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Anti Cage
  • stoneystoney
    Last year community got excited about cage rigs designed for vdslrs. Not anymore. A typical cage has many holes for attaching a camera body and a bunch of gears. But that's also a design flaw. Why put many gadgets so close to a camera body? It makes harder to control buttons and wheels. There are better alternatives. C-clamp with a top handle. Attach preamp/battery on a shoulder pad as a counter weight. It's better to place ext mic further away from a camera body. Lens adapters with tripod leg gives enough support for heavy lenses. Cage design is not so useful for such adapters. Most cheap cage rigs are missing a baseplate with 15mm rods raiser. There are cheap shoulder rigs with a raiser. Those 15mm rods can have power arms to attach more devices like ext monitor. Those pro cams like AF100 and F3 have cage like features with their blocky bodies and more mounting points, but they work better with a shoulder rig for run-n-gun style. I don't need another cage design unless it's cheaper than $100. I just need more ergonomic designs for shoulder pad and C-clamp to attach more devices.
  • 23 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    Interesting opinion.
    But I suggest to replace "we" to "I" :-)
  • stoneystoney
    Done!
  • ed_lee83ed_lee83
    It seems u are referring to the use of cage in a hand held rig sense? I would only fathom of utilising a cage on a tripod. Which I do.
  • brianlucebrianluce
    @ed_lee83
    Actually, at least the with the shrig, it improves hand held because the extra weight irons out those annoying micro jitters. And even with a cage, a GH2 is still light and dinky.

    But what I love most about cages is that it keeps the hdmi cable locked down.

    The shrig isn't perfect, but it's affordable and adds funtionality. I keep one of my GH2's cages all the time. It's still fits in the lowelbag.
  • stoneystoney
    A shoulder rig can sit on a tripod. See the attached photo.

    HDMI cable can be locked on 15mm rod.
    image

    20110911-P1040776.jpg
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  • brianlucebrianluce
    @stonebat

    Excellent, affordable solution, though I was hoping the video would have some footage of Olivia. Imperfect world...Sigh.
  • stoneystoney
    Olivia!!!

    BTW the Shrigg cage is alright. It's cheap. It does what it's designed for. I just don't get more expensive cage rigs. That's all :)
  • cordvisioncordvision
    I shot a few times with cages and I agree for the most part. I never liked using a cage. It makes it hard to grab the camera, see the display, and use the buttons....
  • stoneystoney
    I used to be a cage guy too. But the market is changing fast and faster. Those small devices such as power arms, shoulder pads, c-clamps got much better. Attaching those devices on 15mm rods give more flexibility to balance overall weight. I think those are good changes for vdslr. It seems there are more devices to attach. e.g. hdmi recorder, ext battery, ext monitor.

    When using a slider, it's better to keep it lighter. If one wanna use a quick release on the camera body to do sliding quickly, it might not fit into a rigid design of small cage.

    Just my 2 cents ;)
  • LPowellLPowell
    I'm with @stonebat on this issue. A cage centers everything around the camera, making it work like a Swiss Army knife. Too intricate for my taste. A shoulder rig is all about the lens, it relegates the camera to a secondary role. Rather than mount accessories on the camera or a cage-shaped exoskeleton, I prefer to attach things directly to a rig, and treat the camera just like another detachable component.
  • TheMonkTheMonk
    @stonebat

    I'm actually running into this situation now with my rig I'm setting up. Do you have any suggestions for C-Clamps or accessory holders? I'll have a Gh2 w/ a Zacuto EVF on a magic arm and I think I'll mount the 312AS on the hotshoe, but I don't know what to do with my shotgun mic and H1's.
  • LPowellLPowell
    @TheMonk
    Here's how I mounted a Zoom H4n and stereo shotguns on a shoulder rig along with my GH2. The mics are mounted on a separate bracket that attaches to a single point on the front of the rig, using a fairly large C-clamp. This makes it easy to detach the mics and mount them on a fixed mic stand when desired.
    P1040599.JPG
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  • brianlucebrianluce
    @TheMonk
    Have you shot much with you GH2 yet? The *type* of shooting you do will dictate the best configuration -- be it cage or rig or whatever. For example, my Tascam audio deck is always mounted away from the camera, never on it -- ditto for my mics, so it wouldn't make sense to use a set up likes LPowell's. There is really NOT a "Best way" with these configurations. I wouldn't go out and buy a big load of stuff right out of the gate.
  • TheMonkTheMonk
    @LPowell Thanks for the picture. That really helps me narrow it down. I like the placement of your shotgun.

    @brianluce I'm just diving into shooting with it. I honestly haven't shot much since the early days of HDV. I am in the process of purchasing a Shoulder Rig from express35. Initially, I'll be using it for real estate tours. I'll be transitioning from basic run and gun to tripod mount interviews. My thought is that the rig will always be the basis of my configuration unless I'm doing a lot of movement with the blackbird.

    I have 2 H1's. One will be used off camera with my lav and the other I'll mount on my rig and connect it to my shotgun.
  • stoneystoney
    @LPowell "treat the camera just like another detachable component." I like that.

    Do you have a slider, too? Since you can detach the body so easily, it must be easy to switch between a shoulder rig mode and a slider mode.
  • stoneystoney
    @brianluce True. There is no best way. Just more food for thought.
  • stoneystoney
    @TheMonk It really depends.

    Do you plan to use a matte box? FF? Are you more a tripod guy or a shoulder rig guy? Do you plan to use a slider?

  • LPowellLPowell
    @stonebat
    Yes, I have 2-foot and 3-foot Igus sliders. With my rig setup, it's easy to detach the camera from the 15mm rails-mounted M4/3 adapter and mount it on a small tripod head to the slider. This is one case where lightweight Lumix M4/3 lenses really work well.
  • stoneystoney
    Super. Mind sharing your slider setup photo please? I've been looking into a slider setup.
  • LPowellLPowell
    @stonebat

    Here ya go:
    P1040910.JPG
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  • stoneystoney
    Oh that semi DIY slider. It looks very neat. That's one nice curvy looking baseplate.
  • LPowellLPowell
    @stonebat
    Manfrotto 460MG Magnesium 3D Tripod Head:

    http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-460MG-Magnesium-Camera-Head/dp/B001A1POK4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321153281&sr=8-1
  • TheMonkTheMonk
    @stonebat I'm more of a shoulder rig guy than tripod, but it'll be split fairly evenly.

    I don't have a slider, but I'll be getting the Kessler KC Lite jib shortly-- unless I break down and get the Pocket dolly. I'm a little torn between the two at the moment.
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