Has anybody used this DSLR shoulder rig?

people have asked about that before. and it looks like a cheap chinese knockoff. but at the price, who cares? if it holds together for 4 shoots, you got your moneys worth ; )
the question is WILL IT?

the bigger problem is that the design is all wrong ergonomically. there is no weight being carried by your shoulder. and that single rod puts the camera (and associated accessories) too far out in front of you and your arms will start feeling fatigue almost immediately.

if you just want a cheapo rig, this will be as effective and way more comfortable:
http://www.ikancorp.com/productInfo.php?id=231&FamilyID=70&CategoryID=93

or maybe this:
http://www.dynamicmotionvideo.com/c...tionvideo.com_checkoutpage/Shopping_Cart.html
 
the problem with the cowboy (as well as the very similar ikan unit) is that the camera mounting sections are VERY plasticy and light weight. so dont expect to add a whole rig onto it. the most the ikan can carry is a body, small zoom lens and MAYBE a small mic or audio recorder. any more than that and its very likely to crack.

another thing to consider is you really dont want "handles" plural. ergonomically, you really only want ONE directly under the weight of the camera. if you have both hands on handles, how do you presume to operate zoom, focus, start, stop? if you have a two handled rig and you take one hand off to operate something. the whole rig's going to want to dip to the side where your hand used to be. so you either have to strengthen your grip (and lift) on the stationary hand or just deal with the wobble.

the whole dual handles thing is a holdover from video cameras with servo zooms. everybody had remote controls (like bebob or varizoom stuff) attached to the grips. and your hands very rarely needed to leave the handles. but for some reason everyone still wants to apply that same model to dslrs, where often (at least in run and gun situations) you have one hand up operating a follow focus or simply the lens itself...

so, thats one of the things i like about that ikan unit. the single grip

now as to CAN you add handles? (one, two, or fifty) yeah, whether specific handles are made FOR the unit or not. it wouldnt be hard to go get some brackets and extruded aluminum from your local home depot and fashion something nearly as effective as something you could buy off the shelf...
 
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