This is a massive massive area of growth right now with seemingly everyone offering their version of some kind of support gear for DSLRs. This varies from cages for fitting accessories, to rails systems built like traditional 35mm film rigs and all sorts of weird and wacky contraptions, all of which are attempting to address the fundamental problem of shooting on DLSRs – they’re stills cameras. That might sound like it’s stating the obvious, but there’s a reason handycams look the way they do, following many years of development to find the optimal weight distribution and layout. DSLRs are built around a different way of working and so, while they may shoot beautiful images they’re a bitch to use as video cameras, in the traditional way. The single most determining factor in this can be attributed to the much-hated rolling shutter effect produced by the CMOS chip. Other people have explained this far better than I ever could, but essentially the image is written progressively in lines starting at the top and working down. This is done insanely fast, but not quite fast enough. You’ll see that the image at the bottom of the frame has been processed from a period of time a fraction later than that written at the top. If you pan hard you see a very noticeable shearing effect as the image appears to lurch horribly in the direction of the pan. Worse still if you accidentally knock the camera then you will literally see the image turn to jelly as the shake puts the image horribly out of sync with itself. Try shooting handheld with a heavy lens and this effect will haunt you and make your footage look amateurish. We’ve been so spoilt with image stabilisation systems on video cameras that we forget just how much input we actually generate movement wise just by being flesh and blood. The rolling shutter doesn’t just show this up, it actually exacerbates it. Basically you’ve got no chance (as much as you might think it’s looking okay on the screen). Worse still, it looks like shit.
So, if you want to seriously consider using your DSLR for pro video work, you need to invest in support for it. At its most basic level this means keeping the camera still so buy a tripod, or put the camera on a flat surface. When buying a tripod you really don’t need to invest massive amounts nor do you want to be paying the price for shite fluid heads when time’s against you. I’ve had much experience of the cheap end of the Manfrotto range and I hate them. If you spend around £400 on a tripod then you ought to expect a decent level of engineering and robustness, but don’t expect miracles. DSLRs are lightweight and only need lightweight tripods. My pick was the Libec LS38 which sacrifices flexibility for simply the best fluid head in the category. It’s not the best tripod I’ve ever used but I can live with its shortcomings. A tripod is absolutely essential for any kind of video work so it’s an investment that will stay with you for a good long time.
Handycams are brilliant because everything is attachable to the camera, if not already built in, DSLRs are crap because everything is not attached. If you’re a stills photographer then the most you’re ever really likely to need to attach to the camera is a flash (sorry guys!) whereas video peeps are always sticking all manner of crap like top lights, radio mic receivers, boom mics etc. DSLRs have a hot shoe mount but it’s not really designed to accomodate anything heavier than a flash and you’ve only got one mount. Cages are systems designed for giving you huge flexibility to attach whatever you fancy to your camera. A long time ago it was agreed that camera accessories should be attached by an eight of an inch screw and that means whatever you buy accessories wise there will always be a way of attaching it to your rig. Cages basically build around the camera giving you a kind of exoskeleton on which to attach mics, monitors, lights, audio recording devices and anything you feel like. Avoid livestock, doesn’t come with pre-tapped eight of an inch holes. Cages are great but they are pretty limited. You’ll generally find options to place handles either side with which to work handheld but really they’re most at home on a tripod, and that’s absolutely fine, but if you’re like me and shoot handheld, shoot fast and need to be more flexible then you’ll need to look into a different solution.
If you are hopeful of shooting handheld then you will probably have dipped a toe in and found a dizzying array of fabulous looking rigs, rails, cages and god knows what else, all proclaiming to be the answer to DSLR work handheld. Don’t buy the hype. Just because a Zacuto rig costs twice as much as your camera doesn’t mean it’s going to change your life because it’s just like so amazing yeah! I’m not going to bash Zacuto here because I’ve never used the kit but I wouldn’t ever buy from them – just too damn expensive. The plain and simple matter is this: if you want your shots stable and devoid of rolling shutter idiocy, then find something that will get the camera supported on or against your shoulder. It doesn’t matter how you do this, who you buy the rig from, if you find a way of achieving that then you will find that characteristic shake and judder pretty much eliminated. BIG CAVEAT: DSLRs demand that you become a much better cameraman, deal with it. Practice makes perfect and there’s so much to think about shooting with these cameras that you’ll most likely be completely overwhelmed by it all initially.
