New Shoulder Brace for Canon 305

Here are Olof's notes on the new shoulder brace for the Canon 305. I've tried it and I think it is the most comfortable yet. The EVF (this is a Zacuto in the photos) is completely adjustable which will help with neck and shoulder strain. The camera weight is right on your shoulder and is well balanced. You can add a battery plate to the back and put a wireless receiver in the bag. The first beta kit has gone out and we should be putting these into production soon. There will also be a way to mount rails.

This style brace should soon be available for the Panasonic Af100 and the Sony EX1/1R.

An AB goldmount plate or an IDX plate can also be added in the back plate to power the camera and accessories. The back plate will hold wireless mics and/or an external recorder or other accessories.

The EVF shoe mount: $150.00

The shaped shoulder bracket with foam: $150.00

The "Cheese Plate" in the back of the Shoulder Brace: $45.00

The Bag in the back is $15.00 it can hold spare batteries , wireless mics etc, and acts as balancing counterweight.

IDX battery plates with 7.4v power cable for the camera: $280.00

AB battery plate with 7.4v power cable for the camera: $250.00

You can order any part separately at any point.

Shoulder Brace Development, new Model

I will have a more finished version ready for my beta testers this week.

The shoulder pad is adjustable back and forth as is the entire brace. The optional battery/wireless mic holder is also adjustable back/forth as well as right/left.

With the battery back there the rig is perfectly balanced for my 17-40 Canon lens with MB and FF. For larger lenses the whole rig can slide forward more, for smaller lenses it can slide back.

The arm that holds the EVF will actually be curved (an Arch) to allow more access to FF and camera controls, you will be able to flip it either way, it will always be aligned with the camera horizon, and has drag adjustments to make it easy to position w/o having to loosen/tighten anything.

The actual shipping kit will be all black and "rounded off" to be more pleasant and it will be lighter by milling away all unnecessary aluminum.

This kit will fit any camera in the small and medium class, and turn it into a balanced shoulder cam. And it will fit on any VCT-14 or TA-100 plate. Other quick release plates may be possible as well, but the old VCT-14 is a nice standard.

PS. Please excuse my messy wires. This is only a quick testing version, proper length cables will make the rig much neater. My Wood handle works very nicely with this kit.

The Lighting Rod

Olof's notes on a product under development for hanging lights.

The clamp can be used in many different modes.

For Pipes, Rod Joist, Wooden Joist, bolted direct etc

In vertical or horizontal position.

The rod can be any length with as many "groves" and cotter pin holes as needed.

The State of the Shoulder Rig

Olof's notes on the progress of a new shoulder brace below.

Here are some Photos of the current Beta version of the "Uni Bracket", It still need some tweaking and I am working on using lighter materials. This is on an AF100.

This is only a test version, not the final that will be all black anodized and will have an option for a "tail hook" for the VCT-14 plate. It works well with just the front wedge though on the TA-100.

The balance is very good, according to Sharyn, I find it needs a bit more tweaking of the shoulder pad, final version may be optional wood, but I will have a lighter formed aluminum version as well.

I am using IDX batts to run the camera NanoFlash and on cam eyelight etc. The bracket in the back can hold all those and is adjustable L-R to balance the rig.

The wooden handle in these shots is mounted on my body mount version. I have a very adjustable version that mounts to the rails as well and this allows for low mounting as well.

I am using IDX batts to run the camera NanoFlash and on cam eyelight etc. The bracket in the back can hold all those and is adjustable L-R to balance the rig.

The wooden handle in these shots is mounted on my body mount version it has a start/stop record button for your thumb. I have a very adjustable version that mounts to the rails as well and this allows for low mounting as well.

Wiring wooden handles for the Panasonic AF100

Here is a step by step series of Olof wiring the electronics for our wooden handles.

Thoughts on Shoulder Braces for the Panasonic AF100

This post by Olof is from the dvxuser.com forum.

As you may know I make a shoulder brace for the AF100 and a few other cameras as well.

My favorite current ENG rig is the Sony EX3. The reason is it has an excellent view finder in the perfect place, next to the lens. And it is easy to make a very comfortable shoulder brace for it with your shoulder partially under the camera, and then put a couple AB or IDX batts on the shoulder brace to balance the camera for extended shouldering.

Most other small cams like the AF100, EX1, F3 etc have the VF in the back so it takes an incredible amount of weight to balance a rig for extended shouldering. And the rigs get big especially if you also add a mattebox etc.

Now my own style of shooting is 90% or more on sticks, jibs, dolly, stedicam or sliders. Most of the time I only shoulder for a very short time, so I like the shoulder brace to give me some counterweight, I usually have one or two IDX batts on the shoulder brace. But mostly it makes the shots much steadier because you have the third point of contact, and it is much more comfortable and balanced, but I would not want to shoot with this setup on the shoulder all day.

So I am now designing a rig for the AF100 and other cams as well that puts your shoulder under the camera and ignores the EVF on the camera. Instead it will have an easily adjustable EVF holder that functions like the full size cams or the EX3 EVF. That is, easy to adjust and sturdy. I have had a lot of requests for this type of rig lately. I am designing this for use with the Zakuto EVF or others like it. I just wish I could find a HD-SDI version, I hate the HDMI cables. I bet this will become available soon.

What are your thoughts on shouldering the AF100? Do you shoulder it often for long periods, or just for some quick shots now and then?

I have had a number of conversations with shooters about this and many feel that the AF100 is not really suitable for ENG, I tend to agree, I actually like smaller chip cams for this style of shooting, like I said the EX3 with the 1/2" chip is very nice for this, much easier to nail focus but still capable of some SDOF.

I do know a lot of shooters want to use the AF100 for this style of shooting. The EVF prices are coming down and I think this type of solution may be a good way to go. I still plan to have option for larger batteries, nice for on camera lights, Nanoflash etc. And I would keep the whole rig very compact with the batteries vertical. I also plan to have the option for 15mm rods up front, as well as my wooden handle setup.

What are your thoughts? Would you like to see this type of rig?

Thanks for any comments.

Making Rosettes

These are the small circular rosettes that hold our wooden handles for the AF100. Yes, Olof makes them one by one.

The machine reads G code.

Each piece gets a polish.