How To Save Some Money.

Ok so, Zacuto stuff rocks, there is no denying that fact. Unfortunately, in terms of affordability, Zacuto required that you take a second mortgage on your house. Let's say you just bought a brand new external HD LCD monitor (like the Marshall, Panasonic or the Carrion) to help you with composition/framing/focusing ..etc...etc on your camera. The Zacuto Z-American arm is pretty much the only solid option that is available on the market today. Trust me on this one, and just skip the Noga noodle nightmare.

Possibly the strongest and best articulated arm in the industry.

A new Zacuto size Large Z-American Arm V3(version 3 with the chrome balls) will run you dry for $215.00, and then you need an attachment point on both ends of the arm. A Zacuto Zicro Mount II costs $95 each. That will allow you to thread in the Zicro Mount II into the handle of your camcorder and another Zicro Mount II to thread into the bottom of your HD LCD monitor. Total costs is $405.00 and now you have weight that has a high center of gravity that will wreck havoc to your tripod head.

A better method is to have the HD Monitor close to your tripod center of gravity. In order to achieve that, you need the Zacuto Z-mount II at $144.00, now your total becomes $454.00 ($215 (arm) + $95 (Zicro mount II) + $144 (Z-mount) ). Yikessss !!

Ok, now, all you need is 2x Redrock new micro mount at $40 each and you are all set. This setup is not only cheaper but gives you more options than the Zacuto system.
Step 1: Slide a Redrock Micro Mount to one end of the Zacuto Z-American Arm and thread your HD LCD Monitor into the stud. Tighten both levers and you are all set to go.

You have 2 choices for Step 2 with the Redorock Micro Mount.

Option (A) Mount the micro mount into the rod and then slide your Zacuto Z-American arm into the 15mm slot and then tighten the lever.

Now you can slide the Redrock Micro mount into the rear of your baseplate's rod. This setup also helps you counter balance your front heavy 35mm rigs. Use a bigger battery on your HD LCD monitor to get more counter balance weight.


Option (B) Mount the Redrock Micro Mount upside down and then thread the stud into your camcorder's handlebar.

You can get two RedRock Micro Mount for $80.00 or a pack of 3 Redrock Micro Mount for $ 100.00. Add the $215 Zacuto Z-Americam Arm (large) and you have a complete setup for only $280.00. This setup also allows you to have both setup options (Rod mounting or Handlebar thread mounting) unlike the Zacuto's.

The $144 Zacuto Z Mount II which basically has the same functionality as the $40 RedRock Micro Mount.

The $144 orginal Z-Mount which again has the exact same ultility and functionality of the $40 Redrock Micro Mount. Yes, the Zacuto is CNC machined and the levers are red anodized, but I can live with the plain jane Redrock Micro Mount just fine.

Zacuto Universal Baseplate v3

Zacuto, a small company out of IL, rised to fame in middle - late 2007 with their Universal Baseplate + Z-Riser combo, thanks to the introduction of 'flip' 35mm adapters, like the Letus Extreme. Before the flippers, everybody in indie land was living happily with their redrock, cavision, (insert your brand here) baseplate system. Baseplate and rods are cheap and everybody was happy as a clam.

With the Letus Extreme, suddently everybody have ergonomic issue with their camera setup. Cameras were suddently levatating 3-4 inches up in the air, 5-6 inches away from the center of the tripod. Many people do not realized COG (Center of Gravity) concept and how it affects the operations of your tripod. E.g. you can hold more weight if you hug the item closer to your body (your COG) and if you extend you arm away from your body (COG), you can hardly support or hold the same weight load.

Yet, you see people putting their camera all the way off the COG of their Bogen 503 tripod, with long noga arm extending left and right supporting their Marshall LCD and their monitor battery. Then they wonder why their footage is not smooth or why their monitor keeps falling off their noga arm. If you want to learn more about COG and your tripod, check out Vinten's website.

Enter the $560 Zacuto universal baseplate (v3 now). I know, the price, that was the same initial reaction that came out of me. What could the Zacuto do that my $160 Cavision couldnt do, I scoff. Well ... lets see.

Horizontal adjustments of ~ 2 inches. The long silver plate clamps down and hold the red anodized main plate in place. You tighten down the silver plate with two 4mm allen bolts on the bottom of the baseplate.

Vertical adjustments of about 3/4" of an inch. Also note the threaded female rods, allowing extention with male rods. Every single bolt in the whole system is 4mm in size.
Back/Fort adjustments on your tripod plate of ~ 4 half inch so you can balance your front or rear heavy cam.

The underside of the Zacuto universal baseplate v3. Notice the 4 bolts on the outside of the system. Those are the bolts that you use to clamp down the silver plate in order to secure the red anodized main plate.

Now here is the best feature of the Zacuto Universal Baseplate system. Every single bolt and element in this design is MODULAR and removable/replaceable. No wonder Zacuto is providing free lifetime warranty to their products. Everything is very very very VERY well designed and executed, there are no wobble, no misfit parts and everything was made to withstand the rigours of life on the set. For god sake, this thing weights 3 1/2 pounds ++ vs 1 1/2 lb on the other rod support system, you can slam the Zacuto universal baseplate hard to the ground and you are probably just going to scratch it. The only downsize of the product is that the allen bolts are not stainless steel, and one of the bolts on my baseplate developed some corrossion and I had to remove the rust.

My old Nightmare. The $160 Cavision rod system is just a toy compared to the Zacuto. The design is extremely flimsy and do not inspire confident at all. I could never get my cam to be rock steady on the tripod with the Cavision. Some bolts ont he Cavision would not aligned with the slots, as a result every single bolt needed to be checked and tighten and forget about that peace of mind that your $15k + camera system might just come falling off.

Like I used to say, your camera is outdated annually in April (NAB) but there are certain things that are part of your foundation that will follow you and last forever. Your rod support system and tripod are certaintly on that list. Yes, everything Zacuto is expen$ive, but you are actually paying for something that works incredibly well that you can pass on to your grand children.