One of the reasons I love my Sony FS7 Mark II is the fact that, other than a media card, it shipped with everything in the box I needed in a camera kit. I love that the supplied LCD came with both a collapsible shade and a loupe which effectively turns it into an EVF, and a LANC smart handgrip with extending arm, and a few other things. But, there’s always room for improvement.
What I don’t love so much about the handgrip is that it’s not intended to be removed from the arm. Attached to the body via the arm’s Arri rosette, I can only position the handgrip so close or so far away from the body, and even at it’s closest, I still wind up jabbing the handgrip into a mattebox. I also can not angle the arm positive when extended forward which means the handgrip will always be in the negative and cause the entire rig to roll to port when sitting it on a flat surface. It can never rest flush with a flat surface with the handgrip/arm assembly attached.
The handgrip is intended to be positioned about chest-level in shoulder-mount mode, but I find that method of operating uncomfortable and unresponsive. I am not a human tripod…even though sometimes I have to be. Because the handgrip is affixed to the arm, my options are limited. I don’t like that. I need to be able to position the handgrip wherever I want.
After a bit of research I discovered that I wasn’t the only FS7 owner/operator who felt the same way. We love the handgrip, but hate being stuck with the arm. Thankfully, there are a few solutions. The one I settled on is from Chinese third-party manufacturer of camera accessories, SmallRig. Their “Handgrip Rosette Adapter for Sony PXW-FS7/FS7II 1887” kit converts the base of the connection between the handgrip and the arm into an Arri rosette so you can mount it anywhere, including directly to the body of the FS7.
SmallRig Handgrip Rosette Adapter for Sony PXW-FS7/FS7II 1887 
It comes with 4 tiny, two bigger screws, one tightening thumb screw, and hex keys.
Assembly is straight forward. First, I needed to remove the handgrip from the arm by gently removing the four hex screws from the assembly. They’re glued in so you have to make sure you don’t break the head off or strip them. Thankfully, the process went without issue.
The handgrip removed from the arm. 
The four Sony hex screws and one of the SmallRig replacements.
Next, I needed to align the first part of the adapter assembly to the two locking pins and attach it with either the four replacement screws or the OEM ones. I decided to use SmallRig’s.
After the first part of the assembly was affixed, I then needed to attach the final part containing the thumb screw via the two larger hex screws.
The completed assembly. Piece of cake.
Now I needed something to attach the handgrip to. I had considered this when ordering the parts and thought the SmallRig 15mm Dual Rod Clamp with Rosette would work well.
SmallRig 15mm Dual Rod Clamp with Rosette (M6, 31.8mm) for Camera Shoulder Support 1898 
The FS7M2 handgrip with SmallRig’s Rosette Adapter attached to their Dual Rod Clamp.
Wanting to continue to keep the spirit of a low camera profile, I wanted the ability to operate the FS7 either with it’s built-in shoulder pad, or on a VCT-14 shoulder pad, but without having to disassemble anything. With this in mind, I also purchased a SmallRig Camera Base Plate with Rod Rail Clamp for Sony FS7, and Manfrotto 501-style dovetail.
SmallRig Camera Base Plate with Rod Rail Clamp for Sony FS7, Sony A7 Series, for Canon C100/C300/C500, for Panasonic GH5 1674 
SmallRig Quick Dovetail Base for Manfrotto Standard for for Manfrotto 577, 501, 504, 701,etc. 1280
I attached the base plate to the bottom of the FS7.
Then attached the dovetail using the provided 1/4″-20 screw, and an additional one I had laying around. I made sure to keep the aft parts flush with each other so they don’t potentially dig into my shoulder if positioned underneath the shoulder pad.
I was pretty happy with both assemblies and decided to keep building out my rig to see how it all fit together.
The new bits on my FS7, and all of that on a SmallRig VCT-14 shoulder mount baseplate. Those are 9″ aluminum 15mm LWS rods and way too long for most of my lenses, so I ordered a pair of 6″ aluminum ones painted black, also from SmallRig
It’s a very tight setup. I really like being able to position the handgrip wherever I want, and in tandem with a left-hand grip for extra support. I found this method much easier to support various front-heavy lens weights as I can extend the handgrip wherever I need it to accommodate whatever the situation. The best part is the handgrip can be positioned right at the mattebox which is where I like to put my hands to be able to kinetically operate the camera as organically as possible while shoulder-mounted.
Sure, I could have just used any handgrip, but the ability to have the Sony smart handgrip is huge for being able to have LANC control over the camera and certain lenses. Why buy an expensive new LANC handgrip controller when I can just slightly mod the one that came with the camera and save a lot of money? In the end, the entire endeavor cost about $155, shipped (free shipping with Amazon Prime). I order everything on Tuesday, and it all arrived today except for the 6″ rods which arrive Monday. I can’t wait to try out the new equipment on my next shoot.
What do you think of my modding exercise? Have you tried modding your FS7 handgrip? What are your experiences with modding your FS7? I want to know in the comments below!
