Go-to rigs for longs days of handheld work?

Run&Gun said:
Yeah, I wish the SteadyGum would have been introduced around 2007 when I was doing ludicrous amounts of handheld work. Have you ever shot a "group interview session"(to be politically correct) with your subject standing above you and going for sometimes upwards of 20+ minutes? I would have bought one in a heartbeat back then.

The Steady Stick looks to be the same basic idea, but without the super-duper elastic band to allow for some shock absorption and movement.

I remember seeing the Dougmon or similar things years ago. I'm not sure how much it would really do for increasing long-term shooting stamina. You're still going to have the weight on your bicep and shoulder. It only looks like it reduces strain on your wrist.

The Easyrig is probably the most un-cool shooting support system ever created. I rented one and tried it for a week to give it a fair shake and it was nothing but in my way for the way I usually shoot, but it does take the weight. I think it's best use is for those that shoot a lot around hip height.
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The best thing about the easyrig is not just that it does well at hip height, but rather that it quickly goes from hip height to head height and everything in between. If that's not needed, then I can totally see the steadygum being an advantage since you don't have a crane over your head, and you don't have a pendulum hanging away from your center of mass, which is weird in some ways until you get used to it, and even then is awkward when you need to walk around faster. But for quick height adjustments, I haven't found a suitable replacement, including monopods. I never tried the pneumatic height adjustable monopods by Steadicam, the Steadicam Air series. I see mixed reviews with them. In my work, height adjustment is more or less a given most of the time.
 
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Yeah, the idea of "counter moving"/counter balancing like you would with a Steadicam when you push the camera out away from your center of gravity is similar.

The vast majority of the time when I see it being used in the field, people are shooting between chest and thigh height.

I've heard mixed things on the Steadicam Air, as well. There is(was?) a narrative series that used them extensively, but I've seen reliability complaints in user reviews.
 
QuickHitRecord said:
Wow, this is a glowing review. It always looked like a clever design. I guess I was always wondering what the catch was. Is the shoulder arch support rigid, or does it have some give so that it can be shaped to one's individual shoulder more? And can the connecting rod be pointed in a more downward direction to the put the camera at solar plexus height?
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The actual metal strap in the shoulder arch just had a look at it, is about 4mm thick and 30mm wide. Bonded directly to that is a very high-density rubber layer also 30mm wide and about 12mm thick. That all then gets enveloped by a pretty high density stuffed shoulder pad which is a sort of mesh weave with a leatherette type base that comes in contact with your shoulder. This stuffed pad is about 25-30mm thick. That is held in place by a number of pretty solid Velcro wrap-over staps. It's all pretty heavy duty. Plenty cushioned for the shoulder and because of its thickness would mould to most shoulders I would think unless you are green and Hulk sized or very spindly. Not once when using it have I ever been aware of a hot "pressure" spot. It distributes the weight very well. Now I guess you could bend that arched shoulder strap metal but it would not be something you would be doing on a regular basis I wouldn't think. It would require a fair bit of BF & I as we sometimes say down here. (Brute Force & Ignorance) to get it into another 'curve' if that's what you wanted to do. Anything is possible I guess. What I like is that that shoulder pad can via the front mount point adjust for height and angle into the middle of your back or outward towards your shoulder. I'm left-eyed which means in most cases I need the camera further across to my left. I find I can adjust the arch to a suitable position if I want to use a rear EVF with my left eye on a mirrorless or something like an FS5, Z90 or basically any rear EVF camera.

Solar Plexus. That's pretty low. You could sort of get it down to there but that would mean running the pogo stick compression spring pretty well fully compressed so less absorption distance in the rod. Also you would really need the belt to be worn more hipster style than around the waist. As I previously mentioned that seems to work best for me because the higher up you wear it the more you notice your breathing rise and fall if you are trying to do a really still locked of look on a piece to camera. I'm 5' 10" and I've often used it with the camera at top of breastbone height with the belt pretty low on the hips. Allows you to look over the top. For me that feels like a pretty workable height.

Chris Young.
 
Thanks for the detailed response. This is the most current information on this rig on the internet. Glad it's still working well for you and serving your purposes!
 
Run&Gun said:
Yeah, the idea of "counter moving"/counter balancing like you would with a Steadicam when you push the camera out away from your center of gravity is similar.
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Learn to use your hips correctly with a Steadicam and you have a very fine degree of control over it. As you are about to move forward incline your hips forward and the camera will start to move away from you and you just walk in after it. Conversely when wanting to stop begin to tilt your hips backward and the camera will start to slow down forward movement and come towards as you slow to a stop. As for variable height shooting on the run the old Steadicam is hard to beat. Just don't let it too far away from you as it will put unbelievable pressure on your lower back. Just do a 100 crunches a day to stay fit. And NEVER let it too far away from your body for other very embarrassing expensive reasons.

Chris Young

 
QuickHitRecord said:
Do people usually use the CineSaddle as their primary handheld instrument?

I don't know if I could bring myself to use the OpenMoon. I think I can grasp the relief offered by the design but add to this my production regular knee pads and a light meter dangling from my neck, and I'd be an SNL skit.
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I'm sure it became popular because of price and convenience - easy to find and cheaper than other options, not because the performance is better. I doubt shooting from the hip is always best for the story but who cares when it's the only way to support a heavy camera for extended periods. The cinesaddle can be swung around to the chest for added height but again I bet many operators would admit the camera height takes a slight back seat to being comfortable (and fair enough!). Chest height for you could end up being the perfect height though.

You can improve comfort with the cinesaddle by padding the strap. I've got one of these - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1599487-REG/tenba_636_651_tools_1_5_memory_foam.html. They're still not that comfortable after a while.

