Zacuto has been getting quite a bit of coverage lately thanks to their controversial (or not, depends on who you ask) Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012. That particular shootout saw relatively inexpensive cameras go up against the best in the business in both a creative and empirical test. Besides being a rental house, Zacuto also makes a ton of rigs and support gear for cameras, and they've come up with some interesting designs for the much-anticipated Blackmagic Cinema Camera (which is hopefully less than two weeks away). Check out the video below featuring Steve Weiss and Jens Bogehegn.
First, here is what Steve had to say about designing for this camera:
DSLR’s and BMC ergonomics are very similar. You essentially have a camera that has to be held in front of your face to see the video. Using our knowledge and years of experience designing DSLR rigs helped us immensely when we got our hands on the much anticipated BMC camera. After much testing and consulting with other users, we were able to come out with several Blackmagic Camera Rigs and accessories that will satisfy any shooting style.
A possible battery solution they propose at the beginning of the video -- using multiple Cinema Camera bodies and switching them out when the internal battery dies -- is rather intriguing. Since the camera is so cheap, there are productions that could potentially shoot an entire day just switching out camera bodies as the internal batteries discharge. Not all of us will be able to do that, so some sort of external battery is probably going to be necessary like they show in the video. The most compact setup, the Blackmagic Ultralite Rig, certainly has an interesting design with the rails mounted on top of the camera rather than below. While I have seen this before, it's interesting to see it on a camera as small as the BMCC.
If you're still on the fence about the camera, we are still waiting to hear exactly when we might be receiving ours, but there will be plenty of footage to come since I have my own personal camera coming at some point in the future.
Link: Zacuto Blackmagic Cinema Camera Rigs
Disclosure: Zacuto is a No Film School advertiser.
