Is there such thing as low profile camera cage?

I’ve been trying to find one.  I have a small rig cage, however it’s big and bulky, I want something light weight and thin, but still provide protection and offer cold shoes.  

Can you help me out please?  

Thank you

For what camera?
With what options added? 

The question cannot be answered effectively without more information. Give us some help here and you might get a good answer.

Charley

Hoss wrote:
"I’ve been trying to find one.  I have a small rig cage, however it’s big and bulky, I want something light weight and thin, but still provide protection and offer cold shoes.  

Can you help me out please?  

Thank you."

Never heard of a camera cage. And it makes no sense to have a "small rig cage" that is "big and bulky." Please explain.

Attached is a photo of a Canon 77D camera in a SmallRig Camera Cage, with a 7" HD monitor, microphone, back-up audio recorder, etc. assembled how I use it when doing video work with it. SmallRig makes many camera cages and most are specially made to fit specific camera brands and models. The cage offers some protection to the camera, but mostly provides attachment points for everything else that needs to be used with the camera, especially when using it for video work. With the cage's many 1/4-20 and 3/8-16 threaded holes in the frame, many things can be attached. It can all be re-configured, as needed, to suit different needs. 

In order to help you, I will need answers to the questions in my first reply.  

Charley

Rube Goldberg would be jealous!

That's a nice set up!  

"That's a nice set up! "

Actually, I'm wishing that I had bought a full pro video camera, and when all is said and done I could have bought a pretty good pro level one with what I have invested in this. This setup works fine for studio use, but it is a bit heavy to use hand-held, and the 1/2 hour time limit for a single video file has given me trouble a couple of times when I wasn't right at the camera to restart it, which would create a new file for up to another 1/2 hour, or the remaining size of the memory card, whichever comes first.  The reason for this limit is in the design of still cameras that can do videos. It seems that they are all built this way. With a good video editor, it's easy to attach multiple scenes/files together, but if the camera is unmanned and the 1/2 hour limit is reached, the camera ends the shoot.

When I shoot hand-held, I use the camera strap around my neck and the two side handles to hold and steady the camera. Since the photo was taken, I have also added a  chest pad below and to the rear of the camera body, that sits against my sternum when I'm shooting. This has improved my ability to steady the camera for longer periods and was definitely worth doing.

A true video camera does not have the time limitation for file lengths, and will continue to shoot until your memory card is full. One file, the size of the memory card, or as many scenes as you wish, each with a separate file name, until the memory card is full. 

In either case, going into serious Pro level videography is not for the faint of wallet. There's about $1,400 sitting on the tripod in that photo. Good audio actually becomes more important than video, so having back-up audio becomes important. If you can't see the video briefly, but the audio lets you hear what is happen, the viewer can still make use of the video. Loose the audio and the viewer can't make sense of what they are watching. So good microphones and audio mixer becomes important, if you need to use more than one source of audio.

Most good video post processing software will make it easy to synchronize the separately created audio in post, so a separate audio recorder, to help when a scene is missing it's audio or it is not acceptable for some reason, is well worth considering. Having a good set of earphones connected so that you can monitor the audio as it goes into the camera for recording can help minimize recorded audio problems, but back-up sources can be a life saver, even if the quality isn't quite as good as desired. The clapper/scene board used in movie making becomes important for 2 reasons: 1. To keep track of many short video scenes by adding a video image of the board and it's text markings at the beginning of each scene as it's shot. 2. The clapper top that makes a perfect sound in the beginning of each scene to allow synchronizing audio with the video when it is recorded separate from the video. These clapper/scene boards are available through Amazon, if you should wish to have one. The one that I have came with dry erase pens and an eraser. 

So, when funds allow, I'll likely be buying a Pro level video camera, hopefully in the near future. This is working for me, but with the limitations described above. 

Charley