Canon 5D2 Mock Up of Shoulder Shooting Rig
 

I set out to mockup a working shoulder rest shooting rig for the Canon 5D Mark II, and came up with what I call the "Cross Bow", because it looksl like the cross bows launders.

The design ended up the way it did because I want camera ofset so an eyepiece could be used to view the LCD. I originally used a 2 pound weight to balance camera on others side of side, and had the XLR adapter mounted on the spine instead, but it got a bit heavy that way. Using the XLR adapter does help balance it pretty well.

I don't even know what brand the filter/shade is, it came in a box full of shades and bellows from fellow member Chris Swanberg who has collected them over the years.

The eyepiece in this mockup is 1 1/4 or 1/2 plastic conduit union into which tape fitted an achromat I had gotten from the Surplus Shed last year when I was trying to make my own 35mm adapter. (This project is a much better use, frankly !! :>))

Attached are pictures of this unusual configuration.

Looks real interesting. Thank you for sharing with us.

Is that handle movable, I mean like on a ball.

Also have you looked at using those LCD monitors (small Samsung), where I guess we would get lower resolution like 640x480 but bigger than the Camera screen. It could be fitted right where you have placed the XLR adaptor.

And how much does the rig weigh?

Ramesh.

I like it. It makes sense in that configuration. Putting the camera down the centerline only makes sense if you are using an external monitor (placed left) or are planning to operate rifle-style. It might even be nice to make a hinged mount for the eyepiece so it can stow out of view when shooting from a different position. Would it alternately be possible to use some sort of fresnel lens instead of an eyepiece? I don't like squinting through eyepieces but I can't focus on things less than 6" from my face.

Okay, I'm new to this. I've done a mockup of a U-Boat Commander (with no sholder rest yet); fairly impressed with the smoothness and stability. But I'm trying to figure out how to measure the results, and perhaps to compare different rigs. Is there some kind of pointing stability and smoothness standard or test method?

Nice work, Chris. I think your design satisfies the most important design requirement of a 5D2 rig: getting the LCD up in your face.

Marcus:

The eyepeice enlarges the screen and brings it all into focus. I envision a hood over it all in bright conditions. Don't see what a fresnal screen would do. You might be thinking about one of the those thin magnifiers, but I find this to be better than one I have experimented with. Mounting on would make it closer to your face, and even harder to focus. They achromat I used here enlarges and allows my eye to focus better. Also, the arm holding the eye piece will in fact swing out of line if I want to simply look directly as screen.

Ramesh:

Handle in this prototype is hard mounted with bolt that also bolts the cross piece to the unit. But my idea is to modidy to mount a Manfrotto tripod wedge on bottom of the shoulder rig, then have a handle that will include a receiver.

This handle is just pulled off packing tape dispenser, you can buy tape and dispenser for about $8.00 at Staples. (See picture attached)

I do have a 7inch LCD kit sold by LCD4Video. I had contingencies for shoot that way mounting as you suggest. The idea would be that the battery would be hung from back over the shoulder in a pouch to proved further stability. Haven't tested that possibility yet.


Rig as I show it weighs it at around 6-7 pound on my bathroom scale...

Test shooting
 

I shot this in my backyard today, and I believe this will work well. It was a bright day. While I was't shooting direct sunlight, with the achromat, I was able to focus nicely, as I followed subjects. I also shot with the XLR plugged in, and my ME66 mounted separately providing sound. I felt that sound was great, despite AGC, and camera stability was also great. I will post examples on Vimeo tonight.

Chris, thanks for sharing...

It looks really interesting...

As others have mentioned, the best feature is that you turned the viewfinder into a eyepiece...

Keep us updated...

This video explains how I constructed brace, and shows some test footage using it:

Prototype Shoulder Brace for 5D Mark II on Vimeo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBGyhPsekrQ