits/microShoulderMountoffsetKitRiser I thought this might work. So far they haven't said so. Has anyone ever tried that?

I have scoured the threads looking for a rig that works with the EVF. They all have a Zacuto or a Cineroid or something. Olof's seems most practical but I really want to use the follow focus thus the hybrid.

Anybody have a rig that works with the AF100 EVF and some combination of this gear or gear like it? Love to see a picture. Here it is in it's current stateP1020658.jpg
 
Yep, that would work for the AC but another thing I want to do is get that shoulder pad where I can use that EVF. It's hard to see without my big noggin there but as it is, my eyes land about an inch from the LCD if it were open so I need to go back, up and to the right with that shoulder pad to get my right eye on that eye cup.
 
That red rock makes the camera sit very high and if i recall is heavy. The Tilta baseplate ($280) works very well with an EVF. I think it's one of the lowest profile baseplates out. Shape makes one similar to the Tilta but is way more expensive. You could still use the hand grips you already have but would need a Sony ENG quick release camera plate on you tripod.

I shot a video of the Tilta and have some pictures of my rig in the bog as well. This might help you see the rig. I do use it as well with an EVF but the DP6 is so nice I like using it more.

http://eriknaso.com/2012/06/24/tilta-base-plate-bs-t03/
 
That's right, Bern, I'd like to be able to use the AF100 EVF outside. I may be OK with the TV Logic and Hoodman. It's fine for framing but tests today weren't very promising for focus in bright noon sun. I shouldn't be shooting in that light anyway. It's horrible!

The other alternative is that RR offset kit. They have suggested that it would work in subsequent emails since I posted. I may give that a stab. It's only another $179. I've really only seen Olof's rig working with the EVF on the AF100 and that indicates to me that maybe I'm missing something and I need to suck it up and get another EVF. There's got to be a good reason that I really can't find rigs like this, with a follow focus using the AF100 EVF. It seems a bit of a shame as I like the AF100 EVF it's just not on the side.

The tilta stuff looks great Erik. Great video. I especially benefitted from the baseplate clinic. I have to watch it again for that. Great stuff.
 
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Yeah, I know what you mean. It doesn't work without a shiny object, eye light, or edge. My goto method for focus is to zoom in on the TV Logic. That might work with the hoodman. I'll test more. I have had good luck in bright outdoor light with the AF100 EVF in B&W with FIR when that first method was not great (glare on monitor). Maybe I just got lucky with the conditions. I will research the other EVFs, thanks. I'll hold off on more questions about them until I go around and see what's posted already. It's ironic. I'll have 4 ways to see, the TV Logic, the LCD, the AF100 EVF and another EVF... oh and the producer monitor. That's 5! ;)
 
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I had been corresponding with Rachel and in fact I ordered that offset kit a couple of hours ago on her suggestion in emails yesterday. It's good to see a picture. I was having a little difficulty imagining it. I have the other pieces except the counterweight. I think for the majority of things I'll be able to use the setup I have now with the monitor but this set up will let me use the EVF when necessary with the follow focus so, yeah... that's it.
 
Well sounds like I'm a little late to the game then, but glad I could help you conceptualize it better and give you some additional confidence in your order!
 
I'm not sure if I should start a new thread for this or resurrect this one. Here's the thing: I got the hand held rig working. I've done some work with it with good results both with the monitor as in the first picture and with the EVF after purchasing the offset.

You might ask.. "why doesn't this guy know this already" but here's the question:

The stuff I've done so far I've had an AC on that follow focus with a whip using set marks. Do any of you guys focus yourself? I have a shoot coming up next month where I may have to do that. How do you manage? Do you eyeball it? Do you use the FA? Do you use a follow focus where you can set hard stops and only go for two marks? Usually I'll set focus marks by "zooming" on the monitor. That works great with an AC but as I said, what to do when you're without one?

I've done a few tests and I think I can eyeball it on the monitor without marks. Not sure how things would go with the EVF in B&W with FA I'd have to try that some more. So? Have you had any luck doing this?
 
hscully,

Whenever I go without an AC (which has been an awful lot lately) and am handheld I am eyeballing it. I use this trick shown here though so that I can still have both hands on my rig, and control my focus all the time, stability and control :thumbup:.
 

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AF100 Titla Rig.jpg

Here's a pic of my entire Tilta rig with my AF100. Obviously, you can take parts off to your liking. I've acquired a Zacuto EVF and a Redrock counter weight since then.
 
Loren Simons said:
hscully,

Whenever I go without an AC (which has been an awful lot lately) and am handheld I am eyeballing it. I use this trick shown here though so that I can still have both hands on my rig, and control my focus all the time, stability and control :thumbup:.
Click to expand...

That's pretty cool. I won't be able to do that with the AF100. When working with the monitor I can get it on my left shoulder which makes grabbing the FF a little less jigglly. If it's on my right shoulder I have all the weight on two points on one side and that's hard.

I just get nervous eyeballing it but I need to get used to it. The Focus in Red helps me with the EVF but I rreally like setting marks. I wonder if anyone uses the blue with the hard stops when working alone. I bet that's pretty handy. You can only do two marks but that's good for a lot of shots. Going past focus and sneaking back is not good.
 
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