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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Element Techinca Handheld Rig - Exxcellllent

Glen, how do you like your Zylight?

I love that fact that you have the MixPre mounted on there. I had suggested that to people when audio issues were happing.

That's a pretty badass looking rig you've got there, with the ET cheesestick and all of the other goodies. I take it that's the 18-50 on there?

My next step is to get the ET V-dock battery plate system to go along with my ET drive mount and see how that works out. I didn't have it at the time I was beta testing the ET handheld rig. But I think that might be the way to go as Gibby mentioned.

Despite all of these improvements, it is a heavy rig. The ET handheld system won't make the setup lighter, but it distributes the weight properly, and the positioning you can do with the sliding plate and tilting the angle is what really makes this great. It takes away a lot of the stress that a improperly balanced camera/shoulder mount would put on the body. These rigs can easily get up to 35+ pounds, which at 8-10 hours a day can really challenge your body. ET has addressed this with some nice engineering.
 
Gibby said:
Thanks for the kind words Ketch! I love most techniques of cinematography, but I especially like mobile hand held cinematography. I like the challenge of getting the hard to get shots. I'm really looking forward to helping you with your movies...it will be some difficult production for sure, but I welcome that. The ET hand held rig should be a very cool (and necessary) piece of kit for your movies.

Yes, hopefully it will be some of my new Epic cameras that we shoot your movies with!

BTW - the storyline of your movies is awesome...

Ciao!
Click to expand...

NO Thank you my friend!

Definitely hope it will be as well shot with the Epic, but at the same time as imagine the Epic not coming soon in off for my first Movie, I absolutely have nothing against shooting it with a bunch of RED ONE cameras:) :)

And I'm very touched by what you think of my movies Story Line, coming form someone like you this means a lot to me, thank you Steve, you are a friend.

So lets try to put that ET shoulder mount and your soon to be home Epic to work, as "I KNOW" you will be getting one of the first ones:)

ciao
 
Hi Steve,

Yea. the great engineering behind the ET rig is what makes it great. Like I said, it makes handheld a viable shooting option.

As far as the Zylight, I really like it. I use it primarily as a fill light when shooting in otherwise "natural light". The fact that you can adjust the color to practically any thing you like makes is particularly useful with the RED. If I need more blue light I just dial it in.

The Mix-Pre is unfortunately necessary in order to use the MKH 416 (shouldn't need it once the sound board is upgraded). It adds weight to my rig but I get fantastic sound quality and I have a physical pot I can grab and adjust the pre-amp gain.

1402_1226459665.jpg


Cheers
 
The Mixpre is just velcroed to the ET cheeseplate right?

Yeah, once the audio board is upgraded, probably no need for the mixer in run and gun work. With the ability to change the audio levels right from the EVF, it makes audio manageable.
 
HH nirvana...

HH nirvana...

I have been waiting patiently for ET to finish their shoulder rig, a few minutes with the prototype was all it took to convince me. I am planning to put the RedDrive and battery in cargo pockets in a vest (with the cables routed inside to avoid most snags) - primarily to cut the total weight of the camera rig. My concern is being too front heavy. Due to the size and shape of the viewfinder it is difficult to get it far enough forward for the COG to be near the lens mount without interfering with the mattebox when using a shorter lens like a SuperSpeed or the RED 18-50 zoom (which are nice and light for HH).

Has anyone got any ideas for creating a 90 degree "periscope" style eyepiece for the viewfinder? I assume it is not really a viable solution due to the optical issues it presents and the image flop but if anyone can design such a thing I want to be your first customer.
 
Blair S. Paulsen said:
I have been waiting patiently for ET to finish their shoulder rig, a few minutes with the prototype was all it took to convince me. I am planning to put the RedDrive and battery in cargo pockets in a vest (with the cables routed inside to avoid most snags) - primarily to cut the total weight of the camera rig. My concern is being too front heavy. Due to the size and shape of the viewfinder it is difficult to get it far enough forward for the COG to be near the lens mount without interfering with the mattebox when using a shorter lens like a SuperSpeed or the RED 18-50 zoom (which are nice and light for HH).

