The Concept

The average home-prepared meal in Canada costs around five dollars. Multiply that by three, and you have the price of eating for a day. But what does that have to do with building cameras?

Many camera build guides on YouTube cover the parts and prices of the equipment, often adding up to astronomical sums. The cost becomes abstract when pricing out equipment that will allow you to do what you love.

Rather than expressing the cost of my camera package in dollars, I will convert it to the number of meals I could have prepared.

This is all leading up to a joke at the end where I tell you how long I could've eaten If I didn't buy my camera pack. Let's say it's a significant amount of time.

But as artists, we know what it's like to miss a meal or two. Introducing my Shoulder Mount Sony FX3 Camera Rig.

Why a Shoulder Rig?

Why did I turn my tiny Sony FX3 camera into a shoulder rig? The answer is because of my shooting style. I was a news reporter in my previous life, so I got used to taking a large broadcast camera and swinging it onto my shoulder. 

But when it came time to buy a new camera a few years ago... the FX9 and FX6 were back ordered into oblivion. So I went with the FX3 and transformed it into a dream camera... or a Frankenstein's monster— it's your call.

Baseplate

The baseplate is an essential component of any camera rig, starting with the bottom layer. I opted for the universal 15mm rail support system baseplate from SmallRig, which cost me 24 meals. This baseplate has two versions: one enables mounting the Arca Swiss camera sled from front to back, while the other allows for side-to-side mounting. I'll explain why I chose the latter in just a bit.

I don't love this baseplate. It was great when the camera rig was small, but now it doesn't hold up. The metal has a bit of flex, and the screws constantly back themselves off. Do yourself a favour and get something more robust for a build of this size. One nice feature about it is that you can adjust the camera's height and horizontal position while on the plate— I'll use this later.

To obtain a set of 18-inch long 15mm rods from Shape, we had to sacrifice only 14 meals. Although these rods may seem ordinary, they have a sturdy feel and a unique matte steel finish that prevents reflections from light. They serve as the backbone of our Rig, providing a strong foundation.

Sony FX3 Camera

This camera is a lot of meals.

The Sony FX3 costs a staggering 1000 meals. I gave up almost a year of eating to buy this camera. But in return, I now have access to a camera that can produce top-quality 4k footage with 10-bit internal recording and has features like clear image zoom, dual SD card backup, ProRes RAW external recording, image stabilization, and industry-leading autofocus technology.

What a beautiful design. I love the grey powder-coated finish and the built-in mounting points. It makes the camera work great with, say... 

Camera Cage

The Small Rig FX3 Half Cage. A 24-meal investment which protects my camera and adds several key mounting points. Please note that this half cage is Small Rig's original design which I believe has been discontinued in some regions.

I intentionally chose the Small Rig base plate that loads horizontally so that I can easily slide the Rig onto its side. This will be useful when I need to add equipment in front of or behind the camera.

Handle & Microphone

We will ditch the Nato Rail included with the cage in favour of the handle that comes with the FX3. It's a great unit which pipes XLR audio directly into the camera. 

But it doesn't have a microphone, so I went with the tried and true Sennheiser NTG3. It was not necessarily because it was the best job but because I already owned one. This adds 192 meals to the total. But remember the rubber spacers that you'll need to get if you're using a non-sony microphone to fit in the handle—a measly three meals for two.

A small note about these spacers: Sony says you only need one, but I needed two. Your mileage may vary.

You'll also need a small XLR cable for the price of 3 meals.

Camera Lens

Why don't we put a lens on the camera? The Sigma 24 to 70mm f2.8 zoom lens has always been my favourite. It feels solid, has excellent zoom feedback, and competes in quality with Sony's Gmaster lenses while being far less expensive. It's still 254 meals which is a lot of time to go without eating. But at least I can have standard focal lengths covered for my clients.

Follow Focus

But what good is a zoom lens if it doesn't zoom accurately? I bought the small Rig mini follow focus kit for 26 meals. It goes on the camera's right side because that's where I like it and I use it to control the zoom of the camera lens.

The following focus is adequate. It works well enough with two options for manual hard stops. It could feel better in material construction, but it gets the job done.

Handles

Now the handles. The Shape quick-release handles and rod block are some of my favourite pieces of kit. Even for 70 meals, I'm getting a deal. They are insanely well made and come with a long warranty from Shape. 

