How to turn your dslr into a shouldercamera

Chris Harding · June 5th, 2014, 08:18 PM

Hi Dylan

I tried handles on my shoulder rig but then it really ties up your hands and you are still holding up the weight! I now use the support rod from the same Indian company as Noa mentions. It's just a waist belt with a pocket in the front and you have a dual sprung rod (adjustable) that hooks up to the front of the rig (on my EA-50's it goes right under the lens hood) and takes all the weight off your arms and more importantly leaves you hands free. Now that really saves my back especially on long handheld shoots!

Chris

Jon Fairhurst · June 5th, 2014, 09:31 PM

Chris, I can relate! I have a Redrock Event and I set it up so I can support it by placing the handle next to my right hand wrist. That frees the hand for pulling focus and operating the UI. Technically, it's a handle but I almost never use it as one. The left hand holds the other handle - or the monopod that I generally use either a) on the ground, traditionally, b) resting on the belt for supported handheld shots, or c) by extending it part way as a faux Steadicam counterbalance while holding it where the gimbal would be.

Anyway, I just gotta have one free hand!

Chris Harding · June 6th, 2014, 11:01 PM

Hey Jon

I always found there was very little times where I could hold both handles ..on a long handheld clip my right hand could move from the camera strap and stop/start button and grab the right handle but usually it stayed on the camera grip. If in full auto I guess a left handle might help or if you have locked focus and zoom but it is still not convenient to keep moving away from the handles.

Because the support rod in the middle does all the lifting for me, I much prefer it and it's perfect as one has both hands free and the camera front end becomes a zero weight as all the weight is transmitted thru the rod and into the waist belt.

DVTec came up with the idea EngRig

Chris

Jon Fairhurst · June 9th, 2014, 03:28 PM

The EngRig looks like a great solution. Putting the weight on the hips is the way to go - assuming that you can lift it off the hips when it's time to walk. I't surprising how jarring hip motion is while walking. Hip motion can feel smooth as a dolly, but the cluck-clunk-clunk of the camera image doesn't lie!

Rob Katz · June 26th, 2014, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noa Put

The main advantage of the dr60 is that it can simultaneously record to it's own media and send the audio signal to the camera so you don't have to sync up afterwards.

The main difference between the setup I"m showing here and the "grab and go" nex-ea50 is when I"m not shooting interviews I can fit the camera in the pocket of my jacket if I want to, can you? :) When I wanted to use my wireless microphone setup with my ea50 I had to attach my azden and switbattery to the back of the camera as well making the camera even bigger.

This set up is only for interviews so when I need it it's very fast to setup, it still would be much smaller and lighter then a nex-ea50 and if I"m not shooting interviews I can still choose to either just use the shouldermount only or just the dslr without any extra's. That's a choice you don't have with a nex-ea50, it can only go from big to bigger.

It's all about the size and modularity, If you could see what I can fit into one backpack, which doesn't even have the space for one ea-50 you'd understand why I went for small formfactor.

noa-

perhaps share some of your thoughts on working with the tascam dr60?

thanks in advance.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions/nyc

Noa Put · June 26th, 2014, 08:55 AM

I actually only used it once during interviews, see below picture and still have to start editing that wedding, I did listen to the sound that was recorded in the dr60 and that was very clean, the signal that was going to my gh3 was slightly noisier but still good enough to use in the edit. The dr60 has far more possibilities that I ever will use, the fact that I can send a usable signal to my camera and have a dual recording at the same time to the dr60 was the main reason why I got it. I did not have the time to do some real experimenting how to set the levels on my gh3 if that would affect the noise so it can be that I would be able to get a better quality file. If you want I can let you hear a audio recording of that interview how the gh3 and how the dr60 recorded it. The dr60 levels where set much lower as the gh3 so I did have enough room if the audio would clip. If you want to get the files just pm me a emailadress and I"ll "wetransfer" the files to you.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...interviews.jpg

June 5th, 2014, 08:18 PM	#16
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: How to turn your dslr into a shouldercamera Hi Dylan I tried handles on my shoulder rig but then it really ties up your hands and you are still holding up the weight! I now use the support rod from the same Indian company as Noa mentions. It's just a waist belt with a pocket in the front and you have a dual sprung rod (adjustable) that hooks up to the front of the rig (on my EA-50's it goes right under the lens hood) and takes all the weight off your arms and more importantly leaves you hands free. Now that really saves my back especially on long handheld shoots! Chris

June 5th, 2014, 09:31 PM	#17
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Re: How to turn your dslr into a shouldercamera Chris, I can relate! I have a Redrock Event and I set it up so I can support it by placing the handle next to my right hand wrist. That frees the hand for pulling focus and operating the UI. Technically, it's a handle but I almost never use it as one. The left hand holds the other handle - or the monopod that I generally use either a) on the ground, traditionally, b) resting on the belt for supported handheld shots, or c) by extending it part way as a faux Steadicam counterbalance while holding it where the gimbal would be. Anyway, I just gotta have one free hand! __________________ Jon Fairhurst

June 6th, 2014, 11:01 PM	#18
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: How to turn your dslr into a shouldercamera Hey Jon I always found there was very little times where I could hold both handles ..on a long handheld clip my right hand could move from the camera strap and stop/start button and grab the right handle but usually it stayed on the camera grip. If in full auto I guess a left handle might help or if you have locked focus and zoom but it is still not convenient to keep moving away from the handles. Because the support rod in the middle does all the lifting for me, I much prefer it and it's perfect as one has both hands free and the camera front end becomes a zero weight as all the weight is transmitted thru the rod and into the waist belt. DVTec came up with the idea EngRig Chris

June 9th, 2014, 03:28 PM	#19
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Re: How to turn your dslr into a shouldercamera The EngRig looks like a great solution. Putting the weight on the hips is the way to go - assuming that you can lift it off the hips when it's time to walk. I't surprising how jarring hip motion is while walking. Hip motion can feel smooth as a dolly, but the cluck-clunk-clunk of the camera image doesn't lie! __________________ Jon Fairhurst

June 26th, 2014, 08:55 AM	#21
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: How to turn your dslr into a shouldercamera I actually only used it once during interviews, see below picture and still have to start editing that wedding, I did listen to the sound that was recorded in the dr60 and that was very clean, the signal that was going to my gh3 was slightly noisier but still good enough to use in the edit. The dr60 has far more possibilities that I ever will use, the fact that I can send a usable signal to my camera and have a dual recording at the same time to the dr60 was the main reason why I got it. I did not have the time to do some real experimenting how to set the levels on my gh3 if that would affect the noise so it can be that I would be able to get a better quality file. If you want I can let you hear a audio recording of that interview how the gh3 and how the dr60 recorded it. The dr60 levels where set much lower as the gh3 so I did have enough room if the audio would clip. If you want to get the files just pm me a emailadress and I"ll "wetransfer" the files to you. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...interviews.jpg