Here are the rigs that I put together, one for me and for photographer/videographer Eamon Mac Mahon.

DIY run and gun rig

Each DIY Rig is complete with a follow focus.

DIY HD DSLR rig with counter weight and shoulder pad.

So after banging my head against the wall working on a few different variations on a shoulder mount I ended up going with the most simple, cheapest, easiest solution.  That probably makes sense.

velcro shoulder pad

The shoulder pad is made from heavy twill and has a firm foam insert.  I used this dense white foam that they use to pack electronics (not the squeaky kind which would be bad for the audio).  The whole thing is held in place snugly with velcro in between the shoulder bar bridge block and a the supporting screw before the counter weight screw.

Counter weighted shoulder mount

I used a post to mount the weight so that I could clamp anything in between the weight bolt.  Right now I’m using a couple of .5 kilo weights.  They seem to help a bit but I think that I’ll weigh everything and figure out what the counter weight should be.

I’m also going to add a hand tightened bolt instead of the Allen key bolt so that it can be swapped up easily without a tool.

7D DIY HD DSLR rig

HD-DSLR technology has made several shooting methods available to us that would have seemed improbable a few years ago. Something that is great about modern technologies and manufacturing is that sophisticated products become accessible to the general public.

For the most part, lower prices on these technologies do not necessarily mean lower quality. In fact, there are several items that are cheaper and work better (cmos sensors, flash memory, etc) than previous versions. My old 300D didn’t compare to my 50D which is definitely not my 7D. In fact my 300d at the time of purchase cost a couple of hundred dollars more than the T2i which is by far and wide a better camera.

It could be said that advances in technology and design have made many things more accessible. In my opinion this is a byproduct of good design principles, after all isn’t the main goal of design usefulness? Are things still useful if they are out of the general public’s financial reach?

With that said I was extremely excited once I started doing tests with my 7D, acknowledging the creative possibilities that this camera offers. Coming from primarily an animation background, it is great to have access to live action that can have the same image properties of a DSLR setup. The only problem is the ergonomics of the camera. As we all know, watching video shot with a HD-DSLR handheld is nausea inducing.

Having the need to remedy this problem I started looking into different HD-DSLR rigs. I suppose I should’ve researched and budgeted this prior to making my purchase as I was irritated to find that rig options could cost me at least as much as my camera body. In several cases up to twice as much. Cheaper options look a couple of shoots away from the landfill which isn’t great either. The world has enough junk in it already.

Maybe I’m just cheap but it seems a bit crazy to spend more on the product that holds my camera than the camera itself. Additionally, who knows how long this technology will be the “it” indy and small company thing? Is it wise to invest in products that are based around the ergonomics of a potentially volatile technology?

Paying 1600$ or so for the 7D body which is a very complex piece of engineering then paying more than that for my camera rig just didn’t add up. After all, does a 1:1 gear ratio and some quick release bolts merit a huge premium? Can this price be a product of supply and demand when the camera’s themselves are readily available and the cheaper rig options are constantly sold out? Certainly this price can’t be a result of complex engineering or material. All of the engineering components and materials used in modern DSLR rigs have been around for a long long time.

Don’t get me wrong. I love gear as much as the next person. Especially well made professional grade equipment but weighing out the options it seems that practicality will ultimately outweigh my salivation for some finely machined anodized aluminum. Besides, I’m not sure that aerospace manufacturing tolerances and alloys will actually make me a more creative, competent person. In fact, spending less time working on bill paying projects (all that gear is going to create a lot of bills..) and more time on what I want to do will likely lead to better results.

Now that my rant is over, here is where I’m at with my HD-DSLR diy option. In total you are looking at about 75$ worth of materials and 20 hours worth of labour. This rig is going to end up a little bit more expensive than some but I wanted to make sure that it was light and durable.

I used:

shoulder mount frame

1 x 4′, 1/8 by 1″ aluminum flat bar purchased at Rona on Notre Dame, 20$
2 x 1 1/2″, 1/4 inch machine bolt with two locking washer. Purchased at Home Depot: 2$
1 piece of 3/8″ extrude aluminum tube. Junk I had 0$ (you can get this at Home Depot or Rona)

Rails

Broken tripod. More junk I had: 0$

Rail Blocks

Free cutoff UHMEP (Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene
This stuff is ridiculously hard but totally and easily machinable, $0
4 x 1/4″ set screws purchased from Home Depot $ 2
2 x 5/16″ knobed set screws. Mine were given to me but they are $ 2.50 ea at Home Depot. $ 0

Tripod and camera Mounting Plates

2 x 2″ x 4″ x 1/8″ aluminum plate salvage, 0$
1/16 inch cork sheet given to me by a friend, 0$
3M Super 77 spray glue from the local craft store, $15

Handles

Machine handles, given to me by a friend. 0$

Total spent: $41.50 plus 20 hours of time so far.

If you bought everything you would be looking at about 75-100$

Cork covered mounting plates and rail system

I still need to make a shoulder pad, although the frame is finished for the pad mount. I also need to pick up a couple of bolts for the additional handle as the rig supports two handles in front to back or side to side configurations.

So there you have it so far. I’ll be posting some new pictures of the complete rig after the weekend when its done and some footage a bit later on.

In the near future I’ll be posting images of the LCD loupe that I’m currently working up and hopefully a follow focus shortly after that.

Main Bumper

Short Bumpers

Here are a couple of shots from the setup for the short paper cut-out bumpers.

Before

After

Before and After Detail

Before

After