SHAPE, makers of a variety of camera support accessories, has a new line of V-mount and gold mount batteries called Full Play. We go hands on with the new bricks at Cine Gear 2018 below. SHAPE Full Play batteries The batteries are available in both V and gold mount and in 98wh, 135wh and 270wh capacities. When comparing the 98wh SHAPE battery to other brands, I found that SHAPE Full Play was the more affordable solution in general. SHAPE’s batteries also include a USB and D-tap port as well as a 4-light LED indicator showing battery charge. The company also says the batteries will charge on other brands chargers and will provide about 6-hours of battery life for cameras like Panasonic’s AU-EVA1. The batteries also sit flush to the top of cameras like the Canon C700 and RED Helium — definitely helpful for mounting ergonomics. Quad chargers and a D-Tap travel adapter for charging on the go is also available. A variety of different batteries are available in the marketplace, but the SHAPE batteries seem to provide a nice balance between price, capacity and ergonomics. 

Every once in a while we see very clever products that have the potential of making our lives on set a whole lot easier. The Wooden Camera Push Button ARRI Rosette is such a device. Adjust your handgrips? Push a button, align the grip, release the button, done. No Thumbscrews required. A set of 4 Push Button ARRi Rosettes (two left, two right). These neat guys just sit between your standard ARRI rosette and the handgrip or extension arm. Mount it once and forget it’s even there. Wooden Camera Push Button ARRI Rosette You probably have worked with a Sony FS7 before. It’s a great little camera but the one thing that really bugs me every single time is its handgrip extension. In order to move it you have to release a thumbscrew, so you’ll have to use both hands for that task, otherwise you risk dropping the camera once the extension arm is loose. A neat solution for this problem is the Shape FS7 extension handle (reviewed here). This arm can be released, aligned and refastened with the push of a button and with just one hand. The Zacuto Trigger Grip is another solution (article here). Both solutions are pretty cool but both require the purchase of a completely new arm. Wooden Camera’s approach to this problem is a little different, but just as ingenious compared to the Shape or Zacuto devices: It’s truly universal because it’s just the rosette itself. Just mount it between your camera’s ARRI rosette and your actual extension arm and you’re all set. You can still use your existing gear. Being so small, yet so helpful in so many situations (If you’ve ever worked with the stock Sony FS7 extension arm you know what I mean), makes this Wooden Camera push button ARRI rosette such a great product. Pricing and Availability The push button ARRI rosettes come in left and right variants and you can purchase them individually, in a set of two (left, right) or set of four (2 left, 2 right). One rosette is $85, the set of two is $160 and the quadruplet is $299. Delivery is scheduled for early April, but you can pre-order the ARRI rosettes now. Links: Wooden Camera What is your favorite approach of mounting handgrips? Is this handy accessory worth a try? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The Shape Revolt Push Button Arms combine a strong tool-less design with flexibility to provide solid support for a variety of uses. The push-button system from Shape has become a popular choice for handles on camera rigs because of its tool-less design. With many camera setups now including monitors, recorders and microphone accessories – which in general can be fiddly to attach and adjust – shooters will be pleased to see the Shape design has made its way to support these kind of accessories too. The Shape Revolt Push Button Arm incorporates ease of adjustment and strength into a tiny device that can rotate 360 degrees on the horizontal and vertical axis in the 2A model, or four axis in the 4A model. You can change a monitor setup from facing the camera operator to the side for a director or producer by simply pushing the lock button to release, and twisting the joint to adjust. I checked out the Shape Revolt Push Button Arm last week and, despite being small in size, it’s strong and remains locked in place unlike many cheap magic arms. It can be attached to any camera rig and accessories via the 1/4″ screw, or onto 15mm rods. The 4-axis Push Button Arm is larger, but allows for further extension and mounting possibilities for a complete custom setup that can be adjusted at the top and bottom or the arm. This would be particularly handy when working with a camera setup with lots of accessories attached to a cage for example. However, they do have a higher price tag than conventional magic arms, which may put many people off purchasing. Can the Shape Revolt Push Button Arms convert you from using magic arms for your accessories in the future? Let us know in the comments.

