[Mark Rule]

Its basically just a plate that can be attached to the base of the mount instead of the VCT-14 type wedge plate. It allows a pan & tilt head wedge plate to be attached further back – so that the camera/EXMount can be balanced.

Just an option I thought could be useful in some cases.

I am planning to take some more photos of the various setups tomorrow night – so I’ll post them here.

In the meantime, here’s a picture of the mount with a Letus setup:

[Mark Rule]

Thanks Dave – I’ll keep that in mind when we’ve got the design finalised.

I’ve been working on a plate that attaches to the base of the EXMount (in place of the VCT-14 wedge plate) and allows the Pan and Tilt head wedge to be attached to this plate.

It means that the EXMount can be attached to a Pan & Tilt head without the use of a VCT-14 plate – in much the same way as I have seen most people attach their EX-3’s to a P&T head. The main difference is that there is no strain on the EX-3 1/4″ mounting thread and no risk of twisting – the wedge plate can be fixed with 1/4″ and 3/8″ screws.

Balancing is limited to the amount of travel that the P&T head allows. I was able to balance the camera/mount on a Miller Arrow HD and Manfrotto 516 P&T head.

This could be another option if you don’t have/want to use a VCT-14 plate.

I’ll post some photos soon.

[Mark Rule]

Thanks for the comments Dave. Its been a bit of an evolution over the last 12 months or so – but I think its finally getting to the finished stage – just a few tweaks here and there.

I just want to make sure it works with other accessories – ie mattbox systems (as discussed with Jim) – and to take on board feedback from other EX-3 users.

Mark

[Mark Rule]

I’ll take a closer look at the Cavision mattbox – but I’m sure it will be fairly straight forward to attach to the EX-3 mount. I should be able to get hold of one Monday/Tuesday next week.

Mark

[Mark Rule]

At the moment it is set up to use a Chroziel mattbox system. The front tripod wedge plate is replaced by the Chroziel version which allows the mattbox rails to be mounted.

What mattbox system do you use? I can look at other ways of mounting rails.

Another option I’ll look at is just using a ‘weight’ – ie a block of Aluminium in a similar size to a camera battery to provide some weight for counterbalance. It really does need something over the shoulder to help balance the camera. The ‘weight’ could be attached directly to the battery plate – so the IDX V-lock battery mount wouldn’t be required (saving cost).

In practical use, I don’t find the extra height of the camera on the tripod to be an issue. Compared to my PDW-700 the camera lens axis is only 10mm higher.

I can take some more detailed pictures of the mattbox setup, but below you should be able to make out the Chroziel mounting plate which is attached to the front of the mount in place of the standard wedge plate.

Above is the EX-3 with mount, ACM-21 adapter, Fujinon HA13x4.5 W/A lens, Mattbox and V-lock battery. This is a combination I use quite a bit on a Jimmy Jib and Glidecam X-45.

Mark

[Mark Rule]

The shoulder pad and rear ‘block’ has 2 positions:

In the forward position, the front v-wedge and rear tripod plate stopper engage to the VCT-14 tripod plate as you would expect from a ‘normal’ Sony shoulder mount camera – so the mount (and camera) are locked solid to the tripod plate and not just held by the front v-wedge (as I’ve seen on some other systems).

It also makes the mount quite compact.

In this position, it is possible to operate the camera on the shoulder – but the viewfinder is quite tight to your face.

so…

by pushing the gold button in on the back of the mount, the whole shoulder pad and rear block will slide back to the end of the rods (about 50mm/2″) – which puts the viewfinder at a comfortable position for operation on the shoulder.

The V-lock battery also moves back with the shoulder pad.

The down side is that the camera is effectively moved forward – but using a reasonable size/weight battery on the back helps keep the camera firmly on the shoulder and helps keep things balanced.

Hopefully these pictures might illustrate things more clearly:

As for pricing, we’re working through that at the moment. I’m trying to gauge what sort of interest there might be – and what features/options should be standard.

Any feedback is appreciated!

Thanks

Mark

[Mark Rule]

Thanks for that – all works nicely now and the compact mode is great!

Mark