Ever heard of Zacuto? If you chose to buy a DSLR for video, you have definitely heard of them
They are known for excellent quality and excellent customer service. Most (or all) of their gear is pretty expensive at first glance. Well, you get what you pay for.

Zacuto has everything you need for stabilizing your camera, no matter if it’s an iPhone or the RED One. From small screws to big rigs, Zacuto has all the mounting solutions you can dream of.

The first gear I ordered from Zacuto was their baseplate and Z-Riser for my EX1-Letus Extreme 35mm combo. I’ve tried other rigs but this one has been the most stable one. It felt like 1 camera, instead of a camera with a 35mm adapter mounted to it.

Later in 2009 I ordered the Z-Finder for my new 5D and even though it wasn’t what I expected, I didn’t regret ordering it at all.

A few weeks ago I received a review unit of the Zacuto CROSSFIRE rig which consists of following parts:

DSLR Baseplate
Z-Focus
Different small parts like Zwifel, Z-Handle and grip. I also got the Z-Finder 2.5 for review (already had the “old” Z-Finder V2 with 3x magnification).

Z-Finder Pro (2.5x and 3x)
I think everyone has heard of the Z-Finder as it has been the first (and best) solution for stabilizing your camera without building a huge rig around it. For the last 1,5 years, I only used the Z-Finder with nothing else. No Crossfire, no other rig. I loved the small form factor of it.

Everyone recommends it for focusing too but personally I always felt that focusing is much easier when looking directly at the LCD screen. The resolution of the display is just too small. With 3x magnification you are starring at pixels whether you’re in focus or not. And you get distracted by hairs, fingerprints and dust on the screen.

But I still think the Z-Finder is necessary because:
1. It stabilizes your camera

2. especially in bright sunlight, you can judge exposure and colors properly.

Now that I have the Z-Finder 2.5, it’s much easier to judge focus because I don’t see every pixel. The 3x magnification felt like I was sitting in the first row of a movie theater. I found myself looking around for the red recording sign. The 2.5x magnification feels much more comfortable and the anti-fog is a must!  My old Z-Finder fogged up as soon as I put it up to my eye. This one didn’t fog up at all, even when it was hot and I started to sweat.

The new frames fit properly, even though you have to get different ones for different cameras (large DSLR bodys, battery grips etc). The sticky frame would be the all-around solution but mine fell off when I shot in cold conditions. Susan Rapp from Zacuto sent me a bunch of glue-frames for free (more on that later.)

If you are shooting a lot of outdoor stuff and can’t afford a huge rig, I’d recommend to a viewfinder. I’ve used different ones but I liked the Z-Finder the most. It feels unbreakable and if you really manage to break it, Zacuto will replace it.  If you’re interested in otherviewfinders, check out this huge blog post from Nino Leitner: http://ninofilm.net/blog/2010/07/01/dslr_viewfinder_review/

DSLR Baseplate:
Wow, this tiny thing is versatile! You can put a rods on the side, on the front, left or right.  It doesn’t matter if you use it for mounting your monitor or your mattebox: the DSLR Baseplate is simply the BASE of your rig. Even if you mount a Marshall 7” monitor, mattebox, followfocus, etc. on it, it’s still rock solid. I have had issues mounting bigger lenses like the Canon 70-200mm 2.8 on it because it gets very top-heavy.
The DSLR Baseplate has a quick-release mechanism for unmounting the camera or for adjusting it to align the camera on your follow focus or mattebox. If you have a DSLR with a larger body or battery grip, no problem: adjust the height of the plate without any additional rods or risers with 2 screws at the front of the DSLR Baseplate.

(easy way to offset the camera)

Rods, extensions, handles, other parts:

For completing the rig, you need different parts like handles and rod extensions. Those are the parts you mount on the DSLR Baseplate to built up the Crossfire rig. The Crossfire comes with a handle and a shoulder support called a gunstock. There is no shoulder pad. Just loosen the screws, stick the parts onto the DSLR Baseplate, adjust it to your needs and you are almost set. These parts are very solid. Even if a mattebox and a monitor are mounted, the rig won’t move a bit. Extension parts like the rods are pretty expensive. A pair of 7”rods costs about 52 Euros over here. If you want to extend the rig you would have to buy some of those parts. The rods that come with the Crossfire Rig are almost too short to mount a mattebox on.

