FS7: Handheld vs Shoulder Mount

K

karma17

Well-known member
Just happened to be on the Sony website today and couldn't help but notice they classify the FS7 as a "handheld" camcorder and not shoulder mounted.

https://pro.sony/ue_US/products/camcorders

I realize the shoulder mount that comes with the camera isn't much of a mount, but with the smart grip, it sure seems like the FS7 is meant to be shoulder mounted.

Why would they classify it as handheld when it seems clearly designed for shoulder mounted shooting?

Just wondering.
 
Clearly they mean 2/3 pro cameras for the shoulder.

--

The FS7 is just is what it is - a fugly little box designed by comittee to do nothing properly. (with some excellent electronics inside)
 
Isn't hand held and shoulder mount the same thing.. you handhold with the camera on your shoulder .. or has even that now not the case..? sigh..
 
Don - get with the 90s man.

Handheld is waving the camera wildly out in front of you-possibly pointing it at yourself and certainly at a 'funky' dutch angle.

C300 is a handheld camera.. and at least it is short which kind of works as long as you like 'nostril hair cam' as opposed to 'eye line'

Handheld not to be confused with shoulder mount which is a highly artful way of delivering quality content.
 
Last edited:
Maybe them calling it shouldermounted would land some critique on that part? Seeing how their shouldercams are indeed very much made for that, also in terms of ergonomics. The FS7 is slightly frontheavy out of the box where the others sits on the shoulder.
The arm and the whatever pad is decent for a quick thing, but a 3rd party pad is probably best for landing that proper shoulder feel.
 
FS5 is handheld, the FS7 barely is.... instead FS7 falls just inside the shoulder mounted category.

Or at least it does in my eyes.
 
Last edited:
IronFilm said:
FS5 is handheld, the FS7 barely is.... instead FS7 fulls just inside the shoulder mounted category.

Or at least it does in my eyes.
Click to expand...

That is why it is a 'committee' camera.. tis too long for C300 style operation (hold in the hand look in the rear EVF) and too short for 2/3 style shoulder operation

it can be built up of course to be 2/3 style.. almost
 
So the only "handheld" camera that Sony make is the fs5.. f5/f55 also need a shoulder rig.. and the Venice too .. the only one you can hold out in front of you ,C300 style would be the fs5 with the handle on the side.. no..? there will be alot of camera people having to retire with back problems by 40.. !
 
morgan_moore said:
That is why it is a 'committee' camera.. tis too long for C300 style operation (hold in the hand look in the rear EVF) and too short for 2/3 style shoulder operation

it can be built up of course to be 2/3 style.. almost
Click to expand...


I often shoot my fs7 in a cradled position. That is, with the top of the body nestled in my right arm-pit, right arm over the top of the camera, left hand on the lens. Right hand on a wooden grip I have mounted on the camera's 15mm rails. I tilt the VF up to just short of vertical. So, not hand-held as much as "hugged".

Other times I shoot with it as a true shoulder-mounted camera, a Chrosziel shoulder-plate making my Fs7 into a mini-betacam of sorts. The extension unit and full-size batteries eliminate the front heaviness with most lenses. With some bigger zooms things do get front-heavy. But I'd rather front-heavy than back-heavy, any day.

fugly? Let's defer to the ladies and gentlemen of the DVX jury...

IMG_1340.jpg
 
JPNola said:
I often shoot my fs7 in a cradled position. That is, with the top of the body nestled in my right arm-pit, right arm over the top of the camera, left hand on the lens. Right hand on a wooden grip I have mounted on the camera's 15mm rails. I tilt the VF up to just short of vertical. So, not hand-held as much as "hugged".

