Has anyone looked into the Zacuto handheld and tripod mounts?

[Stephen Pruitt]

Hi all. . .

I'm curious if anyone has looked into the Zacuto RED rigs compared with the comparable RED rigs. It appears as if the RED rigs are definitely better made, but I like the ability to use 15mm rails on the Zacuto system, as it opens up more "semi-pro" attachments like the Redrock follow focus and matteboxes.

I have heard that the Zacuto gear is very well made, but is it likely to hold up to use with the RED?

Finally, price-wise, is there any difference between the two set-ups?

Thanks much. . . and a Happy 2008 to all!

Stephen

[Michael Morlan]

Hi Stephen,

I did a thorough comparison between a full RED accessory setup (including all handles, extra mounting points, etc.) and a Zacuto equivalent (as displayed in their RED handheld page) and concluded that the same Zacuto rig would run around $1500 more.

You can get what you need with the RED system. Start with the;

base production pack - http://www.red.com/store/product_detail/35

add the;

15mm adapter - http://www.red.com/store/product_detail/72

that can be affixed to a;

universal mount - http://www.red.com/store/product_detail/52

that slides onto the 19mm iris rods of the base production pack.

You can then add your own third-party 15mm rods (I like the Zacuto extendable, aluminum ones) and accessories to the 15mm adapter. I will be building both 19mm and 15mm setups for my camera.

Hope that helps,

Michael

[Michael Morlan]

Stephen, I received your PM and thought any answer I might give would benefit all.


...could you let me know exactly what you have decided to order from each company? What parts are you buying and what will those parts allow you to do?


To start, I posted a snapshot of my working spreadsheet for all to see here:
http://www.editgrid.com/user/mmorlan62/AFT_Red_One_Package_v12

Many of the reasons for my choices are noted within. (If anyone notices any glaring omissions or errors, please let me know.)

To clarify, there are three iris rods systems:

system. . . . . . . .rods. .dist. .lens
. . . . . . . . . . .diam. .betw. .dist
---------------------------------------
19mm. . . . . . . . .19mm. .104mm 120mm centered sliding baseplate
15mm ARRI Standard. .15mm. .100mm 118mm uncentered sliding baseplate
15mm lightweight. . .15mm. . 60mm. 86mm centered
(ignore the extra periods. The forum strips excess spaces from posts.)

The RED 15mm adapter looks like a lightweight version so your RR AKS should be just fine.

Michael

[Mitch Gross]

Michael, your littlew chart is good, but let me point out that 19mm sliding baseplate rods are in fact centered to the lens, unlike 15mm sliding baseplate rods.

Mitch Gross
Abel Cine Tech

[Michael Morlan]

Thanks Mitch,

So noted and corrected in the above post.

Michael