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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 :)

New lightweight rod support bracket

Doug, do you think you could design some kind of adapter to enable the use of a Red handle on the right-side rod? Or even a short 19mm rod that would screw in to your bracket? It would make for a cheap, handy, and very lightweight shoulder configuration with the camera base sitting directly on your shoulder (or a pad). Kind of like what Rodney Charters was using on his travels.
http://www.reel-show.tv/index.html?vidId=00074
 
Yes, I think that I will make a 19mm rod that will attach to RED's 15mm adapter. Then you can attach a RED handle to to my lightweight support.

This should give you a RED that fits on your shoulder like an Arr16SR or Varicam, which is what I want for hand held shooting.
 
Thanks. I like the fact that you are actually also building these accessories for your own use!

This is already doable with Red's base plate and dovetail of course, but they add a whole kg of extra weight. Your system also brings the handle closer to the lens, which I personally prefer.
 
Thank you Steven-Marc.

It also lowers the whole camera on your shoulder, which I think makes for a better handling rig. I also like the handle near the lens.

All the things that I've made, I made for my own use. There just wasn't an inexpensive, portable mini jib in 1992 when I made the first 7 jib. And the Super Track dolly - the standard skateboard dolly in the industry now - came about in 1989. In those days, a simple dolly move meant steel track, an Elemack with track wheels, wedges and boxes, four burly grips and a van, and a half hour. I knew there had to be an easier way.
 
I am looking forward to this rig more and more..... One thing that also would be great, as stated in an earlier post
Tico said:
You know, if it wrapped around the body far enough so it can be secured by the front two lower side bolt fixtures, it could support a bit more weight securely.
Click to expand...

Thanks Doug, great stuff !

Mick van Rossum NSC
 
Doug,

Very good idea and crafting, as usual.

You should make an affordable EVF mount!

Antoine
 
Douglas Underdahl said:
Thank you Steven-Marc.

It also lowers the whole camera on your shoulder, which I think makes for a better handling rig. I also like the handle near the lens.

All the things that I've made, I made for my own use. There just wasn't an inexpensive, portable mini jib in 1992 when I made the first 7 jib. And the Super Track dolly - the standard skateboard dolly in the industry now - came about in 1989. In those days, a simple dolly move meant steel track, an Elemack with track wheels, wedges and boxes, four burly grips and a van, and a half hour. I knew there had to be an easier way.
Click to expand...

Keep up the amazing work. I remember you showing me the Seven prototype back in the Soho digs. I used to rent primes from Media Logic.

Anyway, can't wait till your mount and rod mount are available. I find hardly anyone caters to the crowd that doesn't want a fully built studio rig.

Sometimes you just want to pull a camera out of an ENG bag, aim and fire.

Thanks,

Tim Naylor
 
One more vote..
 
Mitch Gross said:
Doug, what thread size are you using to attach the rods to the bracket? Aaton standard is 3/8"x16, which is of course the same as the tripod mounting bolt, so it is a nice universal sizing. Also, and it was hard to see but I think your rods had this -- the end of the rods just before the threaded bolt section should be cut flat on two parallel sides (just like Aaton) so that a small wrench can be used to really tighten them into the socket. This is important when mounting motors as they only clamp to a single rod and have a nasty tendency to unscrew the rods when hitting resistance from the lens. The need for a wrench is also important after the AC mounts the rods in the warm truck and then we go out into the cold to shoot all day. Those suckers might as well be welded on if you don't have a wrench handy at wrap.
Click to expand...

I second this post! :) And maybe a 3/8"x16 thread cut into the front of the 7.5inch rods too, so we can just attach the extensions to the front, rather than have to unscrew the 7.5 inch rods and put the extensions inbetween - saves a bit of time!

I'm very interested in this product. I was a bit worried about the vertical placement as my mattebox has no vertical adjustment, but just noticed on your picture in the first post that there is a cutaway on the rod mounts. Can you confirm this is to make the rods the standard 85mm below the optical axis of the camera?

Thanks
Eric
 
Douglas Underdahl said:
I think it will cost $295 with two 7.5 inch 15mm rods, and be shipping in about three weeks, maybe four, pending approval. Also will have 2.5mm rod extensions as well.
Click to expand...

Can you also consider making rod extensions of say 4.5 or 5 inch length? 7.5 inch is longer than needed for some short stills lenses, but 2.5 inch is too short.
 
They're heeeere . . .

They're heeeere . . .

Got 'em.

They sure look nice, and Jarred said ok to sell.

Selling as a kit with two 7.5" rods for $295. Add a pair of 2.5" short rods for $59.

These are 15mm rods and the spacing is the lightweight or video 60mm distance. Those of you who have shot with Aatons and Arri 16mm/S16 cams and Betacam style video cameras will be familiar with this set up. Rods have male 3/8-16 threads on one end and female 3/8-16 threads on the other so you can extend them, and also use with existing rods from Aaton and Chrosziel that have these same threads.

The standard rods might seem a bit long at 7.5 inches. Most LW rod set ups come with 6" rods, I believe. But this extra is because on the RED One, this bracket stops under the lens mount, whereas with other cameras the bracket is farther forward. But if there is interest in shorter rods, I can make those up, or you can stack 2.5" rods to get the distance you need. Rods have wrench flats for when they are needed.

Soon I hope to advertise on Reduser so you can find me easier, but until then please email me at longvalley@embarqmail.com or go to my website at longvalleyequip.com. DON'T pm me as it is extra work to get to those.

Last picture shows my personal set up with the RED hand grip mounted on the rods with a special unit between the grip and the RED 15mm adapter. This set up allows you to have the camera as low on your shoulder as possible, which drops the center of gravity and of course, reduces weight. Also it frees your left had for focusing and zooming. If there are requests I will make up the special unit between the grip and 15mm adapter.

Thanks to Mitch at Abel for advice on this, and also Jarred.

Douglas Underdahl
 
Very nice Doug!

One quick note: Aaton rods are threaded 3/8"x16 like yours, but Chrosziel are not. The Aaton rods are heavier duty anyway.
 
Good job, Doug - it looks great. Can't wait to get my hands on one of these. I'm out of town on a couple of shoots for the next 2 weeks. I'll get in touch and place my order as soon as I get home.
 
Possibly dumb question...

Possibly dumb question...

As a video guy in the past I haven't used rods all that much. Is there a reason rods are normally silverish rather than black? (I thought most of the cameras and stuff were black to avoid reflections.)

I was going to make some lightweight aluminum rods a while back and figured I would black hardcoat them like I do our underwater housings, lights, etc. It is an EXTREMELY tough coating (if you scratch at it with a nail, the mark you see will be the iron from the nail) and a nice dull matte black.
 
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