Lightweight setup w/ET shoulder, Blue handles, Zacuto arm, etc.

[Damien Molineaux]

Hi,

I'm considering shooting a doc. with my Red so I tried a lightweight setup for shoulder shooting.

Here are a few pics, I have the ET shoulder dovetail (they were kind enough to send me that part only when the whole Mantis wasn't finished yet, for a feature being shot with a lot of handheld last november); you see here the Blue handles in their most basic configuration (no extensions), I use a Zacuto Zamerican medium arm to place my LCD where needed. I plan to add an eyepiece adapter from ActionCam or Optitek and a clip-on Mattebox. I'm also using Hunter Richards battery plate adapter. Planning to shoot 3K to 16GB CF cards with either a Nikon 17-35mm or a Red 18-50mm (if I can find a used one for a good price).

Now that I have a new audio board (thank you Red) I can use my Fostex stereo microphones right on the camera, and I just bought this second-hand small 20w lamp which plugs right into the D-tap off the battery plate.

Camera feels confortable, I'll be practicing and spending some time with it on the shoulder, although I didn't have anything to weigh it, I find it quite manageable.

Cheers,
Damien

 

[Julio Quintana]

Hey Damien. Just curious, why are you on the "wrong" side of the camera? Are you left handed? I've just never seen anyone shoot like that.
Also, you're camera setup seems exceptionally top heavy. Does it feel tipsy at all?

Julio

 

[Damien Molineaux]

Hey Damien. Just curious, why are you on the "wrong" side of the camera? Are you left handed? I've just never seen anyone shoot like that.
Also, you're camera setup seems exceptionally top heavy. Does it feel tipsy at all?

Julio

Hi Julio,

No I'm not left handed, but left eyed ! As I plan to use a viewbox or viewfinder system for the LCD, I will be using my left eye, I like to keep my right eye available to look around, so I prefer to have the camera on my left shoulder. It was one of the first things I asked Red at IBC 2006 when I placed my reservation, if I could use it that way.

As to the camera being top heavy, not really, it feels pretty comfortable, but I may look into either using a battery belt clip or longer rods and having the battery below the rods to act as a counter balance.

I have to say I had a hard time being really smooth, although I only tested it briefly, I would like to see some kind of gel pack or something that takes more the shape of my shoulder. Of course I'm comparing the images to optically stabilized DV/HDV cameras, so it's hard to judge.

I'll definitely be doing some more testing, my doc is not planned for right away.

Cheers,
Damien

 

[Steven-Marc C.]

Nice setup Damien. The thing I like about Hunter's battery mount is that you can leave it bolted on to the body in a semi-permanent way and it doesn't get into the way of anything. It makes for a nice compact setup when travelling light and you can pack the camera without removing it.
However, it's not that great for balance when shooting from the shoulder. Using longer (carbon or alu) rods and mounting the battery lower and farther behind will definitely help. Unfortunately it means taking a bit more time to "build" the camera than with Hunter's mount.

Why not shoot 4K? It would give you more headroom to stabilize some shots in post when needed.

 

[Steven-Marc C.]

BTW, if you're looking for an inexpensive solution to mount your battery to the rods without using the RED cradle, Wicked Circuits sells a Quickplate similar to Hunter's mount, which allows you to use your current battery plate but which attaches to your RED universal mount:

http://store.wickedcircuits.com/RED-One-Accessories/Alternate-Quick-Plate-p5.html

 

[Chris Burket]

Battery Solutions

Battery Solutions

Just wanted to point out that ET has some pretty nice battery mounting solutions as well. We have lightweight aluminum battery interface plate that can be used to mount the Red Battery Plate in a variety of ways. You can use one of our top mounts or a red universal mount, or you can use one of our speedy clamps (15mm or 19mm), or you can use our V Dock system. Using the Speedy Clamp seems to be very popular. It's low profile and you can quickly put the battery anywhere you want.

 

[Tim Naylor]

Big fan of the Speedy Clamp mount. Beautifully made and locks rock solid. Love the open jaw design - makes for quick reconfiguring.

 

[Robert Craig]

What model and brand microphone mounts are those?

 

[Damien Molineaux]

Hi Robert,

That is a Fostex MC10ST Stereo Microphone Kit, comes with the mount. Very cheap and decent quality, in my opinion quiet sufficient for some stereo ambient sound.

Cheers,
Damien