My son was recently filming an interview and soon became aware that the RODE receiver is far from accessory friendly. One of my readers made a very good point about the weight of the camera light, the LED camera light above is an APUTURE AL-MX (with shoe mount) weighing in at 345g with a 55 minute internal L-ion battery. The concern was for the stress put on the GH5 hot shoe, which is why you will need to wait till Part Two to see a good alternative.
I decided to re-engineer the receiver with a cold shoe I bought on Amazon for a fiver.
Unfortunately the M2.5 screws that come with the cold shoe ar too short for this process by luck I had a 180 piece set from Maplin in my drawer. The screws/bolts needed are M2.5 x 12mm cut down to suit).
Firstly you need to remove this circular nut from the audio output connector.
Annoyingly you need a very fine pair of circlip pliers or jewellers very fine chain pliers.
Next, remove the rubber flanges to reveal two torx screws and using a T10 torx driver remove the two screws.
You are now left with this be careful not to pull the wires coming out of the battery compartment.
WARNING…As you gently pull this board out you must be wary of the ribbon cable holding the motherboard onto the LCD.
The LCD board slides upwards and is not locked in position by glue, thankfully.
This is what it all looks like once you have taken it apart.
Position the cold shoe in the centre of the top section of the transmitter.
Drill the holes for the M2.5 screws
You are now left with two screws that are too long so you have to grind them down to size
This is to avoid the screws impinging onto the metal screening on the motherboard.
The cost of the upgrade is £5.90 for the cold shoe plus the two M2.5 screws and nuts which I had in stock, thanks to a wee kit I bought in Maplin. Its not easy so and remember it will null and void your guarantee from RODE. Quite a few times I use two RODE transmitters side by side so this upgrade will certainly help that problem of where to put the second transmitter.
Two things for RODE to take from this for version 2 of this product…
- Next time make sure you add the cold shoe to the receiver.
- Please reduce the size of the body pack (transmitter) in version 2.
If you think this is beyond your technical capabilities there is a simpler way to add a cold shoe for holding your radio mic transmitter…In Part Two I look at a far simpler way to accessorise your equipment with a cold shoe .
http://www.hdwarrior.co.uk/2018/09/17/mounting-a-cold-shoe-onto-your-tripod-without-screws/
Thats a nice modification!
Thanks for sharing.
O.K
as far as a cheap modification goes that 100% negates your warranty for the Rode transmitter. That is a crazy idea for a modification.
Think of the stress being put on the GH5s’s cold shoe. Its not designed to take a light with battery, a ball joint and a receiver. Every time you adjust your light and tighten your ball socket you are exerting undue stress and pressure onto the camera cold shoe. Its not designed for that type of usage.
I would suggest that a half or full cage for the camera would be a more professional, secure and safe way of mounting accessories onto your DSLR.
HDW : You make a very good point which is why I give a brilliant alternative on Monday morning.