Michael Male
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2006
- Messages
- 86
- Reaction score
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- Age
- 71
- Location
- East Coast, USA
- Website
- www.birdfilms.com
Hello,
Here is a modification I've made to my RED that might be of interest to others, though my requirements are somewhat specific.
I often shoot natural history subjects with a long lens (Canon 150-600mm) using an underweight tripod head (the discontinued Sacthler Panorama which is comparable to the present Video 18.) I generally work solo or with just a sound recordist, so I play the line between what I can move around with quickly, gathering shots that might otherwise be missed, and what gets too shaky. When I have the luxury of time, helping hands, short hikes, or if the wind is howling, I do use a bigger tripod. When the camera in my kit was an Aaton I had the balance between "easy to move," and stability well sorted, but the different structure of a RED ONE set up was putting things over the edge for me more frequently. The very nicely made Red Drive/Battery Cradle certainly allows for a wide range of weight distribution but I felt the need to get weight, and center of gravity, down as low as possible.
See the pictures for my attempt at customizing. I generally don't have to impress clients with the look of my gear, so "jury rigged" isn't a problem for me as long as it works. I am hoping to make this set up function for handheld use as well. I think the flat base of the Red will be OK on the shoulder. A light weight right hand front grip (with a record/stop record switch) that doesn't protrude beneath the camera (so it's possible to set the camera down easily) would be nice.
For long lens support I've been using my old Arri 15mm bridge plate. For the EVF I find that the Red Arm with a couple of big washers placed between it and the EVF works surprisingly well (as an early EVF owner suggested on Reduser.)
Notes:
The aluminum sheet metal parts were salvaged off the transformer housing from a junked Magnatech 4000 recorder/dubber (still hanging around from our film editing days.) The salvaged metal was already anodized and pre-bent in a way that worked for my design. A metal shop could easily put some clean bends in sheet metal otherwise. A hacksaw and an electric hand drill were the tools used for modifications. The battery mount and Drive "hanger" are from the Red Cradle. To save weight (8 oz.) I didn't retain the steel backing plate that is inside the Red battery mount.
I have screwed two puffs of closed cell foam to the sheet metal behind the Drive, and hung the Drive side bracket (from the RED Cradle) with rubber washers to provide some shock protection. The Drive slides onto the bracket from the back of the camera. Once the drive cable is attached it can't slide back, and off. The elastic strap, secured with velcro, keeps the Drive tight against the foam puffs. There is space around the Drive for ventilation.
As you can see in the pictures, I've made a hole in the sheet metal for access to the headphone jack.
The battery release lever is easy to get to in the space between mag. and battery.
The sheet metal and battery mount does however prevent access to the mini BNC /SDI jacks. This is not a problem for me at the moment as I'm not monitoring while shooting. The ET breakout box could be used (in the space behind the sheet metal) to gain access to the outputs at the back of the camera.
The advantages of this arrangement for me are:
Saves some weight.
Gets the weight of the battery lower and in a position to help balance the weight of the EVF.
Provides rigid protection to the cable connections at the back of camera.
Allows me to carefully rest the camera on its back end when needed, to make adjusting long lens supports easier.
The bulge of the battery on the side provides some protection to the viewfinder cable connection when I strap the camera (with mounted, fully supported lens) into the back seat of a vehicle, or lay it on it's side.
All the Best,
Michael Male
Here is a modification I've made to my RED that might be of interest to others, though my requirements are somewhat specific.
I often shoot natural history subjects with a long lens (Canon 150-600mm) using an underweight tripod head (the discontinued Sacthler Panorama which is comparable to the present Video 18.) I generally work solo or with just a sound recordist, so I play the line between what I can move around with quickly, gathering shots that might otherwise be missed, and what gets too shaky. When I have the luxury of time, helping hands, short hikes, or if the wind is howling, I do use a bigger tripod. When the camera in my kit was an Aaton I had the balance between "easy to move," and stability well sorted, but the different structure of a RED ONE set up was putting things over the edge for me more frequently. The very nicely made Red Drive/Battery Cradle certainly allows for a wide range of weight distribution but I felt the need to get weight, and center of gravity, down as low as possible.
See the pictures for my attempt at customizing. I generally don't have to impress clients with the look of my gear, so "jury rigged" isn't a problem for me as long as it works. I am hoping to make this set up function for handheld use as well. I think the flat base of the Red will be OK on the shoulder. A light weight right hand front grip (with a record/stop record switch) that doesn't protrude beneath the camera (so it's possible to set the camera down easily) would be nice.
For long lens support I've been using my old Arri 15mm bridge plate. For the EVF I find that the Red Arm with a couple of big washers placed between it and the EVF works surprisingly well (as an early EVF owner suggested on Reduser.)
Notes:
The aluminum sheet metal parts were salvaged off the transformer housing from a junked Magnatech 4000 recorder/dubber (still hanging around from our film editing days.) The salvaged metal was already anodized and pre-bent in a way that worked for my design. A metal shop could easily put some clean bends in sheet metal otherwise. A hacksaw and an electric hand drill were the tools used for modifications. The battery mount and Drive "hanger" are from the Red Cradle. To save weight (8 oz.) I didn't retain the steel backing plate that is inside the Red battery mount.
I have screwed two puffs of closed cell foam to the sheet metal behind the Drive, and hung the Drive side bracket (from the RED Cradle) with rubber washers to provide some shock protection. The Drive slides onto the bracket from the back of the camera. Once the drive cable is attached it can't slide back, and off. The elastic strap, secured with velcro, keeps the Drive tight against the foam puffs. There is space around the Drive for ventilation.
As you can see in the pictures, I've made a hole in the sheet metal for access to the headphone jack.
The battery release lever is easy to get to in the space between mag. and battery.
The sheet metal and battery mount does however prevent access to the mini BNC /SDI jacks. This is not a problem for me at the moment as I'm not monitoring while shooting. The ET breakout box could be used (in the space behind the sheet metal) to gain access to the outputs at the back of the camera.
The advantages of this arrangement for me are:
Saves some weight.
Gets the weight of the battery lower and in a position to help balance the weight of the EVF.
Provides rigid protection to the cable connections at the back of camera.
Allows me to carefully rest the camera on its back end when needed, to make adjusting long lens supports easier.
The bulge of the battery on the side provides some protection to the viewfinder cable connection when I strap the camera (with mounted, fully supported lens) into the back seat of a vehicle, or lay it on it's side.
All the Best,
Michael Male
