SHAPE Canon EOS C70 Cage and Accessories Released

Camera Cage

by Jeff LochMarch 26^th, 2021

SHAPE just released its entire rigging solution for the Canon EOS C70. The core of this system consists of a modular cage with removable bottom/side/top plates. On top, you can attach a top handle with a monitor mount, an HDMI port protector, a 15mm lightweight baseplate, and an upcoming V-Mount/Gold mount pivoting battery plate. Let’s take a closer look at it!

The Canon EOS C70 was announced back in September 2020. This small camera doesn’t need tons of accessories to work out of the box. However, as soon as you want to attach an external monitor, EVF, microphone, or a wireless transmitter to the C70, you’ll start running into issues.

After Kondor Blue, Wooden Camera, and Zacuto, Canadian third-party accessories manufacturer SHAPE recently launched their accessories lineup for the small Canon camera.

SHAPE Canon EOS C70 cage

Let’s first by the core of the SHAPE Canon EOS C70 accessories: the cage. This cage consists of three independent pieces: the bottom plate, the side plate, and the top plate. Like all parts, the cage is made of CNC machined aluminum.

The top plate for the Canon EOS C70 contours the top of the camera body and attaches to the camera’s cold-shoe with an extra screw. It gives you multiple 1/4-20″ and 3/8-16″ mounting points with Arri standard anti rotating holes.

The SHAPE Canon EOS C70 top plate also has a threaded hole to relocate the camera’s sensor pin. There’s a Canon Accessory Mount stainless steel shoe in the center of the plate if you wish to attach the native handle that comes with the camera.

There’s an offset cold shoe on the top plate’s right side that you can use to mount accessories, but it also fits the native microphone bracket that comes with the camera.

Next is the side plate attached to the top plate and bottom plate via a couple of screws. This side plate doesn’t obstruct any of the camera’s input/output ports nor buttons. The side plate offers you a few extra 1/4-20″ and 3/8-16″ mounting points with ARRI standard anti rotating holes.

Last but not least is the SHAPE bottom plate that attaches to your Canon EOS C70 via two 1/4-20″ screws. It offers you multiple 1/4-20″ and 3/8-16″ mounting points to attach your favorite quick release plate to it.

The cage comes with a removable HDMI port protector that screws directly to the bottom plate. It’ll be useful to protect the full-size HDMI if you decide to record externally or use a field monitor/viewfinder with your camera.

SHAPE Canon EOS C70 top handle

A kit with the cage and a removable top handle is also available for the Canon EOS C70. The top handle has an interesting triangle base that mounts to the SHAPE Canon EOS C70 top plate with three screws. It’ll provide a very heavy-duty and secure mount between the top plate and handle, but I would have maybe prefered a 3/8-16″ or NATO rail mounting solution.

The top handle features SHAPE’s Push-Button Technology, which allows you to turn the handle 360° quickly and easily with just one push of a button. The bottom of the handle itself is lined with a wooden finger grip made from Canadian maple.

In terms of mounting points, the top handle has multiple 3/8″-16 ARRI-style anti-twist accessory threads. There is a cold-shoe at the top handle’s front which is designed to attach the included spring-loaded cold shoe foot.

This spring-loaded cold shoe foot comes with a monitor mount that can tilt backward/forward. You can attach any 1/4-20″ accessories to it up to 4.4lbs/1.8kg. As an alternative, you can also use a cold-shoe to 15mm rod adapter if you wish to attach an EVF to the top handle as well.

Lightweight baseplate

A 15mm lightweight baseplate is also available that matches the Canon EOS C70 optical center, so your mattebox/follow focus/camera accessories are at the correct height. The 15mm LW baseplate attaches to the SHAPE bottom plate via four screws, and it comes with a pair of 12″ 15mm rods.

The bottom of the 15 mm LW baseplate features multiple 1/4″-20 and 3/8″-16 mounting holes to attach it to a tripod or quick release plate.

V-mount/Gold mount pivoting battery plates

If you want to run your camera and power accessories via an external battery, SHAPE has you covered with V-mount/Gold mount pivoting battery plates.

There is very little information about these at the moment. Still, from what I can tell, the battery plate attaches to the side SHAPE Canon EOS C70 top plate via two screws; it features SHAPE’s Push-Button Technology, so you can quickly tilt it up/down, and it has one D-Tap output port. You’ll need a separate optional D-Tap to barrel power cable to power your camera off the plates.

Price and availability

The SHAPE Canon EOS C70 cage retails for €305, the version with the top handle is €510, the 15mm LW baseplate costs €185, the V-Mount/Gold mount pivoting battery plate retails for €277, and the D-Tap power cable is €27.

All products are available for pre-order now and will start shipping in late April. For more information, please visit SHAPE’s website here.

What do you think about SHAPE’s rigging solution for the Canon EOS C70? What are your favorite accessories for the EOS C70? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!