Small rig for Sony NEX 6

Warthog

Warthog

Active member
I needed to be able to put my Nex 6 on tripod safely with larger lens, without breaking the camera's fragile tripod screw socket. And when I was at it, I thought it would be nice to have a compact rig for mounting of LED light and sound recorder with shock mount...

Both the camera holder and the shock mount prototypes are milled from silon (PA6), the final version will be black anodized aluminum (and of course the recorder mount will have its clamp integrated). There will also be a bigger version with two top rods, although one rod seems to be surprisingly good at handling the smaller loads that put on it.

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Looks great, that is exactly what is needed. There is great potential for a rig like that, compact and well made.
Just one question, as the Sony RX10 will be out soon, is there a way for that fixed lens camera to fit your design? I can only see it being possible if the "O" section is wide enough in diameter to fit the lens through. Waiting to see your finished product. Nice design.
 
Yes, there will be a version where the lens collar consists of two parts, held together by two screws. We also have an auxiliary part that allows the camera's tripod socket to be used together with the collar (for cameras, where the mount or the usable lens parts are not deep enough for solid grip).

I will be at our workplace next weekend and should post some more images then - the final aluminum holder and an ENG-style hand grip with REC button.
 
I could see your rig having the capability of placing it on a shoulder support with a single handgrip, and also the capability of sliding the camera laterally to the left so that your neck does not have to twist to the right to view the image in the viewfinder or the screen. Very nice work.
 
My colleagues had used up our stocks of 15 mm aluminum producing some other products, so I had to stick to polyamide for now. But I did change the design slightly and is now ready for production. The top part is now detachable and a cheeseplate can be mounted directly without top rods. The rods can be used with the adapter pictured and there will also be an adapter with just one rod for those, who only wish to mount a single device.

So far, the setup appears to be very usable even if not made of aluminum. It does flex slightly, but with most small to medium sized lenses this does not really present a problem. We are actually considering making both plastic and aluminum versions for sale. They should be available for purchase during January.

The next steps are an ENG-style hand grip with video start/stop button and a battery pack utilizing two 18650 LiIon cells. I will also try to turn this into a shoulder rig by using commonly available components.

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Excellent work, it makes the camera more usable for video work. Would this fit my NEX 5N? Are you going to be selling these rigs? If so, what's the price?
 
If you are planing to use 2 of the 18650 batteries. why not a Sony battery plate that accepts the NPF or L series batteries ? this way a LED video light can also tap off of it. I design and build custom LED lights that would look fantastic on your rig. The Sony batteries come either with 2-4 or 6 cells ( 18650) in them and there are plenty of generics out there that are affordable. A battery plate is already available for many types of 7.2 VDC li-ion batteries. A battery plate would look professional as well.
 
I am using NPFs myself and they will definitely be an option. The pack with 18650s, which should fit underneath the camera, is meant to be a lightweight alternative for handheld work, where a large battery might be a bit too bulky.

As for other cameras, the current version should work with NEX 7. I plan to make a separate version for NEX 5, but I will first have to get that camera :-)

The price is not final yet because we are still waiting for confirmation of surface finish (anodizing or powder coating). But the idea is to keep it under Euro 80 for the aluminum version and about half of that for the plastic one.
 
Warthog said:
I plan to make a separate version for NEX 5, but I will first have to get that camera :-)

The price is not final yet because we are still waiting for confirmation of surface finish (anodizing or powder coating). But the idea is to keep it under Euro 80 for the Aluminium version and about half of that for the plastic one.
Click to expand...

If you do one for the NEX 5, count me in, I want one, in Aluminium, cheers. Have you ever thought about selling your designs to Vocas? I believe they are based in the Netherlands.
 
If you can also provide the option of turning into a shoulder rig by an add-on attachment and also that handgrip, it would be great, and provide a true 3 point stabilization. The battery can then easily be in the back of the unit to provide counterbalance as well. A large capacity Sony NP-F970 can also power up other connected equipment as well. Brackets in that capacity and quality go for well over $1500 here.
 
Tested today with some generic parts - shoulder rig will definitely be possible and so will the handgrip. As for the NP-Fxxx powering the camera and other accessories: are there any standard modules available to split the power between multiple devices or will I have to build my own?
 
Some progress again... I have first two aluminum brackets for testing and so far, they work as expected. I will just have to redesign the plate for tripod screw socket - the current version is too large and does not allow the display to be tilted downwards. But that should not be too difficult to fix. Other than that, I am pretty hapy. The whole thing can still be carried in my small Lowepro Nova 170 bag.

Today I have also finished a very first prototype of the hand grip with built-in start/stop button. It is made of polyamide, the final version will probably be wood. It is mounted to one rod, but I will probably also experiment with a tripod plate base. Some duct tape used for now to hold things in place, but it works great. It is just pitty that NEX cameras do not support more remote signals - if I could only get focus assist/zoom function on the hand grip...

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There are hand grips already available on the market, so the shooter can have the choice of putting one on or not. The one I use is just for the zoom and pause/rec on/off function. Sony had a grip like the one on your photo that came with a LANC terminal wire and a trigger that controlled the zoom along with a red button for the pause/rec. That one is rare to find and served me well over 15 years. It was cheaply priced but well made. I have been looking for something like that for a long time.
 
I have LANC hand grips too (one from Sony, one that I made myself). But they do not work with SONY Alpha NEX cameras (and HDSLRs) as far as I know. I believe the only usable interface for remote trigger/rec button on Alpha NEX cameras is the infrared receiver.
 
Gee, they had a good product. A wired control, and now no LANC and infrared ??
A remote function on the grip where you can control by just the feel of things is really what is needed.
I will check and see what Varizoom has, but they won't be cheap..
 
NEX Alphas can produce nice video, but they are primarily still cameras, and not really top-of-the-line. So the absence of LANC is not all that surprising. They miss other esential video functions as well (such as manual audio control). IR port would be fine, if it at least supported all the buttons/commands...
 
Warthog, do you have more information on how you made the handle with the remote start/stop? Which IR remote are you using? How is it wired to the red button?
 
The very first prototype used a cheap infrared remote like this: http://www.amazon.com/RMT-DSLR1-RMT-DSLR2-Replacement-MagicFiber-Microfiber/dp/B0040RWN0O and the button was wired to pads on PCB.

Right now, I am using my own remote - just an ATTiny13 processor, one IR LED, one resistor and one capacitor. Powered by one CR 2032 cell. The current version of the hand grip also has a separate button for audio recorder start/stop. That button is not wired to the infrared remote, but connected via wire to my Zoom H1 which I modified by adding a connector for external start/stop connector.
 
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