Has anyone got any ideas for creating a 90 degree "periscope" style eyepiece for the viewfinder? I assume it is not really a viable solution due to the optical issues it presents and the image flop but if anyone can design such a thing I want to be your first customer.
Click to expand...
Hmm...I'll be curious how this works out for you. I found I actually wanted some additional weight on the camera to help distribution. That's why I'm thinking Gibby's method of mounting the drive and the battery on the opposite side from the EVF might help. I just need to get that ET battery plate kit and try that out. How will you mount the drive in your vest? Will there be any shock absorption? The battery seems like it might be uncomfortable in a vest.
 
Hi Blair,

Yea, you're right about EVF interfering with the mattebox, especially on physically short lenses like the RED 18-50mm. A great lens for handheld would be any of the Angenieux short zooms like the 15-40 or the new DP 16-42 or the Zeiss LWZ. The longer barrel on these lenses gives more room for the EVF but still leaves you with a front heavy configuration. An EVF with a 90 degree bend would help considerably.
 
The rig looks good Glen. Individual shooters set up their rigs by their own needs and the needs of the shooting they are doing. Looks like a fun shoot!

If I was to use rods, follow focus, and a matte box on the ET hand held rig rig, which I didn’t in the ET hand held rig photos I’ve posted on RED User, I would use 15mm aluminum or CF rods, a simple lightweight FF, and a lightweight clip-on MB (that wouldn’t interfere with the EVF), thus holding the weight of the rig down.

That said, to keep the rig as light as possible, and to hold bulk down, I generally don’t use a matte box or follow focus with the RED 18-50 zoom in hand held setups.

The RED 18-50 zoom has a threaded inner barrel, which can take 72mm screw on filters, thus going without a matte box when using that lens is a viable option that lessens weight and bulk of the rig. The lens is very compact. The gear rings are close together and quite easy to operate without a follow focus. When shoulder held like that, and using a zoom lens, you rarely zoom, but rather walk to the framings or subject matter – thus racking focus is quick and easy – and adjusting iris is also quick and easy. For run n’ gun situations (docs, etc.) sight focusing just became a lot easier with the addition of 1:1 image magnification, and in those situations you can also iris quickly using zebras.

With every pound of weight, and width of accessory you put on a shoulder held or hand held rig you proportionally decrease your mobility with the rig. I shoot a lot of hyper-mobile subject matter and situations, thus my rigs have as few of accessories as I can get away with, and are generally outfitted to enable easy single person shooting. If I don’t have to be quite as mobile, and the lenses I’m using require the use of a matte box, I use one but on a mobile hand held rig it is always a lightweight clip-on MB, not a standard size one. If I’m sight focusing, which I almost always am in hand held work, I very rarely use a follow focus.

If someone chose, they could naturally load up the shoulder brace with a matte box, follow focus, focus whip, etc., and certain cine-style users will. Even then, for mobility sake, I would use a lightweight clip-on matte box and lightweight follow focus.

I’m not being critical, but merely giving my take on my needs when I shoot hand held. To each their own in equipment choices. My hyper-mobile style of shooting requires as much lightness in the rig as possible. Even in tripod setups, but especially in hand held setups, I never use a matte box or follow focus routinely, but rather only when I absolutely need them – because each pound of weight will commensurately reduce my mobility – and bulky accessories like a matte box not only potentially interfere with the EVF, but they can be a nightmare to fit in the tight spaces I need to go with the rig – inside hallways, inside cars, narrow spaces, around dangerous situations, etc.

