FX6: The Sony ILME-FX6V Owners Club
- Thread starter Ben Scott
- Start date
broughtonfilm
Well-known member
I asked IDX this question few days ago via Amazon. Here is their answer:
My next question was regarding the alleged issues with Sony cameras described on XDCAM-USER but not surprisingly they never responded. IDX System Technology is the merchant.
Doug Jensen
Carbonite Member
You're either joking or out of your mind. There is no way that abomination is less clunky that the Z-Finder. I don't even see how the FX6 LCD could support that weight properly.
Doug Jensen
Carbonite Member
Doug Jensen
Carbonite Member
broughtonfilm
Well-known member
Is the finder attached to the right side of the handle with a bracket / arm?
Doug Jensen
Carbonite Member
In those pictures, yes, because I was experimenting with a different configuration. But normally it attaches to the same rosette that you would use on the front of the handle.
drboffa
Well-known member
I was being somewhat facetious.
That said, I would love something more amenable to keeping things small and light. Your setup looks great for building the FX6 up, and isn't too dissimilar from how I built up my Fs5 for shoulder work. But it wasn't ideal for a lot of my handheld shooting (as great as it is for shoulder work).
The FS7 loupe isn't really any better, of course, given its size. And I can't imagine the FX6 supporting it, as you note.
From what I recall, one of the biggest issues I had with the Z-Finder on the Fs5 was the extra support didn't allow for easy folding down. I.e., if I wanted to go back to a small, easily transportable setup (something I could throw in a bag and pull out ready to go) I had to remove the Zacuto mounting bracket and refit the original Sony/SmallRig mount for the LCD. But maybe I wasn't being creative enough in how I had it set up, or simply needed a slightly bigger bag.
broughtonfilm
Well-known member
Yea, like I said, it worked for my vision (the image was a bit blurry when the device was at its normal distance, moving it away actually corrected that), there's also probably some variation in how deep we were able to stuff the loupe into the Sony hood. I had no idea this Kamerar was aluminum, I thought it was plastic. Again, it's just a hack, I was not taking it seriously. I'm sorry if I got your hopes up high.
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Ben Scott
Veteran
Brilliant thank you.
Grug
Veteran
My Z-finder and Wooden Camera top-plate/PL bracket have finally arrived, and after an inordinate amount of stuffing around, I think I've pretty much finalised my A-camera build.
I have never in my LIFE had a harder time putting a camera rig together though! The damned thing is so tiny, it really does require a lot of precision to get everything to fit. I've already had some custom SDI cables made for it, and I've had a machinist drill out and re-tap some 1/4"-20 holes on my Hawk-Woods battery plate, so that (with a different 15mm LWS clamp that's currently en route from China) I'll be able to mount the plate flush with the back of the camera, and the DTAP ports will be able to sit recessed within the battery cavity of the camera:
What's craziest of all, is that this full studio build-out (with 19mm studio baseplate, wireless FIZ (well... F in this case), wireless video, external raw recording, loupe, full Arri viewfinder bracketry, and a Panavision-style top handle - all comes in at just 8.5kg!
That's wild.
Like 4kg lighter than the lightest (comparably-featured) build I've ever built in the past, wild.
And if I strip off the extensions for the top handle, and take the camera off the studio baseplate (and just use the 15mm LWS one), which only takes about 20 seconds with this build, I'm suddenly down to just 7.5kg for the full rig. Just incredible. I can feel my spine smiling at me, every time I simply pick the camera up.
I have never in my LIFE had a harder time putting a camera rig together though! The damned thing is so tiny, it really does require a lot of precision to get everything to fit. I've already had some custom SDI cables made for it, and I've had a machinist drill out and re-tap some 1/4"-20 holes on my Hawk-Woods battery plate, so that (with a different 15mm LWS clamp that's currently en route from China) I'll be able to mount the plate flush with the back of the camera, and the DTAP ports will be able to sit recessed within the battery cavity of the camera:
What's craziest of all, is that this full studio build-out (with 19mm studio baseplate, wireless FIZ (well... F in this case), wireless video, external raw recording, loupe, full Arri viewfinder bracketry, and a Panavision-style top handle - all comes in at just 8.5kg!
That's wild.
Like 4kg lighter than the lightest (comparably-featured) build I've ever built in the past, wild.
And if I strip off the extensions for the top handle, and take the camera off the studio baseplate (and just use the 15mm LWS one), which only takes about 20 seconds with this build, I'm suddenly down to just 7.5kg for the full rig. Just incredible. I can feel my spine smiling at me, every time I simply pick the camera up.
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Grug
Veteran
The last step (at this stage) is to take a Dremel to the shoulder strap bracket at the rear of Sony's top handle, and file that away - at present it partially blocks the 3/8" hole on the rear of the WC top plate that I'm using to attach the Arri viewfinder bracketry.
Once that is sorted, I'll be able to simply switch out the top handles as needed (for occasions where I need to feed sound into the camera), and it'll become relatively painless to move from "production" to "run-n-gun" build - since everything else will be mounted off the top plate and side-handle mounting holes.