They use Shape's patented quick-release technology to turn a standard Arri Rosset into a toolless push button adjustment of the handles, which is so helpful when I'm using the camera. The grips are also super comfortable, and the rubber is sticky. They've been on the market for a long time, and I can't recommend them enough.

Mounting Hardware

Now I'm going to add something to the back. A rail block and multifunction cheese plate combo from a small rig. Together these cost 10 meals, but they help to bring some optional mounting points to the Rig.

Battery

Powering this system is the Small Rig 99whhr mini v mount battery. Small Rig has really put a lot of thought into this battery. It's got usc USB-C and A charging options. DC power, Dtap, and a little screen on the back show you your charge and the status of your plugged-in devices. The battery charges over USB-C, meaning no more bulky antiquated v-lock battery chargers—a great piece of gear. I just wish it wasn't 135 meals. 

Battery Plate

Holding the battery to the rails is a v lock mounting plate again from a Small Rig. Some V-lock plates come with additional ports to plug in your devices. This one is a dummy plate, so it only secures the battery to the rail. It's solid and cheap for 10 meals.

Shoulder Pad

Finally, the back of the Rig is held up by a Shape composite mini shoulder pad. Another excellent quality product from Shape to keep the rig solid on my shoulder. The foam is dense yet comfy. The construction is top quality. For 34 meals, my shoulder is thanking me.

Wireless Monitoring System

Do you know who else is thanking me? My clients then get to watch their own view of the camera feed during a production. To accomplish this, I use a tiny cold shoe mount from a small rig costing 3 meals. On which I mount Hollylands Mars 300 pro wireless HDMI system costing 120 meals. This is my first wireless HDMI system, and I've enjoyed it. I made a video recently about my new director's monitor kit. If you have yet to see it, you should check it out. The signal from the Hollyland system is strong, over 300 meters, and the unit is very efficient, lasting several hours on the smallest Sony NPF battery. There is no need for the battery this time; I'll be powering it off the vmount.

Rods

For 12 meals, I got a set of 8-inch steel rods from Small Rig, but I only need one. It goes into the 15mm rod slot on the top of the small rig cage.

Monitor Mount

Here's where things get interesting, as this is the first time anyone use this part from Shape to mount their monitor on a Sony FX3. The Shape Offset swivel monitor rod goes onto the end of the small rig rod, allowing you to put the monitor off the side. For me, this beats putting the monitor on the handle any day. It cost 24 meals.

External Monitor

My monitor of choice is the Atomos Ninja V which costs 112 meals. I love this monitor for its clarity, assist functions, and external recording. They could be more reliable. This one is my third unit. The first two Atomos were replaced under warrant. But they are great when they do work, and Atomos has a three-year extended warranty.

Memory

My recording media is a one tb SSD from Samsung, which costs 24 meals.

Speaking of recording media. Inside the camera, I'm going with this Prograde V90 sd card, allowing me to record at high bit rates internally. This card cost me 44 meals.

Mattebox

Now we move on to the crown jewel of the build—the matte box. I went with Shapes signature matte box with the rod block mounting system. For 149 meals, it's costly. But the build quality is absolutely superb. It comes with two filter trays, including one that rotates for polarizing filters. A removable flag and a height-adjustable rod block which, when paired with the height adjustability of my base plate, yes, I told you we'd be coming back to that; help the camera line up perfectly regardless of lens or accessory choices.

Sometimes I choose to remove the inner mount in favour of a quick zoom, and the rail option helps me keep the entire system secure.

Final Calculations

And here we have it my Sony FX3 should rig camera build. Let's tag on an extra 20 meals for all the cables it takes to connect everything, and the build is complete.

Building something with this many parts, I'm almost missing something. But I'm confident that I got most of the essential parts here.

And finally, the total you guys have all been waiting for this camera rig cost me. 

Let's do some math here.

Carry the 2.

2307 meals. 

That translates to 769 days of eating—or 2.1 years' worth of groceries.

I'm kinda hungry, honestly, after hearing that number.

But what did you think of the build? Links to every part will be down below. You'll also be able to read about it on my website videos by josh.com 

Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the following video.

Josh Diaz is a filmmaker and video editor based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.