You have probably seen online that many camera owners, especially those that focus purely on videography, generally "rig out" their cameras to get the maximum usage out of them. There are countless reasons why - it looks cooler, fun to rig out, makes you look cool, easier to use, and did we mention it makes you look cool?
What we are planning to do here in this post is share with you some parts that you can use, regardless on which camera body you have. From there you can dig through all the companies and find specific parts that you need to rig out your specific camera - but in most cases, all that really changes is the cage.
We get our parts from SmallRig (affiliate link - we get a small commission from any sales) but there are other companies that make parts as well.
Camera Cages
This is probably the most important part because everything else will bolt onto the cage. Whilst there are some companies that make generic camera cages that you could potentially keep as you change camera systems/bodies, we recommend you spend that little bit more and get one specifically designed for your camera. The reason for this is a couple of things:
- Access to ports - not all cages are equal and there is nothing worse that not having access to your SD card draw or your battery door. So check some reviews online or even better yet, take your camera to the store and try a couple.
- Keeping it flush/level - in some of the generic camera cages, the body may not sit perfectly level, or the screw threads may not line up just so, which might seem like a minor inconvenience at the start, but it will start to irk you eventually. We are speaking from experience here, its really not fun.
Top Handles
If your camera has a crop whenever you run stabilisation, you can potentially reduce the need to use IBIS if you grab yourself a handle. This is because having gravity do the work for you gives you a much more stable look than purely handheld.
One thing to keep in mind that since the handles are mostly made of metal and some wood, you might need some rubber grips to help it not slip out of your hand. It hasn't happened to us yet, but on either really hot days or cold days, holding a "naked" metal handle isn't really the best option - hence why there are so many wooden handles available to purchase.
Also check the mounting points on there as well, if any of your other parts have specific mounts - make sure the handle comes with them otherwise it will be like lego trying to attach all these adapters to it.
Quick Release & Nato Rails
These are absolute necessities if you take your camera on and off tripods and gimbals, or if you have to take a rigged out camera and strip it back as much as possible for handheld or something else.
No one wants to be screwing and unscrewing, you want to flick levers and slide stuff off as quickly and professionally as possible. And it allows you to make cool gear videos on social media.
As mentioned there are countless companies that produce rigging for cameras, it is really up to you to find what works best for your camera and for you.
As mentioned, we are big fans of SmallRig (affiliate link - we get a small commission from any sales) here, all our rigging we get from them, and they have other videography equipment like lights that we are excited to try.