CAMVATE Pro Shoulder Mount Rig Announced – With Manfrotto Quick Release Plate

CAMVATE recently introduced its latest take on a modular shoulder mount rig. The Pro Shoulder Mount Rig comes with a Manfrotto-compatible quick-release plate and two ARRI Rosette wooden handgrips for comfortable operation.

I’m not entirely sure I would still use such a device, but since I’m not you, you might be happy to see another (more modern) version of the good ol’ shoulder mount for DSLR cameras.

Back in the day, I used these quite a lot but with more modern cameras I personally moved to either handheld (maybe with internal stabilization) or to to something like the Zacuto Recoil system for bigger cameras.

CAMVATE Pro Shoulder Mount Rig

CAMVATE have build their new Pro Shoulder Mount Rig around a Manfrotto-compatible quick release plate which is nice since it guarantees no-hassle inter-operability with a whole bunch of existing gear.

In addition, the wooden handles can be attached with the proven ARRI standard rosettes – another advantage for quickly swapping gear on a busy day of shooting.

The whole rig seems to be pretty rugged and durable, everything is made out of anodized aluminum alloy & wood. The Manfrotto QR baseplate comes with 1/4″ & 3/8″ camera screws, so if your camera supports it you can really tighten it down with two screws.

The tripod base plate (height adjustable) sports numerous 1/4″ & 3/8″ threads for mounting additional accessories and it also supports standard 15mm rods.

The main feature of any shoulder rig is the soft padding that sits on the shoulder. It helps to reduce the load on the body and facilitate the weight distribution of a front-heavy system.

Pricing

The CAMVATE Pro Shoulder Mount Rig can be purchased directly from the manufacturers website. It is $286 which seems to be a reasonable price for what you get.

Link: CAMVATE

What do you think? Are you still using such shoulder rigs? What are the alternatives that work for you the best? Share your experiences in the comments below!