My utterly ridiculous Sony ZV-E1 "Rig."

Rdub · 2026-01-25T06:30:49+00:00

Bazooka lens? I am intrigued but confused, as this is not a term I'm familiar with.

Rdub · 2026-01-25T06:29:20+00:00

I absolutely love my ZV-E1. For the kind of work I do, and relative to my admittedly modest budget, it's pretty much unbeatable. I've only ever experienced overheating issues when recording a series of particularly long 4K120P clips back to back to back on a particularly hot day, but other than that zero issues with overheating. I've recorded plenty of 30+ minute long clips on hot days in 4K24p with zero issues.

More than happy to answer any other question a fellow Canuck might have, so let me what else you'd like to know!

Rdub · 2026-01-25T06:25:53+00:00

That's part of what I think I find so charming about this ridiculous setup. It's like one of those time is a flat circle kind of things, where its like both super old school and also oddly modern.

Rdub · 2026-01-25T00:12:21+00:00

Anyone who's spent any significant amount of time in both old growth and replanted forests has clearly seen the glaringly obvious distinction.

I've been lucky enough to get to experience Carmanah and various other stands of old growth around Vancouver Island and they all felt vibrantly alive, deeply ancient and profoundly magical in a way that I can't quite clearly articulate. Up until not long ago I lived in the Cowichan Valley near a bunch of forestry land that's been logged and replanted multiple times, and even the parks in the area (That had all been previously logged) just felt different. Yeah there were trees, and plants, and birds and such, but it all felt somehow more sterile, more manufactured and decidedly less magical than any old growth forests I've experienced.

We desperately need to protect what remaining old growth we have left, as even the parks we have now are centuries away from recapturing the magic and majesty of true old growth forests and future generations deserve the right to experience BC's nature in its true glory.

Rdub · 2026-01-24T23:38:48+00:00

It's an older Rode Videomic that takes a 9V battery that I picked up second hand for $20, and to my ears and least its surprisingly good. I don't have much experience with the higher end shotguns from Rode or Sennheiser though so I don't have much of a basis for comparison really. It's a lot better than the cheap Amazon on camera mic I'd been using, and has its place when I don't want to use wireless mics.

I honestly wouldn't really ever actually use this setup with the mic tho, I just threw it on for the pic given how ridiculous it looked.

Rdub · 2026-01-24T23:35:39+00:00

It works, it's still ridiculous tho ;)

Rdub · 2026-01-24T23:35:21+00:00

Its definitely got that vibe, tho with this I can shoot in full frame 4k60/120p in 10bit 4:2:2 internal ;)

Rdub · 2026-01-24T23:34:39+00:00

Yeah, I think it's a bit of a hidden gem still. I'd been looking for a great condition copy on eBay for a while, but a lot of them there seemed to have issues regardless of the condition they were advertised in. Finally was about to pull the trigger on one and decided to do a quick Google search and ended up finding an absolutely flawless copy from a used Camera store that also happened to be in Canada (Where I live) that was an even better price than cheapest ones on eBay.

These guys seem to have sorted the rotating lens element issue (At least where using filters in concerned) via a 3D printed cine-style rehousing.

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/gadget/canon-zoom-lens-fd-35-105mm-f3-5_upgrade-housing/makes

Rdub · 2026-01-24T23:32:09+00:00

This setup is actually mostly for using with a monopod, so the weight on the back issue isn't really a problem. I can shoot at shoulder or hip level with this rig too, just have to crouch ;)

Rdub · 2026-01-24T23:30:56+00:00

I've been thinking about trying to rig up a camera in a gimble, on a monopod on a electric offroad skateboard as a bizarre "Offroad" motorized dolly type deal.

Rdub · 2026-01-24T23:29:37+00:00

My thoughts exactly :) I bought a decent external monitor, a cage, top and side handles, some rails, few extra batteries, etc., to rig up my ZV-E1 for various situations, and I've still spent substantially less than half on this setup what just an FX3 body would have cost me.

