@MRfanny

Just remember that they are being made not by one factory, so knockoffs are also different.

Like others, I'm really tempted by the clones, but Edelkrone seems to be a company that's really thinking of new things and bringing them to market, and for that they deserve our support. It would be sad to see an innovative company like Edelkrone driven under by companies stealing their intellectual property. As creators of intellectual property ourselves, we should be more sensitive to the issue.

@tinyrobot No sir, I have not tried handles with it, but I don't think they will help with the walking while shooting part. You need weight on your shoulders for that, and the Pocket Rig design just won't give you that. But, if you're going to stand still, I don't think you'll need any handles (I'd recommend one if you're using a follow focus). It does a pretty good job at this as it is.

I wanted to give a little review of the Pocket Rig, for anyone who might stumble upon this thread in the future.

Let me start off by saying that the shipment took way too long. While the Edelkrone page does state a "Shipping in 3 weeks" policy, I didn't think they would take it so literaly. The Rig took a whole month to ship and another week for DHL to deliver it. (I live in Colombia, btw). It arrived only three days ago.

Now, as for the Rig: I am quite satisfied with it. It is quite sturdy, well constructed and quite heavier than I expected. I have it attached to a GH2 and it feels reasuringly heavy, and it helps quite a lot with the whole stabilizing thing (which is mainly what we all would buy this for). However, i also feel like it might be a little too heavy if you plan to carry the camera around your neck for a long period of time, so beware.

This rig will most definitely not work for shooting while walking, but it is quite useful for handheld standing-still footage. There's just no weight at all on one's shoulders for it to stabilize the footage while walking. I know it seems a little obvious, but I just wanted to point it out.

Now, regarding two issues I had read about on this thread:

1. Breathing while shooting: Yes, placing the chest pad on your chest will cause breathing to move the camera. Even your heart beat might become an issue (A small one, though). For this, I recommend placing the Pad as close to shoulder as possible, extending the Stick as far as it will go and breathing through your diaphragm (belly). It also helps to use a lens with IS, of course (I have yet to try a fully manual lens with the Rig).

2. Metallic chest pad: I had read that some of the early versions of the rig had fully metallic chest pads and that a rubber padding was needed. Well, it has it now. There are now two rubber surfaces on both parts of the chest piece. They do help a little with keeping the rig in place, but it's still not enough for when trying to do a Jib-like movement with it: It always slides either up or down when reaching maximum/minimum altitude, and it's a little cumbersome. Putting the Chest piece on bare skin might actually help a lot with this, as the rubber-skin contact makes it more difficult for it to slide, so consider shooting shirt-less (And I'm only half kidding with this).

Still, none of these are a huge issue.

For me, the only deal breaker this product has is the price. 339 dollars was, for me, a little pricey, but, due to import taxes, what I paid rose up to 439 dollars. While it is a good product, it is definitely not worth all that. Edelkrone needs urgently to have a deal with a US company to ship to the Americas, while either keeping the prices as they are or lowering them a little (Not like they did when they had this deal with SmallHD and the Rig was 500+ Dollars)

So, would I recomend this product for what it is? Yes. It is compact, well constructed (It might have one or two loose pieces when it ships, but it's nothing a little tightening with the included tool won't solve) and gets the job done.

Would I recomend it for the price? Only if you absolutely need a very, very compact rigging solution that doesn't need much space in your backpack. Otherwise, the answer would be no.

Also, let me know how those Clone Rigs stack up. They might give Edelkrone a run for their money.

Do the clones have the option to put the rods 90 degrees downward, to serve as handles?

You can see the hex nuts on the chinese copy. Probably does tighten down. It's the weakness with the whole concept though, not just the copy. Have to tighten regularly. Always have to wonder what shortcomings the copy has from the original in these situations too. Anyone done a real comparison?

I also have to wonder how a company like Fotodiox, which has an established reputation, can make such a clear copy. Didn't Edelkrone protect their design by patent?

@Zaz

Thanks for the tips - and whoa thought I was watching Donnie Darko there for a second...lol

Even more cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Shoulder-Pad-Stabilizer-Tripod-For-Single-Double-Handgrip-Follow-Focus-5D2-/171011521152

@PCortacans great find. returning on amazon is hassle free. i am getting one.

thats just crazy cheap. well worth the buy on a budget.

Had my pocket rig for a month and like it quite a bit. The light weight means you have to rely on additional points of contact for stability. Knowing that and not expecting full rig performance.... it is truly cool. I keep it on my camera and it fits in my bag, as is. I have a couple of handles in the bag and they make it doable, in my opinion.

Using the view finder and creating 4 points, it does a great job. The best thing is the ability to whip it out of a bag and go to town. I am about to do a traveling corporate video and will keep it on me for easy b-roll footage and as a back up to the main GH2 rig.

Actually I personally never use that 'monopod' mode. But the hinge for me is quite butch after tightening that allen screw. The overall build quality on my unit is quite good, but I find the knobs to be pretty cheap in comparison.