Camera Rigor Mortis: the never-ending pursuit of camera rigging bliss through the excessive purchasing and testing of camera rigging gear. Not be confused with G.A.S. (gear acquisition syndrome).
I admit I’m addicted to finding new and (sometimes) better ways of rigging my Sony FX3 for my commercial and documentary shoots.
Everybody will have different priorities and ergonomic preferences for their ideal camera rig, but for my most compact setup, I like it to be:
- compact and travel-worthy
- lightweight* – but not too lightweight as I’ve found a little added weight makes for steadier shots.
- flexible and expandable
- reliable – nuf said
- field-serviceable (cuz you know half of video production is problem-solving, so tool-less, easy and fast in-the-field rigging is ideal)
- Bonus: easy battery management
Sure I use shoulder rigs and larger setups when the shoot calls for it, but for a lot of my work I love a minimal camera rig with maximum control in a compact kit.
Below are the details of my minimalist Sony FX3 Camera Rig that doesn’t even require a camera cage, using gear that isn’t technically made for camera gear, so doesn’t have the “video tax”! I love it for checking off so many boxes above while remaining nimble enough to configure in the field without tools and reliable enough to use in real-world commercial and documentary shoots.
At the heart of the system is not camera gear, but RAM B-size (1″) Mounts. I’ve been using them for decades to hold my phones in my cars and they’ve proven to be dependable, strong and flexible in positioning even with the challenging vibrations and temperature fluctuations of the car. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to try using my RAM components with my camera gear, but I’m so glad I did.
Secure Camera Rigging Without a Cage
The secret to making this rig so light and compact is that you do not need a cage to mount your phone or monitor securely.
Tip #1: Make sure to get a narrow based 1/4-20 threaded 1″ ball adapter like this one, which can be torqued very strongly to any of the mounting points on your FX3 or FX30 without ruining the pleather grip. Another bonus to standardizing on the RAM 1″ ball system, is that it’s a tool-less system: You can use the double-socket mount as your “wrench” to secure and remove any camera rigging point, making this a joy to use and modify in the field.
Tip #2: Depending on your rigging needs, make sure to consider the surface area of the camera connection point. For example, I prefer this wide base female 1/4-20 adapter as it grips to my monitor mounts better.
Connecting a Magsafe Phone Mount to your Camera
Doesn’t look like much, but this 1″ to 17mm ball adapter is the key to the fastest, most flexible phone mounting option that can also power your phone. Garmin introduced the 17mm ball mount years ago, and, thankfully, many (but not all) phone car mounts continue to use this standard. In use, this is better than any tilt/swivel monitor I’ve ever used, as the 17mm ballhead can be tightened enough to hold your phone in any orientation, but also loose enough to adjust the angle without fiddling with the friction knob.
Tip #3: Bonus: buy a Magsafe Charger like the one below and you have the option to not only hold your phone on your camera, but also charge it while its USB-C port is in use!
Powering your Phone while using it as your Camera Monitor
Sony’s latest Creators’ App and M&C App have been incredibly useful in my professional work. It has allowed me to use my phone as a monitor for an ultra-minimal camera rig. The reduced lag and increased framerate and image quality are so good when connected via a USB-C cable that I no longer bring a monitor on shorter indoor shoots (where overheating my phone is not an issue). But a new problem is powering my phone while using the USB-C port. Enter, the ESR Qi2 15W MagSafe Charger. There are also MagSafe Chargers with a built-in cooling fan, so if you’re not needing to record audio, it’s another good option that fits with this rig.
Powering your Camera
Tip #4: Make sure to turn off your camera’s “Power via USB” option to prevent excessive battery drain of your phone.
Now that we’ve taken up the camera’s USB-C port to connect to our phone as monitor, we can’t power the camera via USB-C power, so need to find a dummy battery option if longer run times are desired. I have many V-Mount-based camera rigs, but prefer this small NP-F Battery Plate which is ligher and more compact than V-Mount options.
You’ll need this dummy battery for the Sony FX3 FX30 and your camera-powering problems are solved.
Add these NPF Batteries with 20W USBC-PD and connect it via a low-profile right-angle USBC cable you’ll be golden.
Flexibility of Rigging
Thee double-socket mount comes in various lengths, and you can add double-ball joints and additional metal or even lighter (and easier to hold in the cold) composite clamps to freely rig as you wish.
Endless Rigging Options
You can find many off-brand 1″ ball clamps and solutions that can help you swivel and tilt to your heart’s content. It’s an incredible time to be a creator, and I’m so glad I found a way to harness my very-expensive phone to my camera and create a camera rig that I’m super happy with.
My Camera Gear
The Sony FX3 is my “no-excuses” camera. With such a small, flexible body and a sensor that can almost see in the dark, if I can see it, I can pretty much shoot it. Oh, and enough rigging points that I’m shooting without a camera cage for the first time.
I’ve shot entire documentaries on this one lens, and while I do love me a fast 35mm prime lens, the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 is more versatile and more compact than Sony’s equivalent options. I also prefer the extra 5mm at the long end and don’t miss the 4mm at the wide.
I always have a variable ND in front of my lens, and love this NISI VND a lot. I own magnetic filters, but find I move and jump around so much that they fall off while shooting. I like this NISI which is a screw-on and the little stick makes adjustments a one-finger afair, preventing my hands from getting in front of my lens when adjusting.
Sony’s impossibly tiny multi-directional Compact Shotgun Mic is my small-rig microphone of choice. With multiple pickup patterns and utilization the mI Shoe interface, there are no cables to deal with and the sound is a step up from the camera’s built-in microphones.
When shooting with separate audio, multiple cameras or needing to play nice with a bigger team, I stick a Tentacle Sync E Timecode Generator on my kit and use the Tentacle Sync 3.5mm TRS to Multi Interface Timecode Cable to keep the audio port free
Add as many Tentacle Sync TRACK E Pocket Audio Recorders as needed, and you’ve got an incredibly powerful, scalable camera rig that grows with your needs and is powerful and flexible enough for pretty much anything I can throw at it.
What do you think of this rig? Are you going to try it? I’d love to see what you come up with, so please do connect and share, as I’m always looking for more ways to explore Camera Rigor Mortis.
