better balance with the brick trick

[Tom Blair]

The major beef I had with my XL-2 was its extreme front heaviness.
I knew that Anton Bauer made an adaptor plate for the XL-1 but also knew that that unit was ill suited for the XL-2 as the connecting cable was too short.A few calls later to Anton Bauer's tech dept. and they shipped me a modified adaptor plate($200) which now works like a charm.There was a slight space between the A/B plate and the supplied canon one after attaching it to the camera so I custom cut out some thin hard foam material and bridged that slight gap between the plates and then connected them.
I now have a 5 pound brick battery counterbalancing the back of the camera (everything is accessible )and I no longer have to worry about losing power while recording,playing back or using a sungun.The bricks are $500 a pop as is the brick charger/A.C. adaptor but if you want balance in your life this is a good way to go.

[Chris Hurd]

Great tip, Tom! Send me a photo of the complete rig via email please and I'll host it here for folks to see.

[Brent Ray]

Anybody know if there is a cheaper way to acheive the counter-balance trick discussed in this thread? I'd really like to buy something that would focus a little more weight on the shoulder pad, but I don't want to dish out $500 for it. Is there some way just to attach some ballast weight to the accessory bracket on the XL2?

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

The MA-200 XLR shoulder pad, plus Canon dual-battery charger, plus a couple of heavy duty batteries in place, help counter balance the front-heavy XL camera, especially when the longer 16X manual lens is used - both on the shoulder, or on a tripod.

[Brent Ray]

Well first of all.... you can't use the MA-200 shoulder pad on the XL2, only the XL1. Secondly, the dual-battery charger still costs about $150, plus the cost of extra batteries.... and I'm really not too sure about how much weight that would really add to it.

Any other ideas?

[Richard Alvarez]

Brent,

I shoot with the 16x and the dual batt pack with extra batts on it. Works great, at less than half the cost of the AB system. Granted, not as long lasting, but I've got two sets of batts, (Four total) and haven't run out of power in a day's shooting yet.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

OOps! Sorry about that, Brent, I didn't realise that the XL2 does not except the MA-200 (I use it on an XL1s body).

Regarding price for the Dual Battery charger - I bought one new off Ebay recently for only $85.00

A pair of BP-941CL 6000mAh battery packs can also be bought extremely cheaply.

The MA-200 only sits on the shoulder, and although the added weight does help with balance, an extra Pro padded Shoulder Pad that grips the shoulder, takes strain off the lower back. If you can't find one cheap (I did on Ebay) then it shouldn't be too difficult to make one.

[Marty Hudzik]

OK. At the risk of sounding stupid here is my solution and it is cheap.

I went to walmart and bought ankle weights that are 1.5 pounds each.(2 for $8.99 I think) They are soft and filled with sand or some type of beads. It has velcro on it and is designed to wrap around your ankle. I just wrap it around the back of the accessorie kit and velcro it down.

Instant counter balance.

I use strictly the stock batteries and have not had a need for mounting equipment back there so it works great so far. And you can easily slip 2 on there if you need more weight.

I use the 16x manual lens along with the Century .7x adapter so the Xl2 is very front heavy. This does the trick.

But be warned that while it is better balanced it is heavy as hell! 10 pounds on my bathroom scale. I don't mind because the weight helps stabilize handheld shots.....but to each there own.

Some think the stock XL2 is too heavy to begin with.

Peace!

[Brent Ray]

Hey Marty,
Now that's the sort of thing I'm looking for. I don't mind the weight of the camera too much, and for a solution that cheap, it's hard to go wrong. I may eventually look into the dual-battery charger, but at this point in time I'm pretty low on cash so I'm just looking for a cheap but effective way to balance out the camera. Thanks for the great idea Marty, and thanks to everyone else for pitching in their ideas.

[Marty Hudzik]

<<<-- Originally posted by Brent Ray : Hey Marty,
Now that's the sort of thing I'm looking for. I don't mind the weight of the camera too much, and for a solution that cheap, it's hard to go wrong. I may eventually look into the dual-battery charger, but at this point in time I'm pretty low on cash so I'm just looking for a cheap but effective way to balance out the camera. Thanks for the great idea Marty, and thanks to everyone else for pitching in their ideas. -->>>

I tried the dual battery charger and for me it was too flimsy. Not that is isn't well made but the way it mounted on the accesory plate wasn't as stable as I'd like. If I tilted or turned the camera on it's Z axis it would shift like a picture on a wall on a nail. Where it hooks on is a pivot point.

This could easily be overcome by using velcro or duct tape however. I chose to return it because for me the batteries just stuck out too far and hit me in the side of the head!!!

I do have a big head though.

FWIW.

[John Threat]

Tom Blair, can you post a picture of your XL2 setup with the additional battery setup?

My XL2 is really lopsided now with matte box, pistol grips, rods, manual lenses, lens adapters, etc. The back end is totally light and looks naked.

[Matthew Cherry]

John,

I have the same setup and, if a pic isn't posted when I get home, I'll do it. I have been preaching this setup for quite some time and I have to tell you, the AB brick is definately the way to go. It's not cheap but these are just amazing. LCD readout on the battery tells you its status at any given time and you get eight hours of shooting per battery. It balances the camera well and offers very clean power. I can't imagine using anything else.

Matt

[Bruce S. Yarock]

Matt- possible dumb quetion- Do you keep the A/B charger on the canon plate (for extra rear weight) and then put the dionic 90 on the charger, or just the 90?
I just got my dionic 90 and tritan 70 charger. Real nice.
I also got a Frezzi "mini fill' ( 50 watt) and it's great. I haven't tried to power the xl2 and the Frezzi from the Anton Bauer yet, but I will ( just to see how long it lasts).
My space age xl2 is growing into a huge contraption...but I love it.
Bruce yarock

[John Threat]

Hi!

Just a freindly reminder that I'd love to see some pictures of the xl2 with the anton battery pack mounted!

[Matthew Cherry]

Here:

http://www.birthofthecool.com/images...olly_2_web.jpg

Not the best shot I know, but the best I could do from work.

Bruce,

I don't have a charger that I could do that with, I have the dual charger.

Matt