SMALLRIG Quick Release Shoulder Plate for Sony VCT-14 Tripod Adapter with Rosettes - 2837

I bought the small rig kit for my Sony fs5 and it worked great and I had no problems with it but the versatility of this product is by far one of the best small rig things that I have bought. For a VCT quick release plate this has worked the best and the price is by far the best.

For what they charge, this is a fair deal. It's well built (like all SmallRig components), lighter weight all around when compared to Tilta and other higher-end Chinese DSLR Rig parts, but in the mid to lower price range, still a solid deal.The memory foam seems very comfortable. However, I've yet to use this on a long shoot with heavier equipment on top. Memory foam by its nature compresses rather flat over time. Otherwise the Arri Rosettes seem solid, and the ratcheting thumbscrews have never been quite as beefy as Tilta's (for example), and not that cool silvery anodized color, but they work. For about 1/2 the cost of the others, I'd say this is a solid deal, especially if your camera setup is lighter. If you're going to try t put 20+ pounds fo gear on this, perhaps you need Tilta, or try 8Sinn's fantastic (but not inexpensive) DSLR cages and gear (made in Poland). For me, for my "B" camera, this is just right.Also, SmallRig is the only company I can find making an extensible rosette arm for the front end of these shoulder rigs. Every other manufacture I find uses fixed lengths. This is NOT a heavy arm, and again ... I might not want to use these arms for really for heavy loads. However, they're a great addition to this shoulder set-up and priced fairly. This is SmallRig's MO: Fair pricing, good quality.

These are my 1st impressions, before using it in the field on real jobs.It came well protected in 2 bubble wrap bags, inside a box. I don't think there is a danger of breaking this shoulder rig in transport, but its appreciated that it comes well packaged to avoid cosmetic damage.Its quite the heavy object. I was hoping for it to be lighter weight.It feels like a tank. Should last a lifetime. But time will tell. And I may update this review after using it for some time.It has a few moving parts. The front 15mm rod receivers that can be adjusted up and down about 1.5 inches. That part came attached but loose. The box also came with an Allen tool to tighten that part as needed. For my camera I had to elevate it about halfway. And that adjustment blocked the long camera plate from being able to slide forward if I ever need to balance the camera in that direction. So that was a bit disappointing to lose that adjustability. But, the long plate will still slide backwards. And there is another sliding mechanism on my tripod that I used to balance the camera well. So not a huge loss yet. I used a long and heavy 70-200mm lens and did not need to slide the tripod plate forward to balance the camera. I also had two handgrips attached to the 15mm front rods. So I think it should work fine for me most of the time, even if I can't slide forward. The reason I had to elevate the front rod holder was to allow a lens support to reach the lens. If my lens support had a longer reach, I would not have to lift the 15mm rod holder. And the camera plate would be able to slide forward. If it bothers me a lot, I might buy a longer lens support device.The other moving parts are the tightening knobs for the 15mm rod receivers, and for the camera plate slider lock. Then there is one round button that unlocks the camera plate slider stop. I find those spring loaded knobs to be a little too small and flimsy, relative to the rest of the shoulder rig. They do tighten well. And they are made of metal. But I have other smaller 'small-rig' devices and they use larger, heftier tightening knobs. Time will tell if those knobs do well in real world use. I wish the knobs were a little heftier, and also a non black color, to see them better in the dark.The shoulder cushion is quite large. And feels quite tough to the touch. A long hand-held work day will tell me how comfortable or not these pads are. But they look like they will do the job well. The pads are symmetrical. Unlike some designs that are wider on one side and narrower on the other to simulate the shape of a shoulder. There are 3 sections to the pad, and its coated with a single sheet of material. I don't expect them to rip, but they are attached with small allen screws, so I guess its possible to replace the pads should they get ruined somehow.One thing I noticed about the pads is that when I slid the rig onto the same brand v-lock tripod plate, the pads did create some resistance, and I had to push down on the camera and forward with some force. Its not as easy and smooth as with an old school or classic ENG camera. That bothered me a slight bit. Maybe its a matter of practice and getting the shoulder rig and tripod plate to break into each other.One thing I do like a lot is that the shoulder rig sits flush and flat on the ground or table. Even with my camera on it, it sits nice and flat and I don't feel any danger of my camera tipping over sideways. But the main reason I got this shoulder rig was to be able to have my camera rigged up as a shoulder mounted / hand-held rig, with handles in front, yet be able to slide it into tripod mode without having to take off the handles or shift the shoulder pad around. That mission is well accomplished with my current rig setup. So happy about that. However, currently I am not making use of the rosettas to attach a handle or extension arm on it. I have ordered those parts and will see if the rig is still as effective. My current handles attach to the 15mm rods in front.Speaking of rods; The front and back 15mm rod receivers work well. I wish the holes were a bit longer to hold on to more of the 15mm rods as a counter balance. But I think they will do the trick for what I tend to attach to my rig, which are not very heavy things. I don't use large batteries on the back of my camera. I use the camera batteries that insert into the camera body, so I don't depend on rod systems to hold the weight of heavy batteries. Even if I did, I think the rod supports would work ok. But I liked that my previous camera base plate had a system where the rods would slide all they way from the front to the back, so a single pair of long rods would have enough length to take care of things in front and back of the camera, while balancing themselves out and being supported in the center, instead of this system that supports the rods only at the very ends, and all the weight puts tension on the ends of the rods. Again, time and use will tell if this type of rod receivers will have any issues with my 15mm rods bending.I like that the camera base plate is very long. I like that the base plate sits along the entire bottom of my camera. I also like that one edge of the shoulder rig has markings so one can measure how much you are sliding the base plate... however, the baseplate itself has no markings on it, so one can not really measure how much one is sliding the plate... One little marking would have been nice to add to the base plate as a mark of reference. I may just paint a little mark on. A small detail that would be good to add SmallRig.The button that unlocks the sliding stop works well. I wish it were a non black color. And the stop itself is effective.One odd quirk that I'm not sure how other companies get around is that when the camera base plate slides into its place on the shoulder rig it makes a relatively loud and tinny sound. As the two metal pieces slide against each other, they make a sliding sound that I find to be a new experience. It bothers me a slight bit, as it was never something I noticed with other tripod sliding systems. Its not a big deal. It does not affect the workings of the system, other then on a tactile and auditory level. Maybe its the type of finish that is used on these metal pieces.Another thing I like a lot is that the camera base plate is quite thin. So I can leave it attached to my camera as it travels inside one of my camera bags, while the camera is in an almost fully built configuration. But even more fortunately for me, I can even leave the shoulder rig attached to the camera and still be able to carry it in one of my camera bags. This speeds up the process of building the camera rig up, and getting ready to film. So I don't have to carry the shoulder rig in a separate bag, pr shove it sideways in the camera bag. That was a nice bonus.Once I receive and start using the extension arm and handle that will attach to the rosetta receiver on the rig, I might update this review.Overall I'm giving this shoulder rig 4 stars as a first impression and first time setup. I rarely give anything 5 stars. So i'm quite happy with this purchase thus far.I also purchased the same brand v-lock tripod plate to receive this shoulder rig. That will have its own review. The short end is; it works, its heavy and IMO it should have been half the price for what it is. But I didn't want to take the chance of having this shoulder rig not quite fitting well with a different brand plate, so I just bought the matching pair, which is obviously what SmallRig wants you to do and so they charge extra for the plate. But the system works well together, and I didn't want to have issues in the field with devices that were almost but not quite compatible with each other.

