Kondor Blue Panasonic Lumix S1H Cage Announced

by Jeff LochMay 12^th, 2020

The American company Kondor Blue has just announced the release of a Panasonic Lumix S1H cage and accessories. The cage features a Manfrotto 501 quick-release plate to remove your camera from the cage when you don’t need it. There is a lot of 1/4-20″ and 3/8-16″ mounting points all over the cage, and it comes with a NATO top handle that features a start/stop record button for the S1H. Let’s take a closer look at this fully-featured affordable rigging solution for the Panasonic Lumix S1H!

Image credit: Kondor Blue

Kondor Blue Panasonic Lumix S1H Cage

Kondor Blue is a young American company specialized in third-party accessories and rigging solutions for DSLR/Mirrorless and Cinema cameras. Everything started one year ago with accessories, cables, and cages for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K/6K. As you know, filmmaking equipment can be often overpriced, and they wanted to offer more affordable products with good quality and a lifetime warranty.

During the cinema5D Virtual Show, Lukas Colombo – CEO and founder of Kondor – announced the launch of their new Panasonic S1H cage and accessories.

The Kondor Blue Panasonic Lumix S1H Cage. Image credit: Kondor Blue

To mount your camera to the Kondor Blue cage, first, you need to attach a Manfrotto 501-style quick-release plate at the bottom of your S1H. Then, all you have to do is slide your camera onto the cage and lock it with the wide lever on the side. Once the camera is inside the cage there is a safety pin, so it can’t come off even if the locking lever isn’t engaged.

I like this quick-release design because it allows you to quickly remove the camera from the cage when you don’t need it, for example, when you just want to take stills and travel lightweight. I’d love to see a similar design for Arca-Swiss quick-release users.

Image credit: Kondor Blue

At the bottom of the Kondor Blue Panasonic Lumix S1H cage, there are one 3/8-16″ and two 1/4-20″ mounting points to mount it on a tripod or attach your quick release plate.

Image credit: Kondor Blue

There are 1/4-20″ mounting points all around the cage as well as a cold shoe mount on top of the cage. Also, there are NATO rails on the left and top sides of the cage to attach accessories or the included top handle.

Image credit: Kondor Blue

Top Handle and Rigs

The Kondor Blue Panasonic Lumix S1H cage comes with a NATO top handle. There are a couple of 3/8-16″ mounting points with ARRI locking pins on top of the handle. On both the left and right sides of the handle there are a lot of 1/4-20″ and 3/8-16″ mounting points. Also, there are two cold shoe mounts in front and back of the handle, and one 15mm rod clamp to attach a viewfinder mount.

One of the excellent features of this NATO handle is that there is a built-in record button on top of the handle. You need to plug an included LANC cable from the handle to the camera to trigger it.

Image credit: Kondor Blue

Finally, a Base rig and Studio rig are available if you want to further accessories your Lumix S1H. The Base rig includes the cage with the Top Handle, one universal 15mm Arri/501 baseplate side loading, and two 8 inches long 15mm rods. The Studio rig includes everything from the Base rig plus one set of rosette arms, grips & clamp bundle, and one Cine V Mount Plate to power your camera.

Image credit: Kondor Blue

Pricing and Availability

The Kondor Blue Panasonic Lumix S1H cage and top handle retail for $189.00. The Base rig is $299.00, and the more advanced Studio rig is $799.00.

All products are in the pre-order stage and should be available soon. For more information, please visit Kondor Blue’s website here.