In the Las Vegas shots of the ET HH rig I linked to earlier, in an enclosed hallway where I had to run along then go down a flight of stairs and out onto a pirate ship with lots of potential places for bumps and snags, again, the lens is a 14mm prime (wide open), I used no matte box or follow focus, and the drive was low-mounted and close to the camera body with an ET V-Dock clamp - all this for safety, mobility, and functionality - and the shots came out great though I didn't use a MB and FF. I was missing my other 15mm V-Dock clamp, so I couldn't low mount the battery, so as a workaround I used the ET lightweight transverse mount (15mm), along with the ET aluminum plate for the power plate, on the top/back of the camera. Not optimum - I prefer to use the ET V-Dock clamps for battery and drive - but it still kept down the battery unit weight.

The rig pics I posted without MB or FF weighed between 24 and 26 pounds - heavy enough to sit down on my shoulder for 3-point use, light enough to be on my shoulder for hours on end, and very mobile because of the lightness and lack of bulky accessories - and no shots were compromised by the lack of a MB of FF - the shots looked great, which is the bottom line.

Again Glen, though my setups with the ET HH rig tend to be lighter and more streamlined, your setup looks great. If it worked well for you, that’s the bottom line.

Blair: The front/back sliding adjustment of the entire rig, using that lever above the shoulder pad, is the key to feature that keeps the rig from being front heavy. When adjusted right, along with a good right/left weight balance, the rig sits on your shoulder perfectly balanced.


-------------------------------------


Since June I’ve had the ET HH prototype out in tons of accessory configurations, in a lot of locations and situations, putting it through its paces. My goal with hand held is always to load the rig up with only essential accessories to get the shots I’m after – and in the process to keep it as light and un-bulky as possible to increase my mobility.
 
Gibby,

On the rare occasion that you need a clip-on matte box, what model do you prefer?

Thanks for all your insights into lightweight hand-held shooting!
 
Rowland said:
Gibby,

On the rare occasion that you need a clip-on matte box, what model do you prefer?

Thanks for all your insights into lightweight hand-held shooting!
Click to expand...

The Arri LMB-5 is good, but as you might expect, it is relatively expensive. There are affordable clip on matte box options from Vocas, Chroziel, Formatt, 16x9, and others. Choice is a matter of analyzing the budget, weight, size, and utility for the the specific work you usually do.

I'm very happy to share my impressions of the ET hand held prototype. ET was good enough to trust me to field test their proto, so the least I could do is share what I find with my friends here on RED user.
 
Yea Gibby, I here ya brotha. This was me "checking out" the rig. I wanted to see how much I could get away with. Even though I'm using the super light weight LMB-5 clip-on mattebox and LFF-1 single sided light weight follow focus and ET's aluminum ultra rods, I still managed to load it up pretty heavy. If I were shooting a fight seen or something where I had to be extremely mobile, you're right, I would strip the rig down to nothing but the bare essentials. I even prefer using the LCD over the EVF for framing in those situations. I tried other configurations which would work much better for different shooting situations. This rig was assembled to see just how much kit I might reasonably throw on and still have a workable setup. I guess the point of my post is that it's pretty easy to turn the RED into a pretty hefty beast, even with light-weight gear, but with the ET handheld rig, it can still be a manageable setup for shooting handheld.

Cheers
 
Right on Glen...thanks for taking the time to post the pics and explain what you're up to...that makes sense. Looks like you're havin' a lot of fun out there!
 
ET-Origo Handle; Final piece of the Hand-Held puzzle

ET-Origo Handle; Final piece of the Hand-Held puzzle

The final piece of our hand held Rig is finished.
 
Availability

Availability

We will start selling our Hand Held Rig as a complete kit including the Origo handle for $1970 on November 24. We plan to start shipping almost immediately.

Thanks for your patience.
 
...Origo handle.

PERFECT!
 
Integrating the Origo into the handle is brilliant! It beats out-mounting it on the handle as we have done with the prototype. Nice touch ET...very cool.
 
Need it NOW! Great work guys, looks like another typical ET product, excellent build quality.
 
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