The FS-700 camera had a scheduled demo on Saturday, so by the time I picked it up I had approximately one hour to get the camera home, configure it, check the batteries, read the manuals, and pack everything in the car. Lucky for me, I had previous experience with the FS-700, so the only real new thing to learn was the Samurai. I was going straight into a documentary with no chances for second takes.
The previous weekend I had met with the sales rep for Element Technica, manufacturers of the Micron line of camera mounts and 3-D stereoscopic rigs, at an event hosted by Shane Hurlbut ASC. The rep sent sent me the E-T Micron FS-700 riser plate and shoulder pad for a review. Since they were first to ask, I'll start this series of reviews with the Micron mounts. In full disclosure Video Gear is a dealer for the Element Technica components, however I wasn't paid to do this review. The opinions here are my own from using the equipment in the field.
I'll admit that I was and continue to be a fan of their products. I first used Element Technica components on a feature I AC'd on last year, shooting on the Red Epic. The components are made in the USA and production tough in my experience. So when it came to outfit my personal camera, I bought the Micron dovetail and bridge plate and have been using them for the past six months on various productions. The Micron FS-700 riser plate and shoulder pad just showed up on Friday, so the only time I've spent with them is this past weekend.
The riser plate comes drilled with many, many 1/4"-20 threaded holes, typical of most professional camera mounts now days (see picture below). This is great for a lot of components out there, including many articulating arms and other mounts. Unfortunately for me, my Noga cine-arm has a 3/8"-16 thread so I would need an adapter to take advantage of these threads. In the photo above you can see that I attached the cine-arm to the FS-700 top handle simply because I didn't have an adapter. This got in the way with some of the shots I did this weekend while hand held. The cine-arm was partially blocking the grip on the FS-700 which made the ergonomics of using the FS-700 top handle more difficult. Element Technica sells a top cheese plate and replacement handle for the FS-700, which would probably solve this issue as well.
The riser plate comes with three 1/4"-20 mounting screws, so the threaded holes are convenient for storing the screws. The last thing you want to do is put the screws in your gear bag and have to go searching for them every time. The camera attaches with all three screws. At first it was non-obvious to me that there were three screw attach points. Two of them are hidden under the shoulder pad, so if you attach the shoulder pad first, you'll never see the two additional screw attachment holes. It would have been nice if Element Technica had provided a single page instruction sheet showing the screw attachment positions just so users don't only attach the riser plate to the camera with a single screw (i.e. the one that's not hidden).
The riser plate has two alignment guide posts that stick up into the camera body. The magnets also provide a little attachment force. At first I had to wiggle the riser plate into position on the camera because the magnets were actually wanting to attach to the camera first. They are that strong! You'll want to align the far screw end of the attachment first, then lower the magnetic end. Much easier.
Speaking of screws, any AC will tell you that the most common "AC screwdriver" on a set is actually a coin - most often a quarter. Maybe in a second generation riser they will make the screws captive like the other 1/4"-20 screws in the Micron system as well as switch over from an allen head to a screw that uses a flat head screwdriver. I know I'm being picky here since if you own an FS-700 the riser plate will likely be semi-permanently attached to the camera and field screwdriver issues are unlikely. However, it would be an usability improvement from an AC's and one man crew DP's standpoint.
I have slanted shoulder blades, so I can personally appreciate the fact that the Micron shoulder pad has a slanted profile. It turned out that shoulder pad fit quite comfortably. The pad actually attaches via four strong magnets. Element Technica includes a single captive 1/4"-20 screw for permanent attachment, but this really isn't required. The magnets alone are more than strong enough. Most of the time I have to really pull on the pad to separate it from the riser plate. I mean REALLY pull hard!
One small issue I had with the FS-700 specific shoulder pad is that the 15mm rods bump into the back of it. If you set the rods too far back the rods will actually dig into your shoulders, so make sure you have the correct rod length for the specific lens/matte box combo you use. Element Technica just released a new shoulder pad design that mounts to the rods and solves this issue (not shown here). That design, that mounts to the rods, also allows you to attach a battery plate further back and balance out the weight of the camera. Any wedding shooter will tell you what a relief it is to have a balanced shoulder rig, especially two hours into the reception party! The riser plate has 1/4"-20 threads on the far back (not shown) so in theory you could attach an Anton Bauer style battery plate there to at least partially balance out the weight of camera.
One of the big reasons I personally invested in the Micron system is that I need to use it with a variety of "smaller" body cameras like the Sony FS-700 and F5/55 as well as the Canon C100/300/500 cameras. Element Technica has provisions for all of those camera systems with riser plates, or in the case of the Canon cameras - removal of the top of the bridge plate. Given the versatility, the investment was worth it for my work.
If you'd like to talk to someone at the shop about using Element Technica Micron components please call Jeff. The FS-700, Atomos Samurai, and Metabones Speed Booster are also now available for rent. We're here to help if you have questions.
More to come in the following weeks. I'll be getting back to the Atomos and Metabones products soon.
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