Looking for best Handheld Rig for AF100.

[olof]

Heres the issue I keep seeing and its the same one we were talking about five years ago. Many of these shoulder mounts arent counter balanced correctly so basically your back ends up doing all the work and if your shooting something for 8 hours like this you might find yourself in a bit of trouble. The key to a good shoulder mount is counter balancing. 2/3" shoulder mount eng cams are good at this they balance they weight for and aft nicely. Take a look at an Alexa on the shoulder, the camera is designed to sit the actual body on the shoulder.

Then another point - off the shoulder - I hate how it makes you look down on things all the time (people) and prefer often to shoot from my chest height. Especially if the operator is a tall guy. For me the perfect handheld rig would have good balance and be adjustable in height so it could be lowered to chest height and still have a way to maintain balance and control. You also dont want something thats really stiff so you cant manoeuvre freely.

EDIT: This is how I like to work, so call it my personal wish list.

Noel you make some very valid points. That is why I like to add batteries to the shoulder mount, to balance the rig, I often use stacked IDX batteries up to 6 lbs total on the shoulder brace. This is one reason I love IDX batteries, they lock together.

I am 6'2" so a lot of times when I go shoulder held with the camera, I kneel down or "cradle" the camera for interesting POV. I also sometimes use a "Fig Rig" but that will get tiering after a while too.

I also fly a Stedicam a lot for moving shots, I really like that the best, it is an old one from the 90's made for up to 20 lbs cameras and it works great with the AF100 although I do add extra weight to it to make for smoother operation. Weight actually helps you be smooth weather on a Stedicam or on the shoulder.

 

[Noel Evans]

Agree on the weight point Olof. Weight can help retain smoothness. Last week I shot a piece that was entirely handheld. Every shot, every scene. There were times I was shooting handheld where I was shooting a sitting OTS - literally from the hip. I need something better then cradling for those shots. There were many times I was shooting chest height. I need something better for shooting those shots, too. And there were a number of shots on the shoulder.

The directive of this piece - all handheld ala 21 grams, steadicam isnt an option.

I got everything in the can and I was happy with the end shots as handed off, I just thought this could be a bit easier.

 

[pomoville]

sonic, you have a link? tried searching gini rig on ebay but no luck.. thanks...

http://shop.ebay.com/gini-2011/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562

For most of his listings, you shouldn't pay full price. Rather, shoot him an offer -- it seems like he's willing to sell even the best rigs for around $500 with shipping. I think the prices he lists on his website are what he's really looking to charge -- haven't bought anything off the website directly, but I'm sure it's fine, and he ships very quickly, or at least lately he seems to. http://magic-spider.0675.or.kr/01.html?no=70&PHPSESSID=422c565cb673c61773a0096adc1317a7

 

[Oliver Rush]

http://shop.ebay.com/gini-2011/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562

For most of his listings, you shouldn't pay full price. Rather, shoot him an offer -- it seems like he's willing to sell even the best rigs for around $500 with shipping. I think the prices he lists on his website are what he's really looking to charge -- haven't bought anything off the website directly, but I'm sure it's fine, and he ships very quickly, or at least lately he seems to. http://magic-spider.0675.or.kr/01.html?no=70&PHPSESSID=422c565cb673c61773a0096adc1317a7

Some of those look pretty nice and the price is right... I am going to look into those.

 

[Skuzzle]

I'm confused by the Gini Rigs on those links. Which of those rigs do you think would work with the af100? They all seem to be designed for DSLRs. Am I missing something?

 

[pomoville]

I'm confused by the Gini Rigs on those links. Which of those rigs do you think would work with the af100? They all seem to be designed for DSLRs. Am I missing something?

Well, I only replied because someone asked where to find Gini rigs. But I don't see why they wouldn't work fine for the AF100 -- it's basically the same setup, just with a larger camera. You can set them up anyway you like, especially if you have all the extra parts from the more ornate models.

The counterweights he offers are only about 2.5 pounds, I believe, so you might be better off buying one elsewhere or making one. I attached a dogbone clamp to a 4 lb scuba weight, per the advice of the cheesycam.com guy. Careful about the lead, though, if you try that.