The Sony FS7 is a very popular camera which comes in a shoulder-mount shape and form, straight out of the box, which often isn’t the case with cameras that didn’t get the third party rigging treatment. However, the built-in shoulder pad and handle aren’t perfect. The shoulder pad can’t be moved much to adjust for different balance points depending on the type of lens you use – a movable baseplate with built-in shoulder rig is required. Many manufacturers, including Shape, have come up with great solutions. My current baseplate of choice is the Zacuto Recoil baseplate for the FS7. The handle is another story – while the shape of the grip is actually perfect for larger hands like mine, the handle itself has always felt like something that was built before the design was perfected. The two big issues: a thumbscrew to attach the angle of the handle is cumbersome to operate while you have the camera on your shoulder, and having to use a screwdriver for the adjustment of the length of the handle is a downright usability nightmare. Canadian camera accessory maker Shape discovered this problem early on (and yes, this product has already been on the market for a while, but I just found it too good not to cover!). They made a replacement part for the upper part of the handle that gives you a push-button adjustment of the handle angle plus a thumbscrew for the length adjustment. And just like that, it becomes something you don’t want to miss from your FS7 ever again. The Shape FS7 Extension Handle allows for toolless handle adjustments. Shape FS7 Extension Conclusion If you have a Sony FS7 and film from the shoulder frequently, you should get the Shape FS7 handle extension. It’s as simple as that. It makes this great camera just more usable by thinking the concept until the end, something that Sony wasn’t able to do when they released the camera.

The new Sony a7S II and Sony a7R II are currently leading the list of most powerful affordable large sensor cameras (Check out our comparison Review). To make those cameras work with third party accessories, a good camera cage is often a must. Read on to find the best Sony a7S II Cage (and a7R II Cage) out of 8 we tested. Review by Sebastian Wöber & Johnnie Behiri In August we reviewed the best cages for the original Sony a7S and now we take a look at cages for the new a7S II and a7R II cameras that share an identical body design. There are more cages out there that we didn’t test. Here we’re reviewing the ones that manufacturers sent to us in time to meet our publication deadline. We followed the same basic review guidelines of our first test, but also took reader comments into account. In particular Metabones adapter support was one review point that some of you were more interested in. We tried to keep it short, but this review is extensive. That’s why we split the reviews for each single cage into a separate page. Do you Need a Cage? In the age of small cinema cameras the camera cage has become the most popular accessory by now. But it is not always a good idea to follow the trend. First here’s a checklist to see if you really need a cage for your application. Mounting accessories on your camera? Cages provide mounting points (standard threads and coldshoes) so you can mount stuff. This is the main purpose of a camera cage, as the Sony a7 cameras by themselves don’t provide any other mouting points, besides one single hotshoe on top. Protection and Ergonomics. Cages protect the camera and can enhance the ergonomics, by offering a more handy form-factor or handle rec-triggers. On the other hand they add weight and some of thembulkyness. So if lightweight and compactness is your #1 concern, think again. HDMI cable protection. The original Sony a7S offered external 4K recording. As the new a7S II and a7R II have internal 4K, HDMI protection is less of a necessity. However if you intend to use HDMI for external screens, EVF or recording, then a cage that protects the HDMI port is essential. Lens Mount Support. If you use larger lenses or rigs with focusing gears, a solid lensport is a good idea. Sony’s native E-Mount is not the most sturdy of mounts and many shooters work with a Metabones adapter to use Canon EF mount lenses on the a7S II and a7R II. Why this Cage Comparison? Because there are huge quality differences between cages and you will not be happy with just any of them. Most of them actually are not recommended. Don’t just order a Sony a7S II cage blindly. You should weigh all the pro’s & con’s of the cages we present, so you can decide which of them will tick most or all your boxes. In our conclusion we will tell you which one we liked best, which ones we recommend and which need improvement. Structure of Each Review: Ease of assembly and disassembly. How securely is the camera attached to the cage? HDMI cable protector design. Do we have access to other outputs on the side? Is it possible to use the Sony XLR-K2M audio module? Can we easily access the lens release button? 
