C200: Small Rig Top plate with C200?

D

dharty

Active member
Hello,

Anyone using the Small Rig top plate with the C200? Does the LCD / mic bracket mount on the front of the plate tightly? Does it leave any room for side to side adjustment of the bracket?

Thanks, Drew Harty
 
dharty said:
Anyone using the Small Rig top plate with the C200? Does the LCD / mic bracket mount on the front of the plate tightly?
Click to expand...

Hi Drew, I have that top plate and unfortunately the LCD/Mic bracket will not attach to the front tightly. The screw remains loose as the hole is not long enough to accommodate it. You can still mount the C200 handle on top and attached the LCD bracket to it.

In my case I also purchased a NATO rail, NATO top handle, and EVF bracket from Small Rig. I use the EVF bracket to support my PIX-E5 monitor and I think that it could also mount the C200 LCD by itself. One caveat with this top plate is that it has two small holes on the rear right side to mount the Mic bracket—do not use them! I did and it slightly stripped the two screws, I can still mount them to the regular place on the rear right side of the camera but need to do so carefully. FYI here's a list of the Smallrig parts I have (note: sometimes Amazon has them at less cost):

SmallRig EVF Mount with 15mm Rod 1587
SmallRig NATO Cheese Handle 1688
SmallRig Quick Release Safety Rail 7cm 1195
SmallRig Top Plate for Canon C200 Camera 2056

Some photos:

emDSC_1923.jpgemDSC_1948.jpg
 
While I like SmallRig stuff, personally I feel this handle adds nothing over the stock handle. The crappy part of the C200 is the awful LCD Touchscreen mounting arm, it's really badly designed. I replaced mine with an Ultralight Control Systems Arm that is far superior, even when used with the stock C200 handle. As far as the cheese plate on top, I guess if you need all of those mounting points, fine but who really needs all of those mounting points? In my mind, that's more for narrative cinema camera setups where you need to hang a lot of crap off of your camera. If I was shooting that style, it wouldn't be on a C200 but YMMV. My latest crusade is to hang little to no extra stuff off of my camera.

I stopped using my Ninja Blade, external monitors, V-Mounts, baseplates and rails. Cameras like the C200 and the EVA 1 were designed to be small, light and unobstrusive. It's kind of ridiculous to take that small camera and hang a bunch of stuff off of it, unless you absolutely need it. I just find, shooting documentaries with the C200, camera, lens, battery, a stack of CFast cards and I am shooting. All of the shoulder mount, V-mount, recorders and other unnecessary frou-frou were doing nothing but wearing me out rigging and carrying it and intimidating my film subjects, several of whom are really opening up to me emotionally as I discover their stories. All of the BS of follow focus, matter boxes, recorders and other junk is just stuff that's getting between them being open and vulnerable with me on camera. YMMV.
 
Thanks for the pics Ron.

Have your tried putting washers between the canon screw or bolt and the front of the LCD / audio bracket so the screw won't go in so far? Or, is that not possible?

I am just looking for a way to be able to keep the LCD / audio bracket mounted to the camera with the handle detached. I also like to use a larger monitor for judging interviewing lighting that would be more stable mounted to a top plate than the top of the handle.
 
Drew, I think I have an idea of what you're looking for, forget the top plate and mount a cold shoe to the top of the camera, check out this thread near the bottom of the page using the SmallHD Focus monitor mount:

"C200: I found a better way to mount my C200 Touchscreen - Page 3"
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...ouchscreen/page3&highlight=c200+monitor+mount

This will work with the LCD screen and still keep the camera compact.

For a larger screen you could mount one of these to the cold shoe:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1226425-REG/xtender_x_fm_210_10_210_friction_mount_with.html

https://thextender.com/shop/xtender-210-friction-mount-kits/

Review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hiw5_pN4Ok

I don't think washers will help because there is a lot of gap between the LCD mount and that top plate.
 