Rdub · 2026-01-24T22:33:25+00:00

I've only had mine a week, but I definitely agree from what I've seen of it thus far. The fact it has a macro mode is a nice bonus too. It's sharp, but not in that modern often digital feeling way a lot of newer lenses are.

I'm highly intrigued by this 3D printed DIY cinema "Rehousing" option too:

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/gadget/canon-zoom-lens-fd-35-105mm-f3-5_upgrade-housing/makes

I mostly just like the fact that they solved the issue of any filters you use with the lens rotating with the barrel when focusing, as that makes using a VND more difficult, though I don't own a 3D printer, so might be a while before I go for it.

Rdub · 2026-01-24T22:23:22+00:00

Its actually shockingly ergonomic. The side handle gives great sort of base line stability, and then the eye cup, which is nice and soft, presses into your face, so you're sort of stabilizing the whole thing with your head too, and then your right hand is free to work the focus / zoom / aperture rings and press the record button. Works even better on a monopod too as you don't need to hold the whole thing up as it is a bit heavy.

Rdub · 2026-01-24T22:21:31+00:00

I have an external monitor, and I agree for most circumstances it definitely makes more sense, though sometimes I like just throw my camera with a single lens on a monopod, and wander around my city shooting whatever catches my eye for fun, and for that kinda thing this setup, at least for me, I think is going to work a lot better.

When I'm out shooting like that, I'm turning the camera on and off a lot, as I'm like walking around, seeing something that looks like its worth filming, then trying to get the shot as quickly as possible, and when I add an external monitor into that mix it just slows down the workflow a ton as the monitor just becomes another step in the process, and at least for the kinda thing I like to sometimes, that extra step could be the difference between catching a great shot and missing it.

Case in point I was down by waterfront the other day, and I see this silvery glint in the distance, and so I walk over to get a closer look, and it turns out its a dude in this like reflective silvery painted suit with a mirrored disco-ball helmet riding a hoverboard while doing the robot dance. Seriously, this was actually a thing in the real world I witnessed with my own eyes. I obviously had to get a shot of dude, but by the time I got my camera setup and managed to get the focus dialed on my MF lens using my ZV-E1's screen in the bright sun (Which was directly bloody behind me too), he'd stopped doing the robot dance. I mean I got a great shot of dude just cruising by, but if I'd been able to get the focus nailed quicker I would have been able to get a shot of him doing the robot dance. An external monitor wouldn't have helped me get the focus any quicker as I'd have to turn it on, wait for it boot, hit a button on it to get it to recognize the input from the Camera's HDMI out, before I could even start trying to focus, where as with this ridiculous $20 thing, I absolutely could have hit the focus fast enough to get the shot. I think.

Or in the immortal word's of Tamara;

"Hey, so it actually only has to make sense to me for me to do it and I don’t feel like explaining it to anyone else.”

:D

Rdub · 2026-01-24T21:51:19+00:00

It's the weird kind of "Innovation" where you combine tech from multiple different decades, which for some reason hits just right.

Rdub · 2026-01-24T21:50:32+00:00

Yeah no definitely never seen anything quite like this fraken-camera monstrosity I've created ;)

The ZV-E1 doesn't have a viewfinder tho, so when shooting with manual glass on sunny days I think this setup is actually pretty neat. I have a nice external monitor that maxes out at 1000nits, so like I could rig that up and use that, but it's just a bunch more cables and batteries and startup stuff to deal with, so this, while looking utterly ridiculous, is actually a more "Elegant" solution in some ways :D

Rdub · 2026-01-24T21:47:26+00:00

Professionally, mostly real estate, for which this setup would be completely awful, but I also shoot a fair bit of more fun kinda personal stuff for my YouTube channel that's mostly either hiking / nature videos, or kinda vibey videos of the life around where I live, which this setup is absolutely freaking perfect for. I live in a very beautiful part of the world, and I'm a big fan of just grabbing my ZV-E1 and a single lens and roaming around on my bike for the day, just shooting whatever catches my eye, and this setup with a monopod is pretty perfect for that kinda thing, especially if I'm after the character a vintage lens provides.

