\u00a0Rode Video microphone<\/a>\u00a0fed into the Zoom H4 although I can also use the Zoom’s built in microphones when I need a stereo recording or wired Lavs or a hand held microphone if we’re not moving around too much and are doing interview type footage.<\/p>\nThe ‘handles’ are actually Pedco UltraPod II table top tripods which have a strong ball head which allows you to lock the handles in any\u00a0position\u00a0you want. They’re not as strong as dedicate solid handles but they work and, like most of the components I used, they can be used for other things when you break the rig down. I slipped some offcuts of pipe insulation foam over them to make them more comfortable but, as most of the weight is taken on your shoulder and rib cage they are not used as much to support the rig as to balance it.<\/p>\n
The only other tips I can think of are, if you leave your camera strap on, like I do, hook it through the shoulder rig when you mount the camera so it doesn’t flop around and get in the way of fall into frame. I also removed the included pin and rings for the shoulder mount strap – I found that using it hindered more than it helped when moving around and trying to keep things steady.<\/p>\n
I also urge you not to blindly copy my setup but to experiment for yourself to find what works best for you. You should also practice using this rig and capturing test footage long before using it in anger. There’s a lot to think \u00a0about in HDSLR video capture and wearing the camera on your shoulder adds a whole extra level of complexity and it takes time to get\u00a0comfortable\u00a0with it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let’s take it as read that the DSLR used for making HD video is a beautiful but flawed compromise. This statement is true of almost every aspect of the format but nowhere more so than the form factor which is especially obvious when you take the camera off your tripod and try to hand hold […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[25,26,27],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/5382117581_3f0ddf03d7_z1.jpg?fit=526%2C640&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s3wVJR-92","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1033,"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/1033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5248\/5379442903_707b4318e4.jpg?resize=300%2C299\")
Let’s take it as read that the DSLR used for making HD video is a beautiful but flawed compromise. This statement is true of almost every aspect of the format but nowhere more so than the form factor which is especially obvious when you take the camera off your tripod and try to hand hold it. For taking stills it is perfect but when taking video without the optical viewfinder available it is clunky and\u00a0awkward. So an exclusive cottage industry has been built around the idea of making your HDSLR feel more like a real, movie camera.<\/p>\n![\"5382117581_3f0ddf03d7_z[1]\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/corporateguerrillavideo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/5382117581_3f0ddf03d7_z1.jpg?resize=526%2C640\")
<\/a>Here are the components I used, less the sound and camera gear of course:<\/p>\n