By contributor Clinton Harn and editor Dan Chung:
At the BIRTV show in Beijing Vocas were showing some new products that they will be officially unveiling at the IBC show in Amsterdam this week.
First up are a some simple lightweight handle options for the Sony a7S. These have a custom a7S baseplate that fits beautifully to the bottom of the camera. You then add leather handgrips that can be rotated into different positions.
For larger a7S setups Vocas have assembled a rig that allows for the use of PL mounted cine lenses, while still allowing the camera to be quickly detached if you want to just grab some quick shots with a different lens. This is quite an interesting solution that could work well for indie production. My only concern is that like many other rigs it put a lot of weight out in front of the operator and so really needs more counterweight for longer periods of shooting.
Lastly Vocas had the new Universal Shoulder Base Plate – a combined shoulder pad and rod riser that can accommodate larger cameras. Thanks to its unique design it can also be used with a Red Epic or Scarlet and still get the correct spacing for the 15mm rods to use a matte box.
You can find out more on the Vocas website or in person at their booth at the IBC show.