Posted by Scott Dumas on 30th Aug 2017
SmallRig EVF Mount Options
This time I’m taking a quick look at a few extra accessories for the SmallRig cage and rod system which I reviewed here.
What I have is the Safety NATO Rail with a 15mm Rod Clamp and a 6 inch Rod/90 Degree Rod Adapter to help connect it to my main setup. You can attach your EVF mount here and very easily adjust it’s height along the rail to fit your needs. I’ll have links to all these parts below so be sure to check that out.
These parts will help to mount the EVF in a different position, to make it easier to view when carrying on a shoulder mount or just to help with the overall balance of your rig. This setup is really quite flexible and can be used on both the left and right side of your rig and also attached in a number of different positions and angles. Some additional, small accessories could even allow you to attach this on the front end of the top handle mentioned in my previous review.
Starting with the 90 degree rod adapter, this is a very simple but useful product that would allow you to attach additional accessories off to the sides of your rig and takes up very little space. It will slide onto your main (15mm) rods easily and tighten down with just one screw on top. Underneath there are 2 separate screws to tighten down any rods you slide through. As with all the other SmallRig accessories the design and functionality of this is identical to everything else and it’s very well made.
I went with a 6 inch rod, which actually comes in a set of 2, since I won’t be positioning this too far off to the side. As with the main rods included in my previous review, they’re threaded on the ends allowing you to extend them or you can screw in the end caps to prevent anything from falling off. These are, of course, also available in carbon fiber for a very similar price.
The Safety NATO rail is really a nice and versatile product. Since it will easily attach to 15mm rods, you can use it in a number of positions on your rig. It’s long enough that you can have plenty of flexibility in the position of whatever you attach here, such as the EVF Mount. There are 2 sides to it which allow even more possible positions and configurations and there are safety pins on both sides to avoid things accidentally falling off. I love these little touches in terms of small safety features found all over the SmallRig system. It shows they’re really invested in keeping your gear both safe and customizable. Of course there are also 1/4-20 threads on here to allow even more possibilities.
I talked a bit more in depth about the EVF mount in my previous review, but it slides on here perfectly and smoothly. As I mentioned, you can put this combination as high or low as you’d like, push it further away or closer to the camera body, pivot it under or over the rods and angle the monitor however you’d like.
If you’re carrying this on a shoulder rig with the camera lined up straight with the shoulder support, this setup will put the monitor right in front of your face. Depending on your matte box and follow focus setup you may have to adjust the position of this, but since it slides freely along your rods just as everything else does, that’s not a problem. It makes it very quick to make adjustments if you need to as well.
The bottom line is that these and other accessories from SmallRig prove time and time again to be very well made, they work without any surprises and they both inspire confidence and creativity.
If you’d like to see these or any other SmallRig accessories, don’t forget to check the links below or www.smallrig.comfor more information.
SmallRig Safety NATO Rail with 15mm Rod Clamp 1856