a new DSLR rig in town

A few weeks back I discovered a nice & affordable rig for DSLR Camera use (in my case i use it for a Canon 60D) on Ebay (got it via Austria)  … building up a solid DSLR rig is now my new hobby … it replaced my “buying lens” hobby.

(I might add, it’s a straight rig so you kinda need a flip-out-display on the camera or a 2nd LCD or EVF for cameras like the 550D, 7D or 5D because your camera LCD is a bit too far to the right)

For the money all that stuff is kinda awesome. It might not be as durable as a the big players we all know & love … but for a start out rig, it should be ok for 1-2 years at lest. It replaces my Spider Brace that i used for just over 2 years now. The new rig is a bit better even though the Spider Brace was very easy to use and had some advantages.  I will test all that in the next few weeks & months and as soon as I’m “finished” building this up i will let you know how it works in real work conditions.

For now, a little list of what I’ve got so far:

Sevenoak SK-R02 DSLR Rig:
sevenoak.biz

UPDATE:
It seems that this Rig is not “available” anymore in our area :-/ !
Anyway…I’ve got it got arround 180 EUR from this seller on ebay … maybe contact him directly.
Alternatively  I would say go with Jag35 you get better quality right away anyways …. you don’t need to buy better extra parts and stuff … for all UK / EU fellows this seems to be a good alternative as well.

RJ Follow Focus for 15mm rod support: ebay.com
UPDATE: There is an new version of that FF with 2 hard stops now

Manfrotto 244N MagicArm + Super Clamp + Manfrotto 143BKT Camera Platform (as Top Carrying Handle)

Studio Clamp C Type w/ Spigot +  Mini ball head
(to mount Monitor or Zoom H4)

Studio Clamp C Type w/ Spigot  + small dumb bell wight
(as counterweight)

Altogether, this cost me around 300 bucks (EUR)

I use the RODE NTG-1 mic and a ZoomH4 Audio-recorder for the audio

new stuff:

- i’ve got a 90 degree Rod clamp for 15mm rail + Grip Handle with rod clamp + 20cm long 15mm rod to use that as a top handle (pretty cheap from china … quality is ok but could be better)
- LILLIPUT 569GL-50NP – 5″ LCD/TFT HDMI Monitor with HDMI & Video loop-through via the UK for about 200 bucks (EUR)  quality is ok but could be better … but useful especially as a HDMI  loop-through device!  (BTW can be powered by SONY NP-F550 or Panasonic batteries) i guess this thing will be replaced by an SmallHD DP4 EVF at some point and the Lilliput will become a portable directors monitor or so
- i also got a new Viewfinder the GGS DSLR 3x LCD Viewfinder Loupe with a pretty need “flip up” option

still not finished yet … stay tuned … will try stuff and do more tests the next few shoots!

here some new pics:

here some “old” pics

In the end the is the question do you need the expensive gear ? The Built-quality is better for sure and in some cases it just works better. But in the end it’s not the gear that makes a good shot or film. Sometimes I have the feeling people buy expensive gear just to show off (in a way) or “buy in” into a club (so to say). Use the right gear for the tight job and the gear you can afford and find other ways ( techniques)  to get your stuff done … just my opinion … what is yours? 

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Tags: 15mm rods, Canon 60D, Canon DSLR, DSLR, DSLR Rig, DSLR Support, HDSLR, RJ Follow Focus, RODE NTG-1, Sevenoak SK-R02, shoulder rig, Spider Brace, Video DSLR