How well can we attach a tripod plate? How good is the included Rod Support? Metabones Mount Quality. The top-handle design. Overall ergonomics. Conclusion How We Rate We rated each point as follows: Double-green: In some rare cases we decided to give a double-green rating for outstanding performance/design. Green: The product performs as it should. Orange: There are some issues, but it’s ok. Red: The product didn’t live up to our expectations. Double-Red: Something is wrong here and should be addressed by the manufacturer. The Cages we Reviewed Simply click on the name of the product to get to the review page or find the conclusion at the end of this article. Products reviewed in alphabetical order. 8Sinn a7RII / a7SII Cage Came-Tv Rig for a7SII / a7RII Movcam a7RII / a7SII Cage Kit Moza Cage for Mirrorless Cameras Shape Sony a7S II / a7R II Cage Skier LiteCage for A7RII / A7SII Tilta for Sony a7 Cage ES-T17 Varavon Cage for a7R II, a7S II GO TO PAGE 2 → Links to each Cage Review: Page 1: Introduction Page 2: 8Sinn a7RII / a7SII Cage Page 3: Came-Tv Rig for a7SII / a7RII Page 4: Movcam a7RII / a7SII Cage Kit Page 5: Moza Cage for Mirrorless Cameras Page 6: Shape Sony a7S II / a7R II Cage Page 7: Skier LiteCage for A7RII / A7SII Page 8: Tilta for Sony a7 Cage ES-T17 Page 9: Varavon Cage for a7R II, a7S II Page 10: Winner

Sony listened to users and developed something completely new with the FS7, an ergonomic camera. Yet despite their efforts there’s always going to be points for improvements, this article looks at how which manufactures offer what, to make the FS7 a more shooter friendly camera. The Sony has hit the ground running with the FS7, elaborating on the popular and affordable high framerate Sony FS700, adding 4K internal recording, a much stronger XAVC codec and perhaps most surprisingly for Sony, far better ergonomics. A specification list seemingly always comes first with a Sony large sensor camera; the FS700 and FS100 are…. a challenge to operate. The FS7 is a different beast, a shorter body, removable viewfinder and handle make it far easier to operate out of the box; Sony really listened to users with the need for ergonomics. However, there’s always room for improvement (at least that’s what every retailer I’m about to talk about will tell you). The shoulder pad was a great idea, but sits quite far back and lacks adjustment therefore is not ideal in many situations. The solution? Well there are a few, loads in fact considering the camera was only announced in September. Here we’ll take a look at what’s currently on offer.   Zacuto Price range $585 – $1200 We’ve talked a lot about Zacutos Next Generation Recoil Rigs in the recent past. Fresh out of the factory and boasting capability with pretty much every camera setup there is; the FS7 is no exception. A Zacuto Recoil Rig is built on a simple philosophy, balance. Find the centre point your rig and sit it on your shoulder; Zacuto state this is nearly always where the lens meets the body. The VCT Universal Baseplate is the heart of this system, add an Axis Mini for the FS7 EVF, and you’re pretty much ready to go. The only problem with a perfectly balanced (with no counter balance weight) system is quite often the camera sits back on your shoulder, meaning you have to reach back to make settings changes. With the supplied FS7 handle, this is less of a problem. Simply mount a rosette to the baseplate and you’re ready to go. A Zacuto Z-Drive and Tornado relocates focus control also if you want to bring your left hand further down too.   Wooden Camera Price range $938 – $2,350 Wooden Camera has taken the more tripod approach to its accessories. Offering a 3 different kits for the FS7, the Base Advanced and Pro. I’ll discuss what the Pro kit includes. A top cheeseplate offers a whole host of threaded mounting points for various accessories, including the existing handle if you require, or an improved rotating Wooden Camera option. The top handle connects via popular Nato quick release, and offers cold shoe, 15mm and 19mm compatibility for accessories. Most notably is the 15mm side connector to accommodate the native FS7 viewfinder mount or Wooden Camera EVF mount. The FS7 Quick Base offers two 15mm rods up front, and can accommodate another two on the rear for further mounting (more on that shortly). The baseplate adheres to the Arri dovetail plate meaning compatibility with existing shoulder rigs etc. is quick and easy; I love how much fore and aft adjustment you get with this setup. Lastly the Pro system from Wooden Camera takes advantage of two rear facing 15mm rod connectors on the baseplate, offering a battery plate to attach V-lock sized batteries.   Shape Price range $399 – $2285 The Shape Rig returns to a shoulder rig orientated design. Offering a baseplate with a nice shoulder pad, 15mm rods to the front and rear as well as a dropped down handle for the left hand side. The right side makes way for Sonys existing handle, offering a rosette to accommodate this. The FS7 Pro Bundle from Shape includes their existing Follow Focus Pro, a hard stopped multi directional follow focus with height adjustable arm. As you can see from the pictures, due to the placement of the camera and shoulder pad, this rig will easily become front heavy, so best compatible with users adopting a v-lock battery system or the raw recorder to counter balance. Shape has also developed a lightweight baseplate solution for the FS7. Supplied with dual 8″ long 15mm rods, rosettes on both sides and a delta plate on the bottom for use with VCT style plates minus the rear-locating pin.     Movcam Price range $990 – $7000 Movcam has become increasingly popular with their bespoke camera accessories. Notably their fantastic Sony A7S cage, which I myself own. The Movcam FS7 rig benefits from a half cage style design, running up the back of the dumb side of the camera, offering a host of threads as it goes and protecting the EVF cable connection. The baseplate is split into two parts, the bottom offering a standard VCT connection & dual 15mm rods, and the top a more compact Arca-Swiss dovetail mount. The connection between the two offers moderate fore and aft adjustment of the camera setup; the slim dovetail mount means you can add a shoulder pad for shoulder setups. Arri rosettes can be found on both sides of the baseplate to accommodate the Sony FS7 handle. The half cage also providing one on the dumb side to enable a rear mounted handle setup. On the top, a 15mm rod connection point and rod adds some adjustment to the current FS7 viewfinder. There’s also an option to remove the existing handle with a threaded-out Movcam equivalent that stretches the length of the setup. Lastly to mention is the neat little adjustable lens mount support. Between Sony E and Canon EF there’s often a tiny amount of play (a popular lens solution for FS7 users), and this support just firms that connection up.   Vocas Price range $745 – $1900 The Vocas FS7 has similarities to both Wooden Camera and Movcam solutions. Primarily designed for tripod use, but by using existing common plates it’s compatible with a host of other setups including shoulder pads and rigs. The baseplate takes the curved shape of the underside of the FS7. Like many here it offers dual 15mm rods up front and a rosette on either side for use with the FS7 handle and popular Vocas wooden ergonomic handles. In order to keep the profile of the plate thin, rods do not pass through and instead a separate small module is used to connect 15mm rods at the rear. A top cheeseplate offers a wide variety of threaded mounting options, as well as inclusion of a heavyweight handle, and 15mm rod support for existing EVF.     Tilta Price range $700 – $2800 The Tilta rig for FS7 is the most cage-like setup I’ve discussed so far. Expanding up from a baseplate across the front of the camera, serving as a front armour and offering many threads for mounting accessories. A top half cheeseplate does as many others in this list do, but rather than stretch the entire surface area of the top of the camera, the Tilta plate resides only around the sides meaning the top handle stays put. A back top plate piggy backs existing mounting threads and hangs a battery plate down the back on the camera for V-Lock solutions. The baseplate also equipped with dual 15mm rods and rosettes houses a curved shoulder pad. The pad sits pretty far back on the rig however, so like the Shape rig would be recommended for use with a V-lock battery or two (or a lot of rear counter balance). Like the Movcam, the Tilta rig also has an adjustable lens mount support, and also has the option to upgrade the system to accommodate larger 19mm rods.   