FS7: The new Smallrig 1993 FS7 mic clamp

B

bengiles

Well-known member
I've been helping Smallrig with their new 15mm rod clamp mounted mic holder (1993) and I've just received a sample from them. The original Sony mic holder is one of the FS7's weak bits of plastic crap, so I think this could be a popular fix.

The pics below show the original and the new Smallrig. With an 18-110 lens and with the mic mount upside down, an AT875R sits neatly without touching anything, while clearing the Sony OE lens hood.

The handling noise on the Smallrig is similar to the OE, as long as you don't clamp it too firmly - the clamping nut on the side allows you to dial in just the right trade-off between rigidity and microphony.

Overall, I think it's a goodun. It's a lot tougher than the original, made from anodized aluminium with rubber dampers - it's certainly a lot simpler than the over complex plastic original. It will slip on and off the 15mm rod, whether you have the OE Sony EVF rods or another configuration - I'm using the Gratical Eye, so the EVF rod clamp on my FS7 handle is just used for mic mounting, with a quick release clamping handle underneath.

Ben.

Matobo Smallrig Mic Clamp 1993.jpg
 
Ben - thanks for posting / sharing. Can't tell much from the pics, however. A few questions - when will this be available for purchase? And how does it "slip" on & off the original VF rod of the FS7I - just one screw to clamp...? Or is it similar to original sony p.o.s clamp with the two little screws?
 
markfpv said:
Ben - thanks for posting / sharing. Can't tell much from the pics, however. A few questions - when will this be available for purchase? And how does it "slip" on & off the original VF rod of the FS7I - just one screw to clamp...? Or is it similar to original sony p.o.s clamp with the two little screws?
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Available now, I think, for $49: https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-universal-shotgun-microphone-mount-1993.html

One screw to clamp onto the rod - probably clearer on the Smallrig website shots.

Ben.
 
I pre-ordered it when I saw it on the website, I've had it for a couple of weeks now and it looks pretty cool, I just haven't tried it out yet!!! :shocked:
 
bengiles said:
I've been helping Smallrig with their new 15mm rod clamp mounted mic holder (1993) and I've just received a sample from them. The original Sony mic holder is one of the FS7's weak bits of plastic crap, so I think this could be a popular fix.

The pics below show the original and the new Smallrig. With an 18-110 lens and with the mic mount upside down, an AT875R sits neatly without touching anything, while clearing the Sony OE lens hood.

The handling noise on the Smallrig is similar to the OE, as long as you don't clamp it too firmly - the clamping nut on the side allows you to dial in just the right trade-off between rigidity and microphony.

Overall, I think it's a goodun. It's a lot tougher than the original, made from anodized aluminium with rubber dampers - it's certainly a lot simpler than the over complex plastic original. It will slip on and off the 15mm rod, whether you have the OE Sony EVF rods or another configuration - I'm using the Gratical Eye, so the EVF rod clamp on my FS7 handle is just used for mic mounting, with a quick release clamping handle underneath.

Ben.

View attachment 132187
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That looks great, Ben. And hopefully it will cost less than the $129.00 I paid for the one from "BPM", plus international shipping.

BPM_MEDIA.jpg


Have I shown you guys yet how I mounted a Wooden Camera push-button rosette to my Fs7's aftermarket camera handle? No? Pics coming.
 
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JPNola said:
That looks great, Ben. And hopefully it will cost less than the $129.00 I paid for the one from "BPM", plus international shipping.

View attachment 132279


Have I shown you guys yet how I mounted a Wooden Camera push-button rosette to my Fs7's aftermarket camera handle? No? Pics coming.
Click to expand...

I have the BPM and really like it. As for the Wooden Camera push button rosette, be careful with it. I preordered one and was using it on the FS7 with the FS7’s arm and it failed during a very important shoot. What happened was the rosette eventually started to slip and lose its place, causing the arm to fling upward and the camera to drop. Dang near dropped it into the ocean because of this. I sent it back to Wooden Camera and got a replacement, but I can’t get myself to trust it anymore.
 
