My Ultimate Camera Rig for Documentary & Fiction
Ever since I started filming with DSLR and mirrorless cameras, I’ve struggled to build an ultimate camera rig that would be modular and have everything I need for both documentary and fiction work. I’ve worked with Panasonic GH cameras, the original Blackmagic Pocket HD, and the Sony A7S to name a few, but each has had its limitations that have left me wanting. In 2013 I upgraded to a Sony FS700 with an Odyssey 7Q+ recorder, and while it worked great for narrative, had internal ND’s and everything you could hope for, it was too heavy and impractical for documentary or gimbal work.
When the Blackmagic Pocket 4K was released in 2019 it checked most of my boxes. But like all the other cameras it needed to be rigged as it lacked a viewfinder and a built-in ND filter. A functional rig needs to be modular, allowing me to switch between different types of documentary and fiction work. This rig setup is the closest I’ve come to achieving that. It has a great EVF, a solid shoulder mount, multiple channels of audio, and enough power to last a full day’s shoot.
Best of all, everything powers on with a single switch. It is also modular so while my setup is built around the Blackmagic Pocket 4K it should work well with other cameras as well.
As you can see the gear list in addition to the camera is quite extensive. Out of all these I would say the absolute minimum necessary would be a good lens, an ND filter and a good battery solution. Everything else will be dependant on your particular use case.
Is this a shopping list for someone starting out? Absolutely not. If I’d have the money I would probably go with a camera system that already has a lot of this stuff built in. If you are just starting out I would actually encourage you to consider any interchangeable lens camera that already has an EVF built in and can shoot a few hours with a single battery. Some even have four channels of audio ready to go and you get a photography camera to go with your video camera all in one! Any camera produced in the last couple of years should be good.
I’ve ended up with this gear just buying it throughout the years. Some of the parts in this rig are ten years old. For example my Miller tripod is a piece of gear that I suspect I will never need to replace.
My Camera Rig Gear List
Camera: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Lens Adapter: Metabones Speed Booster XL 0.64x
Lens: Canon 24-105 f4 IS USM
ND Filter: Heliopan Variograu Slim Variable ND
EVF: Kinefinity Eagle HDMI Electronic Viewfinder
On-Camera Mic: Sony ECM-XM1
Media: Angelbird 256GB CFast Card
Battery: Hawkwoods Gripper 100W
Wireless Audio: Rode Wireless Pro
Follow Focus: Tilta Mini Follow Focus
Matte Box: SmallRig 3680 Mini Matte Box Pro
Cage: SmallRig Half Cage for Pocket 4K 2254
Top handle: SmallRig Nato Handle 1955
Shoulder Plate: SmallRig Sony VCT-14 Shoulder Plate 1954
Tripod Plate: SmallRig VCT-14 Quick Release Tripod Plate 2169
Extension Arm: SmallRig Extension Arm with Arri Rosette 1870
Side Grip: SmallRig Right Side Wooden Grip with Arri Rosette 1941
Monitor: Convergent Design Odyssey 7″
Carrying bag: Sachtler Dr. Bag 5
Tripod: Miller Compass 12 Solo 75 2-Stage Carbon Fibre Tripod (1870) System
I’ve provided links to gear that are still in production. Although I’m sure most are available second hand if you look for them.
Documentary Style Rigging
I do a lot of documentary work and am currently shooting two feature length documentaries. I need more than two channels of audio, a neutral density filter that’s quick to remove and the rig has to be able to go from shoulder mount to a tripod setup quickly.
For a shoulder mount setup I’m using a SmallRig VCT Shoulder Plate and tripod plate. While it’s slightly on the heavy side and a bit larger then necessary, this setup has been the best option I’ve found after testing multiple rigs. None of the others offer the comfort or are as fast to use.
One of the biggest advantages with these particular accessories is that the Kinefinity EVF and Rode Wireless Pro receiver both turn on when I power the camera on. It takes about 3-5 seconds to boot up and be ready to shoot. With two Hawkwoods Gripper batteries I can run a full day with no issues. With all the accessories the entire rig still fits into my Sachtler DR-5 bag without disassembling any accessories.
When I want to travel extra light I detach the shoulder mount, follow focus and EVF and go DSLR style. Especially when I shoot in public places this is a great setup. I still use the Hawkwoods Gripper for power and that goes in a small bag on my shoulder. Everything fits inside a backbag along with the Rode Wireless Pro and a few other accessories. My Pocket 4K has the Tilta display modification so the screen tilts up which makes this set up possible. If I’m only shooting pick up shots I can even take off the top handle and just go with the camera only.
