NEEWER Universal Shoulder Rig Kit, 16"/40cm Extended 15mm Rod Support System Camera Stabilizer for DSLR Camcorder for Filmmaking, Compatible with SmallRig Follow Focus/Lens Support/Matte Box, SR004

I'm a big fan of NEEWER as a brand. I'm a professional photographer and filmmaker and have been impressed by the quality of their products and their outstanding customer service. I have purchased several items from them, including their super sturdy C-Stands. I even purchased the NEEWER casters for them, and they're so smooth. Over the past few weeks, I've been using this NEEWER Camera Rig Kit with my Sony A7iii and it's been a game-changer for my film shoots. The kit's versatility and adaptability have made it easier for me to capture high-quality footage in various settings and conditions. It's very easy to mount the camera and slide it into place. The materials used in this rig are light, but substantial. The kit's shoulder mount and C-shaped bracket have provided me with the stability I need to capture steady, professional-grade footage. The shoulder mount, in particular, has been a lifesaver during long shooting days, reducing fatigue and allowing me to focus on getting the perfect shot. The grips are well padded, flexible, and feel really comfortable while shooting. Additionally, I've been using the NEEWER Mini Follow Focus (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BLNDPJ18) in conjunction with this kit. This compact tool has made manual focus adjustments a breeze, allowing me to achieve fast and accurate zooming. The adjustable A/B hard stops have been particularly useful, enabling me to preset and adjust the appropriate focal lengths according to my shooting needs. The focus wheel, coated with soft, non-slip silicone rubber, has made focus pulling smooth and accurate. Overall, the combination of the NEEWER Universal Shoulder Rig and the NEEWER Mini Follow Focus has significantly improved my filming experience. These tools have not only made my work more comfortable but also enhanced the quality of my footage. I highly recommend them to any filmmaker looking to elevate their craft.

Honestly, I have never used one of these up until I bought this. That being said, I am very happy with the quality and usefulness of this device. Was not hard to mount my camera on it, and it seems to fit nicely with my favorite lenses. I saw that some reviews had issues getting the follow focus to work properly, but I personally haven't had any and it fits onto my lenses just fine. The barn doors are awesome too as I wasn't sure why they were there at first, but I soon found out after using it that they help prevent lense flares which has been really useful for me. The handle that comes off the top is at a good spot and actually let me mount my audio recorder onto it for easy adjustments and carrying of that. Good pad on the shoulder, and pretty solid build overall. I am pleased with it and it didn't cost that much.

I bought this Neewer shoulder rig as well as the Filmcity one to compare them. Me and my crew all prefer the Neewer rig, but there are a few downsides. Overall, I recommend this product, especially for the price. General Construction: 5/5 Grips: 4/5 Shoulder pad: 3/5 Camera mount and plate: 5/5 Focus puller: 4/5 Matte box: 0/5 Price: 5/5 The Neewer rig has a nearly all metal construction, which is wonderful. It's very sturdy and easy to add attachments. The parts that are plastic are the matte box and the focus puller. This is a funny comparison to the Filmcity rig since that one is all plastic construction *except* the focus puller and matte box. The top handle, arm, camera mount, and 15mm rods are excellent. You can also fairly easily take the back half off to make a smaller rig to go handheld or even mount the whole thing on a tripod. I don't think you can find a better deal for the quality elsewhere. The focus puller, shoulder pads, and front grips are middle of the road. They get the job done, but aren't anything special. All of these parts can be easily replaced with nicer, but more expensive components. I definitely prefer the Filmcity focus puller, but that also costs $130 by itself. The shoulder pad and front grips aren't bad, just not great either. The Neewer matte box is a piece of work, bad work. It is completely useless as it doesn't even have a cover to go around the lens. Useless and takes up rail space. The Filmcity matte box is great, but that costs $90 by itself. Not really a fair fight. Even though the Neewer matte box is junk, I think the overall value for the rig is great. I would recommend this for small to medium size camera-lens combos. Just get a better matte box if you need it, and upgrade the focus puller, shoulder pads, and grips as you go along. Here are some of the minor pros and cons: -Many different quick release plates fit on this, including manfrotto tripod plates. -There both 1/4" and 3/8" holes on the bottom to put the entire thing on a (hopefully sturdy) tripod. -For most uses, more weight added onto the back is helpful to balance it out. -The metal pieces can sometimes be difficult to adjust, but I much prefer it over the cheap and weak Filmcity rig. Note: My crew and I are using this rig for a documentary using three BMPCC6K cameras. Though it could support a small RED or any size DSLR/Mirrorless camera.