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I bought the Smallrig C200 top plate for several reasons.
It let's the EVF tilt higher than with the Canon handle so it's easier to do ground level shots with a low tripod or hand held using only the EVF.
I mounted a quick release plate to the top plate with an articulating arm to hold the LCD for the very few times I use the LCD. Only takes a second or two to connect the entire arm and LCD to the top of the top plate. And I have a small quick release plate under the LCD so it only takes a second to disconnect the LCD from the arm so if I don't want camera jarr from using the touch screen it's very easy to do.
I'm not a fan of the C200 handle either.
I bolted a Smallrig handle with a cold shoe on it to the top plate and I have a Rode mic mounted to the cold shoe.
 
Thanks for the links Ron. In the one link, I like how the Canon LCD is mounted directly to a top plate. The Xtenter also looks like an ideal solution. Maybe I am a klutz, but I prefer to have monitors and mics mounted firmly closer to the center of the camera so they don't vibrate the image as much if accidentally banged, which I have of course done to many times while conducting an interview, operating the camera, and monitoring audio levels.
 
I don't have a C200, but I have a couple of C300's. I have found that my favorite setup is a cheese plate helmet on top of the camera, like the Small Rig top plate, with various nato and cold shoe mounts attached. The C300 monitor and audio units, use a cold shoe mount so the monitor can be mounted directly to the top or side or front of the camera. If I need a handle, I just attach a Nato Rail handle. For external monitors, I use 15mm rod attachments and Zacuto arms that have 15mm rod spigots on both ends.

This type of setup allows me to never have to screw anything together when building the camera. I also don't need to have a handle attached unless I really want it and the Canon cameras can be kept to a much lower center of gravity without attaching everything to the stock handle. I often even attach my articulating arm with the monitor attached directly to the tripod so that I can touch the monitor without the vibrations being transferred to the camera.
 
I have it and it’s great! I used a NATO handle over the stock C200 top handle and it adds a lot to the setup for mounting additional accessories and packing the camera away for transporting.

I previously had the Wooden Camera top plate and it was surprisingly horrible since it blocked the tilt of the EVF on the back.
 
I have the top plate and really like it. I use it with the Small Rig handle - not the NATO version. With this it’s possible to get the camera fully built under an airline seat. With the stock handle that is not possible.

I use this combo to attach my monitor. To the rod clamp at the front of the handle. Attach a Lyre mic Mount on the front of the cheese plate. Attach my wireless receiver in the vertical hot shoe at the back of the handle. And clamp my my Teradek Cube on the cheese plate with a 1/4-20 screw through the handle
 
puredrifting said:
While I like SmallRig stuff, personally I feel this handle adds nothing over the stock handle. The crappy part of the C200 is the awful LCD Touchscreen mounting arm, it's really badly designed. I replaced mine with an Ultralight Control Systems Arm that is far superior, even when used with the stock C200 handle. As far as the cheese plate on top, I guess if you need all of those mounting points, fine but who really needs all of those mounting points? In my mind, that's more for narrative cinema camera setups where you need to hang a lot of crap off of your camera. If I was shooting that style, it wouldn't be on a C200 but YMMV. My latest crusade is to hang little to no extra stuff off of my camera.

I stopped using my Ninja Blade, external monitors, V-Mounts, baseplates and rails. Cameras like the C200 and the EVA 1 were designed to be small, light and unobstrusive. It's kind of ridiculous to take that small camera and hang a bunch of stuff off of it, unless you absolutely need it. I just find, shooting documentaries with the C200, camera, lens, battery, a stack of CFast cards and I am shooting. All of the shoulder mount, V-mount, recorders and other unnecessary frou-frou were doing nothing but wearing me out rigging and carrying it and intimidating my film subjects, several of whom are really opening up to me emotionally as I discover their stories. All of the BS of follow focus, matter boxes, recorders and other junk is just stuff that's getting between them being open and vulnerable with me on camera. YMMV.
Click to expand...

Exactly, I usually use C200 even without a LCD. EVF is great and I get C100 weight with that setup, could film all day long, and easily jump to Glidecam and have the right weight to use it comfortably..
 
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