How light/heavy is your AF100 rig?

Simply Cinema

Simply Cinema

Active member
Hey everyone,

We were finally able to get an AF100, and totally are loving it. Coming from GH2 land, it just feels so right. So to my question:

We have one of the made in India Pro-Aim mattebox\rails\ff kits that we got for the GH2's. It looks and works great, but I think I am already topping out my new Manfrotto 504HD's counterbalance when you have the kit, camera, lens, and small monitor. I think the kit itself has a fair amount of weight to it, which could be completely normal.

So I was just curious, how heavy are your guys Matte/Rail/FF kits for the AF100? I was just looking to gauge how heavy our kit is compared to other brands.

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When I got my AF-100 I bought all kinds of stuff to add to it. I now run with it as light as possible. No matte box unless I have to use filters (which is rare.) No external recorder. (Hate them) Now that I have native IS lenses I love my AF-100 more than the day I bought it. So as for how much my rig weighs? Add a lens, wireless and a DP6 and that's it!

Manfrotto heads are entry level and as you have found out they max out quick. A good tripod and head will out last any camera you own so when your ready to get into another system buy a good one like a Miller, Sachtler or Vinten. I know they are expensive but trust me they will last a looooong time.
 
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Just the camera, lens, and wireless receiver. I do want to add a monitor. But that's it for me.
 
When I shoot with a camera that has built in ND, I never need the matte box. Kinda a waste of weight. The very most I'll add these days is an external monitor for set shots.

If you want to use that setup, I would suggest a beefier head on your sticks. But when you do that, you increase weight as well. If you run and gun a ton, just a camera and lens with a good lens hood does the trick. It's funny how much clutter I have laying around in rods, follow focus, matte boxes, clamps....

Everything has a center point of balance. You might just need a longer tripod plate so that you can shift your camera back and fourth to find that center point on the head. Give that a try. But like Erik said, there are far better heads out there and they should be considered more of an investment than the camera itself. A good pair of sticks and a nice head will last you decades. Cameras come and go.

I've seen some pretty ridiculous rigs out there on the web.
 
We load up the AF102 with whatever is required for the shot or production.

Lenses, matte boxes, follow focus, base plates, filters, external recorder, cables, on board monitors..

Its never got within 20% of the weight of a fully loaded 35 BL ,or any film camera for that matter. Unlikely to get withn 50% of a Red or Alexa production rig either.

I for one love "mass" when I am operating off sticks and capable heads. Heavy is good.

The AF102 is a lightweight rig no matter what.
 
Usual working loadout (shoulder mount) is AF100, Leica 14-50 (or other of similar weight), DP6 w/ grip (forms my left hand grip), Swit battery, AT897, G2 receiver, and simple side-mounted shoulder pad & grip. Weighs in at 10.7lbs.
 
I work handheld 80+% of the time with one of the new Lumix zooms or the Nokton 17.5. I use rods primarily for my Aaton handgrip, but also occasionally for a mattebox when I need filters, like softFX or ND grads. I built a very light mount out of two rod blocks I got (cheap) from Amazon mounted beneath an old cheese-plate I had (I think from MICRO). The spacers are four 1" nylon spacers I got at a hardware store, the bottom plate, attached to the bottom of the blocks, is the tripod plate - so there are no extra pieces to add weight - The whole thing is designed to sit forward under the camera so the back of the camera rests on my shoulder (with an EVF, Cineroid because it's lighter or Zacuto because it's better) and the camera itself centers over the lens' nodal point when on a tripod. Total cost, about $80, and it's very light and efficient (I've been using it for two years).

Most of the available bases I've seen (several of which I own, Chrosziel and Von Diemen)) are either very expensive or overkill for a camera like the AF100... Build your own, it's easy...
 
as for the Manfrotto head, the 701, 502, and 504 max at bout the same weight, just under 9 pounds, to help with the counterbalance, you might want to mount the monitor to the accessory hole on the 504 head, that's what I've done with my HMC40 and 502 head.
 
Weighed my rig today and I actually thought it weighed more than it did. Came in at 13.5 lbs. Tilta shoulder plate, camera, Lumiz 12-35, Small HD DP6, Small HD Battery, 11" Friction Arm, Tilta rods, Edelkrone Focus Plus (handles w/ bult-in follow focus), and Rode mic w/ shockmount. Even at 13 lbs, it feels like I'm carrying 50lbs on my shoulder by the end of the day.
 
Just picked up a AF100A and have the Proaim Matt box aswell wieghted in at 10lbs Im using a Lebeck TH-M20 tri pod
I know I need a better one but this is working out okfor now.
Love this camera.AF100A.jpg
 
Thanks everyone for your replies! It seems our rig is weighing in the same ballpark as yours. Obviously we would love to buy a Sachtler, Miller, or Vinten; however a purchase like that will probably take quite some time (or some very high paying gigs). I think we'll try to keep our monitor mounted separately, and only plan on using the Mattebox when necessary.

Thanks again everybody!
 
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