By site editor Dan Chung:
Zacuto have today published a video that demonstrates their shoulder mount solutions for the Sony FS7. From the moment I received my FS7 it was clear to me that the built-in Sony shoulder pad wasn’t far enough back on the shoulder to get proper balance. By adding a Zacuto VCT baseplate or QR shoulder pad and extending the EVF forward, the camera becomes a much better balanced setup that can be comfortably used for hours.
In the video Steve Weiss and Jens Bogehegn demonstrate a couple of new ideas which make sense if your budget allows. Firstly by adding their upcoming Gratical HD EVF and Axis arm you can get a much greater clearance for wide angle lenses and Matteboxes than you would with the stock Sony one. This is thanks to the Gratical’s narrower width. They then reposition the Sony viewfinder as a confidence screen at the rear of the camera which also allows for easy menu setup. Using the Sony screen at the rear doesn’t add much weight and could be really handy in situations when you are working with a director or client.
The only downside of this setup is that you can’t activate the magnification of the Gratical from the handgrip in the same way you can when using Sony’s finder. Zacuto tell me they are working on a solution that adds solution that allows you to magnify the Gratical’s image by pressing a button that is connected to the USB port on the EVF.
Also mentioned in the video is a new version of the Z-finder that is designed to work on the FS7 with a ‘flip-up’ function much like the original Sony. It has the advantage of being shorter than the stock Sony EVF loupe and this allows the camera to be moved further back on the shoulder and still get your eye right into the finder. This looks similar to the BMPCC Z-finder I’m currently using on the FS7, but with the added functionality of the flip-up.