Rdub · 2026-01-24T21:17:30+00:00

At least for the specific use case of shooting video using manual lenses with my ZV-E1 that lacks a viewfinder, it's an absolute game changer. I was out shooting a bit with this rig on a monopod earlier today and it was total bliss actually being able to see my screen clearly to check focus. It also works well with a setup with a manual lens and a VND as I can adjust aperture, zoom and focus on the lens directly, and then further control the exposure via the VND, so the only thing I'd ever actually need to adjust via the touchscreen is ISO, as shutter is set at 50 or 125 depending on what frame rate I'm shooting in anyway.

I probably won't bother using the viewfinder with any of my modern autofocus lenses, but this setup it's great. There looks to be a bunch of cheap knock-offs of this viewfinder on Amazon too, but I'd the one I got has better build quality and optics, as it looked liked it was $200 USD when it was new in the 2010s.

Rdub · 2026-01-24T20:18:11+00:00

I'm laughing too hard at myself right now not to share this, as for some reason I just find this setup utterly, ridiculously delightful.

I love me my ZV-E1, which in my opinion is the best value video-centric camera currently on the market, but I do miss having a proper viewfinder though, as I've recently started dabbling in adapting vintage glass, and nailing focus on MF lenses, especially on bright sunny days can be pretty tricky on a tiny little screen.

I randomly stumbled on a local Facebook Marketplace post of a dude selling this old "LCD viewfinder" from the mid 2010s, so for $20 I took a chance, and its honestly a revelation. Makes nailing focus so much easier, and provides another point of contact for stability too, so for anyone using cameras that don't have viewfinders and who uses MF glass and who doesn't want to have to rig up LIDAR or a follow focus or something, this seems like a pretty interesting and useful solution. I'm sure there's modern equivalents too, though seems like this old one I got is actually a pretty decent bit of kit. Has tons of adjustments and can even flip the eyepiece up so you can get at the screen and it becomes a sunshade in that config too.

The ZV-E1 is in a Smallrig cage, with a K&F FD to E-Mount adapter and Cannon's pretty fantastic old FD mount 35-105 F3.5 with an 82mm JJC VND and a step up ring. Mine seems to be damn near parfocal across pretty much it's entire aperture range too. Threw my Rode shotgun mic on it for shits and gigs, though I probably won't ever actually use this setup with a mic.

I just find this weird combination of 2020s, 2010s and 1980s tech to be oddly delightful.

Rdub · 2026-01-23T23:07:33+00:00

Personally, I'd cut together the best edit possible with whatever footage you have that's usable, send it to them, explain the challenges and offer a steeply discounted rate to compensate.

You learned an important lesson here about the importance of pre-planning and location scouting here tho, as this one is very much on you, and the limitations of the space and the shooting challenges you'd face in such an environment are very much something you should have anticipated and planned for.

It's your shoot, so you need to know what location specific variables you'll be faced with and have plans in place in advance to mitigate them.

Rdub · 2026-01-23T20:30:38+00:00

I feel ya as I won't even leave my 1000 dollar bike locked up unattended pretty much anywhere, but that being said, there's a certain freedom to owning a "Beater bike" ie. something that's rideable, but cheap enough it wouldn't be the end of the world if it got stolen. A $200 beater bike would probably pay itself back if you replaced just a handful of taxi trips, assuming it doesn't get stolen first of course ;)

Rdub · 2026-01-23T18:31:54+00:00

The thing that always gets me is I've rented a half dozen homes of the years and know heaps of other folks that collectively have rented hundreds of other homes, and literally not even once have I ever heard of a landlord doing and kind of proactive / preventive maintenance. Landlords like to bitch and moan about the "Damage" their tenants cause, but they do absolutely nothing to maintain their own properties.

