Picked up a 5DmkII several months back but never got around to actually using it on a shoot. I recently invested in a Red Rock Field Bundle.

I can say from the first shoot I used it on it has indeed helped tremendously. I can down steady the camera while pulling focus with the attached micro follow focus.

Downsides are it makes the camera much more cumbersome and heavy. Several times while shooting the bicep on my right arm started to cramp up from the constant load. Something that has only happened previously after long flying sessions with the glidecam.
Additionally it does attract a lot of attention. I was asked on three different occasions by various bridesmaids about the camera. I argued with a friend about this but I suppose that would indeed count as "more obtrustive" simply from it's aesthetics.

I see that Red Rock has smaller kits now available at NAB. The positive thing about that is my kit comes with all the accessories to customize your rig. I'm planning on downsizing it (removing the cage) and simply using it for it's shoulder mount and follow focus. As it is it's quite front heavy and would need a heap of weight on the rear only further bloating the rigs's size/weight.

I'm going to continue to experiment with it but wanted to share my results in the form of some raw footage set to music. So no this is not an edit.

http://www.GmElliottVideo.com/mkIItest.mov

Hello Glen,

I'm thinking about investing into Red Rock Field Bundle and thank you for sharing this post.
You have indicated that Red Rock has smaller kits now available at NAB 2009.
Is it already showing on their website like this picture or not?

DSLR Field Cinema Bundle (http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.472981/it.A/id.593/.f)

I would be interested in your opinion if this would be worth the investment, after all we are talking about almost $2K. My main interest, is to use this equipment during pre-ceremony, photo session and perhaps a love story.

PS. I like your video even NON edit.

Thanks in advance
Cuong Dinh.

Parts for their smaller kits are now listed in their store under DSLR 2.0. The most interesting part in the new DSLR baseplate. Kits don't seem to be online yet.

Dan

Thanks for sharing your footage. I noticed you have some nice depth of field with the 24-70 did you just shoot it straight or use some of the workarounds to gain some control like the lens twist technique. I would really like to buy this lens to use for video and photos but I have been using Nikons to gain aperture control.

Thanks.

Hey Glen, nice footage--in a couple days I should be getting my RR, but I just ordered a pretty basic setup: the deluxe shoulder pad bundle, the high riser mount, and the accessory plate that I'm going to mount behind the pad to help balance the weight. I'm also planning to add the Zacuto Z-finder when it's available in a couple of weeks. I'll post my rig setup when it's ready...

Hello Glen,

I'm thinking about investing into Red Rock Field Bundle and thank you for sharing this post.
You have indicated that Red Rock has smaller kits now available at NAB 2009.
Is it already showing on their website like this picture or not?

DSLR Field Cinema Bundle (http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.472981/it.A/id.593/.f)

I would be interested in your opinion if this would be worth the investment, after all we are talking about almost $2K. My main interest, is to use this equipment during pre-ceremony, photo session and perhaps a love story.

PS. I like your video even NON edit.

Thanks in advance
Cuong Dinh.

To be honest I'll have to take it on a few more shoots. I'm not totally convinced I need a full cage and handle ABOVE the camera however it does make transitioning it from holding to shooting very easy (by gripping the upper handle).

My biggest challenge is dealing with the footage in post (FCP). It's a bear to edit and takes forever to convert to 24p (which is what I usually shoot)- especially if I enable frame controls and bump up the settings (to get the best motion).

Thanks for sharing your footage. I noticed you have some nice depth of field with the 24-70 did you just shoot it straight or use some of the workarounds to gain some control like the lens twist technique. I would really like to buy this lens to use for video and photos but I have been using Nikons to gain aperture control.

Thanks.

I got accustomed to doing the hand over the lens to open up the aperture. Then locking it- then, finally, using the exposure lock again a few times to bring the ISO back down from the stratosphere.

I like the 24-70 because it's a very usable range. I have an 85 1.8 that smokes it in low light. Who would have thought a single stop made THAT much of a difference but it does! What I need is a 24-200 with 1.4 constant aperture! I'm sure if something like that existed it would be a 10k lens.

I got accustomed to doing the hand over the lens to open up the aperture. Then locking it- then, finally, using the exposure lock again a few times to bring the ISO back down from the stratosphere. There are two very simple ways to gain aperture control or at least force the aperture wide open.

1) The simple method. Put on neutral density filters. If you are using a matte box then drop in as many of the required density to make the automatic exposure on the 5DII open up the aperture. The Singh-Ray variable density filter looks good although at first glance it does appear a bit expensive. As it would require several standard screw-ons filters to achieve the same range the price is probably reasonable.

