Trying to build an ENG dsrl rig

[BFever]

I've been shooting on DVX100's, Sony z7u's, all the way to PMW200's and have not been able to figure out what's been missing from my dsrl rig until now. That hand grip.

A friend sent me a pic of his Edelkroen Modula 3 and I fell in love. That's exactly what I need, but I'm years too late for that. I'm including a pic for fun, but also reference for what I'm going for.

I found a strapped hand grip (pic also attached) that I think I can add to my railing system. It only attaches in one spot, instead of two, so I am not sold on its durability and how it will hold. I've seen great cages with handles but they don't have the hand strap.

Do any of you have suggestions? Other than wishing me well with continued wrist pain...

This is for my A7Sii, but the rig is from my time with the 5dmk2.

 

[Alex H.]

I have that Varavon handgrip and it is nice. I really don't like rigs that have cross-bars with dual handgrips. Those are just awkward for me.

I'd suggest getting a good shoulder pad and some counterweight (make sure your rails are long enough to put weight behind the shoulder). Don't bother with offset rigs, but I've also become a huge fan of my Kinotehnik LCDVFe. It's a solid viewfinder (if you don't need HD-SDI i/o, since it's HDMI only). I very much dislike trying to shoot with a field monitor in my face (see my avatar... not my favorite setup), but having an electronic VF puts the rig into a traditional ENG form factor, and adds one more point of contact for stability.

 

[BFever]

I have that Varavon handgrip and it is nice. I really don't like rigs that have cross-bars with dual handgrips. Those are just awkward for me.

I'd suggest getting a good shoulder pad and some counterweight (make sure your rails are long enough to put weight behind the shoulder). Don't bother with offset rigs, but I've also become a huge fan of my Kinotehnik LCDVFe. It's a solid viewfinder (if you don't need HD-SDI i/o, since it's HDMI only). I very much dislike trying to shoot with a field monitor in my face (see my avatar... not my favorite setup), but having an electronic VF puts the rig into a traditional ENG form factor, and adds one more point of contact for stability.

Thank you for such a great reply. I'm with you on that. I have a cheap 7" monitor that I was planning to get by with until I could upgrade to a SmallHD 502 and possibly the sidefinder. I do have a super old Hoodman but I dont think I'll be able to get my eyes behind the camera like that on a rig and it moves around too much. The SmallHD setup is expensive though...


As far as counterbalance, I do have a weight and a shoulderpad-maybe not the best one-but am wondering about hooking my zoom H6 and receiver(s) behind me to help with the weight. For now, I am looking to hold the audio gear in a pouch of sorts.

Thank you again, I will look into your Kinotehnik suggestion. Do you have a pic of your ideal setup?

 

[Alex H.]

Do you have a pic of your ideal setup?

Ideal? No. But I do have pics of my working kit. I sort of franken-rigged it to make it what I needed. There wasn't a full kit out there that both offered everything I needed with reliable quality and fit within my budget, so I did a lot of poking around to see what was inexpensive but solid. Some things I could get away with low-cost options, some not. The viewfinder monitor was easily more expensive than the entire rest of the kit, but worth the investment. Picture to follow (can't upload from iOS).

 

[Alex H.]

So, here's the breakdown:

I based my rig on this kit from Revo: Revo SR-1500.

The cross-bar with dual grips, as I mentioned, makes for awkward handling (in my opinion). So, I ditched those and added the Varavon ENG handgrip. This is great if you don't have a camera that needs a grip relocater for active controls.

The Revo comes with 22" rods. This may or may not be a problem, but I wanted to be able to break the kit down into a reasonably-sized case. The 22" rods were just a tad too long to fit in a case that wasn't otherwise way too big for the rest of the kit, so I replaced them with 18" rods. Rods are some of the cheapest parts to modify/upgrade/replace. I also got a Lanparte Height Raiser Clamp and two 4" rods. This adds back the length sacrificed by replacing the 22" rods, places the counterweights behind the shoulder, and allows for quick disassembly of the counterweight section.