Fiction Work Style Rigging
For fiction work, my rig is mostly the same as my documentary setup, but with the addition of a Convergent Design Odyssey 7″ monitor mounted on the back. This allows me to review takes with actors and crew more easily. I use this rigging style for music videos, narrative fiction and art films.
I don’t own any expensive cine lenses and on my latest short film Ritual for the Rainbow I used a Canon 24-105 f4 lens throughout most of the shoot. This was partly because we had a very tight schedule and I wanted to minimize all the hassle with rigging the camera. We shot handheld or on a tripod and used a mini dolly on only a few shots.
Electronic Viewfinder
For me an electronic viewfinder is the most important piece of the kit. I rely on it for exposure and composition. With a monitor there’s a tendency to overcompensate for the bright or dark surroundings. With an EVF is much easier to judge focus, exposure and composition. For shoulder mounted work it’s also absolutely paramount. I like to compose people mainly at eye level so and that to me means that I want to use an EVF to have a balanced rig. My eyesight is not the best anymore so the EVFs diopter adjustment also lets me work without glasses.
Many HDMI-based EVFs suffer from noticeable image lag, making it difficult to follow fast-moving subjects or adjust framing in real time. The Eagle, however, feels incredibly responsive. There is almost zero lag. This is a big upgrade over the Portkeys LEYE HDMI EVF which I previously used. The Kinefinity EVF is however almost three times the price so I can still recommend the Portkeys LEYE EVF as well. It’s very good for the price.
The Kinefinity Eagle viewfinder is powered by USB and this means I can run a cable straight from the Blackmagic Pocket 4K’s USB output into the EVF. The EVF then turns on when I power the camera.
The Kinefinity Eagle HDMI EVF also has an HDMI output so I can pass the image to an external monitor. It also has loads of buttons that you can customise and all the usual monitoring tools that you could hope for. It has quickly become an essential part of my rig and I’m extremely pleased with it.
Matte Box and Variable Neutral Density Filter
I use the Small Rig 3680 Mini Matte Box Pro which if I’m not mistaken is not produced anymore. For me it is a perfect compromise between size and functionality. I’ve used the Tilta mini matte box previously and while that was ok, for narrative work especially, I need side flags to better control the light. I can also use threaded filters with this matte box and that was an important factor in choosing it as I’m using a circular Heliopan variable ND.
I briefly had the Tilta Mirage variable ND matte box. I really wanted to like it but after doing an extensive review on it I found it did not work as well as the Heliopan VND. It seems to produce the dreaded x-pattern quite a bit more easily then the Heliopan VND.
The Small Rig matte box fits 4×4″ and 4×5.6″ filters although I very rarely use any. I have the Heliopan VND filter attached with a magnetic ring set so that it is quick and easy to put on and take off.
I’ve spent way too long nerding out to find cables that don’t protrude out of the Blackmagic Pocket 4K’s body too much as this is where my head sits when the camera is on my shoulder. The USB cable I use is just an Apple USB cable that I had lying about. If you search on eBay for a low profile mini XLR for Pocket 4K you can find the one’s that I use to adapt the mini XLR to full size XLR as that is what my on camera microphone requires.
The HDMI right angle cable is easy to find on eBay as well. Luckily the Rode Wireless sets come with a very nice 3,5mm audio cable in the box. The Pocket 4K power to D-tap cable is quite delicate and feels like it’s stripping itself apart so I have a spare handy in case it decides to thread apart at some point.
Audio Beyond Two Channels
For fiction work the audio is usually handled by a dedicated person if the budget allows. But for documentaries, I have to manage the audio myself. Many of my documentary projects involve following people around without much notice in advance, so hiring a separate person isn’t practical.
I started using external recorders when filming The Goodiepal Equation documentary. I used a single lavalier mic with a Zoom H1 recorder that Goodiepal kept in his pocket. Nowadays there’s a plethora of great external recorders available built just for this purpose.
I often use two external recorders with lavaliers and a shotgun mic on top of the camera. The shotgun mic is a Sony ECM-XM1 which is salvaged from my old Sony FS700 camera. Still works great. The Blackmagic Pocket 4K only has two channels of audio so I feed one of the external recorders channel into one channel of the camera and the shotgun on camera mic to the other. Both the external recorders can record internally so I then sync those recordings in Premiere or Resolve with the on camera mic audio.
I used the Rode Wireless Go II system for many years but just recently switched to the Rode Wireless Pro system. One of the main advantages of the Wireless Pro system is that it records 32-bit float audio internally which means there’s almost no chance of clipping the levels. The Wireless Pro receiver also turns on and off with the camera which is extremely handy.
The Rode Wireless Pro has timecode and I do have set it up to sync with the Blackmagic Pocket 4K. Great thing is that you can still use two channels of audio and feed the camera timecode sync via the mic input. However the sync only sort of works as in reality there is a 1-2 frame offset with the units compared to the camera audio. Because of this I still sync to waveform in Premiere Pro and Resolve instead of the timecode. The Rode Wireless Pro also comes with two pretty high quality lavaliers and a charging case which made it an easy buy.
Im using many Bubblebee lavalier accessories which are frankly amazing. They have a great range of wind furs that are small and also lavalier mic holders for many different brands.
For monitoring Im using old Apple in ear headphones. They aren’t good quality at all and I can only monitor one of the lavalier mics and the shotgun mic. It’s not ideal but so far I’ve had no major issues doing it this way.
When doing narrative work we feed the audio to my camera from the sound engineers audio device using the Rode Wireless transmitter and receiver. This provides a scratch audio track for syncing the external audio in post. Again there is a 1-2 frame offset so you still need a slate clap to make sure the audio is in sync with the picture.
Follow Focus and Lenses
The Tilta follow focus is one of the cheapest pieces of the kit. I think the original one that I have is not available any more but the current version called Tilta Pocket Follow Focus is only 70€. Small Rig and others have similar offering as well and I’m sure they are equally good. Especially when shoulder mounted I also use a short arm that attaches to the follow focus and makes it easier to turn the focus. It also gives you a physical idea of where the focus is at. Point it straight forward and it’s at 1.5 meters – where my subjects usually are – and point it straight up for deeper focus.
One issue I’ve encountered with the Tilta Mini Follow Focus is that instead of the wingnut screw tightening perfectly straight, the locking mechanism tilts just enough to put uneven pressure on the threads. Over time, this causes the screws threading to wear down and eventually strip. My fix was to add a nut at the end of the screw, which prevents it from tilting. Since making this adjustment, I haven’t had any more issues. But to be fair follow focuses used to cost hundreds of euros so for the price I’m very happy with it.
The lens that I’ve used the most is the Canon 24-105 f4 IS USM lens. I bought it second hand and only paid 300 euros for it. It has image stabilisation and with the Metabones Speedbooster it becomes an f2.8 lens. The Speedbooster reduces the crop factor of the Blackmagic Pocket 4K, making its Micro Four Thirds sensor behave more like a Super 35mm sensor. It does this by condensing light onto a smaller area and widening the image circle. For me the sweet spot is indeed a super 35 sensor. I prefer to leave the full frame look for photography.
I also have some other lenses in addition to the Canon 24-105mm but I use them very rarely nowadays. If I have the camera on a gimbal I use it with a Canon 16-40mm f4. I sometimes use a Canon 35mm f2 for when I want to go ultra light weight and need low light capabilities. When filming our feature film Samurai Rauni Reposaarelainen I used a few Canon FD and Samyang Cine lenses. I find their quality matches the Canon 24-105mm pretty closely and with the Speedbooster I also get the same f stops. Perhaps one downside is that the zoom lenses have more barrel distortion compared to the primes.
Power Distribution
The Blackmagic cameras are infamous for their poor battery life. I’ve been using the Hawkwoods Gripper 100 watt batteries for many years now and have no complaints. They are small for the power they pack and provide counterweight when I have the rig on my shoulder. They have a clamp-on design and attach directly to 15mm rods sitting flush along them. They have two d-tap outputs that are also used for charging them. The charger is small as well compared to v-mount batteries and their chargers.
Two of the Gripper 100 watt batteries last me a full day on a shoot whether it’s documentary or narrative work. I think one battery lasts about 4-5 hours easily. When I run out of the other battery I pop it on the charger and the second will charge over night.
Sometimes if I know that I only have to do a very limited amount of filming I just take a few internal batteries instead. But as they only last for 15-20 minutes at most it is a rare occasion. I always keep battery in the camera though so I can swap the Gripper batteries without powering down.
So is this Really the Ultimate Camera Rig?
This setup is indeed the closest I’ve come to building the ultimate camera rig. I’m exited enough about it to recommend all the rig parts. The whole system balances well on the shoulder, it is modular and packs down for lightweight travel, provides great image quality, enough audio channels in 32-bit and power that lasts all day.
I’ve shot over 150 days of documentary, narrative, commercial and music video work with the Blackmagic Pocket 4K and I’ve always been extremely happy with the footage. With this rig and accessories I’m less inclined to look at other cameras. I’m keeping my options open of course and if a future camera offers a built-in electronic ND filter, four channels of audio, and even better ergonomics at an affordable price. But until then, it’s happy shooting!