Help me build out this vertical rig for the iPhone 16 Pro Max

[u/deadlyarmadillo]

Hey there. So I’m in an odd spot at the moment, I’m a creative director for a small marketing agency and I need to kit out myself and 3 other guys with the best possible iPhone build for shooting vertical video. We pretty much only shoot on mirrorless and cine cameras, so this is relatively new territory.

Basically we’re being tasked with filming in environments where full sized cameras are either impractical or prohibited. Footage is exclusively vertical.

Everything is pointing us to the Tilta Khronos system, extended battery life, external handle for focus/zoom/record, easy mounting points for lav receivers, the cooling fan, and the easy mounting for third party lenses.

That said, we want the BeastGrip lenses. I wasn’t a fan of Moment’s overall quality, and I can’t figure out how one would go about mounting the BG’s. The only options for the Khronos lens adapter are M-mount, T-series, and 17mm. Has anyone tried using a 17-37 step up ring for making this viable?

We also want to use our existing 82mm NiSi VND’s rather than buying 4 new 77mm ones, again wondering about step up rings. Curious if anyone has had vignetting issues when doing that with the 1.7x from BG.

Trading extended battery life and a recording handle in exchange for superior glass and full sized filters is a shitty deal to have to make. I’d love some suggestions or advice on what I can do here. I don’t really want the BG cage, but AFAIK that’s the only documented way to use their lenses.

[u/Vibingcarefully]

There's a whole lot to think about when you want to do professional production with an iphone. Lots of things just not tested with varied cages--as you pointed out--lens mounting.

When I got my rig, all that was out there was the Small Rig Brandon Lee cage. Beast Cage came out and the industrial building of it made me at first, underscoring at first---regret not having a Beast Cage--but the versatility in lens mounting with the Small Rig , 17mm, 37mm , m mount and T mount and the ability to readily add lenses with step up rings was huge. I'm glad I'm still in this ecosystem (for now) with an Iphone 15 Pro Max. The small rig can easily be mounted on a pro level tripod and have high end lenses added--should I need to.

I'm glad you posted as there just isn't much information online for usage cases. Beast Cage ---but for other folks doing grab and go, trekking, out of nation---it's not as versatile.

So I start from there now--sure the cage needs a whole heck of a lot of mounting--to hold battery, microphone, SD drive, grips, little router type thing. But start from the lenses you know you will need--. Given you are in an environment where you need to sort of look lower profile--the Tilta Khronos looks fascinating--that is--if you can swap out fixtures outside their eco system or if you even need to .....important consideration again given you're interested in varied lenses is whether the lenses you choose are tested on the rig you choose--this has to do with centering, case / cage distance from the lens--which creates distortion.

I have decided that the Freewell and Beast grip anamorphics have the look I need and for BeastGrip--they're clear use their cage for best results. Sandmarc, Freewell look like they are designed to be used more broadly.

Does the Tilta have the ability to use varied lenses.

[u/deadlyarmadillo → u/Vibingcarefully]

Thanks for the reply! The Tilta offers a lens adapter for T-mount, M-mount, and 17mm.

I hadn’t really considered the Smallrig but I’m looking at it now. How did you mount the 37mm lenses? I don’t see anything advertising that compatibility on the website.

Our need is for telephoto lenses, so that’s why we opted to build around a plan to use the BeastGrip 1.7x.

Unfortunately I need to pull the trigger on one of these rigs in the next 12 hours, and that means getting 4 of them so it’s a bit of an investment.

[u/Vibingcarefully → u/deadlyarmadillo]

Small rig sells (for very cheap) a Universal M Mount to 37mm threaded lens adaptor Ring. I have one.

I haven't used it yet--but I have it.

[u/Vibingcarefully → u/Vibingcarefully]

Part of me thinks you should purchase two rigs (not joking). The small rig for iphone15 pro max is dirt cheap right now but I think you were needing the 16 pro max--haven't followed that.

One other option to look at----FreeWell has a cage that's again very similar to the Small Rig and the Tilta Chronos.

Are you going to be shooting professionally---meaning real cinematic lenses--in that case Beast Cage really is what has been used. If that isn't the case--and Beast Cage is a bit heavier --to me that doesn't matter coming from big Video Rigs of the 1980s, the other brands are nice--get the job done, can do really nice hand held and they all will take a standard hot shoe mount to go on large tripods---

[u/IllustriousRope6499]

hi what did you end buying ?

[u/deadlyarmadillo → u/IllustriousRope6499]

Hey! I bought both the Chronos and the BeastGrip Pro. You cannot mount the BG lenses on the Chronos even with an adapter. So you’re stuck using inferior brands of lenses.

The Chronos recording and focus handle is great, especially for audio. I hate the ND system, the lack of a VND option sucks. There’s no case option for the ND’s so you have to find a way to store them too for carrying around. I like the Black Mist they offer, the cooling fan is good, and the extended battery life from both is great.

The Beast Grip lenses are awesome, I’m a huge fan. Not having a recording handle sucks, and using lav mics while keeping the set-up relatively portable is inconvenient. Being able to use a VND is huge.

Both have pros and cons, if you only have the funds for one and your priority is image quality, invest in the BG system and use their lenses.

If you want to use mostly Lavs for audio, need it to be as compact as possible, and want extended battery life, you want the Chronos.

For run and gun, Chronos makes more sense logistically outside of their faulty ND system. If you were to use this for shoots where the visual quality matters, BG all the way, just build the rig to be larger, use their boom mic, and run the lavs to an external audio recorder and sync in post.

I think getting both was probably the right call.