Tilta Lightweight Shoulder Rig Announced – Compact and Affordable

Camera Accessories

by Jeff LochAugust 1^st, 2022

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Tilta recently announced a new versatile, affordable, compact rigging option: the Tilta Lightweight Shoulder Rig. The core of this shoulder rig system consists of a shoulder pad with a built-in Manfrotto sliding plate, a rear shoulder pad, and two extendable handles. Then, an Arca-Swiss/Manfrotto dual baseplate allows you to mount and slide your camera on the Tilta Lightweight Shoulder Rig to find the perfect balance point. Let’s take a closer look at it!

Chinese accessory manufacturer Tilta is well-known for creating innovative and affordable camera rigging solutions, such as their recent Canon EOS R5 C cage and Kinefinity MAVO Edge 6K/8K rigging options. The company also makes camera-stabilization tools like the Hydra-Arm Mini compact camera crane or the Hydra Alien car mounting system, we reviewed here.

However, an efficient shoulder rig system was missing in Tilta’s lineup; this is now a thing of the past with the introduction of the Tilta Lightweight Shoulder Rig.

Tilta Lightweight Shoulder Rig features

Like most Tilta products, this Lightweight Shoulder Rig is nearly entirely made of aluminum alloy and stainless steel, with no plastic parts for maximum durability and reliability. At 7.7lbs/3.5kg, this is a relatively compact and lightweight shoulder rig option.

As I mentioned previously, the Tilta Lightweight Shoulder consists of several parts:

• A baseplate with a shoulder pad that looks quite comfortable. The shoulder pad fits left/right shoulders and is attached to the baseplate via velcro.

• At the back of the baseplate, there are two 15mm rod mount attachments to connect a battery plate or counterweights. Below the 15mm rods, you’ll find a NATO rail to attach the included back shoulder pad.

• On top of that main baseplate, the Tilta Lightweight Shoulder Rig comes with a long Manfrotto 501-style mounting plate with multiple mounting threads. Also, there is a handle mounting hole at the front of the plate.

• On top of that mounting plate, you can use your favorite quick-release plate or mount your camera directly to it. Furthermore, Tilta includes a Dual Quick release plate – attached to the Manfrotto sliding mounting plate via two 1/4″-20 screws – which is Manfrotto-501 and Arca-Swiss compatible.

• Last but not least, the Tilta Lightweight Shoulder Rig includes two handle extension arms and two leather handles with ARRI rosettes. The extension arms feature a 1/4″-20 thread on the arm itself, allowing you to mount an external monitor via an articulating arm.

All in all, it looks like a well-thought-out shoulder rig from Tilta! However, I can’t see any mounting points at the bottom of the baseplate, so you can’t put your entire rig onto a tripod. It means that you’ll have to release your camera from the shoulder rig to make the switch.

Price and availability

The Tilta Lightweight Shoulder Rig is available for pre-order now and should start shipping in about two weeks for $339.

As a direct comparison, the Zacuto ACT Recoil baseplate retails for $470 with no handles, and the Wooden Camera Base Shoulder Rig V3 is $499.

For more information, please visit Tilta’s website here.

What do you think about this Lightweight Shoulder Rig? What is your go-to shoulder rig, and do you often use it? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments down below!