Being OK with kneepads but then concerned about what the camera support system looks like seems contradictory!
 
Just in case everyone thought it was a joke (given the comedy image) I'm bringing up the D-bag (comedy name!) again. I've briefly tried a Cinesaddle and this is way better. With the shoulder straps, large area of velcro on the back and your two hands on the camera - that's 5 points of contact, with the weight evenly distributed in the right places.

https://cinegear.nl/product/openmoon-d-bag-grey/
 
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Andy9 said:
Just in case everyone thought it was a joke (given the comedy image) I'm bringing up the D-bag (comedy name!) again. I've briefly tried a Cinesaddle and this is way better. With the shoulder straps, large area of velcro on the back and your two hands on the camera - that's 5 points of contact, with the weight evenly distributed in the right places.

https://cinegear.nl/product/openmoon-d-bag-grey/
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They excel in different areas. Openmoon also make an imitation cinesaddle.

The open moon looks like more of an addition to an existing shoulder rig. Either way the price won't get in the way of owning both.
 
A little update here. Thanks to all of the advice and pointers and observations in this thread, I ended up buying two new rigs: the Dougmon (with the sling) and the Varizoom Media Rig. I haven't used either on a shoot yet, but as far as first impressions go, I am quite impressed with both.

The Dougmon - It's comfortable, adjustable, and ergonomic. I can already see how putting the unit on my arm will ease wrist strain and fatigue. And as a bonus, it takes some of the micro jitters out when using non-stabilized lenses. Not completely, but it's a significant improvement. But I think that the most value for me is when the Dougmon is propped up into the sling, which removes even more of the jitters. It basically becomes a monopod that you can make lateral moves with. Plus, it's easily height-adjustable and once clipped in (I still need to get a clip), I can take both hands off of it if I need to. The wider base and wider sling are the key to its stability. I like that this isn't something that's going to attract a ton of attention like an EasyRig. It's such a smart design. It's really too bad that it was priced beyond most people's budgets when it debuted, otherwise I think it would have been extremely popular. I have no doubt that I could shoot for a LOT longer than any shoulder rig I've ever used with this.

The Varizoom Media Rig - I wasn't going to invest in a second system, but this was being sold as "non-operational" on account of a wobbly QR platform for $80. My curiosity got the better of me and I was able to fix it pretty easily. It's basically a lightweight shoulder rig with the ability to make smooth tilts. It feels like it was designed to put the EVF of a camera like the HVX200 or EX1 right in front of your eye, and the camera can't be lowered by very much. In my case, it's going to work well with my 16mm camera. Once the spring pole is in place, the weight really comes off of the arms. I can hang my hands off of the grips, which are nice and low. At the moment, it pulls to the left a little so I need to adjust the counterweight to compensate. I'm not sure I'd ever be comfortable taking both hands off of the handles, but again, it's tiltable! I feel like I could run this one all day too; the only downside is that the camera controls are not accessible without removing a hand from the handles. These controls are, of course, what Varizoom is known for but as far as I know, they don't have anything that interfaces with the Canon cinema line.
 
There is a 'Remote' terminal on my C70. The manual says that it can be controlled with the astronomically-priced Canon RC-V100 or "commercially available remote controls". No mention of LANC specifically, but I have a LANC controller here that I plugged into the C70 and didn't have rec/stop control.
 
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How annoying. I wonder if the c300 handgrip would work. Maybe varizoom will come out with a product for it. The canon remote is nearly $2k!
 
QuickHitRecord said:
A little update here. Thanks to all of the advice and pointers and observations in this thread, I ended up buying two new rigs: the Dougmon (with the sling) and the Varizoom Media Rig. I haven't used either on a shoot yet, but as far as first impressions go, I am quite impressed with both.

The Dougmon - It's comfortable, adjustable, and ergonomic. I can already see how putting the unit on my arm will ease wrist strain and fatigue. And as a bonus, it takes some of the micro jitters out when using non-stabilized lenses. Not completely, but it's a significant improvement. But I think that the most value for me is when the Dougmon is propped up into the sling, which removes even more of the jitters. It basically becomes a monopod that you can make lateral moves with. Plus, it's easily height-adjustable and once clipped in (I still need to get a clip), I can take both hands off of it if I need to. The wider base and wider sling are the key to its stability. I like that this isn't something that's going to attract a ton of attention like an EasyRig. It's such a smart design. It's really too bad that it was priced beyond most people's budgets when it debuted, otherwise I think it would have been extremely popular. I have no doubt that I could shoot for a LOT longer than any shoulder rig I've ever used with this.

The Varizoom Media Rig - I wasn't going to invest in a second system, but this was being sold as "non-operational" on account of a wobbly QR platform for $80. My curiosity got the better of me and I was able to fix it pretty easily. It's basically a lightweight shoulder rig with the ability to make smooth tilts. It feels like it was designed to put the EVF of a camera like the HVX200 or EX1 right in front of your eye, and the camera can't be lowered by very much. In my case, it's going to work well with my 16mm camera. Once the spring pole is in place, the weight really comes off of the arms. I can hang my hands off of the grips, which are nice and low. At the moment, it pulls to the left a little so I need to adjust the counterweight to compensate. I'm not sure I'd ever be comfortable taking both hands off of the handles, but again, it's tiltable! I feel like I could run this one all day too; the only downside is that the camera controls are not accessible without removing a hand from the handles. These controls are, of course, what Varizoom is known for but as far as I know, they don't have anything that interfaces with the Canon cinema line.
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dougmon/slingmon looks like a decent set up, glad you're liking it so far.

The VMR looks clunky to me but that may not matter once you're up and running. Pretty cool you got one for $80 though so it's a no brainer to try out. Plus all of these rigs are so personal so whatever works!
 
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