Red Rock Micro Cobalt cage review

jaecjaec

I'm going to post some short thoughts of the Red Rock Micro cage for GoPro Hero 3 cameras.

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:

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

Here's what not good:

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.
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.

Tscheckoff

Hmm. Are there maybe slim cables fitting? (They normaly also have smaller / more compact plugs.)

jaecjaec

I've tried every sort of cable. There is negative clearance. Even a bare cable without casing would not fit.

Tscheckoff

Oh. Ok. From this angle it´s now clear that no cable is fitting. It´s definitely a design error. I hope that you will get a replacement cage. If you can keep this one -> Maybe try to cut out the part with the three closesest holes (to the middle of the holes should be enough). It´s aluminium - so it should be not THAT problematic. At least it´s usable then ... =/

jaecjaec

The folks at Red Rock micro took my old cages back, and sent me new ones. Apparently I must have received an early production model. The new one addressed the biggest flaw, which was access to the ports. As you can see, the new cage provides plenty of clearance. It also comes with a plastic cover for the front, and a gopro type mount base plate, both of which were not included previously. I still can't remove my gopro with a backpac without removing the four bottom screw, but not such an issue now that I can charge and remove the microSD card without having to take out the entire housing.

Thanks folks at Red Rock Micro.

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