The Blog

I doubt that I really left you hanging, salivating at the gourd for what lies in wait regarding the AMAZING AND IMPRESSIVE relatively neat and lightweight shoulder-mount rig I ran around with this weekend.

If I did, I apologize. However, I think that it should become a welcome addition to the ELEMENTS EV2 line and is probably the most practical cinema/run-n-gun style rig to date from ikan. We’ve been playing with a few new, simple, manufactured parts lately in CAD and they had finally come in, so I figured it was time to test these puppies elsewhere, in varied contexts.

Here’s the barebone verison, sans peripherals:

You might say, “those are some really mediocre photos! And you know what? You’re right. they have little zazz to them and are designed to give you concept. However, in testing, it’s worth noting a couple of things:

1. the handle bars actually have comfortable grips, with reinforced rubber feet for setting down.
2. they don’t slip and spin anymore around the bar (if you know, you know. rejoice with me!)
3. the cross-bar connectors no longer utilized some wonky 15RDA contraption to change axis.
4. large and small base plates are compatible (ele-lbp and ele-sbp), includes tripod mounting. this means you can use both your dslr and larger form factor camera or camcorder.
5. padded shoulder brace, lightweight and sturdy, designed to place the camera as close to your body’s pivot point as possible (above the shoulder) to reduce rolling shutter on video takes.
6. because of light-weight improvement, less fatigue holding rig up.
7. goes hand-in-hand with your favorite evf or small on camera monitor (I’ve been using the VL5 because of its simplicity and size).
8. room for follow focus and matte box.

This is the part where I’d gush about the real-world application of the rig, event-style. Due to cancellation, however, I didn’t grab my much anticipated video and stills for some wild club event, designed to help pad this post with pictures of pretty people in freaky costumes.

I have another two of these rigs out for evaluation right now. One is being tested with the Scarlet-X in the Big Easy and is due back soon with some footage I’m really curious about seeing. The other is being used to shoot SWAT Team members in training situations, i.e. fast paced and intense. I should be receiving stills and some fancy words from both of these cats in the next week or so before NAB. By that time, I will have a replacement event with my own deets regarding the rig.

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