Flashpoint cage (3 of 8)

The Flashpoint DSLR Camera cage showed up while I was out of town over the weekend. A few of you were asking if the cage had enough room for a battery grip, the answer is yes. In fact you can loosen the two thumb screws on either side of the unit to adjust the height up enough to accommodate even the 5d mark III with battery grip.

Flashpoint cage (5 of 8)

The problem is that the height adjustment makes the Flashpoint DSLR cage feel kind of flimsy. No matter how much you tighten the thumb screws, the top still seems to flop back and forth about a half inch or so. There’s an easy fix for this that I’ll get to in a bit.

Flashpoint cage (1 of 8)

The quick release plate is held in place with what looks like Epoxy. It seems solid right now, but if you plan to use this long term, you might want to come up with a better way to attach the quick release. Something with threads would probably be a better choice.

Flashpoint cage (6 of 8)

One of the handles came loose the first time I gave it a try. It appears to be a thin aluminum tube held in place by super glue. The other handle seems to have been bonded a little better but if it also relies on super glue, I would think twice before using these handles for much of anything.

Flashpoint cage (8 of 8)

While there isn’t much you can do about the handles, you can make the Flashpoint DSLR cage more stable. Simply remove the adjustment bracket completely and use the leftover allen screws to put the unit back together. This seems to dramatically improves the stability of the top and side brackets.

Flashpoint cage (7 of 8)

This fix makes the Flashpoint DSLR cage more stable but only leaves you with enough room for a Canon t2i with battery grip. There wont be enough room for any larger cameras with the battery grip attached.

The cold shoe adapters built into either side of the units seem to work fine and the Flashpoint DSLR cage does still offer up a lot of mounting options for the price. However there is a reason why it’s one of the cheapest camera cages on the market. At $69 you’re still going to have to do some after market repairs to make this thing what I would consider “safe” for camera gear. This is the first time I’ve seen Epoxy used as an attachment method on a camera rig and it’s not something I would rely on to keep my camera safe.

If you plan to use the Flashpoint DSLR cage to mount a lot of gear on a tripod, address the issues I’ve mentioned and you should be fine. If you are looking for a hand held rig, it would probably be best to look else where.

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