Z-Focus:
I haven’t been able to compare the Z-Focus with other follow focuses side by side but I tried a few of them earlier (FreshDV and Jared Abrams did a huge review about all the smaller FFs.)

I liked the weight and the size of the Z-Focus very much.

What I didn’t like: if you loosen the screw at the bottom of the Z-Focus for demounting it, the focus barrel falls off. There is no screw for stopping the focus wheel, so you have to be careful when taking it it off.

It’s also quite expensive. The build quality is superb, no question, but you don’t have a lot of features.

I have a few other problems with the Z-Focus too:  It’s not vertically adjustable, has no hard stops (great feature for all the Canon lenses with short focus barrel) and it is impossible to mount it in between the rig’s rods. You have to mount the Z-Focus from the front, so if you a have larger rig with a mattebox, you can’t just mount it or demount it from the side.

Other follow focuses (Denz, Letus, Genus) have more features with similar build quality for less money.

I think, to be competitive, Zacuto has to come up with an update or maybe a price drop. The competition is huge at the moment!

Zip Gears:
You need these gears when you are working with Canon lenses. Otherwise it is impossible to focus with a follow focus.
A pack of 4 Zacuto Zip Gears costs about $265.
You need to cut the gears to fit the lens.

I think there are plenty of other solutions from RedRock or Jag35. If you already own some of those, you could still use them on your lenses.

The Zacuto Crossfire Rig:

Now to the main part – the rig itself! I’m not a huge fan of big rigs. I don’t like the fact that I built a big cage around my small DSLR just to mount literally anything I own on it. I always keep things as simple as possible. That’s why I loved working with the Crossfire rig. It’s light, stable and small. Tighten two screws and you’re set. It takes a little bit of adjusting to get the gunstock on your shoulder and the Z-Finder to your eye, but then you are ready to go. Run and gun… love it!

Other (less expensive) rigs tend to be much heavier or bigger. We tested one from Indiesystems and it felt like a HUGE camera on your shoulder. Plus, it wasn’t very stable compared to RedRock or Zacuto.
For the price, you get a lot of stuff from IndieSystems but in my opinion you’re better off saving some money and getting a proper one. You won’t buy a rig once a year.  You will use your camera rig for a LONG time until you get a new one.

I have been on a huge production for almost 2 weeks now (sports/fashion shoot.) I’ve gone from Italy to Switzerland and back to Germany. During the shoot I ordered additional parts from Zacuto for completing my rig.

I know Zacuto is expensive but like I said before, you get what you pay for!  I like Zacuto rigs for the following reasons:

- lightweight
- excellent build quality
- very stable

- almost unbreakable
- versatile/modular
- excellent customer service

If you start getting Zacuto products, you are set for future cameras. Even if the camera market or form factors of those cameras change, you can always use the same parts from Zacuto. You just add an extension here and there and you will h

ave a completely different rig for a different camera.

Regarding customer service: Zacuto is just excellent. I mentioned it a couple of times on Twitter and Facebook, but I cannot say it enough.  Zacuto takes care of their customers no matter what.  Whether it is a question regarding an order or a problem with one of their products, they’re there to help.

For example, my sticky frame for the 2nd generation Z-Finder fell off in cold conditions. I asked @Zacuto_Sue (Susan Rapp) on Twitter if I should use another glue for it and she sent me some glue frames within 2-3 days (from Chicago to Bavaria) for free. 3 weeks ago, I had problems with my Zamerican arm. One of the screws didn’t tighten properly. Elma from Zacuto sent me a UPS return label and I got a new Z-American arm as fast as they could ship it.

You won’t have a lot of problems if you buy from Zacuto due to their almost unbreakable materials, but if you have one, Zacuto will take care of it very fast.

(all behind the scenes photos taken by Korbi Seifert with Leica M8)