GH1 Shoe Mount Accessories

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tommygdawg

Well-known member
Hey all,

This might be a bit of a strange question. I have a flash bracket that I've got on my shoulder rig, the problem is that I don't really have anything to put on the two shoe mounts that are on the flash bracket. This is quite the dilemma! I want to get the most of everything I have, so I'd like to use the flash bracket (and it makes the rig look cooler). However, I have absolutely nothing that I can or would need to attach to it right now. Are there any useful accessories I might want for my rig that are mountable on the shoe?

Thanks!
 
So is this like how Air Jordans make you a better basketball player? Lose the bracket until you actually need it. Why spend more money on accessories you currently have no use for just so you can attach stuff to something else you currently don't need? Practice your jump shot instead (that is, work on making cool content, not a cool-looking camera).
 
Hey man,

This really isn't about my skill as a filmmaker. I'm not implying accessories of any kind will make me a better film maker. In fact, I've shot a lot of things without any kind of rig, just the camera by it's lonesome. There are even times where it has been necessary to shoot without a rig. I have content I'm actively working on and have released. Your comment is rather patronizing. People use things all the time for fashion more than function (and yes, these things ultimately do have a function, they aren't strictly for fashion), it doesn't mean that they expect those things to make them good at what they do. Moreover, you said "why spend money on accessories you have no use for" when I clearly asked if there were any "useful" accessories I can get.

And, I would like to say that there's a reason professionals use shoes like Air Jordan's. There's a reason why professional guitar players use guitars ranging into the many thousands of dollars. No, those instruments do not make them better players, but speaking from experience as someone who owns expensive guitars, it does make a huge difference. People all over the place use things that aren't "necessary" to be good at what they do, but are indeed useful. Thanks for your input.
 
most people just star adding accessories or building their rigs according to their needs at the time.

The first thing i ever added to my camecorder was a wide angle lens because i found the stock lens of my camera wasn't cutting it. Then i added shotgun microphone because the on camera mics weren't cutting it either.

After that i realized i needed some sort of preamp like the Juicedlink to get cleaner audio so that followed. Then i started building shoulder support piece by piece for the occasions in which i had to shoot for longer periods of time. Then an on camera light for event shooting at night. Then i realized i needed a wireless microhpone system for certain jobs so i got those, etc. Now I need to get bigger lighting kits, etc.

The point is that you'll know when you will really need something extra for your camera or for your rig, and better save up the money for when the time to get something really comes.
 
I'm at that point. I just wondered if there were other useful accessories out there I hadn't heard of or thought of.
 
the most common stuff are audio accessories (microphones, preamps, wireless systems, external recorders), on camera lighting, external monitors, etc.
 
Apologies if I came off patronizing. To be clear, I made no statement about your current skill as a filmmaker, but rather that it would be a much better use of anyone's time to focus on continuing on improving technique rather than thinking about how to make your rig cooler.

However, this is how I read your original post: "I don't have any need for my flash bracket, but it looks cool. I can't think of anything else I need, but what can I buy to make use of the bracket?"

Need and use are two very different things. As you say, we don't need air jordans or expensive guitars, but obviously we can use them in the absence of something else.

Your second post provided much needed information about what you were actually asking for.

tommygdawg said:
People use things all the time for fashion more than function
Click to expand...

I generally look at my camera and any accessories as tools. If you're looking at it as fashion over function, then by all means, bling it up! There are an unlimited amount of accessories you could add for gear-envy. Add a nice shotgun mic with a dead cat (very pro), a H4n recorder, a LED light panel (dimmable and multi-temperature FTW), external LCD or EVF, or even a top handle for low-mo shots. It's endless. If it's for style, have fun and go to the moon with it! And yes, rest easy in the knowledge that they all also have a use.

But do you need any of them? Rarely.

Either way (whether for form or function), it would greatly help if you told us what you already have and what kind of shooting you do. That way, at least the extra stuff that you add on will at least have a use, if not a need.
 
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Honestly part of the reason I want it to look "cooler" is for impressing clients. I believe it's a fairly well-known among videographers/film makers. that people are much more likely to hire the person with the big rig than the person with a handheld camcorder. Now I realize that the quality of your work is a huge factor :P But generally people base their expectations off of the looks of your rig AND your previous work. I currently have a shoulder rig setup with mattebox, shotgun mic and a Tascam DR-1. I think I'm going to order a simple cold shoe for my DR-1 and glue it to the back so I can mount it on the rig. That is perhaps the most annoying thing about my rig is not having a good place for the audio recorder. Any recommendations on a cheap shoe I can use for that? I've looked but haven't found much.
 
Unfortunately the DR-1 doesn't have a tripod socket, so a clean mounting solution (sans glue) would be to get the tripod adapter: http://www.amazon.com/Tascam-AKDR1-Accessory-Kit-Dr-1/dp/B001709FHQ
Now that you have a 1/4-20 tripod socket, you need another adapter for mounting it to a cold shoe on your flash bracket, for which you have a couple options:
1) Cam caddie converter ($25): http://www.amazon.com/Cam-Caddie-Flash-Cold-Converter/dp/B0046QZ6YE
2) A friction arm (~$40): http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p3910.m570.l1313&_nkw=power+friction+arms

The cam caddie convert is simple and will do the job. If you want, you could also build a similar converter from items found at your local hardware store for far less (under $5, I'd estimate), but would take a bit more time and labor.
The friction arm is 2x the price but offers a fair bit more flexibility and you can use it for other things like monitors, etc. in the future.
 
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