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Brook Willard
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Hey folks,
I wanted to put this little thread together to announce that the full Full Metal Jacket system is now shipping! A bunch of FMJ packages just shipped out the door and feedback has been great - I'm really excited to get them out there.
To those who haven't seen the renderings kicking around for the past few weeks, the FMJ system is the first comprehensive Epic accessory support system on the market. It consists of parts that many of you are already familiar with.
The FMJ-Top plate is the core of the system. For those who haven't used one themselves, the FMJ-Top is a low-profile plate that mounts to the top of the Epic camera body. It gives tons of mounting options on the top and sides for attaching other accessories, battery plates, monitors, etcetera. It also works as a low-mode bracket and is great for protecting the camera's exhaust port. Here's the original announcement thread for the plate if you want to learn more!
On the other side of the camera is the FMJ-Bottom plate. Oft copied but never duplicated, the FMJ-Bottom acts as a spacer to enable use of the Element Technica Hybrid sliding baseplate or either of the original RED/Arri sliding baseplates. It also adds accessory mounting holes on the sides [perfect for screwing in a focus hook] as well as accessory interfaces on the front and rear. One of the most popular features of the FMJ-Bottom has been the small lip on the front of the plate. This lets you square the plate to the Epic camera body which eliminates the slop inherent in 3/8-16 baseplate mounting screws. Keeping the plate square to the camera body ensures that your iris rods are perpendicular to the sensor plane which will make sure that all of your accessories line up… even on a long lens.
The holes on the front of the FMJ-Bottom interface with the FMJ-15mm lightweight iris rod support bracket. For those that prefer 15mm lightweight support or simply don't want to attach a heavy sliding baseplate, the FMJ-15mm gives a super low-profile interface for attaching iris rods without blocking airflow to the camera. One of my favorite setups for handheld is to forego a studio baseplate and just run my mattebox and focus motors on 15mm lightweight rods. It lowers the profile and weight of the camera enormously and really lets you take advantage of how small the Epic really is. The ratcheting Kipp handles to tie down the iris rods are positioned to clear both the sidearms as well as the Epic Side Handle stills grip without interference, so stills shooters can take advantage of the lightweight support without needing to compromise.
The FMJ-Sidearms are the newest addition to the package. These lightweight arms connect the top and bottom plates to build a sturdy, low-profile cage around the Epic camera body. There's a lot to talk about with these puppies, so here's the skinny:
The sidearms are designed to hug the camera as much as possible. With a camera as small as the Epic I think that it only makes sense to shrink accessories to match. The sidearms are only about 1/10th of an inch off of the SSD module on the smart side. On the dumb side they leave a gap around the camera to keep the mounting holes equidistant from the lens. I've actually had luck mounting accessories inside of this space in between the body and arms. Some of the distribution amplifiers and downconverters on the market actually fill this space perfectly. I always thought the concept of a camera cage was awesome but they really need to be "invisible" in order to be useful - it has to feel like a part of the camera, not an accessory weighing it down.
There are 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 holes at standard RED spacing on the arms. Any RED-spacing accessory [the old RED top handle, for example] will screw in just as it does on the FMJ-Top. The holes are spaced evenly around the lens mount - there is a 3/8-16 hole directly at the lens height [indicated by the white line] which is enormously helpful when rigging the camera. While the space between arms does not line up with a standard base plate [the holes are lined up with the ribs on the Epic body], it's very easy to mount a quick-release plate on there to mount the Epic to a tripod in portrait mode. I'm planning on making a little spacer to raise the portrait lens height the appropriate amount to attach a sliding base plate in portrait mode if there is enough demand for it!
One of the coolest features of the sidearms is that they are all cut to a standard NATO profile. Any RED SWAT accessory you own will actually slide right on to the sidearms without needing to attach a SWAT rail. Want to mount the Spinner? Slide it on. Want to attach handles to the side of the body for a "combat mode" shooting style? Slide RED's SWAT-to-rosette adapter on and attach your existing RED handles. You can stick on whatever you want, it's awesome. I've seen people slide top handles onto each side of the body for low handheld shooting, I've seen people add handles to make it into a mini "fig rig," you name it. We got a little carried away while testing them and used a Surefire laser/flashlight mount on them… ridiculous but funny as hell.
Last but not least is the strength that the sidearms give to the camera system. Because they attach to the top and bottom plates instead of directly to the camera, energy that is put into the system is distributed around the camera instead of into it. The cage is crazy sturdy when it's all built up. I don't have any numbers to back it up yet but I haven't been able to break one yet.
It's nice to know that the camera is safer and sturdier when it's enclosed in the cage, particularly when rigging.
The FMJ is available in two different kits:
FMJ Kit - 2 sidearms
FMJ-Top
FMJ-Bottom
FMJ-15mm
FMJ-Sidearm [x2]
FMJ Kit - 4 sidearms
FMJ-Top
FMJ-Bottom
FMJ-15mm
FMJ-Sidearm [x4]
All parts are available individually here but buying the kits saves money [naturally]. Those who have purchased parts in the past can note that in their order and will receive the requisite discount towards completing their FMJ!
I have some new product announcements right around the corner… expect to see some prototypes tomorrow or Monday! I'm really excited about it, I'll post a new thread as soon as I have the parts in hand. You're not gonna want to miss it.
