Rate My Rig

Niceguy

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Just Wanted to see if you guys would bite:

If anyone knows what I did wrong with the pictures let me know. i've seen people have images in the body of the text, mine just show up as links to the pictures.

Let's start a thread where you post your rig and talk about the pros and cons and then maybe for fun we rate them. You know 1-10 based on usability, sexiness, professional look, etc...

To start I am posting my rig.

I use a spiderbrace 2 and a Jimmy box with arm for my handheld rig. The pros are that the jimmbox holds my firestore and the arm allows me to add the follow focus and puts it in the perfect spot. I am using the Bebob Foxi which is great. Especially in the configuration because I can tweak focus and iris at the same time without jossling the camera to change grips. I tried mounting the focus to the spiderbrace before I added the jimmybox arm and it worked. However the foam on the spiderbrace and the fact that I had to put it in the bend of the handle made for a not-so-solid mount and it took forever setup right. As it is now I just take the jimmy box arm off when I store the camera in the bag and leave the follow focus attached.

The spiderbrace rules. There are a few threads on that already but I will mention a couple of great things about it. It lets you put you camera on the ground without compromising anything on it. It acts as a high hat. It fits my body well. with the jimmy box it sits an inch to high for using the viewfinder perfectly put it puts the lcd right at eye level.

The con with my setup and the spiderbrace is the zoom control. I had to cut a little of the foam off to give the rocker switch clearance to rock. I used black tape to mend the wound but it looks a little bo bo. It does put in a good place but it not a 100% solid mount. I use it and I am very used to it. I know am adding things that aren't standard so I am living with the problems.

As far as the jimmy box... I am 50/50 on it. While it is a good thing for wireless mics it is not perfect for the firestore. First up it scratched my drive on the sides. The fit is too snug. Once the drive is in there you can't read the display. I don't care what anyone says you can't. It's like looking through a keyhole, yeah you can see in there, but you can't tell if anyone is naked. Still it's a good place to put the drive and once your setup you don't need to read it much. But you want to feel confident each time you roll. I like to see the numbers moving...

An AC I worked with refused to put the firestore in there and clipped to the hand strap on the right. He put the power supply for the camera and the firstore in the jimmybox. It worked and was handy but I hate paying $175 for a place to put the powersupply.

The great thing about my rig is that the jimmybox doesn't ever come off when switching from handheld to tripod. I just take off tripod plate and screw on the spiderbrace. If I had two zoom controls (and I may buy another) I would lave one dedicated to the spiderbrace. As it is you have to swith that over. In a quick run and gun situation the spiderbrace adds on very quickly and the fact that you don't need to reconfigure the firestore speeds everything up. I just pull the ac power and go.

So these are the pros and cons of my rig. I give it an 8. It's very easy to use but looks a little "rigged." The big plus is speed in changeover. I leave the spiderbrace assembled in my bag and the jimmybox stays mounted with the firestore and the arm stays mounted with the follow focus. It's a really quick setup and tear down.

PS I also included a pic up how the ac put the firestore on the hand strap. Look at the mess of cables, but that's another issue....

:thumbup:Please rate my rig( 1-10) and post pics of your configurations!!!!:thumbup:


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Very nice. How about a photo of rig on your shoulder , showing distance of lcd from your eye? Is the rig very front heavy or does the shouder take up some of the weight.

thanks,

chris/wash. dc
 
Are you able to mount the HD monitor on when you go handheld? It seems like the HD monitor would not be in line with your eyes if you did and therefore I am curious if you can use the Bebob follow focus effectively with the lcd?

I am looking to set up a rig similar to this so I'd appreciate any info or problems you've encountered.

Thanks
 
no the monitor mounted on top would not be at eye level. You have to sacrifice that when you go handheld. Short of using steadicam like systems I don't know if any handheld situation you can use the on board monitors. You could use it in a traditional handheld configuration as pana intends it but then your lens is that much lower than your eye level. Which is neither good or bad for most situations.

I will say that generally you probably be shooting towards the wide end of the lens when doing handheld to reduce shake. In that instance the flip out lcd will get you focused because your dof is so large when you are wide.
 
So an update yes the rig is heavy. At first not so bad but after an hour it feels like all the weight is on your arms and not your shoulder. Back to the drawing board....
 
I give you out of ten, ten for posting a pic plus minus 5 for the vinten pro 6 tripod head which I rate as avarage. Vision 6, well now your talking.
 
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