Master Grips

Cine-style handgrips with documentary - style controls

ARRI Master Grips combine effective camera stabilization with flexible and responsive fingertip control of lens and camera while shooting handheld. Master Grips are available in four versions: right-side and left-side, with either a rocker or a thumb wheel.

Features

Best overall production value

EF, ENG, and cine lens control
Advanced camera control
Solid mechanical design
Override the Hi‑5 and WCU‑4 hand unit

Useful features

Proven ergonomics
Intuitive user interface
Multi-lingual display
Set focus, iris, zoom limits
Focus tracking
Adjustable speed control

Credits

Freud

Sea of Shadows

Space Dogs

Les Misérables

Fack ju Göthe 3

Quotes

Never have I held grips that rest in my hands so seamlessly. I was impressed by my initial use regarding comfort and intuitiveness. They made the beastly build fun and easily controllable.

Cinematographer Alexandra Taupier de Pando (Known for: "Mental", "To The Top and Beyond", "Clean Slate", and many more)

2_Master grips_DE PANDO Alexandra and BUSTAMANTE Jorge at Coachella 2022_original

Quite nice that you have one tool, that can be deployed in many different modes.

Cinematographer Neil Harvey (Known for: Warrior Women of Dahomey, Frontline and many more)

I had the Master Grip rocker on days where things need to be going fast. That was really cool and they worked very well. Especially when I wanted to do fast zooms, which you are not able to do manually because you need both hands on the grips. With the Master Grips it was possible.

Cinematographer Markus Nestroy (Known for: Fack ju Göthe 3, Freud, Hot Dog, Whatever Happens, Unsere Zeit ist jetzt and many more)

What I really like about the Master Grips, is they give me the ability to do a clean handheld job, pulling focus while having lots of user buttons and the same time. If you feel comfortable and familiar with them, they are worth their weight in gold.

Cinematographer Clemens Krüger (Known for: Lufthansa Life changing places and many more)

clemenskruegerdop-lufthansa-lofoten4-data

The ARRI Master Grips were a huge help when using ND filters. You can take the ND filters in and out on the ALEXA Mini or the AMIRA pretty quickly and that's a huge relief. Especially together with the EF lenses where you can directly adjust the aperture without making changes in the viewfinder, here you can hold the camera stable in your hands.

Cinematographer Marvin Hastert (Known for: World Club Dome Zero Gravity and many more)

Master Grips put all the creative control into the hands of a DP or operator.

Cinematographer Jake Horgan (Known for: Heart of Asia Mayflower and many more)

I loved the fact that I did not have to take my hands off the grips. I could completely control the camera while having stable and smooth camera movements.

Cinematographer Marvin Tomé (Known for: Future of mobility and many more)

There are so many products on the market that don’t work in some extreme conditions. Like when it’s really hot, they just don’t really function very well. But the Master Grips performed perfectly. I underestimated how solid they would be. It was great!

Cinematographer Isabella Tan (Known for: Heart of Asia Mayflower, Kingdom by the Sea, Souvenirs, Extra/Ordinary and many more)

Easy to set up and calibrate, and so great to have focus and RC in a comfortable position when you don’t have a focus puller.

Cinematographer Josh Flavell, ASC (Known for: Significant Strangers, Pimped, The House, Fresh Blood Pilot Season, BedHead, #7DaysLater, Deadbeat Dads, various Commercials and many more)

I’ve been hesitant to utilize the Master Grips in my documentary work, because speed is so critical in verite. I finally had this project, utilizing anamorphic lenses in a verite setting, and I wanted to try the Master Grips out to smooth out the camera and focus movement to offset the style. Now, I plan to take the Master Grips on every doc shoot from now on.

Cinematographer Logan Schneider (Known for: Gentefied, Drunk History, Ave Maria Bamford, Dryvrs, Grip and Electric and many more)

We were shooting with children and dogs - a challenge, because you don’t know exactly where the dog is running next. That’s why I had a zoom lens on the ALEXA Mini and used the Master Grips. They were great – I could always react on what’s happening and control the zoom without having to change my grip – I could keep the camera stable.

Cinematographer Eugen Gritschneder (Known for: SOKO Köln, Racko – Ein Hund für alle Fälle, Wakling Life, Mollath, Familienfieber and many more)

The Master Grip transforms a Feature Film Camera into a highly flexible and agile docu style cam... with the same image quality. What more can you wish for. Even changing lenses and crossing different light situations is possible for a 1-2 men show.

Cinematographer Richard Böhringer (Known for: documentaries, fiction, as well as commercials for Brands such as Reebok, Allianz and Mercedes and many more)

Compatibility

Master Grips – Cine lenses

Override Function available

Master Grips – EF lenses

Master Grips – Servo Zoom lenses

Master Grips – cforce mini RF + cforce mini/plus motors

Override Function available

Ergonomic and solid

Master Grips FAQ

The Master Grips are useful …

… for crash zooms as a visual storytelling tool

… as a zoom control unit for pan bars

… when you need a solid grip with full control at the same time

… when you don’t know what’s happening next and you need to react quickly and flexibly

… when you shoot interiors of a car, helicopter or on any other tight locations

… when you shoot on a small speedboat with no focus puller

Yes, it is possible assign camera user buttons to the Master Grips and control up to 6 user buttons per Master Grips set. The corresponding function of a user button can be set on the camera. Please check the designated camera user manual on how to set the user buttons.

Yes, you can assign SPD+ (increase speed) and SPD- (decrease speed) to any of the Master Grips´ user buttons and also set the motor speed from minimum to maximum within the motor screen. The speed is set as the ratio between lens range and wheel range (1:4, 1:2, 1:1, 2:1, 4:1).

Yes, move the motor to the first limit position and press the LIM function assigned to one of the user buttons. The first limit is set. Then move the motor to the second limit. Press the LIM button again. The second limit is set. The motor now only operates in the defined range between both limits.