iPhone Hardware Accessories

I've installed the Blackmagic Camera app and I plan to take a shot at becoming more than a casual user of iPhone video

What's the best device for mounting circular ND filters on an iPhone? As far as I can tell, I should get a Beastgrip cage, Beastgrip's mount for 58mm filters and, in my case, a step-up ring to my main circular ND size, 82mm. As it happens, I already have a 58mm > 82mm step-up ring.

Does it make a difference whether I get Beastgrip's universal cage (Beastgrip Pro) or one specific to my phone, apart from the fact that phone-specific cages will cost me more in the long run? Despite spending a fair amount of time looking, I've found no helpful discussion of this question.

Am I on the right track, or am I already on the wrong path?

Thanks

I prefer this ... can get custom sizes ... use it with a 67mm magnetic system of
NDs

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SeansGadgetWarehouse

Curious about this, too. Polar Pro has a case that gives 67mm compatibility that I think they're releasing next month. My ND filters are 72mm, so I hope that works with a step up ring, but would prefer native compatibility.

I’m also looking for an iPhone filter holder that will work with my Zacuto Smart Z-Finder (the maximum configuration) and if possible will take my current 62-82mm step-up ring. No luck yet. The Z-Finder was a fair investment so I’m reluctant to go with yet another cage. The collection of neutral density filters is a large investment so I’m not buying another size if I can avoid it.

This is from the early days of using a phone to make videos, way back in 2013/14

It's Producer/Director Austin Reza (https://www.reza.la) on how he used an iPhone 5S and 6 to make two films for Bentley that showed what could be done with a phone and went viral. Note the references to Beastgrip and Moondog Labs. Reza also says that they used Freefly's MŌVI, launched in 2013 as the first handheld electronic camera stabiliser. In 2017, Freefly launched a stabiliser for iPhones, the MŌVI Cinema Robot, which unfortunately was discontinued in a market that was highly competitive on price.

I’m also looking for an iPhone filter holder that will work with my Zacuto Smart Z-Finder (the maximum configuration) and if possible will take my current 62-82mm step-up ring. No luck yet. The Z-Finder was a fair investment so I’m reluctant to go with yet another cage. The collection of neutral density filters is a large investment so I’m not buying another size if I can avoid it.

Having now found out what Zacuto's Smart Z-Finder is, I wouldn't be interested in buying another cage either. I have a question. Normally, an appropriate answer would be "look at the specs", but the info that I'm looking for isn't on Zacuto's website. Being a clever lad, I went to B&H, where I discovered that B&H says "Not specified by the manufacturer". So here's my question: Have you weighed it? And?

Sounds like you got the Cinematographer version. What do you think of it?

I'm with you on buying more ND filters. Have you asked Zacuto whether they plan to make a filter mount? The maker that Bob is interested in (4 posts up) will apparently size his mount to order.

I hadn't planned on buying a Beastcage tonight, but I came across one for my phone at a price that I'm happy with. Tomorrow I'll drop by B&H to pick up a Beastgrip filter adapter with 58mm thread. I'll use a 58mm to 82mm step-up ring, which I have, for my 82mm ND filters.

Zacuto Smart Z-Finder

I did forward a request to Zacuto, but they didn’t seem to be interested in developing their own filter mount for the Z-Finder which surprised me. Perhaps they will include it in the future.

My Cinematographer’s version with an additional little third-party remote attached is 910 grams or about 2 pounds including the brow (top flags). Holding the nice wooden handle with the chest support it feels weightless to begin, but in a two hour plus photo shoot, it can feel like work as you try to keep it level while tracking the action, selecting different lenses, taking the stills shot.

I’ve only used it for client production stills, but perhaps one day I’ll shoot a client video now that I can use Tentacle sync Timecode via the Blackmagic Camera app. The best I can capture on my iPhone 14 Pro is ProRes 422 HQ, 4K UHD, Rec.2020 HDR but that gives me the greatest latitude and is useful. I can record over 6 hours internally so duration isn’t an issue.

Using a rig with the iPhone camera, I find it absolutely necessary to have a little Bluetooth remote to release the shutter. There needs to be a better way to select different lenses as using your finger on the screen with the phone held by a rig isn’t a smooth operation. You need a control in the grip where a thumb or finger would change lenses with a button press. That interface the Apple expects you to use is too awkward.

