We’ve reported about several interesting inventions by Korean manufacturer Varavon before. This time around at Photokina 2016, Varavon introduced their new 3-Axis VR Drone for the first time. The Varavon 3-Axis VR Drone is a large virtual reality camera platform with a special gimbal design that holds the camera array steady even during fast movements and strong wind. At their booth at Photokina, the guys from Varavon showed us how the gimbal stabilization works. Unfortunately, they were not allowed to fly the drone in the convention center halls or even outside due to drone laws in Germany. At the moment, the VR Drone market seems very limited. A quick Google search results in several custom built VR Drone setups, but besides one manufacturer there were no other large and commercially available flying platforms with a gimbal like the one Varavon displayed. According to the sales rep at Photokina 2016, the Varavon 3-Axis VR Drone can take a payload of up to 12kg and has a flying time between 12 and 15 minutes. The cost of $27,000 seems quite high, considering that the M600 is available at under $5k and has a similar size, but with no special VR gimbal, of course. But since this is probably the first drone of its kind, I suppose a higher price is acceptable for those looking to create an aerial VR array with so many cameras. According to Charlie from Varavon, the drone is “ready to sell now”. The fact that it does not show up on the Varavon website yet might indicate that you have to contact them directly if you’re interested in purchasing this flying crazyness.  

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

[UPDATE]: Check out our extensive Sony a7S II / a7R II Cage Review At IBC 2015 we saw a lot of camera cages made specifically for the Sony A7R II and Sony A7S II. The Varavon Zeus caught our eye with its very modular design, snug fit and cable clamp options. If you’re looking for a Sony A7S II cage you’ll soon have a lot of choice. Many manufacturers are designing Sony A7R II and Sony A7S II cages. At cinema5D we recently looked at the best cages for the Sony A7S and Varavon’s Armor II a7S Cage was our favourite. We’ll soon undertake a similar comparison for A7S II cages. For now the Varavon Zeus looks like a great option. It is very modular, felt very robust yet lightweight and the new cable clamp system looks promising as well. The Varavon Zeus is available for pre-order for $312 or $367 with a second handle at HERE

If there is one thing that filmmakers need on top of a great camera and lens, then it is great camera accessories. The first step is a camera cage. Especially a photo-style camera-body like the famous Sony A7s deserves an appropriate housing to become a perfect tool. But what is the best Sony A7s cage? We reviewed 6 A7s cages and will fill you in on the good, the bad and the ugly. Review by Johnnie Behiri & Sebastian Wöber Why a camera cage? In the age of small cinema cameras the camera cage has become the most popular accessory by now. Matteboxes, handheld rigs, follow focus units, it’s all passé. Now the camera cage is what’s trendy and there are several good reasons why it’s the first thing to get: Cages provide mounting points (standard threads and coldshoes) so you can mount accessories They securely lock the micro-HDMI cable in place when you use the HDMI feed (for external 4K recording) They protect the camera They usually come with a handle, so it’s easier to carry your rig They make you feel more professional :) Why this A7s cage comparison? Because not every cage is equally useful. Actually the differences between cages and their functionality is huge. We wanted to know what the best Sony A7s cage is for our own work and we wanted to let our readers in on the pro’s & con’s of all the cages. So now there will be no reason to order a Sony A7s cage blindly. Here are the best cages for the A7s reviewed. The way we did it The cinema5D team (Johnnie, Nino and Seb) worked with all the cages (a few each) over the course of several months. At the end we sat together and went through all the cages, made remarks, tried them again and rated each aspect that we found important according to our experiences with them. The aspects we rate: HDMI cable protector quality Access to other outputs on the side Ease of assembly and disassembly How securely is the camera attached to the cage? Possible to use the Sony XLR-K2M audio module? Access to the lens release button 
Baseplate mount quality Rod support quality Handle design Overall ergonomics Conclusion The ratings we give: This is pretty straight forward. Basically we used the traffic-lights system and gave a rating to each aspect. Double-green: In some rare cases we decided to give a double-green rating for outstanding performance. 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. IndiPRO Tools Thor a7S Cage LockCircle BirdCage A7 Movcam Cage for Sony a7S Motionnine CubeCage for Sony a7S Skier LiteCage for A7 Varavon Armor II a7S Cage GO TO PAGE 2 → Links to each A7s Cage Review: Page 1: Introduction Page 2: IndiPRO Tools Thor a7S Cage Page 3: LockCircle BirdCage A7 Page 4: Movcam Cage for Sony a7S Page 5: Motionnine CubeCage for Sony a7S Page 6: Skier LiteCage for A7 Page 7: Varavon Armor II a7S Cage Page 8: Winners

The Varavon Birdycam 2 is the new version of Varavon’s affordable brushless gimbal camera stabiliser. It offers great ergonomics at a very low pricepoint. Varavon has a history of producing well made and well thought through products for videographers and DSLR shooters. We’ve recently looked at their new Wirecam that used a portion of their gimbal base that is also used in their newest camera stabiliser the Birdycam 2. The Birdycam 2 seems to tick most boxes a good camera stabiliser should. One of the most important things for many is the fact that it can be operated by a single person due to its simple follow-mode and thumb-joystick control. While it lacks some of the great features the Letus Helix offers, it is a more affordable and more available option for now. For those looking for an alternative to the famous Freefly Movi M5 the Varavon Birdycam 2 is looking quite interesting at almost half the price. It’s available for pre-order for $2375 and should start shipping quite soon: LINK

Korean manufacturer Varavon has introduced many interesting and innovative products since the dawn of DSLR video. Their latest products once again show their dedication to detail and usability. On the Varavon Wirecam they use their great Birdycam Gimbal (more on that later) and put it on a remote controlled wirecam. The Varavon Wirecam is basically a remote controlled dolly on a wire with the Varavon Birdicam gimbal attached to the bottom to create extremely smooth motion. It is remote controlled by two remotes so to control it properly you need two operators. See the video above for more details. The Varavon Wirecam will be available in November and cost $7000. More info here: www.varavon.com

We thank our sponsor B&H who has made cinema5D’s news coverage of IBC 2012 possible. Get your gear through B&H to support this platform: www.bhphotovideo.com Here we have new motorized sliders by two different companies. The Varavon slider costs is very affordable and can also upgrade existing Varavon sliders. The Lanparte slider goes faster and can memorize motion, but is also more expensive. Varavon has made some good products. I’m sure this slider is worth checking out if you’re looking for motion at an affordable price. The Varavon slidecam sliders will be available here sooner or later, in the meantime you can check the Varavon website. The dedicated motorized slider will be $1100 and the normal kit version (base slider with upgrade kit) $980. Varavon told me there are different motors for different speeds. Lanparte is a brand I am not very familiar with, but their slider looked very interesting. As they had a German representative it was also culturally easier to get a conversation about their products started. It is hard to beat the Varavon pricetag, but the Lanparte slider had some unique features like the memory, the fast motion and the timelapse functionality. Also it seemed robust. This is their international website: LINK Here’s one of the European resellers: LINK (or hdvideoshop.com)

As user Michael Rivera pointed out in this post, there are other sliders that are very similar in looks to the Varavon “slim” I reported about yesterday. Here’s a link to ebay if you’re into that kind of deal: ebay I can’t tell you anything on the quality of these sliders but user Michael Rivera surely can. This video is from his YouTube channel: