Universal Dovetail?

[Samuel Angus Campbell]

Hello all,
I have just bought my first rig: a provid II. I am very excited to begin customizing and accessorizing the rig in ways that can enhance my efficiency and capabilities on set. I am looking into buying an extra cheeseplate to mount atop of the dovetail. I am wondering if there are plates to buy that work for a large range of cameras, so that I would not need a new plate for every new job. I'm not a hundred percent sure what the options are out there. I also want a dovetail that easily mounts 15mm or 19mm rods. Any recommendations/advice? Thanks very much.

[Sam Morgan Moore]

I dont know the rig.

 

On smaller rigs many people use the manfrotto 501/577 system - a 577 attached to the top of their rig a 501 to the bottom of the camera or rails rig

 

Richer people using small cameras go with the ArcaSwiss system which is more expensive/elegant.

 

With larger cameras - I cant really comment as I don't do large cameras although I think you should google the phrase arri dovetail..

 

S

[Victor Lazaro]

There is already a dovetail on the Provid 2. Why would you ad another dovetail on top of your dovetail?

You want the minimum of thing between the steadicam and the camera itself.

Most people only use one dovetail with their steadicam but if you want a second one, you can get it here. http://www.tiffen.com/displayproduct.html?tablename=steadicam&itemnum=601-7412

 

also for the 15mm rods, you can attach this to your plate. http://www.tiffen.com/displayproduct.html?tablename=steadicam&itemnum=250-7915

[Mark Schlicher]

What Victor said. But you can also make a 15mm rod holder by drilling and tapping a couple of holes in a Redrock rod clamp so you can screw it to the dovetail. Much cheaper.

[Frederic Sturm]

What Victor and Mark advised.

 

The less stuff you have in between camera and the top-stage, the less vibration you can get.

Also, your cg will remain lower.

 

But, if lets say you only have one camera and need to switch from tripod to steadicam quickly,

there isnt really something like the steadi-on-sticks plate for the small steadicam dovetails.

 

In this case, the Manfrotto is a nice choice for the weight-range your provid can carry,

because it's got two screws (some of the small ones attach by just one), fore-aft adjustment

with a safety-lock-pin, and is cheap enough so you can get several for convenience.

 

BUT - you might want to get the 357, its basically the same as the 577, but has a longer,

wider plate and is more sturdy. And the 357 plate can go in to its base facing either way,
the 577 can't. And please be careful - the two systems, while almost the same, are NOT

compatible, which manfrotto apparently does intentionally...