You ideally want to hold the larger rig with two hands at all times and still operate the camera. With the Z-Finder you only have one centered wooden grip to support and level the camera, so you do have a free hand to control shutter and lens selection. But the Apple camera API may not have an interface to change lenses via Bluetooth.

Apple has created a behind the scenes page and short video about Monday's Apple event, which was shot on iPhone with the Blackmagic Camera App:

Behind the scenes at Scary Fast: Apple’s keynote event shot on iPhone and edited on Mac
URL: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/10/ ... on-iphone/

Thanks to Blackmagic's Peter Chamberlain for pointing this out in the Camera App features request thread.

The behind the scenes page is well worth reading. The video has also been posted to YouTube:

I see Apple’s crew used the Beastcage.

I see Apple’s crew used the Beastcage.

As Austin Reza says in the video in post #5, he used a Beastgrip in his 2013/14 videos for Bentley. My impression is that Apple has been using it ever since. I got curious about the company when I watched some of Beastgrip's YouTube videos, which sometimes feature a fellow named Vadym using a Beastgrip and iPhone.

Vadym is Vadym Chalenko. From Ukraine, he got a degree in pharmacy at the medical college in Lviv and had an interest in graphic design, photography and making stuff. At some point, he emigrated to the United States and Chicago, which after New York has the largest Ukrainian population in the country.

In 2012, he got a Samsung Galaxy 3. He tried using it to shoot video and got better results than he expected. He spent months developing a lens adapter, which he called the Beastgrip, that could be used for his Galaxy and other mobile phones.

Then he started a Kickstarter campaign, which proved successful. This is the original Kickstarter presentation: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10 ... t-camera-p

Around about this time, Chalenko and his Beastgrip got the attention of Apple and Austin Reza, who were planning their film about Bentley.

The Kickstarter campaign included the video below, which was made by Chalenko and a friend. The friend also went to university in Lviv, but for computer science. He's now a senior software engineer for T-Mobile. The video is not a standard business pitch:

Beastgrip universal lens adapter for iphone, android or windows phone. The story of making.

Chalenko also included this more conventional video showing what the Beastgrip could do:

Iphone 5 and Galaxy s3 film look with Beastgrip lens adapter for any phone. Orhidea & sunset.

Thanks for the background information.

Thanks for the background information.

It's an interesting backstory.

I finally found some helpful information on the choice between their universal cage, the Beastgrip Pro, and phone-specific cages. People who are interested in that question may find this video useful. It's also a good explanation generally of the Beastgrip system. The fellow who made it is apparently Fujifilm's marketing manager for the Middle East and Africa, electronic imaging. His website is worth a look: https://www.richardlackey.com.

He's also giving good advice on hardware for DR.

Thanks guys ... and gals(?)

I have a Moondog Labs anamorphic lens that has been languishing in a drawer ... no idea that the Bgrip has a mount adapter on it ... enroute from B&H

Pleased to resurrect an old lens and filter system for the iPhone.

Thanks guys ... and gals(?)

I have a Moondog Labs anamorphic lens that has been languishing in a drawer ... no idea that the Bgrip has a mount adapter on it ... enroute from B&H

Pleased to resurrect an old lens and filter system for the iPhone.

Yes, as Richard Lackey says in the video 3 posts up, a Beastgrip cage comes with interchangeable mount plates, including one that will take a Moondog Labs lens.

Have you ordered a Beastgrip Pro or a cage for your specific phone?

Let us know how it goes.

Turns out that I have the original MDL lens which is not compatible
with the Beastgrip lens adapters … the second version had a bayonet
mount … mine was 12.5mm.

So a beastgrip 1.33 anamorphic lens which is compatible is enroute.

Will keep you apprised of the details

Specific BGPro for the 13 Pro

Thanks

Looking into adapters and lenses for smartphones, I'm finding that it's important to read manufacturer caveats. For example, Moment (https://www.shopmoment.com) expressly recommends against using step-up rings with its lens and phone filter mounts, which are made for 67mm filters:

Do you recommend using a step-up ring on top of your 67mm Lens Filter Mount?

