NOTE: Since writing this article, I came across a comment from Mike Figgis about the Fig Rig Mark III that I have written about in this article:
- Untitled: Stories of Creativity, Innovation, Success – Great News! Director/Cinematographer Mike Figgis Has Redesigned The Legendary, Innovative Fig Rig Video Camera Rig
The technology world is littered with unique, brilliant inventions that solved a common set of problems perfectly but that were badly marketed, poorly distributed, set at the wrong price point or failed to find a manufacturer in the first place.
One such product failed by the system was the Fig Rig, invented by movie director Mike Figgis and manufactured in two versions with accessories by Manfrotto.
I wish I had been able to buy a Fig Rig when they were available for too brief a time.
With the Fig Rig now dead, is there anything that can take its place?
I suspect the answer is no, and the video industry is all the poorer for it. Although one could try the plastic pipe DIY option, there are alternatives to the Fig Rig, similar rigs in smaller circular or semi-circular shapes, but neither of the makers of HaloRig nor the Steadywheel have the financial might or global distribution partners of a holding company like Manfrotto’s owner, the Vitec Group plc.
Vitec’s press relations people have not responded to enquiries about the Fig Rig’s fate so we can only speculate and lament the truncated life of a product that had a purity of intention and design, loads of potential, needed to be downsized and updated for modern hybrid cameras, and deserved a marketing effort it that apparently failed to receive.
Manfrotto’s now discontinued Fig Rig video steadying device
The only images of the Fig Rig that I could find on the Web and in a PDF document are low resolution so I have tried to enlarge them a little here.
Mike Figgis made a short video showing off the Fig Rig in action during a walk through the streets of London. The director did his own camerawork.
What I love about the Fig Rig is that it is body-centred, gestural, in the way that my stills cameras are when I am in the middle of the action making documentary photographs and, in order to get the exact framing I want of people near and far, left and right of frame, bend my knees, lean and swivel. I want the same range of movements when shooting documentary video.
Shoulder rigs don’t do it for me though they certainly have their uses, likewise steadicams, stabilizers, gimbals and all their many and various variations.
Of all the images in the gallery above, for me the key is the one at left on the second line down, showing how the Fig Rig allows an operator to pitch, roll and yaw the camera in the same way that an aeroplane does.
And what happened to Manfrotto’s other great white hope, the Lino Apparel Collection?
The Manfrotto Lino Pro range of photographers’ clothing for women and men appears to have suffered the same fate as the Fig Rig. Again, I did not have the pleasure of seeing any of the items in a camera store so have no idea of their design and manufacturing quality and fit but judging by two videos and the tiny photographs below, they look like a brilliant solution to a common problem.
It seems that the Lino Pro range was initially made for only men but a women’s line was added later, according to Manfrotto’s press release at PR Newswire.
I gave up being fashionable long ago; in fact I never have been given photography and moviemaking have played such a large role in my life from teenagerdom onwards. I have pursued style and functionality though, and that has not easy here at any time.
Finding functional, stylish clothing has become less difficult lately with the arrival of UniQlo in Australia, enabling me to wear a basic black layered core all year round by relying on the company’s Airism and Heattech undergarment ranges.
Now all I need is a set of functional, stylish overgarments I can pop on when going out or shooting in my home studio, and that support the special needs of photographers and moviemakers. Manfrotto’s Lino Apparel Collection would have been the bee’s knees had they not been killed off almost as soon as they were born, or so it seems.
Links:
- CFLBARS.COM – Halo Rig Demo Video Camera Stabilizer – Affordable Figrig Alternative like fig rig
- Dave Dugdale 2nd YouTube Channel – Manfrotto Fig Rig Review
- Dombowerphoto – Manfrotto Fig Rig Test
- Erik Naso – Manfrotto Fig Rig Hands On Review
- ErikNaso.com – Manfrotto Fig Rig Stabilizer Review
- ErikNaso.com – Manfrotto Fig Rig With the Canon C300
- HaloRig
- Indy Mogul – Build a Fig Rig : DIY Film Tutorial
- John Barry Sales – Manfrotto Fig Rig – demonstration by Mike Figgis of the Fig Rig in action in the streets of London.
- Kickstarter – The SteadyWheel Camera Stabilizer
- lenrapp – Manfrotto’s 2012 Lino Collection of Apparel for Photographers
- Luigi Dalla Riva – MANFROTTO – Lino Apparel collection 2012
- Manfrotto – SYMPLA Version Fig Rig with Universal Mount fitting to Rods
- Manfrotto – Manfrotto Fig Rig System – downloadable PDF brochure.
- Manfrotto Brasil – Vestuário – site discovered just before publishing this article, contains larger images of Lino Apparel Collection products.
- Manfrotto Imagine More – Manfrotto Fig-Rig in Action! – English
- Manfrotto Imagine More – Manfrotto Lino Collection – Interview with Fabio Prada
- Media Unlocked – Review of New Baby Fig Rig
- tssGearGuide – The Manfrotto Fig Rig in Action! | Gear Guide
- What Digital Camera – Manfrotto 595B Fig Rig review
- Wikipedia – Mike Figgis
- Wild Iron – The Steadywheel
Image Credits:
Header image concept and hack by Carmel D. Morris.
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