Tilta Camera Rig for Canon EOS R5 C Announced – Protective Cage and External Power

Camera Cage

by Jakub HanJune 21^st, 2022

Tilta just announced its camera rig for the Canon EOS R5 C which promises added protection along with multiple mounting threads, NATO rails, cold shoes, and an ARRI rossette. The company also introduces new V-mount battery plates for the camera with 60W USB-C PD output to power the camera externally and unlock all the recording modes.

Announced in January 2022, the Canon EOS R5 C is the most recent and most compact camera in the EOS cinema line. Building on the EOS R5, the camera fixes the overheating issue by implementing a built-in active cooling, while further expanding its video features by bringing 8K 60fps recording and more. Make sure to check Johnnie’s EOS R5 C review in case you missed it.

If you have been reading CineD for a while already, you should know by now why a camera cage is so useful for mirrorless cameras intended for video recording. Shortly put – it adds mounting points and camera protection. The Chinese camera accessories company Tilta just announced its Canon EOS R5 C camera rig, so let’s take a closer look at it.

Tilta camera rig for Canon EOS R5 C

The custom-designed aluminum EOS R5 C camera cage from Tilta offers various mounting points while protecting the camera body with built-in silicone cushions. The cage alone weighs 182.5g and its dimensions are 158.6 x 63.3 x 117mm. As Tilta claims, the cage allows access to all the ports, compartments and buttons of the camera.

• At the bottom, there is a locating pin that holds the camera firmly in the cage and Tilta also includes a flathead screwdriver that rests at the bottom and is magnetically attached to the cage.
• At the top of the cage, there are two cold shoe mounts and two 1/4″-20 screw holes with locating pins, as wellass a NATO rail.
• On the ports side, there is an ARRI rossette mount, shoulder strap port, and another NATO rail along with more 1/4″-20 mounting holes.
• On the grip side, there are further mounting thread along with wrist strap ports.

Tilta’s HDMI and USB-C clamp attachment mounts directly to the cage via two M3 screws, and it is quite an important component as the EOS R5 C, unfortunately, does not have a full-sized HDMI port plus the USB-C port will be used for power delivery quite often. Tilta also offers an HDMI to Micro HDMI adapter to go with the clamp.

Tilta’s top handle attaches via the cold-shoe and a 1/4″-20 thread, and it offers multiple 1/4″ and 3/8″ threads, 15mm rod clamp, as well as extra cold-shoe mounts.

External power options

The idea of powering mirrorless cameras externally is, of course, not new. The bodies of these cameras are typically designed to be much smaller than regular production cameras to allow photographers and filmmakers to hold these comfortably in hand all day. In the case of the Canon EOS R5 C, however, the external powering becomes much more than a way to extend the camera’s battery life.

In fact, some recording modes (such as the 8K 50fps and 60fps) only become available when the camera is powered externally, as the internal Canon battery simply cannot provide enough juice. Thankfully, the EOS R5 C has a USB-C port with PD (power delivery) function.

Tilta took advantage of that and presents multiple options on how to power the camera externally. The company designed a new smart battery plate for V-mount battery packs. It features two 14.8V P-tap outputs, one 5V USB-C port, and most importantly a 60W USB-C PD port that allows the battery plate to adjust the voltage needed for the accessory it is connected to.

According to Tilta, this enables powering various accessories without using regulated power cables. The plate comes with a USB-C cable clamp to provide a secure attachment of the cable. The plate can be mounted to the camera in two different ways:

• standard 15mm rods attachment allows mounting the plate behind the camera to a rods baseplate
• V-mount battery baseplate mounts to the bottom of the camera cage via the Arca-Swiss mount and the thickness can be adjusted depending on the size of the V-mount battery pack used.

Another powering option from Tilta includes the run/stop handle that has been upgraded to support the power delivery requirements of the EOS R5 C. Tilta claims the handle can supply enough power for up to 150 minutes or 8K 60fps raw recording.

Price and availability

The Tilta camera cage for Canon EOS R5 C is available now for pre-order. The company claims that the cage will ship at the beginning of July. The cage alone costs $99, but Tilta offers a 10% discount until July 4, 2022.

The basic kit includes the cage, top handle, EF mount adapter, HDMI clamp attachment, and an HDMI to Micro HDMI adapter and sells for $169. The smart V mount battery plate retails for $149 and the baseplate for $169.

Link: Tilta

Do you use the Canon EOS R5 C for your video work? What kind of solution do you use for external power delivery? What do you think about the Tilta camera rig? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.