Handheld rigs come in all shapes and sizes and varieties and prices. I’ve been shocked at how many there are, with seemingly every manufacturer delivering some kind of solution these days. Deep breath: Vocas, Cavision, Magic Spider, Redrock Micro, Zacuto, Chrosziel, Arri, Cinevate, Genus, Half Inch Rails, Ikan, Glidetrack, Vibesta, Indifocus, Dv Tec, DiFocus, IndiSYSTEM and many more besides. So which one do you buy? Well, to be honest with you, I really don’t konw. My own experience has been limited to the Redrock Micro Eyespy Deluxe which I use extensively and which works for me. It’s not perfect and I’ve had to do quite a bit of fiddling to get it the way I want it but there’s no doubt it’s fit for purpose. What I can do is refer you to this review by the guys at Cinema 5D who’ve gone out and worked with as many as they can to try and find some kind of best buy. Their top pick was the Vocas rig which features leather handles and is bit around a a rail system. Having never used it myself I can’t comment but I suspect they properly did their homework so that would have to be in the running.
Having shot handheld on DSLRs pretty extensively now I can tell you this, you need the weight to be in the right place. Because the screen doesn’t articulate you need the camera offset to the left in its entirety, meaning the centre of gravity of the rig shifts away from your shoulder. Shoulder mounted cameras put all the weight exactly over the shoulder with an eyepiece offset so that it’s nicely balanced. DSLRs therefore present a serious issue because the weight’s all in the wrong place. Another problem is that the major controls that you need to use are all on the right hand side of the camera. Normally you hold the weight of the camera with your right hand, focussing with your left. Unfortunately, this just doesn’t work for DSLRs and that represents a major problem for all handheld rigs, without exception. If you tilt forward you’ll find all the weight slipping down fast and that’s not nice either. Whatever you do it’s basically hugely compromised and you must not, must not, expect any rig to be perfect, because they just can’t be.
The eyespy deluxe for instance is designed so that the weight is all taken by the right hand while the centre of gravity is way over to the left. This doesn’t work. It also only comes with one handle which has to drop straight down vertically, completely at odds with how your arm is aligned. Very quickly your wrist is completely buggered and you’re swearing at the equipment and swearing at yourself for not having researched it enough. Put the camera on a table and you’ll laugh in disgust as it topples over onto its side. However, all is not lost. Buying a few extra bits, rejigging the kit around and experimenting will actually give you a very strong handheld rig that works beautifully. I had to buy an extra set of bars and an additional handle grip, flipping my follow focus round so that I was focussing with my right hand before I was happy with the way it was set up. While it’s annoying that Redrock sold a rig that was so obviously wrong out of the box what I did like about it was the way I could then rearrange the bits to my liking and build the rig I wanted. In other words, you buy the parts, not the rig. Yes, they should make the best setup possible and sell you that, but at least there’s ways to make the kit work much better for you. It’s also very easy to create four or five other configurations out of the rails and connectors so that you have options for tripod work, handheld, and ultra portable work. The Redrock gear is not too expensive but it’s not the cheapest either. The Cavision solution looks like a tommy gun but it’s dirt cheap and it will do the job you need. It’s pretty inflexible and I would say, if you’re serious about this business try and get something with rails. If you’re keen to add a follow focus or other connectors then basing your system on rails is the way forward as the systems are all built on the same standard and parts from other manufacturers will fit. So, for instance, you can buy a cheap set of rails from Shoot 35, a follow focus from Redrock and a set of handles from Zacuto and they will all work together. It’ll look ugly as shit but who cares! One of the other issues with shoulder rigs is that the screen ends up being uncomfortably close to your face so really you need an eyepiece to get the most out of the kit, and I’ll be covering these little horrors in the section on focus. If you don’t use one you end up cranking your neck into weird positions to get a decent view on what you’re doing. I now shoot with a 7 inch monitor attached to my rig, adding yet more weight and changing the configuration of the camera completely. My camera body is now set up over the main set of rails, in line with my shoulder and this makes a huge difference.
So: here are my top tips. Buy a system with rails and upgrade bits as and when you need them. Make sure you have two handles because having one is rubbish. Two means you can place the camera on a table and it won’t fall over and you’ll have a really solid platform for shooting. Don’t expect miracles. Whatever the rig it’s always going to be awkward because no matter the solution it’s impossible to get the weight properly in the right place so you will always be supporting way more with your arms than you would with a normal shoulder mounted camera. Get stronger. Seriously think about investing in a monitor. It makes a world of difference for shooting handheld. Don’t expect the rig to work perfectly out of the box, be prepared to do some serious fiddling until you feel like you’ve got the weight distribution where you want it. Have a look at these guys: IndiSYSTEM, won’t break the bank and I know several decent sized productions that have used them and been well supported.
