PSC shockmount
 

Just bought an on camera shockmount made by PSC.

http://tinyurl.com/6aylc

There seems to be a fair number of people on these boards on a quest to find a decent, inexpensive on-camera shockmount (myself included), so I thought I'd share my thoughts.

First of all, it dampens vibrations really well. The hinge at the base has heavy rubber washers that absorb quite a few shocks themselves. The bands are made out of a really weird squishy material that doesn't feel like rubber at all. They're really soft and do a great job of absorbing vibrations. The aluminum that is used is very thin and rigid, and also seems to absorb vibrations. All in, it works much, much better than the Sennheiser MZS-cam. The thing is really small too, much smaller than it looks in the picture at B&H. It holds an ME-64 really snug. I didn't try an ME-66, but I think it would go in there all right without flopping around too much.

Unfortunately, the foot that fits in the hotshoe and the locking nut are plastic. At least PSC sells replacements for $10. There is a threaded hole on the bottem of the foot so it can be used on a boompole, but the threads are plastic as well and very fragile. I tried mounting it on a handle and it felt very flimsy, so I wouldn't even think about getting dual use out of it. Worst of all, and this is almost a deal killer for me, it won't fit in the hotshoe of a mini-Rover. The locking nut won't raise high enough. It makes me want to weep. I thought I had finally found a reasonable solution here. So there it is, if anybody is interested.

Sorry for the couple of hang-ups in your new shockmount. I can make the following suggestions-
If you have enough threads on your handle to add a thin nut below the foot, you could probably snug it up. If you have a lot of threads you can add a wingnut "upside-down" so it's easier to adjust. You may also want to wrap the handle threads in several turns of teflon thread tape on the portion that goes into the foot. Wrap it the same direction as the foot threads on so it will stay in place the first time. Experiment til it's snug.

I can't tell for sure from the picture whether you can substitute a thinner nut above the foot that would allow more clearance for the mini rover shoe. If you can't, then you'll need to hunt for another entire foot assembly that will work with the rover that you can attach to the main portion of the PSC mount.

For starters, I think I'll try using this thingy (which has been pointed out in here before) as a sort of adapter --

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=146293&is=REG

Convenience was supposed to be the whole point of having a dedicated hot-shoe shockmount, though. Grumble, grumble.

There is another version available in two different lengths, and without the shoe mount. I've seen them, fiddled around with them but never really tried them out (at Trew in Toronto). They are flimsy, but they only cost about $55.

Foe $75 you can buy the K-Tech shoe mount, or the basic mount without the articulated mounting arm (fixed angle with 2 different threaded connections). the Full deal KSM or KSSM is $110-$120 BUT...it's solidly made from machined aluminum and has a very unique mounting arramgement which is the best there is (IMO)

You could also trade your mount back in for the standard mic-stand mount version and then get a shoe to 5/8" or 3/8" adapter. This would give you the advantage of using it on anything including the rover shoe.

New K-Tech Product
 

K-Tech is apparently making two versions of a boom mounted shoe adapter. As with all of their product, this would be a robust adapoter that would not crack or easily fail.

With these adapters a shoe mounted mic could be removed from the camera and boom mounted very quickly and securely. The full list prices are $65 (K-DA-SHOE) for the fixed angle adapter and $115 (K-ART-SHOE) for the fully articulated version. The fixed angle had two 3/8 threads and the fully articulated has a speed lock on the articulated joint.

The articulated shoe will have a similar base to this unit

As I said the inexpensive model wont have the adjustability but will have a fixed arm with two 3/8 threads similar to the bottom arm of this unit. click here

No plastic here. just well finished , machined aluminum. Manfred doesn't make crap.