By site editor Dan Chung:
BIRTV 2013: Movcam new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera cage and other rig parts from Dan Chung on Vimeo.
Chinese rig maker Movcam have been extremely busy showing off lots of new rigs at the BIRTV show in Beijing this week.
Most interesting were the new cage options for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera (BMPCC) and the new quick release baseplates for cameras like the Canon 1D C, C300 and various Sony’s.
There are two cage options for the BMPCC – a lightweight skeleton and a more rugged wrap around enclosure. Both have a small rail on top for mounting of a top handle or other accessories. The cages can then be mounted to a more substantial baseplate with the use of a small riser block. I had a good play around with the cage on a production BMPCC – the ability to turn the camera into a lightweight Super16 run-and-gun shooting rig was impressive.
Also on show were the company’s new wooden handgrips with start stop trigger. These are substantially more comfortable than Movcam’s previous grips.
Another new range of baseplates were also on show for the first time – including one for the Canon 1D C. These are similar to previous ones but feature a quick release mechanism that splits the baseplate into two components. You can quickly drop of the rods and attached follow focus and replace them with a shoulder mount – clever stuff. This system also allows easier packing of a system in a backpack when you are on the move.
Movcam are certainly trying very hard to compete against the major US and European rig makers – it will be interesting to see who wins in the long run.
BIRTV video coverage by Gabriel Clermont, Jonas Schönstein and Shan Shan Wang.
