You are here: Home / Archives for rig

Can you really get the RigWheel cheaper over the net?

April 11, 2011 By

I just received this email from Lance (RigWheel owner) in reply to J.R. Tabotier about places to get cheaper wheels for your rig. I think it is worth sharing this with your guys because too often people diminish the amount of work, testing & research that goes into developing rig part.

I know because I have been there. This is actually the reason why I gave up on the Cable Trigger. To make it worth for me, I had to sale it at a price point that most people would have complained about.

So here is Lance reply:

If he had done a little more research he would have found that www.newyorkmetal.com has a $100 minimum order and and $25 processing for orders under $200. Total shipped price at www.cabinetmakerssupply.com is $138.53; About what I charge for wheels + international shipping. Lastly, it’s similar but not the correct part;)

I have received my set of wheels last week and haven’t had time to build my rig around it. Should come soon enough…

DeliciousStumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookEmail
Filed Under: On the web Tagged With: , , ,

Very cool stop motion of a 5DMrkII Rig

January 29, 2011 By

Lance just sent me this video.

That is one nice rig and the video clearly shows all of its components. Lance managed to do something I have not done yet: have a rig made out of parts from various manufacturer that does not look like a Christmas tree! Good job.

The only thing missing would be a cool soundtrack.

DeliciousStumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookEmail
Filed Under: On the web Tagged With: , , ,

The cost of creating Rig parts

November 30, 2010 By

This post is a reaction to SBG comment about my budget rig article. SBG said :

$1500 pretty much only gets you a rig – definitely not a rig AND a quality lens. The pricing of shoulder rigs and accessories is laughable. $107 for a straight grip?? Over $1000 for a matte box? puh-leese!

I am sure a lot of people agree with him. I do too which is why I am working on the budget gear article series. The thing is, I am also working on putting on the market a very specialized piece of gear for HDSLR users. Old time readers probably remember me talking about this about a year ago.

My idea is original and solves a real problem for HDSLR shooters. Everyone who saw it loved it and wondered why no one ever thought about it. Seeing all these interested people, my question to them was: how much are you willing to pay for it? I was hoping to hear 30-50$ so I could make enough profit to make it worth the investment, especially since alternatives are twice more expensive. I have to admit that the part in question looks deceptively simple but people where suggesting me to sell it at a price point under my manufacturing cost! Outch!

Unless you worked in the field, it is hard to guess how much it cost to CNC a piece of metal. I know because I was surprised too! Trust me, it is more than what you think! As soon as you put the words precision and steel in the same sentence, you know it will cost a lot. It is like adding Italian after design.  At least, in my case, it should not go out of style the next month.

And, to make things worst, you can’t have these puppies build on order (unless you are RRM and stack orders), most shops will ask for orders to be at least X big if you don’t want to be charged prototype pricing for each unit (which is the equivalent of adding unique to Italian design).

So, you end up investing a massive amount of money without knowing if the product will sell or not. Not a very comfortable situation.

On one hand, if you badly evaluated the market you will end up losing money because you can’t sell your products. On the other hand, if you were right and the market loves your product, some people (from China/Korea/India) will build replicas and sell them at half the price and destroy your market. And just to prove my point, here is a cheap knock off of the Z-finder!

Of course, if you can put yourself in a position where your product can’t be replicated for some technical/economical reasons, it is like hitting the jack pot like David did with the D-Focus.

I am currently at this crossroad. Having to make a decision if I am willing to risk nearly a month worth of earnings on a single deal or not.

What would you do?

DeliciousStumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookEmail
Filed Under: News Tagged With: , ,

Shape WLB Composite Review (HDSLR Rig)

October 20, 2010 By

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure to shoot a movie for a friend (more on this in another post). Since we were shooting for the Kino Kabaret (kind of a film festival), we had access to a lot of sponsored gear which is how I managed to put my hands on the  Shape WLB Composite. I already talked about the Sumo a while ago, the composite is its big brother.

The good

The best part about this rig is the quick handle system. Simply put, they are the best handles I have used on a HDSLR rig. Contrary to those on the old Sumo which had a bit of slack, once set, these handles wont move at all. If you want to change their angle, simply press the red button at the end of the handle and adjust them to the desired position and you are set. If it takes you more than 3 seconds, you are slow.

The next improvement over the Sumo are the multiple adjustment knobs. Contrary to the Sumo which is built in a straight line, the composite can off-set the camera to the side which make it much easier to use my Z-Finder. Every single part of the rig can be adjusted using either red levers (almost as good as those from Zacuto) or black knob. While it can take a few tries to find the perfect adjustment, once you found it, the rig is both comfortable and super stable.

The less good

The rig was given to me already assembled and looking at the assembly plan, I am glad it was. Contrary to the Zacuto Striker and other small HDSLR rigs which can be setup in less than 2 minutes, the Composite takes some time to assemble and requires tools. Nothing serious when you are aware of it but it could cause some issues if you are in the middle of nowhere and need to make an adjustment.

