Support Rod Length

G

ggrantly

Veteran
Hello Listers,

I'm curious about about what length rods you fly on your shoulder rigs. With a somewhat longer cam, even a dslr + 70-200, and maybe a mattebox and or a FF, 18" rods are maxed out and I'm considering 24". My goal is to use this fully rigged on a tripod and then be able to do a quick detach for the occasional shoulder mounted shot. Most of my rig is RR-Micro stuff. Just curious if I could build my rig differently and keep it more compact.

TIA, Grant
 
I keep my rig as compact as I can, usually 12” rods. I’ve got a coupler/riser (no offset) that I use to attach the shoulder pad and counterweights when I need to go handheld.
 
OP here,

I went ahead and popped for a pair of 24" stainless rods. I just couldn't figure how to pack a full frankenrig on 18" rods. Of course two of the most important factors are getting to have reasonable balance on both the tripod and shoulder.

Thanks everyone.
 
OSCURO said:
If you need the versatility of going from sticks to shoulder quickly, you can get aluminum rods that have threaded ends. So you can quickly switch from 12" to 24" with two pairs, or 3 pairs of 8" so you're not married to one pair of extra long rods. This way you wouldn't need to remove the FF and adjusting the mattebox is just a matter of sliding back and forth. Would make it easier to travel with, too.

Of course with this convenience you are compromising overall stability, so for handheld with a long lens, FF, and mattebox, you really want the rigidity of stainless steel iris rods because aluminum tends to flex under heavy loads, especially if they're coupled together and you're hauling your axe on the shoulder, you know? And don't even waste money on carbon rails unless you're counting grams.

Problem is I don't think threaded steel rods are readily available unless you do it yourself with an M12 tap which gives you the best of all worlds.
Click to expand...
Zacuto makes threaded rods. On my larger rig I have Zacuto 12" and 7" rods screwed together. On my smaller rig I have 8" and 6" Smallrig rods screwed together with M12 adapters.
 
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