BLOG DISCLAIMER: Zacuto are one of my main site sponsors, so any purchases made through their affiliate links helps the site keep going. Their gear is awesome as you are probably aware, and it’s what I use with my DSLRs. The Z-Finder Pro for example is the number one DSLR accessory, and I use their hand held rigs and follow focus for all my pro jobs.
So this post is simply to let you know of some great offers they are doing this month, I am a bit late in promoting this but better late than never!!
SO here are the September specials.
Buy a DSLR Striker and get a free Z-Finder Pro
Buy a Zacuto Stinger or EVF Filmmaker Kit & Receive 50% Off an EVF Flip or EVF Pro
18 comments
Of course I just bought the Z-Finder Pro a week ago… What next, they’ll announce the 7D mkII? Ahh, the life of a gadget junkie 😀
delivere brazil?
Hey Philip Bloom I was wondering if you would be interested in visiting my vimeo account and checking out my video “Westerfield Farms In The Winter.” Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Thanks!!!
It would have been better had they had two offers on the Striker – one for those that don’t have a Z-Finder Pro and the other for those, like me and I dare say countless others, that already have one!
I think we may very well see many deals like this coming in the near future. The new crop of full featured cmos/mos chip video cameras by Sony and Panasonic are going to take a bite out of the DSLR market in my humble opinion.
Third party vendors like Zacuto do provide a nice product,yet very over priced. As I have purchased many bits and pieces from various manufactures, The build quality of these rigs is very equal across the board, Yet the pricing is all over the place.
Case in point, I came across a manufacturer that appears to have copied the Zacuto shooter/striker. The build quality is very similar and the pricing is FAR below what Zacuto is currently charging for a comparable rig.
Going to be an interesting spring/summer for we the end user of these rigs this year.
damn, it lookes great and probably it’s really comfotable one, got to save money for this one :dd
So they are no longer having the promo I take it?
no sorry
I bought a viewfinder with my 5d (which ive used only a handful of times since buying a lcd monitor.)
I have never bought anything else from them as their prices are just way to high for what Id be willing to pay. especially since some of their items ( shoulder rigs 4 thousand dollars!!) are more expensive than my camera. just so overpriced, regardless of being hand assembled or not.
Neil, let me tell you a story and also correct you a little…
There was a freelance cameraman who needed a rig for his Ex1 and 35mm adaptor. He looked at Zacuto products and refused to buy them as they were far too much money. So he bought a rig for a few hundred dollars that broke not long after, it was also not great anyway. Then he bought another one, then another. All in all over a year period he bought 5 “budget” rigs and they all sucked. None of them had build quality to last or did what they were supposed to do. That cameraman then realised he had actually spend way more than a Zacuto rig on this junk. So he bit the bullet bough the rig and 4 years later that same rig, modified for an F3 with a few bits works as well today as it did back then.
Of course that person is me. You get what you pay for.
With regards to the 4k rigs. They include their Follow Focuses. Not essential for some. That in itself is an expensive product. I have had the same one for those 4 years and it still has ZERO play.
That is why I developed a relationship with them as there stuff simply blew me away. That and their lifetime warranty including accidental damage. How many other companies do you know who do that?
It’s actually this exact type of long-term experience, and the certainty in Philip’s tone of voice, that should enter into any buying decision where the price is going to sting… but WILL pay itself off in the long run.
That said I still can’t afford any of this stuff. 😉
Except my z-finder.
Hang on Neil I think you’re missing the point.
Are Zacuto products expensive? Yes but are they “overpriced”? Not remotely. You pay for what you get and with Zacuto you get intelligently designed and near unbreakable kit. Name another company that’s willing to release a video in which they drop their EVF from 12 feet onto a hard wood floor repeatedly? Name another equipment supplier that offers a lifetime guarantee covering everything including accidental damage?
From my personal experience I can tell you I’ve dropped my Z-Finder (which I use all the time despite having an LCD monitor) at least nine times and most of them were outside whilst on a road or pavement. Barely a scratch on it. I hear the same story from many others.
