By technical editor Matt Allard:
Movcam FS700 Rig Review from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.
Movcam is a Chinese company that is producing some impressive rigs for cameras such as the Sony FS700/100, F3 and Canon C300. The quality of the design and construction seems to be as good if not better than anything else I have seen.
Their rigs are compact and a lot of thought has gone into the design and functionality. The other thing they have got going for them is price. With a weakened US dollar and cheaper Chinese manufacturing Movcam are able to keep their costs down while still maintaining high quality.
The FS700 rig consists of three parts. The bottom plate which features an integrated shoulder pad, Arri style rosette connectors and holes for 15mm rods front and back. A bridging piece that connects the bottom plate to the top handle to keep everything nice and solid. Then the final piece is the top handle that securely fastens in four spots to provide you with a solid connection to the camera. There are plenty of 1/4 20 and other mounting holes all over the rig which offer added flexibility with third party accessories. Movcam also offer a range of other accessories such as a cold shoe to 15mm rod hole and a 15mm to 15mm right angle adaptor for mounting items such as an external EVF or monitor. The cage comes in a choice of silver or black colours.
Also available soon is their Black Magic Cinema Camera rig which has looks very well thought out. It features a cage that bolts onto other parts of the Movcam rig range. It also has nice detachable carved wooden handgrips on each side with a record button that uses an integrated LANC cable so you should be able to stop start the recording on the BMCC. UK dealer CVP has already listed the cage at a price of £695 Sterling plus tax.
For more information check out their range of rigs at the Movcam website.
Many thanks to Scott Hui for shooting this video.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of my own and not of any company or organisation. I do not have a commercial agreement with Movcam of any sort. Movcam provided some of the smaller items in this review for evaluation.
About Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur:
Matt has been a Camera/Editor in TV news for more 20 years, previously working for both Channel 9 and Channel 10 in Australia. Twice Network Ten Australia’s cameraman of the year as well as being a Walkley Finalist for outstanding camerawork in 2006 (for coverage of the Cronulla Race Riots) and a Logie Finalist for outstanding news coverage 2006 (Bali 9). He is a multiple ACS (Australian Cinematographers Society) award winner. His Sword Maker story that was shot on a 7D won the prestigious Neil Davis International News Golden Tripod at the 2011 ACS Awards. He has covered news events in more than 35 countries, from major sporting events to terrorist bombings. Based out of the Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre in Malaysia he is an avid user and follower of new technology, shooting stories on HD broadcast cameras, the Sony F3 as well as new Canon DSLRs.
