Eyepiece and Handheld Rigs

Cinematography

Eyepiece and Handheld Rigs

Posted by Rich Rubasch on February 27, 2019 at 4:21 pm

Has anyone figured out a way to configure a Canon C300 or other like camera into a handheld setup but have an actual eye piece that can rest on the eye rather than just a monitor that is mounted out in front of the face? The nice thing about the two hands on the camera or grips, the camera resting on the shoulder, and the eye firmly against the eyepiece is twofold….it blocks light 100% so you can see the shot in any light, and it creates a third solid mounting point for the camera giving absolute control of the amount of movement.

With just the grips and the camera resting on the shoulder it’s a little less steady and actually a bit more fatiguing. We do have an EasyRig but that setup sometimes results in shots that are too floaty and not always horizontal…it’s easy to be shooting and not realize you are rotated a couple degrees one way or the other depending on weight distribution.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media Inc.
Video Production, Post, Studio Sound Stage
Founder/President/Editor/Designer/Animator
https://www.tiltmedia.com

Rich Rubasch replied 7 years, 2 months ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
3 Replies

Todd Terry
February 27, 2019 at 4:49 pm

Eh, Rich… we have sorta figured out a way to do that, but not quite as well as I would like.

We take off the handle and use a little short ball-mount magic arm to re-orient the monitor (while flipping around the screen, and using the “mirror” button to re-orient the image), and then use a Hoodman loupe with an extender on it…

It works fair… I’m the first to admit that it is far from a perfect set-up, but good enough to get by for the occasional handheld work (which fortunately I don’t do much of). We also usually use it with longer rods that stick out the back, to which we attach a shoulder-mount thing (I was a little too lazy to rig that part up for the pic, since you only asked about eyepieces).

Unfortunately I don’t believe Hoodman makes that exact loupe and extender anymore. I think that because the rubber eyecup on the loupe recently needed replacing (developed a tear that could not be glued), and when I inquired about a replacement eyecup from Hoodman I was told that part was discontinued. I found one on Amazon, but had to pay almost fifty bucks for a one-inch piece of rubber. Well ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I believe someone (maybe it’s Zacuto?) makes a better solution that I recall seeing years ago, but if I remember correctly it was quite expensive, so I just went the DIY route since we only rarely use it in that configuration.

I love the C300 (one of my all-time favorite cameras), but I do think the designers huddled and said “Let’s make this body as ergonomically unfriendly as possible for handheld work.”

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
Todd Terry
February 27, 2019 at 6:41 pm

What we came up with is sort of the poor-man’s version of this….

https://vimeo.com/83858076

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
Rich Rubasch
March 1, 2019 at 7:27 pm

Great link….that is exactly what I was thinking of…

Rich

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media Inc.
Video Production, Post, Studio Sound Stage
Founder/President/Editor/Designer/Animator
https://www.tiltmedia.com

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