Cheap diy cardellini / hurst shifter handgrips!!

[Tim Naylor]

I did my first RED job in Jamaica last weekend. Love the camera!

I had to do some hand-held on the hood of driving Land Rover through some bumpy streets in Kingston (forget about process trailers in JA). My RED grip slipped alot so I resorted to an old technique from my film days - the Cardellini handgrip. In this case a mini cardellini I use for mounting monitors.

It held through the worst. My RED was loaded with Cradle, 19mm rods, FF, MB, (2) Filters, Battery, EVF, Super speeds, and 5.6" RED monitor. Not the lightest. Not the heaviest. Average hand held set up.

But the stud on the clamp isn't the best hand grip. When I got back I looked up these:

http://www.racingjunk.com/post/1320549/Hurst-Aluminum-Pistol-Grip-Shifter-Handle.html

or these
http://shopping.msn.com/prices/b-m-...t-handle-shifter-grip-with-sae-thread-inserts

Combined with this: http://www.filmtools.com/minorskinmin.html

You now got a set of handgrips that cost less than 200.00, look super cool, can remove without taking off MB or FF and won't slip.

Buying parts tonight. Will follow up with real world report soon.

 

[Andrew Benz]

Tim, thank you for the heads up (very smart solution!) and I look forward to that real world report.

PS- My Dragster buddies will flip out at your ingenious solution...

 

[Jason Diamond]

can you rig up that thumb button like an origo?

 

[Alex Carr]

can you rig up that thumb button like an origo?

Copy that!

 

[Andrew Benz]

can you rig up that thumb button like an origo?

I do not think so... in addition the button is in a horrible place at the bottom of the handle. The good news is that the origo comes with a mounting bracket that could be sandwiched in between the the handle and the threaded bolt of the cardellini. With a little metal work, I am sure that one could angle the origo so it would be comfortable for your thumb placement.

Here is a thread from VFS that has two renders that clearly shows what I am talking about...

http://viewfactor.net/forum/index.php?topic=30.0

Hope that helps...

PS- I still would like something that would span my iris rods (ET 15mm or D.Underahl's LW rod system) and give me a wider "footprint" so to speak. I would not like to have my hands that close together...

 

[Tim Naylor]

I've used Cardellinis back in my film days when we needed unexpected hand held and didn't rent a rig. And this was with cameras as heavy or heavier than a RED. I used full size Cardellinis (For the hurst you'd need a 5/8 to 3/8 adaptor from Filmtools).

The minis are smaller and lighter, but still have an incredible hold (much more than the red grips). The also widen the span by an inch on each side, so they help with mini rods.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

can you rig up that thumb button like an origo?

The specs from Hurst say it's a 12V, 10A normally open momentary switch - therefore perfect for camera start stop.

 

[Mark Mannschreck]

That's awesome! It would look sweet anodized too

Just out of curiosity, what shutter speed did you end up going with handheld on the hood?

 

[Tim Naylor]

Shutter was 1/48". Seemed to work fine.

re: Cardellinis. I forgot to mention that you want to use the ones with the black rubber jaw lining, not the hard plastic that you see in the Mattellinis. It grips way better.

Should have all my parts in a week. Will post.

 

[K. Møller]

Hey Tim.

Did you ever get this working?

I was considering getting some myself, you see.

Cheers.

Karuna

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

Any pix? I'm interested in seeing how you ended up rigging this- was it just to the rods?

 

[Tim Naylor]

Similar to pic but now using Zacuto mounts for handgrip rod to cross piece (stronger grip). With 19mm, the Zandy mounts would have unbelievable grip.