Other times I shoot with it as a true shoulder-mounted camera, a Chrosziel shoulder-plate making my Fs7 into a mini-betacam of sorts. The extension unit and full-size batteries eliminate the front heaviness with most lenses. With some bigger zooms things do get front-heavy. But I'd rather front-heavy than back-heavy, any day.

fugly? Let's defer to the ladies and gentlemen of the DVX jury...
Click to expand...
It's funny, you can ask 20 different guys how they like their cameras "set-up" and you will get 20 different answers. I'd rather have a back-heavy camera any day over a front heavy camera. It's a heck of a lot easier and less stressful on my body to "pull down" on the front of a camera on my shoulder than to have to push-up on it/support it. I literally just got home from shooting 13 hours of BTS last night/this morning with my F55/17-120(front heavy) and I am in honest to goodness pain.
 
Run&Gun said:
It's funny, you can ask 20 different guys how they like their cameras "set-up" and you will get 20 different answers. I'd rather have a back-heavy camera any day over a front heavy camera. It's a heck of a lot easier and less stressful on my body to "pull down" on the front of a camera on my shoulder than to have to push-up on it/support it. I literally just got home from shooting 13 hours of BTS last night/this morning with my F55/17-120(front heavy) and I am in honest to goodness pain.
Click to expand...

I have that lens on an f5.. I know what you mean.. long days with that setup.. you need an easy rig .. no two ways about it.. anything that range at 2.8 (well up to 90mm) is going to be big and heavy .. have the joy of that range but still have a spine.. need the easy rig ..
 
Run&Gun said:
It's funny, you can ask 20 different guys how they like their cameras "set-up" and you will get 20 different answers. I'd rather have a back-heavy camera any day over a front heavy camera. It's a heck of a lot easier and less stressful on my body to "pull down" on the front of a camera on my shoulder than to have to push-up on it/support it. I literally just got home from shooting 13 hours of BTS last night/this morning with my F55/17-120(front heavy) and I am in honest to goodness pain.
Click to expand...

What wireless are you using for your BTS work? And how are you mounting the receiver on the camera? One thing that rarely comes up in the V-mount vs gold-mount debate is that with a gold mount you can have a wireless receiver bracket / cage. But with a V-mount there is no way to mount a wireless bracket on the back of the camera. To my knowledge there is no V-mount adapter that has mounts for a wireless bracket. If you run with V-mount you are SOL as far as having any wireless receiver bracket. I wish that someone would make a simple V-mount to V-mount adapter that sandwiches between the camera's V-mount and a V-mount battery and provides the threaded female holes for mounting a wireless receiver bracket.

I use a Sennheiser G3 for my wireless production feed but regularly find it lacking in its reach. Thinking about investing in the Lectro L series. I've considered the 4-hundred series but, as noted above, no place to easily mount the receiver when using V-mounts and not AB gold-mounts. ( I mount the Senn G3 receiver in the camera's hot shoe. The L-series receiver can also mount in the camera hot shoe. ) If I would switch to gold-mount batts it solves the problem of no means of mounting a Lectro 4-hundred series receiver.
 
JPNola said:
What wireless are you using for your BTS work? And how are you mounting the receiver on the camera? One thing that rarely comes up in the V-mount vs gold-mount debate is that with a gold mount you can have a wireless receiver bracket / cage. But with a V-mount there is no way to mount a wireless bracket on the back of the camera. To my knowledge there is no V-mount adapter that has mounts for a wireless bracket. If you run with V-mount you are SOL as far as having any wireless receiver bracket. I wish that someone would make a simple V-mount to V-mount adapter that sandwiches between the camera's V-mount and a V-mount battery and provides the threaded female holes for mounting a wireless receiver bracket.

I use a Sennheiser G3 for my wireless production feed but regularly find it lacking in its reach. Thinking about investing in the Lectro L series. I've considered the 4-hundred series but, as noted above, no place to easily mount the receiver when using V-mounts and not AB gold-mounts. ( I mount the Senn G3 receiver in the camera's hot shoe. The L-series receiver can also mount in the camera hot shoe. ) If I would switch to gold-mount batts it solves the problem of no means of mounting a Lectro 4-hundred series receiver.
Click to expand...