Originally, I was looking for a simple cage to attach my Zoom recorder and some microphones to simplify my field setup, condense it down to a single tripod. The prices on cages were almost as much as this setup, but the cages did not have the bottom grips, follow focus, matte box, shoulder mount, and a couple other things, so I figured I would try it. Simple, quick setup. The mount for the follow focus is pretty tight. After assembly and tightening other mounts, the follow focus mount is almost impossible to move without tapping it using an implement. It went on easily when everything was still loose, but subtle adjustments in the frame from everything else being tightened seem to have made the follow focus mount too tight to move even when the tightening screw is completely removed. Granted, once you get it located, there's little need to relocate it frequently. The follow focus itself is a nice solution. I use a Nikon D5300 with a DX VR 18-55 lens. The concern I had was that the focus ring on my lens travels in/out with the zoom. The follow focus comes with a gear strap that is plenty wide enough to absorb that travel, meaning that the focus ring moving forward/backward doesn't make the gears slip off the cog. (See last two photos) It takes a little getting used to, but the action is smooth without any slop. Depending how you mount your camera plus the length of the barrel and how stiff your focus ring is, there might be some movement when you turn it. There is a good deal of flex with the Z-bar, causing the frame to tweak fairly easily between the shoulder extension and the front/lower grips. I've ordered a second Z-bar to stiffen it up a bit. If you're like me, you may have thought "I can just machine this myself", but not for the price, especially when you factor time. It is highly configurable and has a number of pre-drilled and threaded holes for 1/4 and 3/8. And there's plenty of room to add more of your own without compromising the structural integrity. If you're on a budget, this is a wonderful solution. Any shortcomings are totally made up for by the price.

When you read my title, you would be puzzled why I gave five stars. Seriously, the installation was too difficult for me and it took a lot of time. Because I don't always work in the studio, I need to carry it with me. God, I can't do it every time to disassemble it and then put it in my bag. So it is not very convenient for a photographer who likes to work independently. These are all my personal problems, because its quality is pretty well and works without any problems. It is an excellent lightweight rig, does increase the stability, but also saves me money! So why not objectively give this product five stars?

I was a bit worried about what I was going to receive. But after it was assembled and I used it for firts time I realized it worth what I paid. Of course, matte box and barn doors are made of PLASTIC. But what the heck if I use a lens with its hood so I don't need it. Follow focus have a mix of plastic and metal and if you are careful it will last till you make good money to replace it for something more expensive. All other pieces are metal made and sturdy built. All metal parts look very well finishes and in no way look low quality. Once it is assembled it doesn't look cheap at all. All the way around, once I mounted my camera, microphone and light, it looked impressive. After I bought mine a co-worker was impressed too and immediately bought his. The only problem that I faced it is after adding all my stuff the gear ended up being a bit heavy. Since I had to record an event for several hours I hooked up my monopod and it was a great solution. I think NEEWER wants to be part of the future productions for the new generations. I didn't have the opportunity to deal with their customer service but if they continue this way a big chunk of the market will turn to use their hardware.

Would be a great product for the money; however, the rails for the shoulder pad and counter balance are completely loose within the z-shaped offset clamp. As others have commented, it is meant to be tightened down, but the rails still move easily. If you put the plastic ends on the front of the rails, it will prevent them from slipping out completely ... but the clamp should perform as it's supposed to. This is either a design flaw or quality control issue. I didn't want to go to the trouble of sending the entire unit back, so I ordered a third-party z-clamp that is supposed to serve the exact same purpose. We'll see if a $14 fix will make things work, as I'm not counting on Neewer to fix things, as their response to similar complaints has been a youtube link to an assembly video. EDIT: Neewer customer support responded to an e-mail inquiry within 24 hours requesting a video of the problem. I've included that here, as well.

We have been running with some of these for smaller kits we travel with and these work really well. Great for DSLR setups or small video solutions. They are versatile and offer a number of ways you can configure things. We ride a lot on t hem too and it works out great. The metal is durable and doesn't seem to give at any point. It's not always easy to slide things around as the fit is pretty tight between the tubes and what slides onto them. However, the positive side to this is nothing is going to go sliding around on you. We wound up not using the focus ring though as it just wasn't as nice as we were used to (although it wasn't terrible). We just get spoiled with some of our gear. Also, the balance always seems a bit front heavy no matter how we configure it, so it is best to keep the load light if you plan on running around with it for long periods of time. If you plan to travel with a larger rig, we wouldn't use this. Keep this for simple shoots and small cameras to mid-size cameras depending on the attachments you need. For everything else, we use a body harness approach. **If you have found our review helpful, please vote it as helpful below so I know. This helps me provide quality feedback in the future.