Announced at IBC 2017, the Vocas line of accessories designed for the Panasonic AU-EVA1 are now available and ready to ship.
Vocas aims to address some of the ergonomic and functional points of the EVA1 by repositioning the handgrip & LCD monitor. Some of these points were mentioned in the recent hands-on review of the EVA1 by Matthew Allard ACS.
If you haven’t read it yet, it’s definitely worth a look. Even if you are looking to buy a competing camera in the sub $10K category. You can see it here.
Accessorising the EVA1
Mounting points are always handy to have on a camera, the original top handle provides two 3/8″ ports and two hot shoe ports. The H-cheese plate provides additional 1/4″ & 3/8″ mounting points on top of the camera to attach accessories and can be used with or without the EVA1 top handle.
Relocating the handgrip
As the EVA1 uses a proprietary, Vocas have developed a handgrip rosette adapter which converts the EVA1 design to a standard rosette adaptor. Using a pair of these adapters, any standard rosette extension or accessory could be used. Since the standard cable is quite short, you will want to also pick up a standard LANC extension cord.
Viewfinder placement for run & gun
Natively, the EVA1 LCD screen can be positioned on any four mounting points on the top handle. To provide more flexibility in positioning the screen, Vocas have created a viewfinder bracket that replaces the original Panasonic bracket kit. The bracket uses a NATO rail to prevent the LCD from twisting, which can result in a crooked horizon of the image. The bracket mounting point uses the Sony/Panasonic 8T (110mm) standard. This extends the distance of where the screen can be placed.
Versatile 15mm LWS Baseplate
To shoulder mount the camera, a new baseplate with rail support has been designed. The baseplate is quite versatile as it could also be used upside down on top of the camera cage to provide rails along the top of the camera for additional accessories or a counterbalance. The rod height can be adjusted so this base plate is also compatible with other cameras like the Sony FS5 & Canon C200.
For a complete run & gun shoulder rig, the new 15mm LWS shoulder pad can be added to the back. A
V-lock adapter plate can then be added to the base plate to make it compatible with the standard VCT-14 quick lock mechanism.
Direct Drive Follow Focus
Finally, the follow focus units we saw at IBC 2017 are also now available. The unique feature of the MFC-3 is that the focus knob and drive gear consist of only one part, unlike traditional follow focus systems there is no transmission, instead it uses a direct drive.
For pricing & more information on all of the EVA1 compatible accessories, visit the Vocas website.
