As you all know I have been trying to settle upon the best way to mount my nanoFLASH on my Sony PMW-EX3 / Protech ST-7 Shoulder mount rig since I got it! To be more precise I really wanted to mount the nanoFLASH on the back of my IDX Endura 10 Batteries. I know that Convergent Design was working on such a mount but ran into problems when they realised that the V Mount on the front of the Endura batteries isn’t quite standard. After spending a lot of time researching I finally found a solution in the name of the IDX A-MWR Wireless Receiver Mounting Bracket which I wrote about on the 25th January 2010 in a post entitled ‘Mounting a nanoFLASH on V Mount Batteries’. Well I finally got my hands on one yesterday and got around to setting it up today!
My ultimate nanoFLASH Set-Up
The IDX A-MWR Wireless Receiver Mounting Bracket is just what I’ve been looking for! It is a multi-purpose wireless receiver mounting bracket which has been designed to fix directly to a native V-Mount at the rear of the camera or in my case the Protech ST-7 Shoulder Mount. The A-MWR just slots into place like you would with a battery (hence no screws or tools required).
The A-MWR has multiple holes located on the side or rear surfaces to mount equipment such as a wireless receiver unit and / or a nanoFLASH. I really like the fact that you can adjust the depth of the A-MWR to accommodate an ENDURA battery in single or PowerLink configuration (There are four set positions depending on your battery set up).
My ultimate nanoFLASH Set-Up
The bracket also provides a 2-pin D-Tap connector to supply DC power directly from the battery to the nanoFLASH as shown in the images. If you don’t require the rear plate it can be removed leaving you to mount the nanoFLASH on the side plate. I will probably put my second Receiver on the side plate, while leaving the nanoFLASH mounted on the rear plate. For those who want to know the A-MWR weighs in at 520g (0.22lb).
It is so easy to swap the batteries in and out without having dismantle anything to do so. I find that the whole rig now balances quite well even with out a mattebox in place, unlike when I had the nanoFLASH mounted on a small ball head on the rear cold shoe of the PMW-EX3 which made the rig unbalanced!
My ultimate nanoFLASH Set-Up
As you can see I also have managed to tidy up the cable mess with using a shorter HD-SDI Cable which I sourced from nanoFlash.net. The cable shown in the images is 450mm (18”) long and is perfect for this set-up. I have also sourced a good supply of various lengths HD-SDI and various custom power cables from nanoFlash.net. The quality of the cables is absolute top draw so check them out!
Any questions please leave a comment or as most of you prefer, email me!
Happy shooting,
Paul
Hi Paul – very interested in this as we also have an EX3/ST-7/Nano combo.
My only worry about this setup is that it makes it VERY long – much longer than a full-size shouldermount camera I would guess.
Do you think that really helps the balance much?
I’m asking because our kit is STILL quite front heavy even with the ST-7 and a V-mount battery. Our NanoFlash is mounted to the back of the ST-7 battery plate, but the nano isn’t that heavy anyway.
Regards
Dave
Hi Dave,
It is a long set-up
I agree we you that the PMW-EX3 / Protech ST-7 gives a front heavy rig. When I mounted the nano on a small ball head on the rear cold shoe of the PMW-EX3 I found the rig to be very cumbersome even with the cheek pad in place.
I know the nano (400g) and the bracket (520g) are quite light but combined they add an additional 920g (2lb) to the back of the rig and in my opinion balances it all out perfectly. The increased length is only an additional 50mm (2”) but it does take a little getting used to. I’ve walked though door frames, up and down steps whilst looking through the viewfinder and don’t find the additional length a problem (yet)!.
I held the cam for three hours solid yesterday and didn’t suffer the same fatigue that I did when I had the nano mounted on the rear cold shoe. It feels comfortable and balanced!
Happy shooting,
Paul