How much counterweight for a shoulder rig?

Rizzice

Rizzice

Active member
I just finished my DIY shoulder rig, and I have a few 2lb weights that I plan on ziptying to the end, do you guys have any suggestion on how much weight I should be using?

My setup is pretty basic, 7D, Z-Finder, H4N on flash mount, so it's not really heavy. Should I do a 2LB of 4LB setup?
 
it all depends. Place everything where it would be, your camera, grips, zoom everything but the weights. set your shoulder mount where you are going to want it. then hang the weights off the back and use the center of your shoulder mount as you balancing point. when the camera is on your shoulder you should be able to let go of your grips and the cam should be balanced. Remember that it is better for the camera to slightly rise then to fall. It is more stable if you are pulling down than lifting up on your grips. but it is ideal for you to not have to do either. there is no specific number it all depends on your setup and rig front weight... follow those rules and you wont even need IS lenses.
 
Thanks for the response. I tried attaching a 4lb counter weight, and it feels nice and steady as well as taking a lot of pressure off of the grips, but it's almost making the entire rig feel heavy and strenuous to hold.. I wish I could afford a nice one, instead of these DIY shenanigans.
 
I tried 2.5 lbs but then upped it to 5 lbs as my weights are right at the shoulder. I think if they extended farther back I could but on less weight but the 5 lbs are fine as long as the whole rig is balanced.
 
it wont matter how heavy your rig is as long as it is balanced then you wont even notice. I used to shoot with a Canon XHA1s and a full kitted redrock DOF adapter, shoulder, grips, follow focus, weights ect. the whole rig weighed around 35-40 pounds... but it was balanced, so I didnt even notice. And this rig was used a lot for run n' gun.
 
shoulder is a pivot point

mass * distance should be equal.

SO if you have a 2kg camera 30cm in front of your shoulder you would need a 4kg mass 15cm behind the shoulder or a 1kg mass 60cm behind the shoulder etc

IN practice every cm further back you have the weight is significant to reducing it

a mass at the pivot has no value

S
 
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