The only issue we had with the rig was the #$%#% camera plate. I am used to work with the Manfrotto plate system. They are pretty much the standard in photography/videography so I was surprised to see Shape using a different kind of triangle shaped plate. This plate caused us a few issues: first we had to figure out how to remove it from the holder (not as easy as it sounds, some blood was spilled) then we had to used a screw driver to attach it to the camera. This is for me the biggest problem: you dont want to have to use a screw driver every time you want to attach/remove your camera from the rig. It is another piece of gear to keep track of which can get lost and it slows down the shooting. That being said, the plate system is very sturdy and I was never afraid about the camera falling off the rig.

Finally, the rig is priced in the upper end of the market segment. At about 1500$, it is expensive but one has to realize that compared to toys rigs like the RRM Nano series, this is a pro level rig. It will outlast every other piece of gear you own. At least, it feels like it would.

Conclusion

Like I said in my initial review of the Sumo, this rig is perfect for everyone but the traveling videographer (who needs something more compact). It is stable, comfortable, extremely durable, comes with everything you need out of the box and will fit pretty much every physiognomy. If it was not for the tool requirements, I would have given it a perfect score.

Note: I am really sorry about the pictures. We were so busy on the day of the shoot that I totally forgot to take pictures of the rig so I had to use Shape promo pics.

Gear discussed in this review

DeliciousStumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookEmail
Filed Under: Review, Video Tagged With: , ,

ShapeWLB Sumo II review

November 20, 2009 By

I guess that most of you guys never heard of ShapeWLB. They are a small Canadian company that builds rigs mostly for pro video camera and are now entering the HDSLR market. They rigs are stable, functional and very affordable. They offer various models but the one that interest us the most is the Sumo II (pro or not).

sumo2-400px

[Read more...]

DeliciousStumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookEmail
Filed Under: Review, Video Tagged With: , , ,

DFocus DSLR mount = follow focus without rails!

November 18, 2009 By

D-Focus came up yesterday with a new innovative product: it is a camera plate with an adjustable arm to install a follow focus. Dave calls it the DFocus DSLR mount.

dslrmount_thumb

This is a genius idea! This little gadget allows you to use a follow focus with small rigs like the Zacuto Gorilla series without upsetting too much the rig center of gravity.

I have yet to try it out but, from a requirement perspective, this is the product I have been wanting for a while without even thinking about it. No need to carry my indi rails and camera plate anymore!

On a side note, I guess it means I will have to revise my post about the 350$ follow focus rig now. The price got slashed almost in half!

My only complain so far: it should be called the DFocus HDSLR mount…

You can order it here

DeliciousStumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookEmail
Filed Under: News, Video Tagged With: , ,

Zacuto Gorilla DSLR kits reviews (part 2.1: Rapid Fire)

August 15, 2009 By

In this second part of the review, we are going to look at what are the differences between the various rigs, how they affect their uses and what are their strong points.

To save you from reading a long posts, I have spread this part in three articles.

rapid_fire

Meet the Rapid Fire

The main strength of the Rapid Fire is that you, as a photographer, don’t need to learn a new way to hold your camera. You still have the left hand on the lens and the other holding the right side of the camera. The Rapid Fire simply adds another point of contact.

If you need to travel light and shoot fast, this is the rig to get. While it is the least stable of the bunch (more on this in the next part of the review), it is the smallest and most compact. Also, by keeping both hands on the camera, you can easily adjust exposure or start/stop recording quickly which results in saving of precious CF card space.

Adjusting the rig

It is so simple, I wont even do a video for this! Just tug the gunstock at the junction of the pectoral and shoulder muscle. Loosen the gunstock adjustment lever a bit and find a comfortable angle while keeping both hands on the camera. Twist the lever and you are set.

Using the rig

The biggest mistake I made when I first got the rig was to assume that pushing the gunstock against my shoulder would be enough to keep it stable. The problem was that I would move my arm while panning or reframing a shot. The movement of the arm would move the shoulder/pectoral muscles which in turn moved the camera. The solution took some times to get used to: instead of moving the camera using your arm, move your whole upper body. All of the action should come from a rotation of the hips, not the arms. This might be obvious to videographers but trust me, it is something totally new for a photographer!

Film like a ninja

Most people who see me shooting in public with this rig think that I am just a photographer using an “original” support device. It is very convenient when the subject might change its behavior if he knew he was being filmed. I have noticed that people are now used to be photographed, but as soon as you say that you are filming, they suddenly change their body language. This rig might help you to solve this issue. It is also useful in places where you can take pictures but not film.

Note

I think that most of the stability problems of this rig are going to be fixed once I get my view z-finder. I will update the post once I receive it to report on the results.

DeliciousStumbleUponDiggTwitterFacebookEmail
Filed Under: Review, Video Tagged With: , , , , ,