ACCESSORIES: RAIL COMPONENTS

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O Grips B&H Mfr. Site

Comments: There are an incredible amount of handles out there for handheld configurations.   I recommend you try them all and see which works best for you if you have the privilege of being in a a market such as LA or NYC.   I’ve found these O Grips work extremely well for me because a. when you lock them down they don’t slip.  And that’s essential with any grip.   Second you can articulate two of these (I recommend you have 4 – 2 pieces to form each handle) in almost every angle you can conceive of.  If you’re pulling focus off of a follow focus unit you can articulate the O Grips to accommodate the best balance feel for yourself in terms of placing the handle near the FF unit.   You can also use this to prop the camera up on the ground -a substitute for a high hat in a pinch (if the camera is locked off of course.) 

Description (from OConnor): Constructed with a solid titanium core for extreme durability and reliability, O-Grips feature smooth-functioning, single-handle ball joints with a maximum payload capacity of 44 lbs (20 kg) – making them ideal for work with both smaller and larger cameras.  Modular O-Grips are stackable for custom applications and can be configured to create double or even multi-joint handles. Each grip is fully adjustable and is capable of a half sphere of stepless articulations.

Laforet Black Walnut Handgrips   Mfr. Site

Comments: This is the first "accessory" I’ve ever put my name to.  Ever since I started in cinema I wanted to have one of these wooden handles to bring the mass of accessories latched onto my DSLR back to a more "natural" place.  Aaton camera had these grips and I think we all have always secretly lusted for them… when I was sked if I was interested i making a series I didn’t hesitate to say yes.   These are made by hand by and wood artisan – definitely not a mass produced accessory.

Description: Comfortable handmade, Black Walnut Wood right hand grip (no two are alike) with standard size, Brass 60 tooth Arri Rosette and custom M6 or ¼-20 Brass top thumbscrew. These grips are carved one by one and CNC’d in the the U.S. The product is designed, manufactured and assembled from the finest materials. Designed and tested by filmmakers for filmmakers.

Laforet Curly Maple & Black Walnut Handgrips   Mfr. Site

Comments: Same as above but with two tones of wood.

Description: Comfortable handmade, Curly Maple & Black Walnut Wood right hand grip (no two are alike) with standard size, Solid Brass 60 tooth Arri Rosette and custom M6 or ¼-20 Brass top thumbscrew. These grips are carved one by one and CNC’d in the the U.S. The product is designed, manufactured and assembled from the finest materials. Designed and tested by filmmakers for filmmakers. Solid Brass front plate.

Zacuto Zonitor 15mm Studio Kit B&H Mfr. Site

Comments:  I have fond this arm to be incredibly reliable for my Marshall 7" and 6.5" LCD monitors.   It has two little teeth on the top that prevent the monitor from rotating (small detail but genius) and you can mount and unmount this onto your rod system WITHOUT having to slide the base plate on or off – which is a huge time saver.  I’ve found that this arm does an incredible job of NOT slipping – so much so that you’ll find it on MANY top Hollywood shows on Alexas and Epics.

Description (from Zacuto): The Zonitor Handheld mount kit allows you to quick-release a monitor from a Zamerican articulating arm and the arm from the Zacuto 15mm Z-Mount or 19mm Zandy. This kit allows you to mount any device with a ¼ 20” (or 3/8 16”with ¼ 20” to 3/8 16” adapter) screw hole, such as an external on-board monitor, lights, and/or hard drives, using a Zamerican Arm.

Cine Arm B&H Mfr. Site

Comments:    The standard arm in the cine world – period.  You DON’T want to cheap out on this as there’ nothing more frustrating than a monitor that slips or twists off during a shoot – NOTHING.  You’ll break cables and cameras as a result of a bad arm…  the cine lock on this unit is also a Godsend… no more twisting these arms in forever as you’re rushing to shoot or pack.   This is a FANTASTIC investment – the only other one I would suggest is the Zacuto arm which I commonly see being used on Alexa/Epic packages because it never slips… 


Description (from Noga): The MG38CA-CL1 Cine Arm & 16×9 Cine Lock from 16×9 Inc. is a cinematic arm and lock mount. This equipment helps saves time and effort when setting up camera rigs.

