Seercam’s Cube GH5 has gained an Extension Kit to account for the Panasonic Lumix GH5’s optional DMW-XLR1 audio adapter and more accessories are in the works. The old adage “you get what you pay for” applies to moviemaking as much to any other field of human endeavour and none more so than to camera cages. They are as much a form of insurance, protecting precious cameras and lenses, as they are a way of efficiently carrying your gear while rapidly attaching and detaching the myriad of accessories demanded by a range of moviemaking scenarios.
While awaiting a review loaner GH5, Seercam’s Extension Kit for Cube GH5 arrived and I took a look at it from various angles and with some third-party accessories attached.
As these photographs show, the thoughtfulness, innovation and quality of Seercam’s product design and manufacturing are high. Although I have yet to put Seercam’s Cube GH5 to the test with an actual GH5 inside, hours of handling it with and without the Extension Kit and comparing it to its predecessor for the GH4, Motion9’s CubeMix GH4/3, show each is comfortable in the hands and feels good to the touch.
My more macho moviemaking colleagues may dismiss such concerns as well as that of the cage’s ability to safely protect the camera, but the fact remains that documentary moviemaking can demand that rigged and unrigged cameras stay in the hand for minutes if not hours on end and comfortable grip and pleasant surface feel is essential in my opinion.
Another common point of contention is weight. Aluminium is lightweight in nature and is the most common metal used for cage construction though magnesium is used by one or two accessories makers now. There is not a huge difference in weight between cages that wrap around the camera like a strap and those that enclose the camera like a box.
Given choice between the two, and experience of both, I opt for enclosure than strapping, more weight rather than less, for stability as well as protection and mounting options. I find that well-balanced weightier camera rigs work better for me than lighter ones, whether camera and lens have stabilization built-in. In fact I often add weight to my rigs’ underside via a Manfrotto PIXI mini tripod-cum-handle, field recorder like the Tascam DR-70D or a quick release tripod plate.
Seercam Cube GH5 camera cage with Extension Kit and third-party accessories
Documentary moviemaker Sol March of Suggestion of Motion has been exploring rigging up his GH5 with rods, handles, clamps and a minimalist strap-style cage on his Facebook page. I began thinking about two-handed camera grip alternatives when I discovered that Manfrotto had discontinued its unique Fig Rig device, invented by movie director and digital video pioneer Mike Figgis.
Stripped down to its basics, the Fig Rig concept relies on handles either side of the camera as well as above and below. I have written about Mike Figgis’ Fig Rig here.
Meanwhile I have been looking at affordable alternatives that do not rely on gimbals, constantly balancing and rebalancing weights and that involve the body in a way that shoulder-mounted rigs cannot.
Seercam kindly sent over the 250mm and 350mm 15mm diameter aluminium rods from its 15mm Rod set to go with the 150mm rod that is part of the Extension Kit for Cube GH5 and I have been trying different rod and handle combinations that I will be exploring further when the review loaner GH5 arrives.
Seercam Cube GH5 cage with Extension Kit, 350mm rod and imaginary handles
One of the many benefits of Seercam/Motion9’s CubeMix GH4/3 cage was its three handles – top round handle, cable clamp and finger support – that could be supplemented with Peak Design’s Cuff and Clutch camera straps, adding to the safety and comfort of using it.
Seercam’s Cube GH5 cage could benefit from from handles in various configurations. Here are some ideas. Apologies for my crude mockups.
I have been thinking about how to better handle cage-mounted cameras since discovering that Manfrotto’s Fig Rig has been sadly discontinued and that there is no direct replacement for it.
I am not a fan of Steadicam and gimbal motion stabilization, due to the cost of these devices and the fact that I find their stabilization unnaturally smooth. I find less-stabilized footage more naturalistic, more human and better suited to independent documentary moviemaking whereas heavily stabilized footage clearly has a place in fictional narrative feature films.
The Panasonic Lumix GH5 apparently does an amazing job of stabilizing footage in several different ways, to varying degrees, but I also use cameras that have no such stabilization built-in and so have been thinking about affordable devices as in these illustrations to add some steadying to those cameras as well as the GH5 when I obtain one.
Links:
- Seercam – Cube GH5
- Seercam – Extension Kit for GH5
Image Credits:
- Product shots lit with Rotolight Neo and available light, made with Panasonic Lumix GH4 and processed in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop using VSCO Films 7’s Ilford Pan-F 50 presets with selenium split-toning applied via Macphun Tonality CK.
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