Dan,

Forgive me if I'm being thick, but I'm not sure what a "bars interface" is. Please explain.

To begin with, I believe it will only accommodate electronics. then we'll probably include options for AB or IDX with the expected power taps.

Ted,

I mean Matte box bars, not unlike the vfgadgets one here http://www.vfgadgets.com/files/15mmRod-Bracket-1.jpg The one I have is a different design but does essentially the same thing. Here it is attached to my DSR.

Dan

Dan,

Sorry, must have missed your last post.

My prototype probably will not have this interface, and I don't yet know about the first run, but very shortly we will include them as that is considered very necessary. So, the short answer is yes.

Please send me any info you have and I'll pass it along to the fabricator - that should be very helpful.

Initially, AB is working on a mount with a variety of connections. IDX may choose to build an option as well, but I don't know yet. I think, though, that there are adapters available to use one with the other, are there not?

I've requested one hirose, one D-Tap, and one (maybe hirose) dedicated to the EX3, plus a detachable power lead for camera power.

Just fitted a tiny speaker into my cheek pad so now I have a handy way to monitor audio without using headphones while shooting. No good for critical audio but provides reassurance that the audio is at least there.

I was thinking about this one!! Show pics, please.

great idea Alistair
 

Also, I just fitted the cheek pad and like the extra contact point for handheld - I'm used to putting the VF to my forehead with cams like Canon A1 etc. and this actually helps a lot, so I for one say well done Sony on this.

btw when you remove the shoulder pad to add the cheeky thing there is a little USB style connector behind it - what's that all about??

That's the super-secret USB connector for firmware updates. EX3 has none yet, but maybe in the future... Of course, Sony want to do them all themselves - and frequently charges for it.

Of course, if you attach an external hard drive, you can record uncompressed 4K! ;-) (Just kidding - please don't try this!).

Yes to cheek pad
 

Now while I agree with those of you who think the cheek pad was a cheap afterthought, I personally am glad to use it, it helps alot for handheld shoulder work, being able to pin the cam between ckeek and shoulder is a must when shooting interviews for broadcast.

When using the Z1, I used to do the same thing, but the Z1 being quite alot shorter and not really designed for shoulder work, made things really difficult, even worse with the Panasonic P2 and not very nice with the EX1 either

so the cheekpad has my vote, although I am interested to see how long the thing´s gonna last

Thanks to all for your responses here. At first, we'd planned to forego the cheekpad, but since some of you really appreciate it, it has been accommodated for.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/964209-post1.html