AF100 - what is the hot shoe size?

[Jeff Dean]

Is the hot shoe on top of the AF100 a 1/4"-20 Thread Socket?

Asking as I'm trying to install a external monitor on it and the adaptor keeps slipping out of the thread socket. Thanks.

[Greg Smith]

Do you mean with or without the top handle attached?

The handle has two 1/4"-20 holes surrounding a central 3/8"-16 hole. The 3/8" is drilled all the way through the handle and won't restrict the length of bolts you can attach there.

By loosening two captive screws and sliding it forward, you can remove the top handle to reveal another cold shoe. The hole just behind this shoe that was used to secure the handle is also threaded 1/4"-20 but is rather shallow. You probably won't be able to tighten down anything there that protrudes more than 1/4" or so into the hole.

In playing with it just now, I was able to secure a Noga arm in all three of these 1/4" mounting points with no problems.

[Jeff Dean]

Thanks Greg for the response. I should have been more specific.

The handle on top on the camera (on the very front of the handle). Attached are some pics of the piece on the handle and the adapter I'm trying to slide in with the square bottom that is suppose to fit in it (adapter will have the monitor mounted on top of it). When I slide the adaptor into the space as seen in the photo. It's very loose even after tightening.

When I gave the company a video of the loose monitor sliding out of it easily- they asked "I wondering if the hot shoe is not a 1/4"-20 Thread Socket."

Worst case for me is if it doesn't work out, then I use my monitor extension arm full time on the camera. But I may have a need for a top mounted monitor which is what I was trying to do here.

[Greg Smith]

Oh, I think I get it now, but I don't know the answer to the original question. There's no such thing as a "1/4-20 hot shoe"; it's a type of mount all to itself that was originally designed many years ago for attaching flashguns to still cameras. The dimensions are at least informally standardized, and the AF100 shoes have worked with every piece of hardware I have that is supposed to fit in them. In fact, the AF100 mounts are not "hot" shoes at all because they don't have the contacts in them for activating an on-camera flash. So the original question from that support person was kind of nonsensical.

If I wanted to put an external viewfinder on my AF100 (and I do, from time to time), I'd use a cine arm (mine's a 7" Noga) screwed into one of the 1/4" sockets on the top of the handle, not the "cold" shoe, which doesn't seem as sturdy. This isn't the lightest possible arrangement, but it's very strong and flexible, and I don't hand-hold the AF100 that much anyway.

- Greg