30 May 2011

DIY DSLR Shoulder Rig


DIY DSLR Shoulder Rig from Andrew Kelly on Vimeo.
A quick video showing the DSLR shoulder rig I built for my 5D mark 2. I wanted to start shooting video with the camera and needed some extra stability, so rather than spend a hell of a lot of money on a well over priced pro one I decided to try and build my own. This is the result.

I had to use the mic on my camera to record this as my Zoom H1 is broke so the sound isn't great.

Click 'read more' to see images and more of the building process (Taken from my previous blog post on this rig)


This is some of the process me and my dad went through while building me a shoulder rig. All in all the materials cost around £40 (thats including the tripod head). We intentionally decided not to use the standard 15mm rods to base the system on as I wanted to have everything home made and don't intend to buy any pro pieces to attach. I will also attempt a follow focus system soon. 

It is based on a single aluminium sheet about 2 inches wide as it is nice and light. The handles are simply bike handles (I will buy a few different styles to suit different projects). 

We then sprayed everything black.

I like that everything is adjustable to my needs. All I need to do is make some more screw holes if I need to attach any other pieces of equipment (follow focus, sound recorder). 

I am very happy with it. It gets a very steady shot which is the sole purpose for making it, it is light, can be easily taken apart for storage and re-assembled, it cost at least £400 less than a store bought rig, easily adjusted to my needs and projects. Overall pretty damn good for around £40.








Final Rig. 
It was sprayed with a grey primer then finished with a satin black.

I added a small bag at the back with 5 pounds of weight to balance out the whole rig and take the strain of my arms. The whole rig with the Canon 5d mk 2 on it feels great and is a pleasure to use. 

Now I plan to make a few different styles of rig to compliment this one (some more run and gun styled one's). I will also attempt a follow focus for this one. 

A big thanks to my dad for helping me with this!

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