Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Mailbox: a decent shoulderpad for my rig

looks like aluminum but it's tough plastic
I have a Gini rig and the one thing that I'm particularly dissatisfied about, is the solid rubber block that is supposed to act as a shoulderpad. It's the wrong shape and it doesn't hug your shoulder- as a decent shoulderpad should. That was probably the single most reason I didn't use my rig much, apart from the fact that the ball joints didn't lock as secure as I wanted to. (using a wrench as opposed to the levers for locking the ball joints works much better)
So I finally got around to finding -and ordering- a shoulderpad that stays within budget and fulfills my needs. It has just arrived and I was surprised how light and small the little box was it arrived in... I never realized it when I ordered it, but this shoulderpad is made of plastic! But it's strong and well made.
There's nothing fancy or special about this little contraption but it does what it's supposed to and it does it well. The setup here is with my GH2 and works well. I also used it this way with my Sony EX1 R and I really liked it, although with a heavy videocamera like that I would have liked some counterweight. That's next on my list. But this shoulderpad is a good investment and really made me enjoy my Gini rig for the first time.

A simple and effective shoulderpad
Top view of the shoulderpad: non-standard threadholes..?

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