Posted by Lester Cohn on 18th May 2019
SmallRig Shogun Inferno Cage
Few weeks ago while buying some smallRig accessory pieces for my camera I found the SmallRig Atomos 7" Monitor Cage with sun hood model 2008. So I ordered it along with a few other parts so I could convert it into a remote monitor with handles. After confirming a few weeks later it was all delivered and I couldn't wait to get it on my monitor and test it out.
First Impressions: I really liked the light weight of the cage. The Shogun inferno is a pretty heavy monitor with batteries, and SSD (which weighs almost nothing) it feels much lighter than the assembled Shape cage and very sturdy. The smallRig cage completely covers the outside of the Inferno without a wobble feeling like it's loose somewhere. Mounting points? There are mounting points everywhere on it which I liked very much.The bottom line for me was that the smallRig 2008 mounts securely to any of my attachments with no movement when mounted to my camera...SCORE!
（This is basically the same setup I had shown in an earlier picture the huge difference is that it fits tightly, not only no wobble but wherever I move the monitor and tighten it...it stays tightened.)
Innovation: am now going to talk about some of the simple innovative features I found useful on the smallRig 2008. First of al; the folks at smallRig have across their product line a NATO rail system which works really well for mounting external accessories to the cage. Accessories slide on and off the cage with an extra safety push in spring loaded metal stopper rather than a screw that could be lost (seen in the picture above look at the top left and bottom left of the front of the cage assembly).
The back of the cage protects the monitor nicely while also offering many different mounting points for accessories like a V-Mount battery holder and for mounting a wireless video transmitter to the back. There is clear access to the SDI ports which works for me and one feature that I like is there is a simple spring loaded push button that can bee seen located just to the right of the SSD drive inserted. It unobtrusive and won't be lost potentially if unscrewed like the Shape cage.
Right now I have this mounted with my Zacuto arm and mount which works really well, that being said I am going to test the smallRig arm with the sliding NATO accessories I got from smallRig in my part 2 of this review. On Price, the Shape cage at B&H costs 268.00 while the smallRig is 149.00 which is less than half the price and in my opinion twice the value.
Ultimately, hands down the winner was the smallRig 2008. I don't think that it is even close based on overall features, and price the smallRig offers a way lighter and more dependable Shogun Inferno cage at half the price of it's only competitor on the market. For me it wasn't about price, it was about the secure fit and reliability. Look for my part 2 review where I will talk more about the cage and show some of the other mounting features of the NATO and the smallRig articulating arm mounts.