Odyssey 7Q cage/ SDI & power protection

[Vinnieman]

Does anyone have a good way to protect the ports on the bottom of the Odyssey? I use the Convergent Design SDI cables and have lost 2 recently, I think from inadvertently bumping the connectors or maybe bending the cables too far. Right angle adapters would be great, but they don't work reliably with the raw signal out of my fs700. I keep a couple backup SDI cables at all times. I also worry about the power plug, but haven't had any problems with it. It seems like a simple bar below the connectors would work, anyone have any experience with this?

 

[Mitch Gross]

There are a few options out there. Both Ocean Video and MovCam have back plates with lots of mounting holes for the Odyssey and the plates extend down to shield the connectors on the bottom. Small Rig makes a pait or side rails that surround the sides of the Odyssey7Q+ and then the rails extend down below the connectors. The rails include a thin nylon bungee cord that strings back & forth between the two sides to act as retainer and strain relief to the cables. This design is a copy of the no-longer-available Solid Camera mounting system for Odyssey.

 

[Vinnieman]

Thanks, Mitch. I like the look of the Solid Camera system, too bad they stopped making it. I ordered the Smallrig version. The latest 2 CD SDI cables I received have beefy rubber protection around the ports, so maybe they'll last longer.