2) The no-cost but more fiddly method. Put your hand over the lens. Press the Exposure Lock button. The aperture will fully open up & the ISO will be set sky high. Point the camera at the scene you want to shoot. Press Exposure Lock button again. The ISO will drop down to normal levels but the aperture will remain open. Press the Exposure Lock button again if the ISO is still too high.

Iho would have thought a single stop made THAT much of a difference but it does!I can confirm that. I just took delivery of a Canon 50mm F1.2L & was able to amuse myself shooting by candlelight in the cellar! It is noticeably better in lwo light than an F1.4.

Thanks for the footage Glen, very helpful. I'm at the stage of deciding what to get for the 'steady' work and have been uhmming and ahhing about the Redrock micro field rig for a while now and your test makes it look pretty good, as does Dan's shanghai footage.

I can see you pulling focus quite a lot, did you do this just by looking at the lcd or do you have a loup on the back of your cam? and if it was the lcd, how easy did you find it for accuracy? Thanks in advance,



Might wait to see if any of the new components arrive on the site as a kit as I'm not experienced enough to know what components I might need to make up a rig. Looking at the list makes no sense to me at present!

Anyhoo, thanks again.

Avey

Thanks for the footage Glen, very helpful. I'm at the stage of deciding what to get for the 'steady' work and have been uhmming and ahhing about the Redrock micro field rig for a while now and your test makes it look pretty good, as does Dan's shanghai footage.

I can see you pulling focus quite a lot, did you do this just by looking at the lcd or do you have a loup on the back of your cam? and if it was the lcd, how easy did you find it for accuracy? Thanks in advance,



Might wait to see if any of the new components arrive on the site as a kit as I'm not experienced enough to know what components I might need to make up a rig. Looking at the list makes no sense to me at present!

Anyhoo, thanks again.

Avey

I pulled focus simply by monitoring the built-in LCD. The LCD on this cam is 100x better than my XHA1s'.

I pulled focus simply by monitoring the built-in LCD. The LCD on this cam is 100x better than my XHA1s'.

I see, thanks. I have great eyesight and I'm struggling to get a focus pull spot on (twisting the focus ring at present) maybe it'll be easier with the FF on the field rig.

Cheers

Avey

Hey Glen, nice footage--in a couple days I should be getting my RR, but I just ordered a pretty basic setup: the deluxe shoulder pad bundle, the high riser mount, and the accessory plate that I'm going to mount behind the pad to help balance the weight. I'm also planning to add the Zacuto Z-finder when it's available in a couple of weeks. I'll post my rig setup when it's ready...

Hey Vlad, sorry I missed your post. Yeah it's been a few weeks since I did my first shoot with the FULL Field Bundle. I have since customized the rig to not only be lighter/smaller but to actually be more comfortable. I'm only using the high rise mount, bars w/ handles, follow focus, and shoulder pad.

I ordered a 501/503 Quick-release plate & adapter to connect the upper part of the rig (high riser mount, follow focus, shoulder pad) from the bottom portion (extra set of rails with handles mounted) to be able to mount to a tripod and not lose the follow focus.

It's probably better to have the shoulder pad on the lower set of rails so it doesn't have to be mounted to the tripod as well, however I like the higher placement of the pad on the upper set of rails which allows the LCD to nestle right into a comfortable line of site. When the pad is mounted on the lower bars it raises the location of the cam in accordance with my shoulder height making it less comfortable.

I've even found a use for the top handle. I have it mounted about 6 inches behind the mkII and I use it to cary the rig around (albiet it's not located at a central/balanced point) but use it to lean and brace against my temple when shooting, adding yet another point of contact. I'm able to get better handheld footage from my 5DmkII with this setup over my handheld XH-A1 shooting. Of course doing the hand over the lens trick is not as smooth with the weight of the rig.

I saw the clip on FreshDV about all the new DSLR 2.0 accessories. They showed the plate with the weights mounted on the rear. This is definitely going to be needed to achieve a balanced rig! However I don't see the weights that mount to it in their store yet. I suppose I could get the basic cheese plate and add my own but the set-up they showed looked pretty slick.

PS I liked your EventDV video(s) with Crispy Jones. :)

Glen, can you show us some pics of your setup...

Thanks

Glen, can you show us some pics of your setup...

Thanks

Yeah Glen, let's have a look mate!

Avey

Woah thks for the updates Glenn. So I figured out a good investment for the moment would be the following. I'm just concerned if the LCD line of sight would be level with the DSLR baseplate. Its a little high up compared to the top of the shoulderpad. Anyone knows?