The equipment that goes with a DSLR is always going to be more expensive than the camera simply because the camera is so amazingly cheap in comparison to other purpose built “professional” video cameras. Philip absolutely hit the nail on the head with his story. Zacuto provide professional grade kit that will work exceptionally well and will really stand the dual tests of time and repeated use.
I think Zacuto equipment is very reasonably priced and my advice to anyone that can’t afford it outright, which generally includes myself, is to start saving now.
Hi agree Philip that their build quality is excellent.
But to be fair I really dont know many people that break equipment like that. Most people I know (Including myself) have bought shoulder rigs from an indian made company. Not a stitch on Zacuto, but Ive had my shoulder rig almost a year and I certainly havent gone through 5 of them. In fact its been excellent with no problems and a few people I know have the follow focus from them and there very happy. Most people I know wouldnt pay Zacuto prices and are quite happy with cheaper rigs. And not one of them has broken anything.
But again thats just my opinion, and Ive used Zacuto rigs before and they are pretty awesome to be fair 🙂
Gavin,
I think those comments are very misleading to people looking to buy equipment. I think Zacuto is great for someone like you who seems to have butter fingers from the sounds of it, but dont tell people to buy the most expensive kit on the market.
I think people wanting to buy Zacuto or redrock micro, or the pro-aim stuff,should do research, find whats best for you and your needs, if you can try them out and if you know anyone that has them, give them a go and ask around for opinions, Dont just spend on the most expensive thing there is on the market cause someone tells you if you dont and buy something cheaper it will spontaneously combust in your hand braking your camera!
I personally feel that Zacuto is over priced and have used other brands at a fraction of the price of zacuto that does EXACTLY the same thing.
And Gavin I really dont care about dropping things off roofs for testing, that sounds just ridiculous to me. Im not mocking their quality, their garuntee or whatever I just think people should shop around and really think do they really need to spend that extra 2 grand?
I did and and many more I have worked with have as well. And to be fair we have never or ever heard of anyone breaking them or calling them a waste of money.
Shop around people and if you have a camera worth what a red/f3 or whatever in your house get the really good stuff, if you have a 7d/5d in your house think very long and hard if you need to spend 3 grand for one item of kit for that camera.
Neil…chill.
Personally there is no way I advocate anything a company like pro-aim do. They sell products which are DIRECT copies of other company’s hard work. That is a bad thing.
Also stop quoting the 3/4 grand all the time. The rig I use 95% of the time for my DSLR is the Striker and that is the perfect rig for a DSLR and not 3/4 grand!
Also nobody is saying you HAVE to buy one thing or the other. Just trying to explain my experiences of their products over the years. Take that experience. Ignore it if you want, that is fine but don’t dismiss it. I don’t just use Zacuto products. I use all sorts. But I always go back to them for rigs. They have never let me down and they are worked very hard!
P
I think Gavin was saying just that philip. As he said everyone should buy or start saving for one! exact words ‘ my advice to anyone that can’t afford it outright, which generally includes myself, is to start saving now.’
so I was replying to that.
I just think people should shop around. Thats all.
Your right not all there gear 3/4 grand for sure.
I certainly didn’t mean only buy Zacuto stuff. I have bits and pieces from various different companies and some of the cheaper items work really well and are quite robust. I just don’t imagine I’ll be using them much in 10 or 15 years. Zacuto and other more expensive companies have fully alterable kits you might well still be getting use out of long after you change or upgrade your camera, all be it with the kit set up in a different form.
I only meant that if you think you’ll get the use out of the Zacuto gear then don’t be put off by the price. Yes it is expensive but it’s very difficult to damage, which is an important factor for most people who get a lot of use out of their equipment, and you’ll be able to use it for many years to come. That goes for a number of other companies as well by the way including Red Rock and Cinevate both of whom also have very impressive products.
It’s up to each person to decide what’s right for them and I’m all for shopping around. I just don’t want people to fall into the trap of assuming that the cheaper stuff will do the same thing. You don’t buy a Fiat expecting it to perform like an Audi and other than getting you from A to B the driving experience will be totally different. Ask Steve Weiss and I’m sure he’d tell you that Zacuto exist precisely because know one else produces products that can do what theirs do.