Arri Price Range – €695 – €2695 Arri has broken down their support into four main packages – Lightweight EF Mount Kit, Lightweight PL Mount Kit, Studio Kit 15mm and Studio Kit 19mm. Each package contains the same baseplate with front and rear rod support, an inbuilt shoulder pad plus rosettes for attaching handles. A raised top cheeseplate also runs throughout each package as well as a rear plate that connects via dual rods to accommodate batteries and/or counter weight. What’s unique about the Arri kits are the inclusions of matteboxes, with each package getting a slightly different flavour. The EF Mount Kit benefits from 4 flagged box that bolts directly to dual extended rods. The PL mount kit takes advantage of a sturdier camera mate and mounts directly to the end of lens with top and bottom flags only as standard. Both studio kits return to a fully flagged matte box, connecting via 15mm and 19mm respectively. Threaded rings, clamp adaptors and reduction rings are available for the relevant matte boxes, the Studio kits get a hard matte set and filter frames also. Further more for the studio kits is inclusion of a top handle, the lightweight kits making use of the native Sony handle. The Lens Adapter Support LAS-1 fits a huge range of third party lens adapters, including EF and PL adapters, as well as popular special ones like the Metabones Speedbooster. Lastly, each kit comes with a hand grip, microphone bracket and follow focus (Mini hard stop and MFF-2 for Lightweight kits, FF-5 for Studios).     Chrosziel Price – $770  If you’re just looking for a baseplate, Chrosziel offer the LWS 401-FS7. Based on a 15mm rod system but compatible with existing Chrosziel 19mm products also, the bespoke FS7 baseplate offers an additional shoulder pad, Arri rosettes and VCT baseplate connectivity. A nice feature with this baseplate is the multi connection points of the camera body, using 1/4″ and 3/8″ threads as well as 3 point further back to ensure a solid mate with camera and baseplate.   Whilst the philosophy of each of these rigs is very much the same, each design is fairly different from the next. Due to the modular nature of the Sony FS7, manufacturers have chosen which parts to improve and which parts to leave alone. Only the user can decide which works best in any situation. In many, a combination of any of the above can often be the best solution. It’s quite likely I’ve missed an FS7 solution, or in a day/week/month another comes out that is equally as useful. Please do share any rigs and setups you’ve seen that make the FS7 an ergonomically better camera.

Shape is a small canadian company  who’s VDSLR accessories I tend to use often. Their products are high-quality, reliable, built well but tend to be a bit heavy. The Canon 1DC cage is no exception. It’s robust, has a lot of accessory attachment holes and I like the 360 degree push button adjustable top handle. Unfortunately I can’t sugar-coat everything about it. The biggest drawback of this cage? It’s a great one until you run out of battery, then you’ll face a problem. There is no way to replace the battery while the camera is attached to the cage. The only solution I found is to swivel the camera a bit to the left and then take it out, which then leads to the second obstacle: Swivelling will loosen the screw and the access to tighten it up again is almost impossible to obtain while being on the run. it’s a very lengthy, time-consuming process. Hopefully a future similar product will be improved. Music: The music bed, Beautiful Day – Instrumental by Joshua Radin

Shape has been around for several years and recently also jumped the dslr wagon. Their gear looks like a competitive player in the ever evolving dslr gear wars. Charles presents their mid-priced friction follow focus, which is a type of ff that drives your lens with rubber instead of a gear. We’ve seen this kind of follow focus at the ikan booth last week. When you’re aiming at this kind of follow focus you wanna make sure you have a baseplate that will rotation-lock your dslr body! I found the idea and quality of these quicklock handles very interesting. I tried them myself and there is no movement whatsoever, but the readjustment with just one hand is very easy and quick indeed. There’ll also be a version with two points of articulation on each side, but they’re not available yet. Shape has a lot more gear, also for RED and Arri on their website. The whole rig as Charles presents it together with the stabilizing crutch-stick is $999. And $789 without. The follow focus is $499. The quick handles are $349.