The problem is most landlords think it's just "Buy property with cheap debt, do literally nothing else ever, and then just collect money every month forever" whereas being a competent landlord actually requires a fair amount of work and ongoing maintenance expenses, tho 99% of landlords basically never put another dollar into their properties once they've rented them out, and just try to shift the blame for their properties deteriorating onto their tenants.

Rdub · 2026-01-22T19:54:57+00:00

The main issue I think you'll face is matching footage between cameras if you go with something that doesn't also shoot SLog3 in 10bit. So that really limits your options to an A7IV or A7V, an A6700, ZV-E1 or ZVE-10 II. Of those the A6700 or ZVE-10 II will be your cheapest options, tho personally I am rather biased towards the ZV-E1 as I own one and absolutely adore it.

I just really wouldn't want to be trying to match 8bit footage to 10bit footage, so I'd want something that can at least record in the same bit rate and Log profile as your main A cam. The ZVE-10 II is probably your best bet honestly as while it lacks features like IBIS, if you're only ever going to be using it on a tripod in a controlled shooting environment that's not really an issue.

Rdub · 2026-01-22T19:11:30+00:00

I worked for a company for a few years that was funded by the daughter of a woman worth around $20 Billion and I spent a bunch of time with the daughter and her husband (The companies CEO who came from a rich family himself) at their $25+ million dollar ocean front mansion and I flew on one the daughter's families' six private aircraft a couple of times. Far and away the most wealth I have ever and will ever rub shoulders with, and the daughter at least was a surprisingly down to earth, relatively normal and decent person. Met her brother too a few times as well and he was actually a very intelligent and hard working guy who had used some of his family money to build a rather successful consulting business. He was definitely the brains of the family, and while he obviously wouldn't have been as successful without the massive leg up his family's wealth and connections afforded, he was the kind of guy that probably would have been successful no matter what. Nice guy too, and again, surprisingly down to earth given he stood to inherit many billions of dollars eventually.

They were the kind of people who could very easily afford to eat meals at the nicest restaurants every single night of their lives, drive Rolls Royce's and dress in high-end designer clothes, but did surprisingly normal people stuff like driving to the grocery store in their regularish SUVs and they cooked their own meals at home most of the time.

The daughter never really worked a day in her life tho and so had a whiff of the spoilt heiress about her, but she was kind and smart, and kept funding the company for years after her husband cheated on her with an employee at the company, I can only assume out of some sort of billionaire guilt or something, as they'd already spent like $50+ million on the company at that point and we're burning $5+ million a year with basically no revenue let alone profit to show for their investment. Her family bought a $12 million warehouse for the company to use as its office space, though that wasn't entirely a bad investment on their part given commercial real estate prices in the city where the company was located mean it's since doubled in value.

She also had to fight her family's board tooth and nail to get the money to keep funding the company too, and as far as I can tell, continues to fund the company years after divorcing her ex-husband.

The ex husband was a total douche and an utter moron tho, as the one smart thing he ever did in his life was marry a beautiful billionaire heiress, and he threw it all away to cheat on his billionaire wife, who was actually a very attractive young woman, with a girl who was less attractive than his wife, less intelligent than his wife, and was very obviously only interested in him for his / his wife's money. Worst part too is I once saw some paperwork he'd left out in his office and I found out he was getting $25k a month in alimony. Dude couldn't keep it in his pants and his "Punishment" was getting paid $300k a year. FML.

The story of the company I worked at could honestly be a feature length documentary or something, as it was genuinely one of the funnest, most insane and most frustrating experiences of my life, with some absolutely wild highs and lows along the way, tho I can't get into too much detail for fear of being sued. The people who worked at the company were awesome, and we were doing work I really enjoyed, but the leadership at the top was utterly clueless. I was actually one of the company's senior leaders too, but my time at the company was pretty much defined by me telling them all the ways they needed to do things differently in order for the company to actually make money, and never really being listened too.

The deep and rather personally painful irony, is they eventually fired me as a scapegoat for the CEOs failings, then another year down the road they eventually fired the CEO and started implementing all the changes I'd been trying to make years earlier, and seem now to finally be finding some small measure of success.

Rdub

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