The simple answer here would be a straight - No.

When you use a step-up ring on top of our 67mm Lens Filter Mount, it causes the filter to go away from the actual lens. We have noticed that this indeed causes vignetting on the image and the video - which is an undesirable effect. Our lenses would work the best with the 67mm filters - and that too when attached directly to the filter mount.

Is it possible to attach a filter directly to the smartphone?

Yes, it is definitely possible to do that.

Even if we don't sell a case for your device, you can still attach a filter directly to your smartphone. We have made this possible with the help of a clip-on filter adapter. You can find it in our store as a 67mm Phone Filter Mount. Again, on this adapter, it is only recommended to attach a 67mm filter.

So a beastgrip 1.33 anamorphic lens which is compatible is enroute.

Will keep you apprised of the details

Specific BGPro for the 13 Pro

Richard Lackey, the Fujifilm manager who made the video six posts up, also made the video below about the 1.33 anamorphic lens that Bob has ordered. This is what Lackey says about it in his YouTube description:

A test of the Beastgrip Pro 1.33X Anamorphic Lens MK2 shot with the iPhone 12 Pro Max using FiLMiC Pro LOGv3. This video is also my first test using the Dehancer film emulation plugin in DaVinci Resolve, using the FiLMiC LOGv3 camera profile.

Without a doubt this new anamorphic lens by Beastgrip has the best optical performance of any smartphone anamorphic lens I've used to date. Particularly impressive is the focus sharpness across the whole field of view, all the way to the edges, and also the control and minimization of chromatic aberration.

Richard Lackey's test footage for the lens and Dehancer (https://www.dehancer.com) for DaVinci Resolve is below. On its YouTube channel, Beastgrip itself has five videos about the lens and its use. If I had the 1.33 anamorphic MK2, I'd also watch Beastgrip's videos on its 1.55 anamorphic MK2.

1.33x anamorphic lens looked impressive. 1.55x anamorphic lens makes an impression, but not in a good way with the severe distortion away from the centre of the frame. It could still be used in many situations of course. Thanks for the videos.

I can imagine serious work being done with what Beast options offer. Will it help sell more iPhone 15 Pro Max units? Will it become commonplace in film schools? Or will it be a novelty?

I can imagine serious work being done with what Beast options offer. Will it help sell more iPhone 15 Pro Max units? Will it become commonplace in film schools? Or will it be a novelty?

I think that the collaborative infrastructure needed for commercial adoption of phone footage is coming together, and that we're already well on the way. Adobe bought https://frame.io two years ago, and one might argue that Blackmagic, with its iOS app and cloud service, is playing catch-up. Just to take the journalism world as an example, phones are becoming pervasive as capture devices. Just watch a scrum. A correspondent in Ukraine or Israel can get footage to his or her producer and editor, thousands of miles away, whenever he or she needs to, including in real time.

Apple clearly thinks that improvements in its cameras are a major driver of phone sales. Recently, I read someone describe an iPhone as a camera with a phone attached. I know a lot of people in that group, although I'm not myself. I'm in the prehistoric age with an iPhone 11 Pro Max, mainly because I'm a casual user of my phone's cameras. If my experiment with Beastgrip's gear and Blackmagic's app convert me, Apple will be selling me phones more frequently, maybe even an iPhone 15 this year

Writing this post, Michael Winterbottom's 2002 film In This World comes to mind. He and cinematographer Marcel Zyskind shot it on a shoestring. In a 2004 post on the cinematography.com forum, Zyskind says "We used the pd150 camera with a 16:9 anamorphic lens". That was a Sony mini-DV/mini-DVCAM with a 1/3" CCD/340,000 pixels. Zyskind has the trailer on his website:

https://marcelzyskind.com/portfolio/in-this-world

Roger Ebert's review explains the context for the film, including how it was shot. Parenthetically, I found his 2003 political views also interesting: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/in-this-world-2003

event

Saw this as well. I am wondering how they managed to control the variable frame rate issue, especially considering this was probably a multi-cam setup with external sound? I know you can sync the BM App via tentacle sync now but that still wouldn't remedy if two phones set to 30FPS end up recording in slightly different frame rates, would it?

