Shooting handheld/documentaries with R1

[Michael Nielsen]

I'm planning on purchasing a R1 before the end of the year (pending the announcement at the end of this month) – but had a question.

Does anyone have experience shooting handheld and documentary work with a Red One? I have heard it is heavy, but my current setup is quite heavy as well. I use a Sony EX3 with a letus35 and Zeiss/Nikon lenses. The setup gets quite heavy and awkward with the 35mm adapter, esp with rails, a FF, mattebox, etc. I've tried shoulder mounts and it is still a beast. I haven't weighed it yet to see how it compares to a R1.

Any experience or tips would be appreciated. I would run the R1 pretty bare with one zoom and either an EVF or LCD (one) with a handheld LCD for the director behind me.

Thanks.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Red can be very lightweight. The tradeoff is that you need to decide what you can lice without. I put the battery on a battery belt plate. I use still lenses. I use CF cards when I can. LCD keeps the weight down. I can get the rig under 15 lbs. It's a question of whether it accomplishes the task at hand. And for doc work, that generally means using the drive which then adds accessories which then add weight.

 

[PatC]

Hey Michael,

I have a EX3/letus/nikon setup as well and handholding the R1 is certainly heavier(in my experience). That being said you can get a mantis rig and even though the R1 is heavier it will have friendlier ergonomics with the Mantis rig.

That being said, I do not have a handheld rig for my ex3/letus setup. So I am not sure which would be better for you. If you are worried about the weight you can always hire a camera operator.

 

[Michael Nielsen]

Thanks for the responses. It's good to hear your experiences. The biggest problem with my EX3/letus/nikon setup when going handheld is the ergonomics are terrible. The viewfinder is too close to my face to be worth anything, and I have to strain my neck back to see in it.

An operator for the shoot I have in mind isn't an option, neither is an AC, so I'll be doing all the operating, focusing, etc. on my own.

I'll look up the mantis rig.

Thanks.

 

[Steve G]

The red mantis rig is pretty good, but the hand held operation of the Red one is not so good as the more conventional HD cameras which sit further back on your shoulder. I agree with your thoughts on the ex3. It is a killer on the arms. Far too much forward weight.

 

[Colin Sheldon]

Here is a bit more info on the Mantis and handheld -
http://finnerknowsbest.com/component/jvideo/watch/24

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

According to my handheld experiences RED1 rig that consists EasyRig 3 Cine together with ET Mantis, RED Drive, battery,

(Sound Devices MixPre, Rode NTG3 >>>you have a high quality audio with it), set of lightweight still lenses then you can run & gun for hours without getting tired.

RED1 #694 as a handheld rig, Cine Saddle, (EasyRig Cine 3 not at this photo), ET Mantis, Arri Mini FF1, Cinevate lens gears, ET BBox, ET drive mount, ET battery mount,
ET 19mm universal base plate, ET dovetail, ET cheese plate, Sound Devices MixPre, Rode NTG3 mic, Sennheisser HD 25 headphones, Zacuto EVF mount, Vocas Lightweight Matte Box,...

Quick & Dirty all handheld R1 shot at the widescreen size (2.33:1) footage>>>

 

[Martin Widerberg]

To keep the weight down and to avoid lost frames, you can put the drive and the battery in a rugsack. Use Nikkor lenses. An nice 50/1.4 weights almost nothing. Allstar also makes a shoulder mount that people seems to be content with. Some use something homemade. All depends on the budget. A monostick can be a good solution if you can't stand the weight and still need to be able to move quickly.

Good luck

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

To keep the weight down and to avoid lost frames, you can put the drive and the battery in a rugsack. Use Nikkor lenses. An nice 50/1.4 weights almost nothing. Allstar also makes a shoulder mount that people seems to be content with. Some use something homemade. All depends on the budget. A monostick can be a good solution if you can't stand the weight and still need to be able to move quickly.

Good luck

"Dropped frames" that you can see at the video example above were "made" by Action Products RED Drive mount "when drive is flopping" that I later changed to ET "shock resistance" RED Drive mount that behaves much much better.

I do have some Nikon lenses (primes and zooms) but Leica-R prime set (combined with some of Leica-M lenses) is much better for many reasons.