Redrock Micro One Man Band alternatives?

chris f

chris f

Veteran
I have a re-ocurring monthly gig producing a 3-camera youtube talk show that would be the absolute perfect use case for the One Man Crew since it's just me and assistant handling 3 cameras + audio, but I'm having a hard time ponying up $2,500! for the dang thang. I love that it keeps focus throughout the whole move, but I'm open to other alternatives (especially since my C200 can do a pretty good job of autofocusing).

Are there any affordable motorized (that are quiet enough for interviews) alternatives out there that can slide and pan a C200?
 
Chris Santucci said:
I have this. It's very nice. With that camera, I'd put a lightweight head on it and minimize camera weight.
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I bought this too, but returned it, customer service was good, but there is an error in the design that makes it lose the position of the pan axis over time. I wonder if the Cametv version with bearings instead works better, i tried to contact them but they wont send me an example video longer than 10 seconds
 
I have the Rhino EVO with Motion with the Arc. It costs considerably more than these Chinese rigs on Amazon but less than the RRM unit. It doesn't have curved track like the RRM but it does have a motion control pan head (called the Arc) so the end effect is pretty much the same. Have returned it to Rhino for battery replacements once, they are good with after purchase communication and warranty, unlike no name Chinese stuff. Motion control rigs are complex enough, especially with two or three axis movement that I would buy something from a known company that will offer you good after purchase warranty and out of warranty service. The Rhino is decent, I don't think its amazing though. It makes a tiny amount of noise but I can get away with shooting interviews with it, the noise isn't too distracting or intruding. The interface is simple and easy to program moves with. Overall, it's good but frankly, I hardly ever use it. It's only effective when you have scenes where you can build at least two layers (subject and foreground) and for interviews, I find the look to be kind of dated now, honestly.

www.rhinocg.com
 
One of the advantages of curved track is that when set properly, as the camera moves, it’s staying the same distance from the subject, so focus doesn’t change.
 
Run&Gun said:
One of the advantages of curved track is that when set properly, as the camera moves, it’s staying the same distance from the subject, so focus doesn’t change.
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Canon's DPAF and Fuji's Face and eye tracking make that a none factor for me.
 
puredrifting said:
I have the Rhino EVO with Motion with the Arc.

www.rhinocg.com
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I just rented this set up from BorrowLenses for this month's show - very interested to see how the C200's autofocus handles the subtle changes in camera distance as it travels through the move - especially since it will be focused on a 2-shot. I imagine it would be much easier to just lock/track focus on a single person.
 
chris f said:
I just rented this set up from BorrowLenses for this month's show - very interested to see how the C200's autofocus handles the subtle changes in camera distance as it travels through the move - especially since it will be focused on a 2-shot. I imagine it would be much easier to just lock/track focus on a single person.
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That's what I would do if both people are basically the same focal distance.
 
I really like the Kessler Cineslider with the Parallax and Second Shooter controlling the slider movement. It isn't cheap, but I find the whole set-up useful for both motorized tracking shots and manually controlled product and architecture shots.
 
I have to say since I bought the Rhino, I have only used it a few times. The two big documentary films I shot over the past two years, the director was adamant that they didn't want to use a slider and multiple cams for our interviews. One camera. on sticks. Period. They were green screen on one film (yuck! I hate shooting green screen) and real BGs on the other. To them, sliders look cheesy for interviews , like a news magazine or corporate shoot.They felt it didn't look cinematic and neither did CUs and ECUs, we shot every interview from about 10-12' with a 25-40mm focal length, they liked seeing the subject from the waist up. Personally I think the second camera on slider interview thing is played out. I do find the mo co slider useful for tabletop and occasionally I've used it for shooting b-roll for a few corporate shoots. But overall, it probably wasn't a good investment for me. Extra junk to haul, extra crap to setup, more gear means more things to malfunction and break and doesn't always equal a better result. YMMV, of course.
 
I ended up renting the Rhino EVO Pro Slider Bundle 42" from Borrowlenses.com and was pleasantly surprised by it. I was using a Sigma Art 18-35 lens and had my doubts about it maintaining autofocus throughout the move (I've found Sigma responds slower than Canon lenses to movement), but it did great. The rental didn't come with instructions and occasionally it would hiccup on the middle of the track during a move - but that may have been because of my cable management (I wasn't sure what needed to be plugged in during operation so I just kept everything plugged in) As far as programing a move quickly and letting it quietly slide and pan back and forth it did good.
 
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