Building Professional Shoulder Rig for Under a $1000

Hello and welcome to another exciting blog post ! In this post I am going to show you how to build a professional camera shoulder rig from under a $1000. I am sure if you are a filmmaker, you most likely have a lot of those components needed, somewhere in your storage. It took me about a year to slowly build this rig. I had many different versions and styles before I came up with this configuration. It may be different for you, but I just wanted to give you an idea what you can do.

Ingredients / Prices / Where to buy

The Idea behind this, that most of you, probably, have a lot of those, or similar components to build an amazing shoulder rig

Kessler K Plate – $149 foundation of my shoulder rig. 15mm Rod Support

Kessler Quick Release Receiver – $149

15mm Rods (Total Needed 4) – $30-$50 for both. See Pictures

Switronix Gold Mount Battery – $250-$300 I can power my entire rig from one battery, including a SmallHD DP7 monitor for up to 6 hours

Camtree Camera Handles – $125

Camera Battery Adapter Plate – $10 This allows me to use Gold Mount Battery to attach on my rig, and have a spare D-Tap output.

Small Rig Shoulder Pad – $50

Double Rod Clamp – $10 For shoulder par support under the main plate. Easy to remove and put back together.

Manfrotto Quick Release Plate – $35 You don’t need to have this, but I use it to quickly release my camera from the rig.

Cheese Plate with Rods -$40 to hold battery adapter plate.

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Listed above components should run you for about ~$850-$1000 It is a lot of money, but in my deference, I personally haven’t seen “already” made rig on the market that would be complete and ready to go for such amount of money. Below this, I am going to show you examples of Rigs, that are sold online and their price. You be the judge. I am not being endorsed by any of the brands, just sharing with you my personal experience. I hope you will find it helpful.

ikan CineFly Rig – $529

CAME-TV Shoulder Rig -$1168

SHAPE Blackmagic Shoulder Rig -$949

RedRock Micro -$1464

RedRock Micro Ultra Cage -$1659

RED THE CLUTCH -$4900 This one is absolute beauty, but cost more than URSA MINI

So those components listed above are the main ingredients of my shoulder rig. Rig relatively very light, and very easy to maneuver for filming action scenes.