The Best $70 I have Spent in a Long Time.

David G. Smith

David G. Smith

Steak Knife Member
I just wanted wanted to give a shout out about a product I picked up, that I really did not have very high hopes for, but that ended up exceeding my expectations in every way. I continue to shot with the handy-cam style cameras and have been looking for a shoulder mount system to use . Well, if you look around there is a dizzying array of mounts and stabilizers out there, with prices that run from a few bucks to a thousand dollars and more. Well, I ended up booking a shoot, on short notice, and picked up this product, just as, I thought, an interim solution to the handy-cam mount problem.

105rig1_edited.jpg


And to show it in use:

105rig15_edited.jpg


Ok, it does not look like much, but I have to say after shooting with it all weekend, it is a good product, and the best part... I only paid $67.99, plus shipping and handling.
Now it ain't a steadi-cam, but compared to hand holding a handy-cam style camcorder for a couple of eight hour shoots over two days in a row... it is damn near the best thing since sliced bread. Now it is heavy, so at the end of the day you trade wrist and shoulder discomfort for small of the back discomfort, and the front end kind of digs into your chest (I am working on a foam pad for the front end), but, for handy-cam style cameras, it totally eliminated that wrist/forearm shake when holding on a shot longer than a couple of minutes.
One of the best things about this product is that I am a big fella, almost right at 300 lbs (Yeah, Yeah, I know... "Ya fat f*ck!!!"), and there was no issues with this mount "Fitting" my frame; like a lot of similar products with there straps, waist poles and similar gadgets.
I just wanted to share my experience with this shoulder mount. It has been a while since I have bought something that has changed my opinion from, "WTF", when I first pulled it out of the box, to, "How have I done without this...", after two days of using it.

If you are interested, contact these guys:

http://www.dynamicmotionvideo.com/

And no, I don't have any connection with them, except as a happy customer, and, that ain't me in the second picture! LOL!!
 
running footage actually looked very nice fluid. a touch of smoothcam in FCP or stabilize in AE and very steadicam looking footage for $67. Maybe a handgrip addition or rails for additional stability?
 
I've been thinking about picking one of these up. Any possibility of you posting some footage or pics of the thing in action? I've watched the ones on the DMV site, but it'd be great to see something from someone who doesn't have a vested interest in the product's success.

Thanks.

~~Dave
 
We got one of those a few months ago and I have to agree, it's brilliant for DVX sized cameras. The extra weight and the shoulder support on it give you tons of stability. Only trouble we had was that it tilts sideways easily, but we bought a cheap hand grip system to cover that. Now with the handles we never leave home without it.

Kuvauksista_2.jpg
 
About 60% of the work I do (for hire) is with shoulder-mounted cameras documentary style - no handles, right hand on the zoom, left hand at the ready for focus. When doing handheld, I feel most comfortable operating this way. That said, my personal camera is a DVX and the form-factor is way off. I've been able to make the best of it over the years, operating it like an A-minima - cradled somewhere between waist and chest level. It's worked out, but I've always wanted an inexpensive solution for getting it up on my shoulder. All of the standard mounts just don't appeal to me with their integral handles, but this unit seems just right.

From what I can see, the shoulder pad area seems just a tad narrower than many shoulder-mounted cameras, which is something that I could deal with or easily modify to suit my needs. MarginalFilms, was it comfortable at all before you added your handles?

Thanks!

~~Dave
 
kwoff said:
Could you tell us what hand grip system to bought for this purpose?
Click to expand...

We got our hand grips from a new Finnish manufacturer called Hangrip. We have a Base Plate, a 300 mm Rail and two Handles attached to that shoulder support to make that what's in the picture. Those are made for much smaller cameras, but they are surprisingly strong and that rail can hold the complete weight of the system when you put it down on it. And when the system on your shoulder it doesn't have any weight on the handles.

Davdo said:
MarginalFilms, was it comfortable at all before you added your handles?
Click to expand...

Yes it was. It weights a lot, especially as we have that anamorphic lens attached to our DVX so we had to get the additional 3 lb. weight to the support. But it's quite nicely balanced so your shoulder takes all the weight. The only problem we had was indeed with the narrow shoulder pad, when panning it tends to tilt sideways easily. That's why we got the handles, you can balance it better with your hands when panning. And since there's really no weight on the handles when you have it on your shoulder I think any kind of handle system that gives you a bit wider area to hold on to should do fine. But as you said maybe widening the pad could work wonders too.

EDIT: Oh and one other thing worth mentioning came to mind. Even thou it looks tempting to use the eye view finder as it's quite nicely right there next to your eye, you can't use it without removing the top handle from the shoulder support. Well you can, but you'll end up with a neck injury after a while. And even without the top handle it's not really a good position to be in for a long time. Thou I guess most people use the lcd anyways when not on a tripod...
 
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Solomojo said:
running footage actually looked very nice fluid. a touch of smoothcam in FCP or stabilize in AE and very steadicam looking footage for $67. Maybe a handgrip addition or rails for additional stability?
Click to expand...
I will never believe that the cameraman was actually running until I see BTS of these shots, especially the one where a cameraman would have to run backwards!
 
MarginalFilms, those handles do look sweet and I will probably pick up a pair to have. It is funny, my experience with it is different than yours though and I think it may be differences in physique (me being more... "Fluffy"). I did not have issues with it rolling or tilting from side to side. I had to watch it from tilting up or down more than rolling from side to side. I was shooting this past weekend with a Sony DSR-PD-150 and ended up being outside where the LCD was useless. I ended up using the eyepiece and did not encounter any difficulties with the top handle. The way I ended up was keeping my right hand on the hand grip to control the record switch and zoom control and kept my left hand on the front end of the camera to rock the "Push Auto focus" control. I would then move my left hand to the front pad of the shoulder mount to control any movement there. That worked out very well considering I was covering an uncontrolled event. The next time I shot in more controlled circumstances, I would dig those handles.
On a couple of instances though, I ended up following my central subject through a crowd, and hit people with the back end of the mount that sticks out a bit beyond the body. That was very much less than pleasant, considering I was glued to the small eyepiece on a PD-150.
Davdo, I don't own any of the footage I shot with this gizmo so far, but yeah, I will try to shoot some and post it. So far, I haven't been able to be as smooth as the footage they show on the website, and wouldn't be surprised if there weren't some post production shenanigans applied to that.
All in all, like I said, it has been a while since I have been so pleasantly surprised by such an inexpensive product. It is the best $70 I've spent in a while, though 70 bucks would buy a lot of beer... hummmm!!!.
 
Cranky said:
http://www.hdmom.com/forum/shoulder-handheld-supports/145548-shoulder-mount-xha1.html
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That is an excellent link Cranky. Thanks. I like some of the modifications shown there. That is one thing about this mount, with it being so inexpensive, there is very little "Pucker factor" when it comes to taking a drill to it to do some DIY modifications to make it better. To be clear though, I bought the thing because I was so sick and tired of coming home from long shoots and having to eat a handful of Motrin to get rid of the wrist and shoulder pain caused by trying to hand hold a handy-cam style camera for extended periods. So, my expectations were low. Anybody that thinks that this gizmo will replace a multiple thousand dollar camera stabilizer will be disappointed. That being said, I do look forward to using the thing in controlled settings and see what I can get it to do.
 
I've had one of these for a few years...put a QR on the end and never looked back. Can't beat it for the price!
 
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