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Joshua Milligan said:
I have the BPM and really like it. As for the Wooden Camera push button rosette, be careful with it. I preordered one and was using it on the FS7 with the FS7’s arm and it failed during a very important shoot. What happened was the rosette eventually started to slip and lose its place, causing the arm to fling upward and the camera to drop. Dang near dropped it into the ocean because of this. I sent it back to Wooden Camera and got a replacement, but I can’t get myself to trust it anymore.
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Well that's not good. However, I am using it between a wood grip handle and a rosette bridge mounted on the iris rods / matte box rails. So were it to slip the worst that would happen is that the grip would rotate. I'm not using any arm so there is no arm to fling upward. For the arm I have the Shape push-button adapter, for the few times that I use the arm at all.


Was the failure actually in the push-button mechanism or was it that the adapter slipped where it was mounted to something else? Was the slippage within the adapter itself? Sorry to doubt your claim of a product failure, but seeing as I own the product I know that mounting it properly can be tricky and I would not want the product to be unfairly labeled as prone to failure. Did WC acknowledge that it failed or did you just take their sending you a replacement as acknowledgement that it failed? Because the way things work the product makers like WC with friendly customer service will just send you a replacement even if the product did not fail. Easier to just send you a new one than question you and get into whether or not the product did indeed fail. They'll replace a perfectly working product and just be done with it.
 
The push button rosette failed within the adapter. It wasn't where the adapter was mounted. The adapter was mounted as solid as a rock as was holding the arm great. What happened was the internal mechanisms slipped, letting the adapter rotate freely until it caught again in a different position. So say I was holding the camera with my grip positioned just below the the camera; at certain points it would suddenly slip and the entire grip and arm would fling upward until it caught in the next position or two, which would be at camera height or even above it.

Wooden Camera acknowledged the failure to the point that they personally "tested" the other one before shipping it to me, but I have yet to try it for fear of that happening again, because when it did happen, I nearly lost my entire rig. I was out on a boat filming when it happened and therefore had to try to keep using it for the rest of the shoot because I had no choice. I would press the button and position the arm back to where I had it and then go back to shooting. Not long later it would slip again and fling the arm back up. It was terrible and ruined numerous shots. This was very frustrating because I loved the push button rosette, but I'm afraid of it now.
 
Joshua Milligan said:
The push button rosette failed within the adapter. It wasn't where the adapter was mounted. The adapter was mounted as solid as a rock as was holding the arm great. What happened was the internal mechanisms slipped, letting the adapter rotate freely until it caught again in a different position. So say I was holding the camera with my grip positioned just below the the camera; at certain points it would suddenly slip and the entire grip and arm would fling upward until it caught in the next position or two, which would be at camera height or even above it.

Wooden Camera acknowledged the failure to the point that they personally "tested" the other one before shipping it to me, but I have yet to try it for fear of that happening again, because when it did happen, I nearly lost my entire rig. I was out on a boat filming when it happened and therefore had to try to keep using it for the rest of the shoot because I had no choice. I would press the button and position the arm back to where I had it and then go back to shooting. Not long later it would slip again and fling the arm back up. It was terrible and ruined numerous shots. This was very frustrating because I loved the push button rosette, but I'm afraid of it now.
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Thanks for that elaboration. I can see why it now has you spooked.

I suggest you go with the Shape push-putton arm if you want easy adjustment of the position of the stock Sony control-grip arm. The Shape arm is widely used on many tv productions and is known to be dependable. And it is easier to depress that large button on the Shape product than depress the tiny little trigger-lever on the Wooden Camera product.

As for the Wooden Camera QR rosette adapter that went south on you, maybe that was just a fluke and they will improve the quality control. Chrosziel had a bad run of VCT plates when that product was first released. They've since corrected the issue.

My father had a personal rule to never purchase the first year of any new model vehicle, the thinking being that you wait until the product has been out longer and they have sorted any initial issues or failures. You let other customers be the "guinea pigs".

