The Best Sony A7s Cage of them All? – 6 Cages Reviewed

August 10^th, 201535

The Best Sony A7s Cage of them All? - 6 Cages Reviewed

by Sebastian WöberAugust 10^th, 2015

Skier LiteCage for A7

Skier is based in Taiwan and have been manufacturing DSLR accessories for several years now. Their Skier LiteCage for A7 has been among the first cages for the Sony A7s to hit the shelves. Here’s how we liked it in comparison to the others.

HDMI cable protector quality

The HDMI protector works and holds the cable we used very securely.

The downside about this one is that it requires 2 different allen keys, so it’s not so practical to set up. Another possible problem is that the blue part is quite narrow so it might not fit all cables.

Access to other outputs on the side

When the HDMI protector is attached the accessibility to the USB port is blocked.

The side pole is in the way when trying to access the side doors, but with a small object it is still possible to open them.

Ease of assembly and disassembly

Assembling and disassembling this cage is easy and can be done quickly. With a single screw it’s done.

How securely is the camera attached to the cage?

Unfortunately the camera doesn’t sit 100% securely inside the Skier LiteCage for A7. There’s a little bit of movement, but it is not comparable to what happened on the Movcam Cage for Sony a7S.

Possible to use the Sony XLR-K2M audio module?

Yes it’s possible to use the Sony XLR-K2M and this is the only cage where the handle doesn’t have to be removed as it has the same shape as the audio module itself. This is a very nice solution.

Access to the lens release button

Yes, the lens release button on the camera is easily accessible.

 Baseplate mount quality

There is a large surface for your tripod plate and there are 2 differently sized threads. Perfect. The tripod plate won’t move easily on this cage.

Rod support quality

There is an optional rod support that can be ordered with this cage, but it didn’t do too well in our review.

One problem is that it is a bit of a hassle to attach as it can only be mounted and dismounted when there is no lens attached and it’s not easy to access the screws with the allen key.

Another thing that puzzled us was that there is no height adjustment, but the rod support’s height doesn’t conform to the 15mm standard, but is actually a few cm off. So if you want to use a mattebox you will have to make sure it’s height adjustable.

Handle design

We already mentioned that the handle is the only one that works together with the audio module. But this is the only reason why it won’t get a double-red rating. Because this handle comes off by itself and cannot be locked securely, which is dangerous to your camera and a definitive no-go. Once it gets loose the handle will easily slide through the cage coldshoe because there is no additional protection.

The design is not ideal also because there are small loose parts whenever the handle is not attached to the cage and these can be lost easily.

Overall Ergonomics

In terms of ergonomics this cage is not good for small hands as it is a little bulky. There is a level bubble built into the cage, but it wasn’t accurate in our test, so it couldn’t be used in the field.

The cage looks and feels a bit “unsexy”. On the other hand there are also several benefits like the extra coldshoe, easy access to tilt the LCD and lots of space on the right-hand side.

It also works with the CinEasy Touch mod (helps trigger the rec button).

Conclusion

For people who are looking for a stylish cage this might not be the perfect answer, but there are some great things here in terms of functionality. This one has a good HDMI protector, tripod base, is easy to assemble / disassemble and the handle works with the Sony XLR-K2M audio module.

Unfortunately the handle is not recommended because it comes off too easily. The quality on this one should be better, other than that with 6 green lights it is not a bad cage.

Price: $267

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