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Say Hello to My Little Friend.
Nov 8th
How do you mount a Zoom h4n, an oncamera LED light and an external monitor to your HDSLR camera?
With the J-Cube of course. I previously wrote about the J-Cube when I first got it but it’s proven itself to be handy over and over again.
In the config I have above, I can just let the 7d hang from the strap and get steady shots from my belly while I compose on the Ikan v5600 monitor. The z96 LED Light is attached to a cheap noga like friction arm
and the Zoom h4n
is attached via a bargain of a hot shoe adapter.
The friction arm works just like a Noga only a heck of a lot cheaper and it allows me to adjust the position of z96 light at any angle. It’s also handy for attaching the Ikan monitor to my XH-A1 as a mini teleprompter screen above the lens. With that set-up I can’t even notice the eyeline is slightly above the lens. I got mine from eBay.
The extra weight of the kit makes it feel alot more solid and that results in more stable, less shaky shots. Just be sure to hang it on your strap or on a monopod unless you have wrists of steel. That’s a bit of an exageration, it doesn’t feel too heavy to hold in the classic SLR style grip but the z96 and v5600 are quite light. The h4n adds a bit of heff though.
The J-Rod Cube Review
Feb 3rd
Last year when I was looking for a wireless mount solution for my pair of Sennheiser G2s I came across and reviewed the J-Rod. Since then, the J-Rod has proven handy on countless occasions. Anything that required a wireless mount plus onboard camera light called for the J-Rod which was pretty much every wedding and corporate gig I’ve done.
Fast forward to now, Jeff has created another mounting solution called the J-Rod Cube. For simplicity sake, I’m just going to call it the J-Cube (why didn’t you call it this?). The J-Cube improves upon the J-Rod in a number of ways. Firstly it doesn’t require a microphone mount to function so it can work on anything with a hotshoe holder.
This is particularly handy for the new breed of DSLR video cameras out there that despite the awesome images they create, record pretty crap onboard sound. The J-Cube allows you to mount a Zoom H4n or similar recording device to your camera plus a couple of wireless mic packs that would turn any DSLR into a production ready tool. I don’t own a Zoom yet but I’ve mounted a couple of G2′s plus an on-camera light to my 7D to show you how much stuff you can add to your camera.
Of course it also comes in handy with normal camera set-ups such as my Canon XH-A1. Now I can mount a light and wireless mic to the J-Cube and also be able to use my camera’s microphone holder to mount my MKH416 shotgun with my ingenious foam mounting solution.
The J-Cube feels pretty sturdy, is well built and feels like it could survive an angry throw down on to a cement pavement (not that I’d try that). At $80, it is still one of the cheaper and higher quality mounting solutions out there. It gets two thumbs up.
I also got a Screen Guard for my 7D from Jeff. It’s one of those plastic screen protectors that attaches by that opposite force of friction, what ever you call it, when two smooth surfaces interact… It doesn’t leave any sticky residue if you ever decide to take it off.
The screen guard looks like it would fit an iPhone which unfortunately I don’t have but it does have a handy grid graphic on it that allows you to overlay it over your camera’s LCD screen and work out where to cut it down to size.
After measuring it out and cutting it out, I got a very snug fit to my 7D’s LCD screen. It recommends you to do it in a dust free room which in my house doesn’t exist. A few specks of dust managed to get under there but after squeezing the air out from around them, it’s hardly noticeable.
At only 2 bucks US, you might as well try it out. It does what is does and if something hits your LCD screen you’d wish you had one too. The grease from my face also seems to come off it easier than the bare LCD screen.
All Products including the original J-Rod are available from the J-Rod Store and B&H.
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