...particularly in THAT thread.

For the price and delivery time there was nothing else that could meet the needs of the shoot that I was planning.P

You'll see on the rig I've got the follwing:

1. Camera
2. TL-MR3040 Portable Battery-Powered router (Give ANY Canon DSLR wifi... muahahahaha!)
3. Magic Arm
4. My Samsung Galaxy S II (Portable 5" monitor? Doesn't get any more portable than my PHONE... with DSLRController of course.)
5. Rode NTG2 (not pictured)
6. Sony PCM-M10 (also not pictured... usually in my pocket)

My kit features counter-weight, C-Cage, and quick-release plate. As well as a top handle.

I seriously don't recommend getting any Veedion rig WITHOUT a quick-release plate. The way the normal mounting bracket works I had to take half the thing apart using an allen key to even get the quick-release installed. If you bought the kit in the link above, then you're looking at an eternal nightmare whenever you want to move your camera. The kit that I bought is the only one I saw, that they have, that comes with this quick-release. So keep that in mind.

The quick-release itself is the cheapest I've ever seen (and, so-far, I've bought nothing BUT cheap camera equipment... besides my elinchroms...) and that's saying a lot. Even on my cheap little tripod you see the quick release is made out of metal. But the one that came with my Veedion is made out of plastic. Sturdy-enough plastic... to be sure... but I'll be looking to replace that plate with something metal the very first chance I get.

Other than those two minor hiccups the rig is quite solid... once you've tuned it. The first two things you'll notice if you buy one are two little keychain-like devices on the ends of each handlebar. I simply unscrewed those and threw them back in the box because they rattled whenever I moved. The next thing is that the bar itself seemed a little unstable for my tastes so I had to tighten it. The Veedion came with a tool for adjusting the mounting bracket, but I needed a different size to adjust the bar for the handle bars. Fortunately I just happened to have a complete set of allen keys laying around.

Once I got everything tightened up the rig was solid.

Like I said the main reasons for me getting this rig were the Quick-release and the counter-weight. The counter-weight really turned out to be a non-issue because it isn't nearly heavy enough to be effective. That said it's better than having nothing there and I think people that buy a multi-rail system like this without any counterweight at all are going to be at a horrible disadvantage.

Overall though I'm pleased with the rig. The purpose of getting the C-Box is to have the handle and extra rails which comes in REALLY handy. That handle at the top is SO much better than the two on the handlebar that I'd love to replace those two with two just like the one on top. But that will have to wait because my next purchase would probably be their excellent follow focus and so-so mattebox.

It's definitely not top of the line... but I was determined to not have a blue DSLR rig... for the money I could find nothing that wouldn't be shipped from Korea. I live in Germany, my rig shipped from Camberly, and I got it overnight. Absolutely the fastest shipping I've ever had for something this big in my entire life, and the customer service was wonderful.

Taking the shoddy quick-release into account, I would give this rig 3/5.

Price: $75

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Gopro-Cage-New-Gopro-Accessories-Gocage-for-Gopro-HD-Hero2-and-Hero3-CNC-Made-Golden-Color/1794789625.html

Cage with handle

Price: $67

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-New-Aluminum-Alloy-Handheld-Monopod-HandGrip-With-GoPro-Action-Camera-Cage-For-Gopro-Hero-3/1707835506.html

Besides the camera these are the elements I'm also looking to purchase

Metabones Speedbooster for Nikon lenses (Is the RJ Focal Reducer good enough for paid gigs? This is the most expensive purchase after the camera)

Hontoo BMPCC cage http://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgraded-Version-BMPCC-Cage-Rig-For-BlackMagic-Pocket-Cinema-Camera-2x-Rod-/181378889523?_trksid=p2054897.l5663

IndiPro Power Grid & XLR Audio Box: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1035931-REG/indipro_tools_pasonybmp_power_grid_for_blackmagic.html

Storage - Sandisk 64gb x 3

Monitor - Feelworld monitor

P&C Shoulder Pad

I already have a ton of sony batteries, rig handles, monitor mount and extra 15mm rods if needed.

Does this set up make sense for anyone how has experience with the BMPCC? I feel like this rig would address all the known issues. Sensor size (I have Nikon primes, not looking to buy new lenses), battery life (read single Sony L battery could give me 5 hours), audio issues, etc

I want to be cost effective as possible but also want to make sure I'm not forgetting something or if I could get the same thing for cheaper somewhere else.

Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I just acquired a Steadicam Merlin (first edition) for a very good price and I'm having some trouble balancing it.

On the website they have "recipes" for the gh1 and gh2 which are similar enough to each other, but the GH3 is a totally different body shape and weight and is proving to be quite difficult to find the sweet spot.

Available now.

Price: $349
Shipping: Price includes shipping for US/Canada/UK/Australia&NZ/Western Europe. Contact for any other regions.
I want to buy this cage.

I really want to have a handle on top of my rig. And would love to have it shoot at slightly low angles when on shoulder. At the same time, I hate those bulky rigs that make a tiny GH1 or GH2 into an Alexa size. So I decided that I need a cage for my GH1, which will soon become GH2 or GH3. After battling with some DIY builts, I think I'd just buy a cheap cage. The problem is that cheap cages for GH1 or GH2 are difficult to find. I'm even considering buying this and cutting off one of the rods on the left to allow for my GH1's flip out screen/viewfinder.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DSLR-Camera-Cage-Holder-w-Standard-15mm-Rod-for-Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-II-7D-/400358630146 Can anyone post links where I can buy a GH1, GH2, GH3 cage for circa $100 ?

