C300 Mark II Gets The Recoil Treatment From Zacuto

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by Tim FokAugust 18^th, 2015

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Zacuto has added the C300 Mark II to its list of Recoil compatible cameras, most notably is the bespoke Top Helmet Kit that in time will no doubt become a must buy component for C300 Mark II owners.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the Zacutos Recoil philosophy by now; a system made up of mostly universal parts providing a perfectly balanced rig for your shoulder.

It’s achieved by having a wide adjusting fore and aft motion on the top and bottom of the camera setup to ensure you can distribute the weight of the camera correctly on your shoulder.

This differs from most shoulder rigs in the fact that the camera sits a lot further back on your frame, requiring no counter weight but at the same time requiring additional components for camera control (cameras often sit far enough back that as a single user it can be difficult to operate the native buttons).

For the Canon EOS Cinema systems this is simply a case of relocating the native handgrip further forward, and along with the usual VCT Universal Baseplate and rod extender this is easily achieved on the C300 Mark II.

The main talking point for this package is the Top Helmet and Quick Release Handle. Canon boasts a big improvement on the C300 Mark II top handle. Users of the original C300 and C100 will confirm this was/is a big weak spot of the cameras.

The new camera actually has a helmet and the top handle has two solid points of contact to ensure much sturdier mount than previous. The drawback, it’s no longer quick release! It now requires an allen key with bolts in a difficult spot to remove the handle.

Here’s where I can see alternatives like the Zacuto C300 Mark II Helmet Kit fitting into every C300 Mark II users camera bag. No one is going to faff around attaching/removing that handle every time they want to shoot.

The Helmet is really the only bespoke part to the C300 Mark II Recoil. All other parts rely on the universal nature of the system (VCT Universal Baseplate, Canon Grip Relocator, Axis Mini, Top Handle). Zacutos offering goes a step further than the native helmet, mounting via 4 points of contact to ensure solidity.

If you want to see the C300 Mark II Recoil in action, check out the below video where Jon Sagud from Canon catches up with Steve and Jens from Zacuto.