Eazy Handle for 5D Mark II
 

I ordered mine, should be receiving it in the next couple of days.

looks very good! from where i can buy this?

e-mail jcl@eazydolly.com to inquire about orders.

I'm sure this has functionality, but I am amazed at the ugly stuff we attach to a DSLR in the name of functionality. :)

A few years from now, when all of us have camcorders with full frame sensors, we look back and laugh.

That's one of the nicer handles I've seen yet. (Note: edited to remove incorrect price, sorry...)

$460+ does seem insane, where did you find that price? I see that's the starting price for their eazydolly system, but I don't see a price for the handle listed on their site.

My bad, you're right, they don't have a price listed.

the price for the eazy handle is $370.00 plus shipping and handling and sales tax. Total I believe is $421 but is prob different depending where you are ordering from.

If you compare that to the equivalent from IDCphotography.com, it's quite a bit cheaper. It also seems very well thought out. I just bought an Eazy Dolly, and everything seems solid and well built.

Whether you need something like this depends on the type of shooting you do. I bought a setup from marksphototools.com. It's very similar to the IDC equivalent but cheaper. Also heavy and well built. However, because I had to start shooting a lot of handheld stuff inside vehicles, I later on got a Cavision rods support system with the handles and shoulder mount. That sort of made the bracket redundant. I went back from the more cagelike enclosure to a simple L-bracket and handle. I found that having a handle on the side is really convenient. The Eazy one going over the top would be even better.

One thing I did find out about these handles is that they can add a little stability for hand held shots. Not as much as a shoulder mount, but it helps. If you have an LCD viewer to shove up against your eye, and hold the camera by one or more handles, I guess the act of moving your hands out a few inches away from the body itself makes things a bit more stable. In a way it's like a truncated version of the old 2 X 4 trick (where you mount the camera in the middle of an 8 or 10 foot 2 x 4, screw on a kitchen cabinet type handle on each end, and two guys walk or run with it. Sort of a poor man's Steadicam).

I just received my eazy handle in the mail yesterday, very solid build. Love the ability to have the option of cradling the 5d like a video camera. I had purchased the eazy dolly system myself a few years ago when it came out and have been very pleased with that as well.
I am going to head down to samy's out here in los angeles to purchase some shoe mounts so I can rig up a mic,lcd etc.
I also found that this unit is easy to have a good hold on it and still be able to pull focus with your thumb if need be, I think it's a great unit considering the initial idea behind it was to film skateboarding with it. I think it will have plenty of uses once some creative people get their hands on it.

I just got the dolly yesterday, set it up this afternoon, and it is amazingly smooth.

When you mount the 5D on that handle, does your LCD viewer come back far enough or do those vertical pieces get in the way? I was a little concerned about that. If you're shooting low angles holding it by the top handle, then you obviously wouldn't use a Hoodman, but I was wondering how it would be if you had it set up on a tripod with that rig attached.

This one looks like a pretty good handle option as well, room to add mics and lights, not restrictive in terms of a vertical grip and relatively inexpensive for a DSLR accessory...

Emulsion Apparel — Swandles ©

For handles I prefer these...

http://www.hotrodcameras.com/products/lens-mount-kits/

They sell the handles separately and the ergonomics are awesome, far superior to Redrock type handles IMHO.

Absurd. $370.00 for THAT? I could make one out of about $30 of aluminum scrap and two hours of milling machine time.

Martin

I believe you. But it's funny -- as soon as a product is aimed at the film industry, they can easily charge >10 times the production cost.

-- peer

It's odd that they should enter Zacuto territory with the pricing of this handle which retails for almost the same price as their rather ingenious Eazy Dolly system with 12' of track. You certainly get more for your money with the Eazy Dolly.

Bill- The bars in the back don't obstruct the view,maybe if you are looking at the screen from an angle it might, but from straight on nope. I got to try this out over the weekend and it is really great to have something that makes the 5D Mark II feel like a video camera.
The 1/4 inch screw holes all over the unit are great, I know the pricing seems high but this is not made out of cheap material by any means. I have a red rock captain stubling unit, which is great but this piece is able to be mounted to a tripod plate easily, or a table stand tripod. Plenty of space for mic and a lcd if need be or a light.

Would a camera with a battery grip fit...?

-- peer

Unfortunately No, I personally love to use the battery grip for when I am doing stills, but have found it not a big deal to not have it when I am shooting video.

For me it's the opposite -- it comes down to battery life, as video is much more power hungry compared to stills.

-- peer