Developed with Letus, Systems Make Still Cameras Feel More Like Film

Remember the Manfrotto Fig Rig, based on a design by director Mike Figgis that made the small DV cameras favored by Figgis handle more like larger gear? Now there's the Shane Hurlbut Master Cinema Series, a modular, anodized-aluminum rig designed to make the DSLR cameras Hurlbut and his team are using feel closer to a full-on 35mm Panavision rig – without the full weight, of course.
Hurlbut, an ASC member whose credits include Terminator Salvation, We Are Marshall, and Into the Blue, worked with Letus Corporation owner Hien Tu Le to design the series, which comprises 16 individual components that allow a complete system ($6500) to be transformed quickly between configurations. It’s also designed to work with future DSLR camera models.

“No matter what Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc., develop in the future, this gear set will conform to fit. It is future-proofed,” Hurlbut wrote at his blog.

Letus Direct offers the system in four different bundles. The Action Cam (starting at $1450) is a stripped-down, bare-bones rig that keeps the camera footprint small. Batteries, remotes, and other accessory gear are carried by the operator in a customized backpack. The next step up is the two-fisted Man Cam (from $2250), which Hurlbut developed while shooting Act of Valor, about Navy SEALS. It holds a preview monitor, but most accessories are again relegated to a backpack that bears most of the system’s weight. The Shoulder Cam ($3270) mimics an ARRI 235, and the Studio Cam ($4100) is designed to maximize usability on a tripod head.

For more information: www.mastercinemaseries.com; letusdirect.com; shanehurlbut.com.