Generally speaking, Wooden Camera products are of good quality, in my experience.
 
Joshua Milligan said:
I have the BPM and really like it. As for the Wooden Camera push button rosette, be careful with it. I preordered one and was using it on the FS7 with the FS7’s arm and it failed during a very important shoot. What happened was the rosette eventually started to slip and lose its place, causing the arm to fling upward and the camera to drop. Dang near dropped it into the ocean because of this. I sent it back to Wooden Camera and got a replacement, but I can’t get myself to trust it anymore.
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Interesting and good to know. I've been using my Shape extension arm since a few weeks after the FS7 was released, and never experienced that sort of slippage. Interesting though, as I was running up and down tight stairs with the rig a lot last week, and the possibility of that sort of failure entered my mind a couple of times.

One thing that might be worth thinking about is to do with the mechanism for that red button. AFAIK the button itself is threaded, and the loading spring for the mechanism is actually compressed by that thread. I can imagine a situation where the button becomes gradually un-threaded, reducing the pressure on the spring. This would eventually lead to slippage of the sort you mentioned. I see this as a shortcoming of the design, because there would be hardly any signs that the button was un-threading (other than reduced spring-back pressure on the button), perhaps until it was too late.

As a result of this observation, I have developed a nervous tic of frequently rotating the button clockwise to check its tight during breaks in shooting! :)

Just my ten cents, hoping to help avoid camer-over-board situations for others in future!

Cheers,

jason
 
JPNola said:
I suggest you go with the Shape push-putton arm if you want easy adjustment of the position of the stock Sony control-grip arm. The Shape arm is widely used on many tv productions and is known to be dependable. And it is easier to depress that large button on the Shape product than depress the tiny little trigger-lever on the Wooden Camera product.
Click to expand...

Hey JPNola. I've actually had the Shape arm for over two years, but picked up the Wooden Camera Push Button Rosette because I didn't like how far the Shape arm moved the handgrip outward, away from the camera body. It always felt awkward to me because I like for the grip to be as close to the camera and lens as possible. For me, this balances the camera much better and makes it feel better in the hand, more like what a on-lens grip would be. When using the Push Button Rosette with Sony's original arm, it moved the grip back toward the camera by an inch or more, which was much better. But since it slipped so easily, I don't feel comfortable with it anymore. Plus, even the new one they sent me has play in it, which the Shape arm never had.

I've since picked up a FS7 MK II and with it I tried Zacuto's Zgrip Trigger which hugs the camera closer than the Shape arm did. Not by a ton, but by enough. It's not as great as the Push Button Rosette would've been, but it works well enough.
 
Joshua Milligan said:
Hey JPNola. I've actually had the Shape arm for over two years, but picked up the Wooden Camera Push Button Rosette because I didn't like how far the Shape arm moved the handgrip outward, away from the camera body. It always felt awkward to me because I like for the grip to be as close to the camera and lens as possible. For me, this balances the camera much better and makes it feel better in the hand, more like what a on-lens grip would be. When using the Push Button Rosette with Sony's original arm, it moved the grip back toward the camera by an inch or more, which was much better. But since it slipped so easily, I don't feel comfortable with it anymore. Plus, even the new one they sent me has play in it, which the Shape arm never had.

I've since picked up a FS7 MK II and with it I tried Zacuto's Zgrip Trigger which hugs the camera closer than the Shape arm did. Not by a ton, but by enough. It's not as great as the Push Button Rosette would've been, but it works well enough.
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If you are willing to give up the Sony control grip you can certainly achieve a grip position close to the lens by going with a simple wooden grip mounted to the rails via a crossover with a rosette. That is what I did. To REC stop / start I hit the REC button on the left side of the camera body using my left hand. For functions such as image MAG I also use my left hand and the control buttons on the left side of the camera body.

I was going to also recommend you try out the ZGrip. Glad to see you already have and are finding it adequate.
 
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