Edelkrone: Pocket Rig add-on

After testing out the Edelkrone: Pocket Rig i found a few elements that really stands in the way of this version to become a good element for a sturdy run-and-gun setup.

Like i said before, the idea of it all is excellent and would be EXACTLY what many videographer could use, especially if they are in a fast shifting, fast paced shooting environment where you have to react o a lot of less-the-perfect-shooting-situations....like a ordinary news day.

The main problem with all of the implemented ideas with the Pocket Rig is, that there are barely any "locks" for features. Meaning, that everything is dangling around and it might work well, if you have a very lightweight DSLR body and not much additional setup. But in reality, that is not going to happen.
Just the fact that you can have rods, means that there are a lot of extras going on it, then you might have a separate monitor, a microphone setup, a heavy(er) lens some other bells and whistles.

reduced rig with the Edelkrone pocket rig, a Zacuto EVF and a small Manfrotto  baseplate for the tripod. Harder to see is the one hand grip on the left side. Not on is the follow focus and a microphone.

That normally leads to the shoulder stock being not really sturdy enough, moving around. You cant tighten the screws enough to really keep this thing in place when you run, move fast, and then still balance the weight of the setup in your hands. It has to be as sturdy as a shoulder stock on a assault rifle to be really helpful. To get something out of it, i have to be able to really lean into it.

The red area marks the place where it would be good to have a block that locks the shoulder mount to collapse back in again, even if heavy duty is applied. Currently I use a piece of plastic to do that, but it is on a long term not a real solution. Something needs to be integrated into the design.

Also to "mount" shoulder pad on my belt, in general a very brilliant idea to use the lower part of my body as a "do it yourself tripod" but in reality, the weight of the setup lets the shoulder pad collaps fast and the thing slips down my pants...especially when moving. A lock mechanism would have been really nice to "close" the clamp.

When closing the shoulder pad, to use it as a fixed mount on a belt or something, it would be good to have a possibility to "lock" it, so not to open while resting on your trousers. 

The rods, in general well built and useful, have actually a possibility to lock em in, when extended. Main problem is though that the lock is with a spring-ball that makes it easy to lock and unlock it. But with a handles on the rodes and a heavier setup, when balancing the whole thing on one hand, shoulder mount and trying to operate the lens or follow focus with the other hand, the rod's locking mechanism can just open up and the whole thing falls out of your hands pretty fast. It would be great to have here a sturdy, button enabled lock that will keep the rods tightly in place even when i hold the whole rig on only one handle on one rod. Agreed this problem could be solved with a rod mount or similar, but it would be great if that would be all built in, saves you the extra piece of gear that might get lost, stolen or whatever.

The locking mechanism for the rods is ok, when being on a tripod etc. but when a single grip is applied they might be slipping off when the forces are too strong pulling the one rod out.

Add-On:
I heard from someone that the rods are apparently not 15mm but 14.9mm which is quiet some difference if you use equipment that doesn't have adjustable clamps. For my part i didn't had any problems with that so far, but i also think there are 2 pocket rig versions out there...one was the "old" version where the screws also got loose quiet often, while the 2nd version had the screws better implemented. Not sure if this is true, but maybe contact the manufacturer to see whats up with that...