XF300 shoulder rig

U

unknownraver

New member
G'day respected community...


This is my first post here on this forum and I would like to pick your brains a little.



I recently got myself the XF300 and would like to get a lightweight and compact shoulder rig for it. I have seen the Ikan EV2 Stealth rig that designed specifically for the XF300/305. I also have come across some nice looking shouolder pads and base plates by Lanparte and Tilta.



I would really appreciate any opinions and recommendations from this community.


Thanks in advance
 
G'day mate!

Are you in Oz?
If you want to try out some of the LanParte + Tilta rigs we've just brought some of the gear into Richmond (Melbourne).

Tilta is a bit of a pain to work with on the business side of things; they're really trying to screw us on price; no idea how the support is long-term but they certainly need to pivot their service if they are going to survive.
LanParte is much more what you expect; awesome support, great products and much better pricing... all important when they will replace your gear for free (and cover shipping) if something goes wrong... at least they do when I tell them to, haha.

Ikan is also not too bad; I'm not a fan of their follow focus but they have the right idea with the baseplate going on.
We had a tentative relationship a few months back but up until now haven't really felt that it's the right fit for our marketplace so didn't go much further with ordering samples into Oz.. so I'm not sure if there's anyone here with the gear available for more than rental.

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The biggest concern you are going to face with the setup from Ikan appears to be balance; I am a big believer of putting the shoulder mount directly under the larger cameras and use the battery pinch + battery at the back as a counter-balance... realistically you want to be able to take your hands off the rig and have it sit there; that is a well balanced rig.

With the shoulder mount at the back or just behind the rig, you all of a sudden move the pivot point backwards, this places all of the weight of both the camera and the handles directly onto your hands... the one that is only attached to one handle.
You'll find that the rig will tilt forward, will list to the right a bit more (unless you are death-gripping the handle!) and will all-around be not as nicely balanced.

Without that balance and something as big and heavy as the XF300, you're going to quickly wear yourself out and that will negatively affect your performance and subsequently the quality of your shots.

But by placing a shoulder mount directly underneath, you put the majority of the weight on your shoulders (which is a much more comfortable position), set the pivot point directly in the middle, and balance out the kit so that you don't need to hold onto it constantly. Then you can adjust for balance by moving the battery combo back and forth or adding things such as matte boxes onto the front (if and when you require them)

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At the same time, having that single handle stick out to the side is going to mean that your arm is not in a relaxed position.
That's fine for a couple of moments, but if you have to hold it constantly to stop the rig taking a fumble and hitting the ground then it's going to cause more trouble than it solves.

My suggestion would be to get a small offset mount and then thread an extra set of rails through and *then* attach a pair of decent handles.
This will bring them in front of your chest (instead of sticking out to the side like the Ikan design), which will square and reduce the twist on your hip and make you an all-round happier chap after a 12 hour shoot (and your back will thank you for it down the track!).

The added benefit of that approach is that you'll also be in a relaxed position when it comes time to gripping onto it, and the only downside is that you'll have slightly longer distance to cover before reaching the FF unit ... although I would say that it's negligible.

I'm out of the office for today but I'll be back in tomorrow morning. It's a super busy day, but if I get the chance I'll put together a couple of the rigs, take some photos and show you the differences between the approaches and why this way is far superior.

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I've had a few customers use the BMCC rig with this approach and the feedback so far has been awesome.

I'm a firm believer that ergonomics and balance trumps everything else.
 
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G'day Josh

Thanks for your informative feedback.

How unlucky am I....I just flew out from Melbourne 5 days ago. I had pre-ordered the Ikan Stealth rig from a dealer in South Melbourne but they only delivered the shoulder pad bit and Rig 1.jpg Rig 2.jpg

so I got a full refund. In a way I am glad that happened because after playing around with the pad, I felt it was not going to be very comfortable for extended periods.

I agree with you 101 % regarding the counter balance issue. That is the only way to go if one wants comfort. I made my own rig a month or so ago complete with counter weights. I have attached a couple of photos. The rig works a treat and it balances beautifully on my shoulder. The only thing is there are no adjustments available for positioning the camera.


Do you have website by any chance ?


Cheers.
 
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