
So I saw a tweet by a guy named Stu about this pretty cheap rig for a DSLR that came with a matte box and a follow focus.
I don't have much experience with rigs, as I have a super-cheap one that I have used for years. It's just a shoulder one that can be adjusted and you can pretty much screw on a million things. (I did one shoot with my DSLR strapped to the top, a Xoom recorder screwed to the front, and a shotgun mic gaff-taped to the side...the whole thing looked more like a weapon than a camera)...
Anyway, the rig was like $300. I went ahead and got an LCD viewfinder because it was also cheap and I don't have one. If you wanna see exactly, they are here:
These are my quickie spur of the moment thoughts after putting it together. I haven't used it on a shoot, so I may do an updated one after I do.
Okay, so...put the viewfinder on first. Seems okay. I like the 3X magnification, but I gotta admit I was a little hesitant to stick the piece to my camera so the viewfinder can attach. The box assures me it can be removed, and any residue removed with detergent.
Turned to the rig. It comes in 3 boxes--the actual rig, the follow focus, and the matte box. There are no instructions. You, my man, are using the pictures on the box to figure it out. It's not terribly hard, but would have helped...
The matte box is plastic, so feels a little cheap but it looks to do the job. The rig is more sturdy, with aluminum pipes. The follow focus is nice, but it has 2 extra knobs in a bag and some sort of adjustable blue thing coming off of it--I don't know what to do with either of these. I think the blue thing is something to mark focus with, but...?
Problem #1: My Tokina 11-16mm wide angle lens doesn't fit through the matte box from the back(where the camera is). So I have to remove it from the camera, insert it through the matte box hole from the front and click it onto the camera, which meant I had to unscrew the camera mount thing to adjust it.
Granted, all of my other lenses fit through the hole, so perhaps it's no big deal. Still, the hole could have just been bigger...
I tried the follow focus and it seemed to slip a little as I turned it. That would be partly because there were no instructions but probably moreso because I'm retarded. There's a ring you have to slip onto your lens which notches in with the turn wheel of the follow focus. THEN it turned nicely. But I noted that every time I change a lens I will have to remove that ring and put it on the new lens.
Got the whole thing together with my camera on it and picked it up. Feels heavy. The shoulder support doesn't really give much help, as the whole thing is front heavy. Seems like if the crossbar was wider it would help. The cross bar is only about 12 inches across, so it feels like my hands are too close. I can probably buy a new crossbar--everything comes apart on this, which is nice.
I guess the best thing about the rig is this: It LOOKS professional. It certainly gives the whole thing a very "Hey, this guy must know what he's doing" look, which can be helpful in getting people to take you seriously.
So...dunno. It's not bad, but the jury's still out. I'm sure if you spend 1K on a rig it will be much nicer, but it's not bad for only $300 and will make a nice addition to my DSLR moviemaking kit that I've been constructing.
While I'm at it, did I ever tell you about the best-kept secret in the whole wide world?
Back up briefly: When we shot Bounty, we used these cool LED lights that went on the top of the camera. You could dim them up and down, and it really brightened the scene for us when we were running and gunning. Those lights were $1500 apiece.
Now, look at this:
I bought one of these, figuring it was too good to be true. For once, it is not. It uses regular AA batteries, but also takes a number of other kinds(like my Panasonic DVX batteries!). It comes with 2 faceplates, one a daylight filter and the other a tungsten filter. It's DIMMABLE.
And it's $40 fucking bucks.
I lent it to a buddy and he couldn't believe how bright it was. He bought five after that. I now have two. I use them for fill lights, sometimes a back light. They are great. Built more cheaply than the $1500 one(these are plastic), but WELL worth the $40.
You're welcome. See, it took me 6 years, but I've finally passed on a bit of useful information.