Instead of mounting the camera straight to the camera block of the Revo rig, I've added a Manfrotto QR assembly. That also gives the camera a little more height off the rails for adjusting the FF and matte box, and for placing the hand grip.

For counterweights, I have found the best value on a tighter budget to be the Kamerar 3lb. counterweights. I have two of them.

If you want a good Follow Focus, I have the one mentioned some time back in THIS THREAD. The price has gone up just a tad ($119 vs. $99), but it is a solid FF. Get some real focus lens gears, though... the adjustable rubber strap version included with the FF is worthless.

And I have the D|Focus Systems D|Matte Complete. Not a bad kit, really. B&H had a Redrock Micro matte box as their Deal of the Day sometime last week for $349, and had that deal been offered when I bought the D|Matte I probably would have gone for the Redrock Micro instead. The D|Mattte, though, is a good value for the price, and it comes with nun's knickers instead of just foam donuts.

And, of course, the Kinotehnik LCDVFe.

Everything breaks down and stores nicely in a Pelican Storm iM2700. There's also room in there for a 4x4 filter wallet, a 5" field monitor and accessories, and AA battery charger and spare battery sled for the viewfinder.

 

[BFever]

So, here's the breakdown:

I based my rig on this kit from Revo: Revo SR-1500.

The cross-bar with dual grips, as I mentioned, makes for awkward handling (in my opinion). So, I ditched those and added the Varavon ENG handgrip. This is great if you don't have a camera that needs a grip relocater for active controls.

The Revo comes with 22" rods. This may or may not be a problem, but I wanted to be able to break the kit down into a reasonably-sized case. The 22" rods were just a tad too long to fit in a case that wasn't otherwise way too big for the rest of the kit, so I replaced them with 18" rods. Rods are some of the cheapest parts to modify/upgrade/replace. I also got a Lanparte Height Raiser Clamp and two 4" rods. This adds back the length sacrificed by replacing the 22" rods, places the counterweights behind the shoulder, and allows for quick disassembly of the counterweight section.

Instead of mounting the camera straight to the camera block of the Revo rig, I've added a Manfrotto QR assembly. That also gives the camera a little more height off the rails for adjusting the FF and matte box, and for placing the hand grip.

For counterweights, I have found the best value on a tighter budget to be the Kamerar 3lb. counterweights. I have two of them.

If you want a good Follow Focus, I have the one mentioned some time back in THIS THREAD. The price has gone up just a tad ($119 vs. $99), but it is a solid FF. Get some real focus lens gears, though... the adjustable rubber strap version included with the FF is worthless.

And I have the D|Focus Systems D|Matte Complete. Not a bad kit, really. B&H had a Redrock Micro matte box as their Deal of the Day sometime last week for $349, and had that deal been offered when I bought the D|Matte I probably would have gone for the Redrock Micro instead. The D|Mattte, though, is a good value for the price, and it comes with nun's knickers instead of just foam donuts.

And, of course, the Kinotehnik LCDVFe.

Everything breaks down and stores nicely in a Pelican Storm iM2700. There's also room in there for a 4x4 filter wallet, a 5" field monitor and accessories, and AA battery charger and spare battery sled for the viewfinder.

View attachment 116893View attachment 116894View attachment 116895View attachment 116896

Incredible post. Great stuff, thank you. I have a similar set up to the Revo kit. I'm still torn between the EVF or a SmallHD Sidefinder set up, as I could use a good quality monitor for other set ups. I'll share pics after the weekend. I love this set up!

 

[Alex H.]

I love this set up!

Thanks! My other intent when I worked it out was to make sure that it was not so specifically-designed for DSLR and would be able to work with other camera bodies (C-series) in the future.

The LCDVFe loupe does flip up. It also has HDMI loop, so another monitor can be daisy-chained off it.