Need new Shoulder rig - Suggestions?

PaPa

PaPa

Major Contributor
Hey all,

for years now i've been using a rail system I rigged from letus parts. It has served me well but I'd like to replace it as it's starting to come undone in areas. I would very much like your suggestions because as much as i try to stay in the loop of what's hot and new, this is probably the one area where I've been lazy in my research. Now, in hopes to get a little jump in the right direction, I just want to know what you guys feel about any given unit that you either use or are fond of.

I already own an indifocus as well as an indimatte ( mattebox ) so those two things I don't need to have replace, but I am looking for something with a nice shoulder rest, something that can be balanced ( add weights in the back ), something that can mount on a tripod that is independent of the bracket that holds the camera on the rails. Need to have a comfortable hand grip.

All of this I am hoping to spend around $500. I do not have the finances at the moment to afford those $2000 and + wonderful zacuto rigs so am looking for a good solution within my price point.

I was eyeballing this, but don't know of it's quality as I've never heard of these guys: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/DSLR-CAMERA-...ltDomain_0&hash=item43b2733265#ht_3100wt_1111

Just one example of the type of thing I am looking for.

Thank you for your suggestions.
 
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Crap, my apologies, had the wrong link in copy and paste mode. Corrected the link.
 
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I've never heard of them either...
But, for the price (assuming the bidding doesn't go much higher) I can't really see where you would go wrong.

Chances are the quality is going to be average at best (machining and equipment costs + R&D + materials to factor in at that price.. SOMETHING has to give!) but with such a limited budget there are probably going to be few options that *aren't* going to have the same issue.

Get a sniper (something like Gixen) and set it up on the auction with a $200 max bid... if you win it; awesome; if not, eh...
 
Josh, other than the link i posted, do you have any suggestions of units? I posted that as a reference of what I'm looking for but what mainly other people's prospects.
 
id stay away from cheap ebay stuff. it may work. it may not, or may but for how long...
its way smarter to wait until you can swing a couple hundred bucks more and get something thats known.

id look into stuff from jag or ikan. they both have things near your price range. and are both reasonable quality.
ive used a lot of the ikan elements stuff and its pretty easy to configure for various uses. if i were building a starter kit right now, here is what id put together:

id start with their ev2 shoulder mount:
http://ikancorp.com/productdetail.php?id=401
that will give you an adjustable and in my experience one of THE MOST COMFORTABLE shoulder mounts around at ANY price - $399

then add their deluxe fly ev2
http://ikancorp.com/productdetail.php?id=514
that will give you a dslr baseplate, rods and some very good grips (ikan just upgraded their grips - and these are QUITE good) - $179

then add their rod adapter (so you can set up a single-grip situation) $25
http://ikancorp.com/productdetail.php?id=174

then add their double 15mm rod mount and their tripod mount (this is what will give you tripod mount capability) $49.95 and $29.95
http://ikancorp.com/productdetail.php?id=171
and
http://ikancorp.com/productdetail.php?id=247

youre looking at about $680 for all that. and ive owned a $3000+ zacuto rig as well as fig rigs and a cb107 and a variety of other stuff. and i can say with 100% confidence that this ikan setup was as functional and actually MORE useful to me than any of them.
 
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Interesting, Does that fly grip go in the reverse direction? The only thing I'm not a fan of there is that the grips are attached to the camera mount and not the rails. As long as i can get the configuration as the link i posted then it looks like a decent deal. Just need rods.
 
Interesting, Does that fly grip go in the reverse direction?
Click to expand...

YEP! they do. you can screw them in either on top or bottom. and that $25 rod adapter will allow it to attach anywhere along a rail, rather than just on that flat arm...

As long as i can get the configuration as the link i posted then it looks like a decent deal. Just need rods.
Click to expand...
the deluxe fly comes with a pair of 12" rods

and yeah, the parts i listed will get you almost nearly same rig you posted above. and for about another $100 (for another rod mount, two right angle mounts and an extra pair of 12" rods) youd have EXACTLY the same thing as the rig you posted.
 
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you may hear some bad press about ikan. some of it is accurate, some is not. but i can tell you (and i get no points on their sales) their core elements stuff (grips, baseplates, etc) are as solid if not moreso, than anyone else at their price level. like any of these places that source a lot of their manufacturing from china (and that would be MOST of them), there are hit and misses sometimes. but ive never seen ikan not take care to quickly resolve any issue that was within their power to do so.
 
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I think you can get something simple out of wooden camera parts. Honestly the most comfortable rig ive ever used. Just did a handheld shot with a huge red one rig, and the dovetail shoulder rig made it feel lighter than a feather. I love the shoulder padding, its not some cheap hard plastic like the other stuff. Handles feel great too
 
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