My new Mattebox rig

[Steven S. Miric]

Originally Posted by Peer Landa

Steven, I'm curious to know how heavy your setup is when handheld. Have you yet shot long sessions with it handheld? To me, where the grip is located, it looks a bit forward balanced, or perhaps it's just the picture that gives that impression..?

-- peer

It feels pretty nice in a hand. With prime Nikon's that I use it's balanced perfectly... I recommend it...

[Jeremy Nicholl]

Originally Posted by Dan Chung

The best thing though is the Genus advanced adaptor bar system http://www.genustech.tv/userfiles/im...textendedl.jpg As you can see from the pictures it allows rapid extension of the bars to accommodate different lenses without having to change the rods, pure genius. It also gives you limited horizontal and vertical placement of the 15mm support rods. On the 5dmkII you can clip the lens onto the Mattebox too making a very secure setup.

Dan

Dan,

That looks very similar to the kind of light weight rig I'm trying to put together. A couple of questions:

Is the beachtek mounted directly onto the advanced adapter bars and the camera then mounted directly onto the beachtek? No other parts involved?

Have you tried rigging up the advanced adapter bar system with a redrock shoulder mount or similar?

Thanks,

Jeremy Nicholl

[Dan Chung]

Jeremy,

Currently there are no other parts involved but this setup does have a problem with shorter lens as the camera is not far forward enough to give enough space for a follow focus. It's a work in progress, hopefully I'll get my red rock follow focus in a few days to test it all, I plan to get the new Beacktek 5dmkII as well if so that may improve the setup.

I have the advanced adapter bars on a basic shoulder rig but I'm waiting for the new version of the red rock shoulder mount to arrive so I can test fully.

Dan

[Jeremy Nicholl]

Originally Posted by Dan Chung

Jeremy,

Currently there are no other parts involved but this setup does have a problem with shorter lens as the camera is not far forward enough to give enough space for a follow focus. It's a work in progress, hopefully I'll get my red rock follow focus in a few days to test it all, I plan to get the new Beacktek 5dmkII as well if so that may improve the setup.

I have the advanced adapter bars on a basic shoulder rig but I'm waiting for the new version of the red rock shoulder mount to arrive so I can test fully.

Dan

Thanks Dan,

That all raises some more questions for me. I don't immediately see how you'll mate the RR shoulder mount to the Genus since the RR is designed to mount on individual bars; or is that what's new about the new RR shoulder mount?

I'm also curious about the RR follow focus. I can see why it would be useful in a controlled situation on a tripod, but how usable would it really be trying to work hand-held on the street? I've never used one, but I imagine it might be more of a hindrance than a help.

Jeremy Nicholl

[Dan Chung]

Jeremy,

Currently the only easy way to mount the Genus bars on the Red Rock support is to use it on top on the Red Rock, ie two set of bars stacked up much like the Red Rock DSLR kit. I'm looking for alternatives. I'll post a picture when its set up.

As for the follow focus I think it will help in the street, but I'll let you know about that too.

Dan

[Steven S. Miric]

Originally Posted by Dan Chung

Jeremy,
...but this setup does have a problem with shorter lens as the camera is not far forward enough to give enough space for a follow focus. ..

Dan

Dan,

I have the same issue with short (prime) Nikon lenses on my Genus rails (lack of space for FF). I don't have the FF yet, but this is what I am getting to solve the distance issue:
Manfrotto 357 Universal Sliding Plate Tripod Accessories 203570 Bogen - Vistek Canada Product Specs

[Dan Chung]

Steven,

I have this plate already and it does work, but I'd like something a little lower profile if possible.

Dan

[Steven S. Miric]

Well, I could not resist... Some time to kill, and I finally got the Hoodman 3" viewer and LCD frame/shade for 40D. A little elbow grease, filling and gaffers tape: I have perfect "direct view" on 5D Mark II. I got all adapters for Nikon primes, so now there is no light leaks on the matte box. Enjoy the camera porn...

[Dan Chung]

Steven,

Congrats, glad you like the Hoodman setup. Maybe we should go into production!

Dan

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Steven S. Miric

Well, I could not resist... Some time to kill [...]

Very nice, indeed -- but Stevie, will a follow focus work on that setup... if so, what are your plans?

-- peer (who's still on the fence until the xl2 is sold)

[Peter Chang]

Do you need to get the wide angle matte box for this to work?
I can't tell if B&H is selling the standard or wide version:
Genus | GCMBFF-77 Matte Box with Base, French Flag | GMCBFF-77

[Steven S. Miric]

Originally Posted by Peer Landa

Very nice, indeed -- but Stevie, will a follow focus work on that setup... if so, what are your plans?

-- peer (who's still on the fence until the xl2 is sold)

For FF, I will add Manfrotto 357 sliding plate to gain extra room on rails for the big know and gear. I will do that once I get Redrock kit.... One thing at the time...

[Toenis Liivamaegi]

How wide lenses can you use with 4x4 Genus Wide Matte Box?

As of today and after speaking with Cavision representative I can assure that their mini FF is the best for 5D MKII (if the gearbox is good enough that is). Advanced Mini Single Wheel Follow Focus ($600)
What I like most is that I can reverse the gear to the back of the unit so I can mount the ff more forward than the others - eliminating the problem described by Dan.
Also you can get different dimetre gears for it so for manual lenses you can use bigger diametre and for AF ones you can use the smaller one - so you can lenghten the focusing distance/precision of those modern lenses. Follow Focus Gears

Speaking of which this Basic Mini Single Wheel Follow Focus for sub $400 would be of my first interest but I don't know if the gear is removable, flippable or reversible sure it will work with 5D as pictured and with short lenses but I don't know how it interferes with different matte boxes. If the gear part is the same and you can use different diametre gears in front and back of the unit it would be a bargain.

It sure looks kind of balanced in size on a 5D MKII Canon 5D Marik II Accessories

Cheers
T

[Dan Chung]

I've tried my 17-35mm and it works with the Genus in video mode (not stills) as long as you take any screw mounted uv filters off the lens first.

I've seen the Cavision gears at shows and generally haven't been too impressed with the gearbox. I've just received the Red Rock Micro so will test that to see if its better.

Dan

[Peter Chang]

Originally Posted by Dan Chung

I've tried my 17-35mm and it works with the Genus in video mode (not stills) as long as you take any screw mounted uv filters off the lens first.

I've seen the Cavision gears at shows and generally haven't been too impressed with the gearbox. I've just received the Red Rock Micro so will test that to see if its better.

Dan

Dan, I look forward to your impressions on the Genus + Redrock FF combo, as I am considering that myself.