5D video mounts and rigging, who's shooting action/skiing and whats your setup?

[AKturnanburn]

I have a solid lens quiver and a decent tripod and head, through research it seems that there are folks out there getting smoove action video with zoom and focus. Without spending $5K more on just the rigging whats the best way to go? any packages around $1000 that I can use my doubled up 70-200 2.8 IS on?

Ideally it would be nice to get a small and light dolly and basic jib to round off the possibilities. My cinematographer brother told me to buy a video camera, meh.

[dipstik]

I have found that the more shit I carry to film skiing, the more it works against me. The ideal setup still eludes me, but I have been experimenting a lot with different riggings and light weight options for 5D/1D4 filming. Some of the handheld setups from Zacuto are nice - the simpler the better. As far as pulling focus, I have used the Red Rock Micro focusing rings, which are cheap and light, but honestly it is just another piece of gear to carry and mess around with. Your call if it fits your needs or not. Those rings work great if you are locked down on a tripod, but get to be a bit cumbersome handheld.

You didn't mention if you were using a viewfinder, so if I were you my first purchase would be the Zacuto Z-Finder. Pricey, but it is invaluable. I use that with the Zacuto Target Shooter for a run and gun setup. It gives you 3 points of contact (shoulder, eye, hand) so the results can be decent stability for quick work on the hill.

My next mission is to start getting more creative with rigging options, without adding lots of weight or spending tons of cash. Here is a cool video the TGR crew posted up last season. Super simple, clever, cheap, and makes use of what you already have with you:

[dfinn]

^ that is freaking genius. Any idea what that's actually built out of?

edit: it's all spelled out here:

http://www.tetongravity.com/tgrstudi...weight-slider/

I have a gorillapod that I think I may be able to use to pull this off.

[dipstik]

^ that is freaking genius. Any idea what that's actually built out of?

edit: it's all spelled out here:

http://www.tetongravity.com/tgrstudi...weight-slider/

I have a gorillapod that I think I may be able to use to pull this off.

Yup, that Magic Arm is a great tool to have in the bag. But in the spirit of using what you already have, I bet you will get great results with the gorillapod. Check out some of Jordan Manley's short ski films on Vimeo, I am almost positive he uses a magic arm/gorillapod/something similar to attach his HDSLR to tree branches for fixed-camera shots in the woods.

[hitek79]

This is a pretty cool jib if you're up for putting in that much effort.