Support rigs for D7000? (jag35 and others?)

T

triangular

New member
Is anyone using any rigs with the Nikon D7000?

I'm especially interested in shoulder rigs with cages. Is there any information about this for D7000?

I have been assuming that most cameras can equally use the same rigs, since they all appear to mount in basically the same way, and there isn't an incredible difference in body size between most Cannon and Nikon models. However pretty much ALL the references to support rigs mention Cannon bodies exclusively, so its hard to confirm what is actually compatible.

I've been looking at the Jag35.com site and like a lot of their stuff, mainly the jag35 straight rig, shoulder off-set rig and the jag cage. Would these work?

One thing I don't understand, the only reference to D7000 I've found on the jag site is to the Quick Release Gorilla Stand, which says its for mounting a variety of Cannon models, plus D90 and D7000. So does this mean I *must* have the Gorilla Stand if I want to mount my D7000? It also says the Gorilla Stand requires the Gorilla Plate sold separately. And when I look at the description for the Gorilla Plate, it says it *must* be used with the Z-Finder. Huh? I totally don't understand that requirement, Z-Finder is just a viewfinder on the back of the camera, not part of the mounting system. I certainly don't intend to buy the Z-Finder at $400 just to mount my D7000 to a set of rods. Can anyone explain this please?

And does all this also mean that I *can't* use the standard jag DSLR plate to mount the D7000 for some reason? I really don't understand that these cameras are so different between each other (Nikon and Cannon).

One other issue - I generally keep the vertical grip on the D7000. Most pictures of rigs I see dont show a grip on the attached camera. Would I need to remove this or would the rig and cage system accept the larger height? And how would using the extended grip affect the DSLR plate, or Gorilla Plate or etc, being that the camera rises higher with the grip? Or how it fits in the cage?

The other question I have is about these rigs in general. I understand they are modular, and should be somewhat interchangeable between different parts and manufacturers. But is there a fundamental difference between the (jag-specific) shoulder straight rig and the shoulder offset rig? I can see that I might prefer using a small monitor with the straight rig and a larger finder for the offset rig, but is there a reason I couldn't use a monitor with the offset rig as well, hanging off the cage it would come with?

If I got the offset rig would I be able to break it down into a straight rig by swapping around the parts, or would I need to purchase both rigs separately and have to switch between them?

Finally, the jag system allows upgrades to zacuto rods, but there's not much description of what this offers. What's the basic difference between the jag and zacuto rods, other than the fact that the zacutos are silver?

I'm new to support rigs and haven't purchased anything yet. Thanks so much for any input anyone can offer. Also for comparable systems and other modular parts I might be interested at similar pricing.

Christian
 
Last edited:
Well I guess I asked too many questions. Anything that anyone can comment, especially regarding either the D7K or jag rigs specifically, would be appreciated. I'm just trying to figure out the options and whatever others may be using.
 
That is a lot of questions to tackle at 3am, but to address some of it:

Canon is mentioned because their DSLRs are much more common in the motion world. Anything that will work on the Canon will work on the Nikon, and much of what is really designed for traditional video cameras will as well.

Zacuto's rods (and everything else) are manufactured with higher tolerances, will have less size variation, and use more standard 1/2" threads, while Jag35's are reported to sometimes be too big for other manufacturers' accessories and use slightly smaller 7/16 threads.

About the Z-Finder, it mounts onto a gorilla plate, meaning if you want the finder you need a gorilla plate to attach it to, not that if you have a gorilla plate you have to get a Z-Finder.

You can use the standard Jag35 DSLR plate to mount the D7000 but I strongly encourage you to check out the one from Redrock Micro which is far better. I personally recommend against buying a pre-packaged rig (few of them are well designed in my opinion) as they'll seldom be configured just right for your exact setup. My own includes pieces from Redrock, Zacuto, Jag35, and Cinevate. However, this does require much more research.

As for the MB-D11 (I think that's right, the D7000 battery grip), that will make the camera too tall for follow focus and other accessories on DSLR-specific baseplates such as the Redrock and Jag35 DSLR plates. Look at the proteus "shorty" quick release plate from Cinevate or the Mini Universal Baseplate from Zacuto, as both are height-adjustable.
 
I use a bushhawk, Manfrotto 577QR and LCDVF for shooting with the D7000. It's small, light and fast. While the Bushhawk is made of plastic, the price is unbeatable for a gun-stock type of rig.
 
I use CUBE media cage, Marshall 5", Zoom H2 on 15mm rods with a few gini rig connectors and a cheap cinecity shoulder pad. And I use a couple of wrist weights for counter balance. I will post up a pic soon.
 
My DSLR rig. Use it with D7000.
attachment.php
 
It serves its purpose.

Things I like are
1. small size and light weight
2. its image and color representation
3. pixel to pixel feature
4. false color feature

Things I think need improving or that are missing.
1. peaking feature. Not reliable.
2. I wish there was a feature to scale the image. D7000 image doesn't fill up the screen.
 
