The Best Sony A7s Cage of them All? – 6 Cages Reviewed

August 10^th, 201535

The Best Sony A7s Cage of them All? - 6 Cages Reviewed

by Sebastian WöberAugust 10^th, 2015

IndiPRO Tools Thor a7S Cage

IndiPRO Tools has been around for a while. They make some handy powering accessories for different cameras. Their Thor a7S Cage is rather new and also quite unique in terms of its design in comparison to other cages.

HDMI cable protector quality

The HDMI cable protector on the Thor cage is simple and functional. It is designed so it protects the door and after setting up the right position and locking the two large screws it allows for a quick locking of the HDMI cable.

Access to other outputs on the side

All other ports on the side of the camera are easily accessible.

best-sony-a7s-cage

Ease of assembly and disassembly

Assembly and disassembly is easy. With the help of a single screw driver or coin the cage is mounted in 5-10 seconds.

How securely is the camera attached to the cage?

The camera sits tightly in the Thor a7S Cage. The two fittings on the front help to stabilise and lock it to the cage.

Possible to use the Sony XLR-K2M audio module?

Yes the Sony XLR-K2M can be used via the Sony A7s’ digital hotshoe. The cage is not interfering. However the handle has to be taken off and cannot be used at the same time like on the Skier LiteCage.

Access to the lens release button

The lens port is freely accessible.

 Baseplate mount quality

This aspect of the Thor a7S Cage receives a double-green rating from us. It is the only cage that incorporates a baseplate built into the cage. The baseplate fits standard Sachtler and Manfrotto heads and other accessories that go with the standard. This can be really handy and means you never have to mount or look for your tripod baseplate.

Alternatively, if you are working with a different system there are two 1/4″ threads at the bottom.

Rod support quality

The rod support can be bought separately, but is not yet available. It has an easy to use quick release system, but feels a bit bulky and is quite high which can be a problem for tilting shots. The rod height can be adjusted separately. We give it a green light because we like the built in Manfrotto plate so much.

Handle design

The handle mounts securely via a railclamp on a minirail that locks to the top of the cage via two 1/4″ screws. There are several mounting points on the handle itself including 3/8″ threads. We’re missing an additional cold-shoe and also we wish there was a rod mount for our external viewfinder as we could find it on the Movcam Cage.

Overall Ergonomics

Although this cage looks more bulky than others it is a half cage, which means it is open to the right side. This gives you the advantage of easy access to stuff on the right hand side, but also means we’re lacking mounting points on the right and additional protection.

The CinEasy Touch mod (helps trigger the rec button) can be installed easily which is convenient and overall we only need 1 type of allen key to use the cage. Also there is a large surface on the top with plenty of mounting points for accessories.

On the downside we must admit the looks of this cage are “less sexy”, it feels a tad bulky and the fact that there is no additional cold shoe at all lets us rate its overall ergonomics orange.

Conclusion

The Thor a7S Cage wins second place in our A7s cage review. It received 9 green lights for its overall ease of use and because it ticks most boxes on our list. We only gave it 2 orange lights because there is no viewfinder mount and there is no additional coldshoe.

The cage is a simple and straight forward solution. It is effective and fast to use. Also it is the most affordable cage out of all tested cages.

Price: $230

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