Cine Lock Mount B&H Mfr. Site

Comments:  If you’ve ever wanted to quickly slip a monitor / EVF / Sound device onto a camera with a SOLID connection – this is the gadget you can’t be without (I know I can’t.)  There’s NOTHING worse than those monitor arms and trying to screw them in (or unscrew them) when you’re in a hurry.   This is THE solution against that.  I have one on my matte box and two on my Epic – I can easily put my EVF or LCD anywhere I want within seconds.

Description (from 16×9 Inc.): 16×9 Inc.’s Cine Lock enables fast and easy non-thread mounting and removal of the arm and its cargo through an ingenious dove tail design. The device is made up of two parts, a male and female wedge/dove tail plate. The male plate is fitted onto the top and bottom of a Noga articulating arm. The female piece is attached both to the surface where the arm will be anchored, and onto whatever object the arm will hold. Once all pieces of the device are in place, the arm can easily be mounted onto a camera handle or tripod, for example — and a monitor or light can easily be mounted onto the arm itself.

MATRIX Cheese Plate B&H Mfr. Site

Comments:   This is the BEST solution I’ve found to mount my Anton Bauer units to the rear of the Epic snug and tight.  You can clamp it snug and tight to the redmote or leave yourself a bit of room depending on the rod length you choose.   Ultimately this can also support an AJA Ki Pro Mini box on the other side of the battery plate – so it’s incredibly versatile.   Note: Anton Bauer plate is a separate purchase.

Description (from Anton Bauer): The MATRIX Cheese Plate allows for a variety of mounting positions, vertical or horizontal. 15 mm or 19 mm Rod Clamp Kits Available.

B&H Mfr. Site

Comments: I love these – they don’t budge.   You can use them for batteries, monitors, and any number of accessories.

Description (from Element Technica): Element Technica’s new accessory mounting system combines the ubiquitous V-Lock with our innovative SpeedyClamp to make the V-DOCK™. The V-Dock used in conjunction with the ISO-Plate greatly expands the kind of shooting conditions for the RED DRIVE by eliminating dropped frames in many of the situations considered Compact Flash only. It can be easily converted to a rigid mount for the RED RAM by substituting the individual shocks for stainless fasteners.  The V-Dock™ is an integral part of the Element Technica RED Drive Shock Mount System. The V-Dock comes in 15mm and 19mm models and clamps onto a single iris rod anywhere on the camera. It provides a female mechanical V-Lock interface for mounting the ISO-Plate and can also be used to mount a RED Battery Plate when combined with our aluminum interface plate (replacing the stock steel plate).

microBalance Starter Kit B&H Mfr. Site

Comments:  These are pretty critical to balancing your rig.  It it’s front heavy – making smooth tilts will become very very difficult – not to mention movement in general.

Description (from Redrock Micro): The microBalance Starter Kit enables counterbalance weights to be attached to any 15mm rod setup so rigs can be conveniently and comfortably balanced (instead of front heavy). Additional microBalance counterbalance weights can be added in single weight increments to exactly and economically meet your needs.

microLensSupport B&H Mfr. Site

Comments: This is a critical piece of kit when you mount a 200mm 2 or longer.  I’ve mounted an 800mm lens to a 5D MKII with this piece with excellent results.   You’ll find that trying to line up the height of the lens handle with the body can be difficult or impossible – therefore you’ll come to rely on this piece of kit to support the weight of your long lenses on a RedRock system or any 15mm rod system.  It’s a very small piece that I never leave home without and absolutely essential to me.

Description (from Redrock Micro): The Redrock Micro microLensSupport is designed to attach to any 15mm rod/rail system–such as Redrock’s microRodSupport–and provides added support to large 35mm or cine lenses. This is especially useful when attaching long zooms or telephoto lenses to an M2 lens adapter or when shooting DSLR video. The lens can be adjusted, by way of a vertical riser and repositionable thumbscrews, for the most optimal position.