handheld and over the shoulder AF100 best products?

biginvegas

Well-known member
Precious little on this board ( nothing substantial) on best way to rig over the shoulder and hand held with existing DSLR rigs.
Will be shooting a lot of hand held documentary and want a workhorse.

What are you cameramen using to go handheld within reasonable budgets of $1-1,500k full rig?

I was thinking the red Rock basic

http://store.redrockmicro.com/Catalog/DSLRShoulderMountedRigs/DSLRFieldCinemaStandardBundle

system and buy the accesories from RR to customize, offset brackets, longer tubing etc as I go.
I will be getting my AF before I buy and the RR is the only one I can try out with in my location.

I don't own a FF so will buy the Eye Spy kit.

In addition I have a Hot Rod Deluxe PL handheld system that I will use with a quick release baseplate for stealing shots in tight locations the RR will not go (int. cars etc).

The Zacuto rig looks horrible and overpriced and the new Letus shoulder mount looks great, just have not seen any reviews. It does not seem as modular as the RR system. I dunno.

Genus shoulder kit is well priced but might get expensive as I customize and Vocas is to expensive for my budget.

http://letusdslr.com/shoulder-mount/

I shoot to EVF so will be buying a Cineroid with an Ikan Israeli style arm.

Anybody rigged yet with pics, would be appreciated.
 
My Frankenstein rig is a Zacuto Universal Baseplate with 12" rods and a 7" extension, 2 Cinevate Uno Grips, Cinevate shoulder pad, Cinevate Counterbalance, and Varizoom Riglits Shock Absorbing System. Total = ~$1865. If you take off the Riglits shock absorber and couterbalance it totals about $1300. With the counterbalance it's about $1500.

The Zacuto baseplate is one of my better purchases in my opinion. I tried a number of baseplate/rod systems and am glad I finally bought the Zacuto. It's pricey, but I don't feel bad about it because it's so good and I'll use it with any camera I get in the future.

The Cinevate Uno Grips are the best I've seen and used. They are completely configurable in a number of ways. They're made of more or a hardened plastic and not metal, but I'm not concerned about the durability at all. They feel solid and they're lighter because they're not metal. Note, the clamps for the rods are made of metal.

The Cinevate shoulder pad is also configurable in different ways. It's basically 3 pieces across the pad so you can make it as curved or straight as you want. There's clamps on the back to add a counterbalance weight as well. The pad is pretty soft and comfortable.

The counterbalance makes a difference as far as the weight on your arms.

The Varizoom Riglits shock absorbing system allows me to shoot for a very long time without wearing out my arms or my back and I don't know what I'd do without it.

Of course, that is all without a follow focus, so maybe over your budget. I'm not sure if your $1k-1500 included a follow focus or not.
 
Yes, would need the FF unit as it is included in the RR Eye spy deluxe kit ($1589) Micro flat version, would just buy that unit complete and customize from there with additional grips, accessories including the FF gears not included can come in under $2k

add ons: RR balance kit http://store.redrockmicro.com/Catalog/DSLR-Counter-Balance/microBalance-Plus-Upgrade-kit,
double grip for eyespy:http://store.redrockmicro.com/Double-handgrip-accessory-kit-for-eyeSpy
or customize with handgrip, two rods and a handlebar clamp same price I guess.

Trying to configure shooting with the AF and Cineroid/Noga arm setup would I need the offset RR system?
http://store.redrockmicro.com/Catal...oulderMountoffsetaccessorykitmicroflatversion


Buying the Hot Rod baseplate $715 and discounted through month of January at Abel through DVX group (just email or call them).
Will look at Cinevate, great quality but at 1st glance looks over budget with add ons.

Surprised there is nothing on RR site for setting up a system for the AF along with their new EVF that will debut soon.
 
My rig come's from my old DSLR set up and looks like this:

Redrock: handlebar & grip, FF, counter weight.
Zacuto: Mini base plate, rods, shoulder pad.

All toll about $1600 if you price each piece. This set up is for using the LCD, not the EVF.
 
great, it will be similar set up. How do you find the weight distribution different to your 5D? rig anything else, sound, af remote?
 
Hey Vegas,
Here's what I'd suggest getting:
The microSupport Baseplate Low Riser is actually optimal for an AF100. This will both be part of your shoulder mount rig, while also giving you an incredibly solid tripod setup=$249.50
I would than get the ShoudlerMount Deluxe Bundle, however I would remove the ShoulderMountRod Clamp off of the shoulderpad, which will reveal a 1/4 and two 3/8th holes. This will keep the height of your rig minimal, since you will be using the rod clamp on the microSupport Baseplate anyways. And you will than just screw the shoulderpad into the bottom of the Support Baseplate using the 1/4 and 3/8.=$568.00
Than add you're microFollowFocus that you'de like=$545.00

That would come to a total of $1362.50.

I haven't personally used this shouldermount setup on the AF100, so I'm not exactly sure where the on-board monitor will land on the rig. But since you plan on using the Cineroid, which we happen to carry as well, that shouldn't be an issue. If you are local feel free to come by and I would love to actually get this rigged up!
 
Thanks Loren,

I'm in South Africa, but shop from the USA. I am going to rig the camera (when it arrives) at a rental house with RR gear and then order. Rigging for my GH1 as well have to keep that in mind as well.
 
i have the vocas rig and it's really the best most comfortable rig out there. used it with my 5d and now it works perfectly with the Af100. the shoulder pad is by far the best. even mounted a vmount battery back there for when the Ki Pro mini comes out.

leather handles and the perfect ergonomics.
 
I got my gini rig today. You can check out my thread on it. Despite the people saying its cheep on here, I've found it to be remarkably rugged. I need to get a few screws and plates. But overall its great.
 
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