Ernest House

The Spiderbrace is a nice inexpensive and light shoulder rig. I loved it with my XL1s. However, after having great difficulty shooting with my XH-A1 on it, I realized the Spiderbrace for the XL1s positions the camera too close, too high and too far to the right. With a couple dollars in parts from Lowes, the Spiderbrace is back in business. The modification is contained to the rear leg. Fortunately, the Spiderbrace is made from electrical grade PVC, neoprene, a junction box and a couple bolts. It was easy to work with and modify.

Basically, the fix (for my comfortable camera position) is to cut the PVC 3/4" from the junction box and glue on a male threaded connector. Then, using a female and two 45 degree elbows with the minimum of pipe, replace 2" of straight pipe on the cut off shoulder piece with the aforementioned assembly. Just like the new SpiderBrace units, this modification can also be disassembled for storage/travel. With this modification the brace drops the camera down so the eyepiece is at eye level. I chose to kant the shoulder piece a little to the outside to effectively bring the camera mount in a little since the A1 eyepiece is in the center of the camera instead of the side like the XL1. If you are careful, you can kant the shoulder piece and still keep it vertical but the cement leaves no time for adjustments.

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Ernest