I wanted to put this little thread together to announce that the full Full Metal Jacket system is now shipping! A bunch of FMJ packages just shipped out the door and feedback has been great - I'm really excited to get them out there.
To those who haven't seen the renderings kicking around for the past few weeks, the FMJ system is the first comprehensive Epic accessory support system on the market. It consists of parts that many of you are already familiar with.
The FMJ-Top plate is the core of the system. For those who haven't used one themselves, the FMJ-Top is a low-profile plate that mounts to the top of the Epic camera body. It gives tons of mounting options on the top and sides for attaching other accessories, battery plates, monitors, etcetera. It also works as a low-mode bracket and is great for protecting the camera's exhaust port. Here's the original announcement thread for the plate if you want to learn more!
On the other side of the camera is the FMJ-Bottom plate. Oft copied but never duplicated, the FMJ-Bottom acts as a spacer to enable use of the Element Technica Hybrid sliding baseplate or either of the original RED/Arri sliding baseplates. It also adds accessory mounting holes on the sides [perfect for screwing in a focus hook] as well as accessory interfaces on the front and rear. One of the most popular features of the FMJ-Bottom has been the small lip on the front of the plate. This lets you square the plate to the Epic camera body which eliminates the slop inherent in 3/8-16 baseplate mounting screws. Keeping the plate square to the camera body ensures that your iris rods are perpendicular to the sensor plane which will make sure that all of your accessories line up… even on a long lens.
The holes on the front of the FMJ-Bottom interface with the FMJ-15mm lightweight iris rod support bracket. For those that prefer 15mm lightweight support or simply don't want to attach a heavy sliding baseplate, the FMJ-15mm gives a super low-profile interface for attaching iris rods without blocking airflow to the camera. One of my favorite setups for handheld is to forego a studio baseplate and just run my mattebox and focus motors on 15mm lightweight rods. It lowers the profile and weight of the camera enormously and really lets you take advantage of how small the Epic really is. The ratcheting Kipp handles to tie down the iris rods are positioned to clear both the sidearms as well as the Epic Side Handle stills grip without interference, so stills shooters can take advantage of the lightweight support without needing to compromise.
The FMJ-Sidearms are the newest addition to the package. These lightweight arms connect the top and bottom plates to build a sturdy, low-profile cage around the Epic camera body. There's a lot to talk about with these puppies, so here's the skinny:
The sidearms are designed to hug the camera as much as possible. With a camera as small as the Epic I think that it only makes sense to shrink accessories to match. The sidearms are only about 1/10th of an inch off of the SSD module on the smart side. On the dumb side they leave a gap around the camera to keep the mounting holes equidistant from the lens. I've actually had luck mounting accessories inside of this space in between the body and arms. Some of the distribution amplifiers and downconverters on the market actually fill this space perfectly. I always thought the concept of a camera cage was awesome but they really need to be "invisible" in order to be useful - it has to feel like a part of the camera, not an accessory weighing it down.
There are 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 holes at standard RED spacing on the arms. Any RED-spacing accessory [the old RED top handle, for example] will screw in just as it does on the FMJ-Top. The holes are spaced evenly around the lens mount - there is a 3/8-16 hole directly at the lens height [indicated by the white line] which is enormously helpful when rigging the camera. While the space between arms does not line up with a standard base plate [the holes are lined up with the ribs on the Epic body], it's very easy to mount a quick-release plate on there to mount the Epic to a tripod in portrait mode. I'm planning on making a little spacer to raise the portrait lens height the appropriate amount to attach a sliding base plate in portrait mode if there is enough demand for it!
One of the coolest features of the sidearms is that they are all cut to a standard NATO profile. Any RED SWAT accessory you own will actually slide right on to the sidearms without needing to attach a SWAT rail. Want to mount the Spinner? Slide it on. Want to attach handles to the side of the body for a "combat mode" shooting style? Slide RED's SWAT-to-rosette adapter on and attach your existing RED handles. You can stick on whatever you want, it's awesome. I've seen people slide top handles onto each side of the body for low handheld shooting, I've seen people add handles to make it into a mini "fig rig," you name it. We got a little carried away while testing them and used a Surefire laser/flashlight mount on them… ridiculous but funny as hell.
Last but not least is the strength that the sidearms give to the camera system. Because they attach to the top and bottom plates instead of directly to the camera, energy that is put into the system is distributed around the camera instead of into it. The cage is crazy sturdy when it's all built up. I don't have any numbers to back it up yet but I haven't been able to break one yet.
It's nice to know that the camera is safer and sturdier when it's enclosed in the cage, particularly when rigging.
The FMJ is available in two different kits:
FMJ Kit - 2 sidearms
FMJ-Top
FMJ-Bottom
FMJ-15mm
FMJ-Sidearm [x2]
FMJ Kit - 4 sidearms
FMJ-Top
FMJ-Bottom
FMJ-15mm
FMJ-Sidearm [x4]
All parts are available individually here but buying the kits saves money [naturally]. Those who have purchased parts in the past can note that in their order and will receive the requisite discount towards completing their FMJ!
I have some new product announcements right around the corner… expect to see some prototypes tomorrow or Monday! I'm really excited about it, I'll post a new thread as soon as I have the parts in hand. You're not gonna want to miss it.