First off--you'll need a VCT Plate for your tripod in order for this to work. I suspect this is common knowledge for industry pros but I'm new to the av world and wasn't aware. The price seemed a bit steep initially, but once I realized how adaptable this is, I fell in love. Unlike a some alternatives, this has a solid pad, 15mm rod capacity in front and back, and rosettes that make it a solid base for any shoulder rig you want to build.A bit heavy, so if you're looking for something that is light or easy to lug around you might want to consider other options--but that isn't what this is supposed to be so...you get it.The rosette adapters are a great feature that allow for handles in additon to the 15mm rods, this is great because it allows for a solid purchase that is separate from the rods that engage follow focus motors and the lens.I've used this on a BM Ursa Cinema Camera and prefer it to the BM plate, although the BM plate just seemed to fit the Ursa a bit better. We're talking minutia here, but for some that surgical fit really matters.

The closest worthwhile competition is at least double the price. The Zacuto has nicer knobs, and a more comfortable shoulder pad, not that this isn't comfortable, I rarely shoulder mount, so for me it's a non-issue, for me it's nice having the pad when having to rest camera on my thigh. The Zacuto doesn't have rosettes, and I'm not a huge fan of a unified tightening system, i.e. where you use one knob to loosen/tighten 2 rods, in some ways it makes sense, but I prefer independent control as you do have accessories that don't require 2 rods. The Zacuto has slightly better build quality, but anyone that uses Smallrig equipment knows their build quality is plenty good enough. You can replace a Smallrig item 4-5 times and still not go over the cost of their competitors. If you want a VCT-14 baseplate, seriously consider this option, it's great. NOTE : The description says it is NOT compatible with VCT-U14, I don't know why it says that, but it made me purchase their adapter plate just in case. I can confirm however that this DOES work with VCT-U14