@Lee Saxon - Thanks for your replies, it helps. Why do you strongly recommend not using the jag35 plate? I did take a look at that RedRock Micro and it does look nicer, and more raised. But if I got the Gorilla Plate (maybe with the quick release) it looks nearly comparable to the Redrock plate. Or am I wrong?

@Bumkicho - That looks pretty nice, and not too expensive. Does the Marshall monitor include the monitor shade? What do you do for power? Where did you get all the assorted parts for this setup? Do you mind saying how much all of it was?

The more I look around the more I see everything is like Legos, picking and matching from here and there. The problem is that I can't really purchase that way very easily, plus the fact that I'm still not familiar enough with rigs to know how to look for all the right pieces. See I'm living overseas, and sometimes things can take a long time to get here (Asia). Plus there is shipping, which adds up considerably if I'm paying International shipping on each part separately. And finally, its a small gamble what packages may or may not get held up in customs, so I could get part of it and still be waiting for the rest a month later. I'd rather only go through that once, if at all. I guess I could order everything from B&H, but they don't carry a lot of the more affordable stuff like Jag35 gear, and I'd still have to know exactly what to order if it doesn't all come in a single package.

I think I'd prefer the jag stuff because its mostly affordable and looks pretty solid. And the reviews are good, even if they are sponsored. Although they dont make it easy without a phone or contact email address. I submitted some questions on their contact page and haven't received any reply at all. The only other source of info are blog comments on random jag product pages. That's why I'm really depending on this community and your feedback to help me figure out what to order.

Looking at Bumkicho's photo really makes me think that using a straight rig with a monitor is the best way to go. But I don't think its always practical to tote a monitor everywhere. When not using the monitor, isn't a straight rig less than ideal, since the camera is off to the side and in front of the shoulder, not within easy reach of the eye for a VF or even LCD viewing?

In my original post I was asking about breaking rigs down to go between a straight rig and offset rig, for monitor vs. viewfinder options. Are people basically buying two separate rigs when they want to do that, or is it possible to interchange parts and go between straight and offset without buying two complete rigs? I understand some parts are interchangeable; such as a cage, follow focus, base plate, maybe something else. But I'm not getting a handle on the basic components I would need to order with this idea in mind.

I saw a similar question on the jag blog, about going between a straight and offset shoulder rig. A rep suggested the customer purchase a straight rig plus an offset rail block and set of 6" or 8" rods. But looking at the specs for their straight rig, it comes with a set of 20" rods. So that means by adding the offset rail block and the 2nd set of rods, I'd actually have two sets of rods coming straight out; one from the shoulder sitting empty, and the other offset in front of the face when using it with a viewfinder. That's kind of obnoxious isn't it? I'd prefer to have a single set of rods in use at one time, or at least not be stuck with a empty 2nd set at 20" from the shoulder while the offset rods are being used.

What is the solution to this problem?
If anybody knows exactly what parts I should order for what I'm trying to do, either from Jag35 or another distributor of similar cost and quality... if I can order it all from the same place, please let me know.

If there was any place I could go to look at these parts and handle it, I'd figure it out. But where I am overseas all I have are just pictures on the web, and none of the parts are individually labeled either, so its pretty difficult to get a grip on it. Thanks!
 
We have a new offset shoulder rig, uses the new cubed plates. These use standard 15mm rods to support the plates. Comes standard with 8" rods but could easily take longer. We've had several grip equipped rigs go out with 12" rods to create the 'cage' portion of the rig. And because it has top rods you can hang your follow focus off the top rods, so you can include the grip. The rig is on sale this month, 499.99 and includes a free upgrade to our heavy duty carbon rods.

http://www.cpmfilmtools.com/DSLR_Cage_p/143_cubed3 - 143.htm

Hope this provides some added information, also don't forget we have a 10% off coupon code for all DVXusers. Just type in DVXUser.com in the coupon code window and it takes 10% off your entier order.

Thanks,

Steve
 
Nice! If I didn't have my put-together rig, I would seriously consider CPM DSLR Cubed Shoulder Cage.
 
Steve thanks very much for that information. Until now I had been looking mostly at Jag35 gear, but I've been looking over your offerings quite a bit in the past few days. You've nearly sold me but I have a few more questions about some of the CPM products I see. Rather than post too much here I'd prefer to email you. I assume yours is the 2nd email address listed at the end of the CPM home page. Please correct me if I'm wrong, otherwise some other poor guy named steven at CPM will have to answer my questions ;)

Christian
 
triangular said:
Steve thanks very much for that information. Until now I had been looking mostly at Jag35 gear, but I've been looking over your offerings quite a bit in the past few days. You've nearly sold me but I have a few more questions about some of the CPM products I see. Rather than post too much here I'd prefer to email you. I assume yours is the 2nd email address listed at the end of the CPM home page. Please correct me if I'm wrong, otherwise some other poor guy named steven at CPM will have to answer my questions ;)

Christian
Click to expand...


Yup, happy to answer any questions you might have, steven@cpmfilmtools.com
 
i'm actually using the cowboy studio shoulder mount for the time being. it gets the job done and it's really cheap. i've bought a few additional attachments so my entire setup really doesn't cost more than $150 or so. whenever i need a high end rig, i just rent one for a week.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top