Available on our deals:

1. Complete rig (see included items in post below) price - $1010, as usual includes free shipping to US/CA/W. Europe/AU/NZ
2. Same rig, but not including case - $965, same free shipping
3. Follow focus - $235, same free shipping

Send me personal message (on the left column at http://www.personal-view.com/talks/profile/1/Vitaliy_Kiselev ) if you want to purchase any item here.

In early December I decided to start looking into macro photography more after seeing a blog from a russian photographer who shot snowflakes in his backyard with a point-and-shoot camera.

I had looked at expensive macro lenses and then came across another way to make your own!

Everyone has seen old Canon EF lenses around the 28-80 or the 35-80mm kit lenses?

Well if you remove the front glass element, your lens becomes a fixed focus, multi focal length macro lens!

Here is a blog post from my brand new website showcasing how I do my macro shots and my best ones are near the end of the blog! Have a look through if you have time and let me know what you think!

http://www.tylerknight.ca/snowflake-macro-photography/

So far, I have mainly been shooting music videos, using either a tripod or a jib. The main things that I want ASAP are an external monitor (probably the Neway in PV deals), and a follow focus (Fotga 500 in PV deals). I'll add a matte box later.

My question is whether I should get a base with rails or a cage for a starting point? Ideally, I'd be able to eventually build it into a shoulder rig too, but that is not the immediate priority.

The Fhugen Cage for the GH3 is on sale for $99 at the moment

If I get a cage, what is the best way to add rails for a follow focus, and later matte box? Should the cage go onto a base such as the ones in the Fotga section: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/5942/fotga-dp500-camera-bases/p1

Thanks in advance,

_OZ

My idea was to get the camera, where bigger cameras should be, on top of my shoulder. This would mean the camera controls would be in back of ear and not useable. Lens control would be difficult but it always is in with a rig. I can reach it but not without some shake or a focus puller. It would also mean I had to get a monitor in front of my face.

the right side of my face is flush with the side of the camera. So one handle went to the top of the cage and I used an angled sdi cable.

I will be doing reviews of each piece of this rig soon. They are: Lilliput 663S sdi 720p 7" monitor Gini Rig Bmcc cage Lanparte Magic arm 2 smallrig qr handle lanparte shoulder pad with vmount and baseplate.

All this was far less than the price of a full lanparte or tilde rig. You have to have a monitor or evf with bmcc.

I am about to pull the trigger on one of these but first wanted to see if anyone here has used one before. It looks pretty solid and I like the depth of the shoulder mount, though it puts the camera out away from the shooter's body a little more than I would like, but the spring pole should help make that workable.

The thing that I am most curious about is whether counterweighting for balance and then removing the spring pole might make it suitable for walking shots.

Has anyone tried this?

They make customized solutions for BMCC, Sony F5/F55, SOny F700 and other cameras.

The way we were using the "Beginner's Rig" was different than typical shoulder rig. The camera operator often pressed the shoulder padding into her stomach or chest area, and that combined with 2 hands on the handles, gave us 3 points of contact for stability. I needed to replicate that. What you'll see in the picture below is the final Weightless Rig, which I covered with black gaffers tape. It consists of 3 parts: a cheap quick release plate ($7 on amazon.com), a sponge typically used for painting ($3 at Home Depot), and 2 round/cylindrical wooden sticks ($2 at Home Depot). I tied the sticks to the bottom of the quick release plate with duck tape. I then used scissors to cut holes in the sponge and inserted the sticks. Then taped everything with gaffers tape. The whole thing weighs maybe a 1/2 pound max, and really worked to give us stable shots without adding any weight that a rig typically does with it's metal parts.

I'm sure we're not the first to do something like this, but I hadn't seen anything like it, and thought it might help someone who needs something really super lightweight for stabilizing shots. Hope this is helpful.

Ordering something like this online can be so sketchy because pictures and even the supplied dimensions from manufacturers can be deceiving to say the least. Any recommendaton would be greatly appreciated.

I ordered 2 cages directly from the company with a specific project in mind. After enduring delay after delay, we missed our deadline. So here I am with 2 new Cobalt cages, so I figure I'd have plenty of time to test them out.

Here's what's good about the cage:

1. Very sturdy.
2. Lots of 1/4 x 20 mounting options
3. Tight, confident fit.

Here's what not good:

1. The USB/HDMI ports are useless. Not sure how they can even advertise using a mic on their website. Take a look at the picture. No space to plug in any cables.

2. If you plan on using an LCD bac pac it's a pain in the ass. Only way to get the case inside the cage is to completely remove the bottom plate. 4 small screws that you're likely to lose. The LCD will eat up battery like crazy. Without access to the USB port to charge the battery or to hang an external battery to, it's impractical.

I've contacted Red Rock regarding these issues and have yet to hear back. I guess overall I like the cage. But I don't think it works as advertised.

Chris:)

I don't have a picture here but we power the reciever and monitor with portable 12v battery. All of our shooting for this film was outdoors with no AC.

Yes thats a bear in the backround.

Bracket with handle 2

Simple handle 1

Simple handles 2