Neewer Portable FilmMaker System DSLR Rig Review
Neewer® Portable FilmMaker System With Camera/Camcorder Mount Slider, Soft Rubber Shoulder Pad and Dual-hand Handgrip For All DSLR Video Cameras and DV Camcorders
I’m writing this hours after spending the day with the Neewer DSLR rig. There were many thoughts about my experience with this after a long shoot, and I wanted to get down the details as quickly as possible while the experience is fresh in my mind.
Setting up the rig was a piece of cake. It’s only a few pieces, and without any pictures or instructions if you’ve ever seen a rig before, you will have no problem putting it together, as there is very little room for error.
My initial impression out of the box was that it seemed well built for the price point. Everything was metal, and all the screws appeared to be anodized aluminum. The only thing not metal on the entire rig are the plastic end caps for the rods.
The rig includes four pieces that make up the main rods. The handles are already attached to the mounting bracket. I needed only to slide the bracket onto the rods, and clamp them down. Lastly, I slid the shoulder rest on the rear of the rods and replaced the plastic end cap screws.
I mounted my Canon 5d Mark III on the mounting plate. The plate receiver was not nearly as secure as the similarly sized plate on my Manfrotto 502 Video Head MVH502AH.
There is a small screw on the side the clamps the plate in place. The problem with this system, is if you decide to slide the camera forward or backward, when loosening that mounting screw, you risk the entire camera tumbling down! On the Manfrotto head, you slide the plate in and it engages a locking system that would prevent the camera from sliding out.
Once everything was secure, I noticed there handles were a little loose. I tightened them as tight as I could by hand, and I could still rotate them relatively easy. I had read several reviews prior to purchasing that mentioned the loose handles, and sure enough my experience was the same. I found it didn’t’ make much of a difference during use. It was almost ‘convenient’ that I could shift the hand grips around on-the-fly. They were tight enough that there was no risk of them falling off, but none the less, a quality rig would lock these down.
The lack of a counterbalance makes this rig virtually useless. I attempted to rig a counter balance with a mint container filled with coins. It was nearly enough weight to balance the rig, but it did provide enough weight to keep the shoulder pad on my shoulder, however my hands still carried the majority of the weight. It did provide enough stability I could hold it one handed with my right hand, and use my left hand to control the follow focus, which I will cover in a separate post.
The rig is light, but add a camera, follow focus, display, and a microphone it gets really heavy. I just had the camera and lens and after holding it for about fifteen minutes straight I needed to take a break. My shoulders and back were quite sore at the end of the day!
Once complaint I had read is that the follow focus causes the camera to flex. I found the same thing happened to me at first, but after taking some time to really tighten everything down, especially the plate attached to the camera, this problem disappeared and was no longer an issue. For reference, I was using the 24-105 L lens, with the follow focus directly engaged to the focus ring.
I found the rods to be a bit short. The entire length of the rig was on the shorter side, and I kept finding myself with the desire to have my hands a bit further from my body, and the camera a bit further from my face. For reference, I’m 5’ 11”. Despite not being to obtain the optimal position, I was able to get the job done. Regardless of the short falls, the rig provided shots that were far more stable and far more comfortable than hand-held. I also could have squeezed another inch had I purchased a real counter balance.
I think we need to remember this is a complete rig that is under $100. With that in mind, considering the prices of many rigs I’m blown away. I used the rig over the course of an eight hour shoot. I could have been much more comfortable with a more expensive rig, but I didn’t exactly suffer in anyway. The shoot would have been a nightmare if I had tried doing everything handheld.
There was a fair share of static tripod shots. Mounting the rig assembly on and off the tripod was a breeze. It took about 5 seconds to loosen the mounting plate screw on my head, press the release button, and off I was ready for hand held shots. Putting it back on the tripod – just slide it into the mounting plate and screw it down.
The handles were actually quite comfortable and well built. The shoulder pad is just a cheap piece of rubber-like material that is almost weightless. It feels like something that if you assemble and disassemble repeatedly, the shoulder pad would just crumble apart. With that said, it did stay very secure on the rods.
If you are an aspiring filmmaker, or a film student, or just a hobbyist looking for some more stability in hand-held shots, you can not go wrong spending under $100 on a DSLR rig like this. I wouldn’t consider using it for anything more than a DSLR (apx. 3lbs). I wouldn’t consider using it with a long lens like the Canon 70-200mm, as the weight would be too much. However, chances are if you are looking at a sub $100 rig, you probably aren’t throwing a Red Epic on it.
If you are considering purchasing this item, please consider doing it through Amazon and help support my site. You still will get Amazon’s great price and you will help support future reviews.
I will also write a review about my experience with the NEEWER® Follow-Focus CN-90F With Gear Ring Belt for HDSLR cameras.
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