Digital Photo Pro - USA (2019-11)

out of the way yet easily accessible.

• SmallRig 2156 Cable Clamp,
  $23: This small metal clamp keeps
  an inserted cable in place as the cam-
  era is handled and used. Consumer
  and prosumer cameras, like the Fuji-
  film X-T3, often utilize an HDMI,
  HDMI-mini or HDMI-micro con-
  nector to output the video signal.
  Of the three connections, the
  Micro HDMI Fuji included on the
  X-T3 is the worst. It’s tiny, fragile
  and flimsy and generally wears
  out quickly. So, the best we can do is
  affix a cable clamp to the connection,
  which holds the connection in place
  and offers some protection to the con-
  nector and cable.
  SmallRig offers several clamps, each
  designed for a specific camera and cage.
  Buy the one recommended for your
  gear. For our cage, SmallRig recom-
  mends the 2156 model, which affixes
  to the cage via two small Allen bolts.
  There’s also a small slot screw to affix
  itself to the cable. The only downside is
  that it’s time-consuming and awkward
  to remove the camera and then re-
  insert it back into the cage again using
  the clamp.


• SmallRig 2093 Universal
  Wooden Side Handle, $79: After
  holding the camera in various posi-
  tions, it soon became apparent that
  although we could hold the X-T3
  battery grip with our right hand,
  there really wasn’t a great place to
  grip the whole rig on the left side.
  The SmallRig 2093 Wooden Side
  Handle solved this problem. The
  natural Rosewood handle not only
  looks great but is quite comfort-
  able to hold. In fact, when shooting
  in the cold, the wood responds to
  your body temperature and doesn’t
  hold the cold. Conversely, in hot
  situations where your hand may
  be sweaty, the natural finish on
  the Rosewood gives just the right
  amount of grip.
  As a plus, the 2093 side handle has
  a cold-shoe on top, which is perfect for
  our Røde Video Micro microphone

since the distance from the microphone

to the 3.5mm-audio input on the X-T3

left panel was only a few inches away.

That meant I wouldn’t have to worry

about running straight audio cables all

over the rig. I could just use the stock

Røde short-coiled mic cable, which

will minimize overall cable clutter on

the rig.

Like the top handle, the SmallRig

side handle also features a magnetic slot

for carrying an included Allen wrench/

spanner, very slick design.

• Cinevate Universal Accessory
  Mount, $36: Although we bought the
  Atomos Shinobi SDI 5-inch camera
  monitor to use with our gimbal, we
  decided to also mount it on this Small-
  Rig setup. The Cinevate mount has
  been a handy addition to our camera
  rigs over the past few years, with its
  dual ¼-inch 20 arms with a two-stage,
  articulating ballhead in the middle,
  each supporting the two arms.
  We found that the string of ¼-inch
  20 sockets on the right side of the cage
  worked perfectly for quickly threading
  on the Cinevate mount and attaching
  the Shinobi SDI to it. The dual articu-
  lating ballheads make positioning and
  adjusting the monitor’s position quick
  and simple.
  The only downside of the Cinevate
  mount has more to do with the Shinobi
  monitor’s single ¼” 20 receptacle: The
  monitor constantly comes loose from

rotating counter clockwise so you have

to spend time retightening it

Should You Cage Your Camera?

Overall, we found our rig worked

very well and is an improvement for

shooting handheld. For instance,

we increased the weight from 1.19

pounds to 6 to 8 pounds (depending

on the lens, as well as what other

accessories we used). The increased

heft allowed our camera move-

ments to be significantly smoother

and more fluid. Also, the addition

of the 2093 Universal Wooden Side

Handle let us grip the whole rig

with our right hand on the cage/

battery grip while using our left

hand to zoom.

Also, we come from a traditional

background of using film and

higher-end video /digital cinema

cameras. And since the Fujifilm

X-T3 is our first mirrorless cam-

era, we felt caging it made sense: It

allowed us to produce consistently

steadier and smoother handheld

footage, even when we were operat-

ing the X-T3 on a tripod. The addi-

tional weight made creating smooth

pans and tilts easier.

For us, building the SmallRig

setup only cost a few hundred dol-

lars, and the end results are notice-

ably improved over shooting with

only the body and a lens. DPP

These two shots of our SmallRig cage rig shows how we turned this simple mirrorless

camera into a more well-rounded and flexible camera system, which makes it easily

configurable for different shoots with different gear. It’s also an integrated system

with better ergonomics than it had before for improved handheld video shooting.

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