I was running a Lectro SR on the back for the hop(I shoot gold mount), with a good size battery(230 W), but unfortunately I had to run a top light(LP Sola ENG) so that we could grab some quick interviews at times, and that of course added weight that not only normally would not be on that camera, but added that extra weight to the front, too. I've been doing this over 20 years and my audio guy(who shoots, as well) even longer. Without exaggeration, it was easily in my top 10 of most excruciating/horrible shoots I've done in my career, and really probably in the top five. Weather(low in the 20's), time and environment(among other things) played huge roles in it, but if I had done that shoot with my P2 VariCam(real ENG camera), it wouldn't have been quite as bad.

Side rant, but connected: Don't you just love it when the producer says at the start, "We're only gonna use a few minutes of this in the finished product, but we're still gonna shoot everything" ?
 
Run&Gun said:
Side rant, but connected: Don't you just love it when the producer says at the start, "We're only gonna use a few minutes of this in the finished product, but we're still gonna shoot everything" ?
Click to expand...

Oh my. Been there, done that. My favorite term was (which thankfully I have not heard in a while since I try not to work with those kind of producers any longer) - "spray". As in, let's go "spray" an event going on - in other words, just get tons of coverage even though, you & I both know none of this footage will ever likely get used.
 
JPNola said:
What wireless are you using for your BTS work? And how are you mounting the receiver on the camera? One thing that rarely comes up in the V-mount vs gold-mount debate is that with a gold mount you can have a wireless receiver bracket / cage. But with a V-mount there is no way to mount a wireless bracket on the back of the camera. To my knowledge there is no V-mount adapter that has mounts for a wireless bracket. If you run with V-mount you are SOL as far as having any wireless receiver bracket. I wish that someone would make a simple V-mount to V-mount adapter that sandwiches between the camera's V-mount and a V-mount battery and provides the threaded female holes for mounting a wireless receiver bracket.

I use a Sennheiser G3 for my wireless production feed but regularly find it lacking in its reach. Thinking about investing in the Lectro L series. I've considered the 4-hundred series but, as noted above, no place to easily mount the receiver when using V-mounts and not AB gold-mounts. ( I mount the Senn G3 receiver in the camera's hot shoe. The L-series receiver can also mount in the camera hot shoe. ) If I would switch to gold-mount batts it solves the problem of no means of mounting a Lectro 4-hundred series receiver.
Click to expand...

I haver an IDX rear V mount for radio mic receivers for scratch track when working with SD,s.. dont know how to post pics.. but its on their website..
 
I have been able to get perfect balance with the cn17 lens - you just need a plate to put the camera way back - and use a 3rd party Evf as the cable on the Sony Evf is too short when the camera is that far back.

You need the zacuto plate or like me to fabricate your own.
 
morgan_moore said:
I have been able to get perfect balance with the cn17 lens - you just need a plate to put the camera way back - and use a 3rd party Evf as the cable on the Sony Evf is too short when the camera is that far back.

You need the zacuto plate or like me to fabricate your own.
Click to expand...

Yes you can get the balance to be ok.. but it still weighs about 10 kg in battle mode.. and with 128GB cards you can shoot for 2 hrs non stop in 4K.. and some dir,s of the scorched earth school literally want to do that.. easy rig has saved my back for sure.. it has its draw backs for sure.. but wanting to be shooting for more than the next 2 years .. its a must..
 
Run&Gun said:
I literally just got home from shooting 13 hours of BTS last night/this morning with my F55/17-120(front heavy) and I am in honest to goodness pain.
Click to expand...

13 hours of handheld shooting is going to be painful no matter what camera you are using, but you should really consider the ENG dock for your F55. It revolutionizes operation of the camera and makes it feel more like an F800 or Z450 than a cinema camera. The slot-in microphone receiver, additional external controls, etc. are added bonus. I also keep my R7 or R5 mounted even when I'm not shooting RAW because it pushes the weight of the battery and center for gravity even a few more inches to the rear. Yeah, it adds some weight, but the better balance more than makes up for it. I'll take a better balanced heavier camera over a lighter front-heavy camera any day. Any F55/F5 owner ought to have the dock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top