Microshoulder pad deluxe bundle (18" rods + shoulderpad + 2 handles) for the overall rig
DSLR baseplate (DSLR2.0) to mount the 5D2
Microplate Acc for the counterweights
Follow Focus for the lens

Optional:
Genus Mattebox or Redrock Matte box

Here's a shot of how I have the rig currently configured. I have the top handle on simply to lean and rest my temple on while shooting. It's quite stable that way.

http://www.msprotege.com/members/LazerBlueP5/dslrrig.jpg

Thats looks pretty compact compared to the cage setup..

Thanks for the pic...

Here's a shot of how I have the rig currently configured.

So if you add up all those parts of that rig in the picture, how much will it run?

-- peer

So if you add up all those parts of that rig in the picture, how much will it run?

-- peer

-Peer, isn't this the complete RedRock field kit reconfigured? $1995?

-Glen thanks for the pic, look like a winner, even at that price (As compared to the Cine City version I mean) I'm still sitting on the fence on this at the moment though.

One question if you would, can this be mounted on a tripod as it is right now? Looking at the Zacuto stockshooter etc. things, they had one where you could just lift it off the tripod and go shoulder mounted. If you could do that with your RedRock field rig, it would be the winner for me.

Cheers again

Avey

-Peer, isn't this the complete RedRock field kit reconfigured? $1995?

Na, the Field Kit has eight rods, while Glen's has half as many. To me it looks like a hybrid of something and their new kit:

Peer

Yeah I see what you mean. I think I was just thinking that he'd Bought the Field Kit and rejiggled it (technical term :) ). but it seems he's dropped some bits out of it, so I guess if you bought all the bits he shows here separately, you could get it for less than the Field Kit complete.

It certainly looks better for my needs, I probably wouldn't bother with the top handle, using the Loup instead as another contact point. In fact the handle would get in the way of the Loup I suspect.

BTW, any news on your visit to have a look at the Cine City Stuff? Just wondering…

Cheers

Avey

You can glean through the posts by Glen but he says he has the Field Kit, but the cage
is a little too much, so he took some of the parts away and came up with the setup he
has shown in the picture... so I guess cost wise it would be to take away the three cage
spreaders and a couple of rods... and you get what you see..

The bottom of the shoulder mount is where the tripod hooks... you can see the dove tail
at the bottom of the shoulder mount lined up with the blue tightener...

You can glean through the posts by Glen but he says he has the Field Kit, but the cage
is a little too much, so he took some of the parts away and came up with the setup he
has shown in the picture... so I guess cost wise it would be to take away the three cage
spreaders and a couple of rods... and you get what you see..

The bottom of the shoulder mount is where the tripod hooks... you can see the dove tail
at the bottom of the shoulder mount lined up with the blue tightener...

That's more or less ideal then. To be able to use it as a shoulder kit and then mount it on a tripod too. Excellent.

Thanks Ray

Good questions. I considered the same thing for myself (returning the field rig) and custom building it. However the price would be very close unfortunately- they discount the individual parts in the kits. I only scrapped (well stored, who know's when/if I'll need them in the future) two sets of rails (a 12" and a 9") and 3 sets of those L-brackets that make the cage.

I liked the feel of the shoulder pad being on the same level as the camera- it lines the LCD up better with my eyes. However I like the grips a bit lower so I connected them on a separate set of rails below.

I also added another Q/R plate to disconnect the grips when mounting to a tripod. I can simply slide them off and use the existing plate to mount to a tripod. It's true the dove-tail on the shoulder pad is a mount point for a tripod plate but it's far from efficient. It's wayyyy to front heavy and the rig itself is a bit heavy for a 501/503 bogen head(s).

I find without the cage and grips it's a bit lighter and it's not as front heavy if I leave the shoulder pad on (which helps counter-balance it). You can kind of see it in this image though the shoulder pad is being obscured by the shadows.

http://www.msprotege.com/members/LazerBlueP5/pegasus.jpg

Still I find the rig a bit front heavy while shooting handheld with it. I may have to invest in an accessory cheese plate and weights (which the latter I'm told by RedRock will be available in a few weeks).

Overall I feel it was a good investment. It definitely makes it much more manageable to shoot handheld. I like the idea another poster mentioned about using a loupe instead of the top handle. That will definitely be beneficial outdoors- kill two birds with one stone. While it's quite stable it feels all that much more stable with an additional point of contact. At that point it feels as solid as an appendage.

Thks for the photos Glenn. I got the idea on how to configure the rig already. The Cinevate solution is interesting too.

One more question is wouldnt i be able to connect the grips to the same rails that the 5D is on, and position it such that the handles are lower? I'm asking just to save on an extra pair of rails. I should think the handles would be a little closer only. Not sure if it would an issue as one hand would be pulling focus most of the time i think.

Thanks for all the answers Glen, it really helps to have someone who has the rig and has played around with it a bit giving advice to those of us thinking about similar purchases.

Cheers

Avey