Honestly the variable frame rate issue is the only thing holding me back to fully jump on board with this. Wondering if Apple will address this soon since they seem to be going all in with ProRes and Log

The variations are not huge, and for short takes sync is maintained.

Uli what do you consider short takes? Any regular patterns when you can expect vfr to rear its ugly head?

I can see no strict pattern, everything can come into play, like lighting changes. Remember, those cameras have a fixed aperture. Apple shot under very controlled lighting, which might be one factor.

Finally, it also depends on what you can perceive as out-of-sync. Experienced editors will notice a single frame off, while the general audience may not. They may even b used to it, since many cheap TVs introduce their own delays, just like computers.

That said, I think that 15 to 20 seconds are pretty safe, and when do you really go longer in a final edit without a cut (if you are not making a movie about the fashion industry) ?

I am wondering how they [the people who produced Monday's Apple event] managed to control the variable frame rate issue...

There's an answer to your question. Now we just need to get someone to reveal it

The longest on screen statements of the boss himself were about 20 seconds long, and I'm not sure I might be spotting some minor sync shift to the end.

So, I wouldn't dare to record an hour long musical performance with an iPhone, even if you can use external storage to do it.
But it's fine for commercials

With enough money and time, you can fix on-screen talking heads anyway, since humans tend to breathe.

Further to Uli's post, this is encouraging. Yesterday, Matti Haapoja, who's a Toronto-based YouTuber followed by a lot of people, posted a video in which he tells beginning filmmakers to start with an iPhone 15 and Blackmagic's app. At 4:00, the video contains a sequence that he says, in the lower right, was shot on iPhone. He talks with no sync issue for two 10-second periods separated by a jump cut. At 7:00, he talks without a cut for 25 seconds.

I refuse to believe that someone like Radicalmedia would just go ahead and shoot an event like this hoping for everything to stay in sync. Has someone tested if the Tentacle sync ends up helping? Because in my understanding even with a timecode a VFR clip would drift, but perhaps Blackmagic and Tentacle found a clever solution here?

OK, I did some testing while working on another project.

Recorded an electronic clapperboard with the iPhone 15 for two hours, from time to time I stepped into the frame and clapped my hands. This is what I got: VFR with minimum of 24 fps and a maximum of 26,087.
I was recording at 25. Sound is PCM with 48 kHz.
Over the first three minutes the visible TC was slightly late, about half a frame (the numbers flickered between two values), around 6 minutes it had itself averaged out and was spot on again. But over an hour it was behind by two frames and about 3 after two hours. The sound was fast, obviously DR had an issue adapting to the VFR as we have already learned from other cases. My handclaps were about 4 to 6 frames early in the end.

So, definitely not for concert recordings, but short clips should be fine.

Now, what absolutely surprised me was energy consumption. I was recording to a Samsung T5, plugged into the phone. No external supply. After two hours and 7 minutes the phone had 60% battery left (of course, fully charged before the test). 65% of that was used by the SSD, 24% by the camera app.

Thanks for that test, Uli. Beginning to wish I didn’t go with the maximum internal SSD in the iPhone 14 Pro. It was a good idea because the phone knowingly is crippled by the Lightning connector. But it’s a bad idea that the inconsistent frame rate is going to be difficult to use in my typical use cases. I can’t trust it in a client shoot.

I finally watched the opening episode of The Gilded Age season 2. It opens outdoors with the leads walking on the busy street to church on Easter Sunday. It was noteworthy that their audio was out of sync with their video. Perhaps that was just imperfect ADR. Kind of reassuring that such a high-budget show isn’t perfect, so we can continue to do our best but not stress about occasional technical imperfections.

I refuse to believe that someone like Radicalmedia would just go ahead and shoot an event like this hoping for everything to stay in sync.

I believe that Apple's Scary Fast event was pre-recorded. That means that they only needed image/audio sync for the length of shots that required synchronisation. Uli says (five posts up) that the longest sequence requiring synchronisation during the event is about 20 seconds. The Matti Haapoja video (four poss up) has two sequences where sync is maintained for 10 seconds before a cut, and one where it's maintained for about 27 seconds.

Haapoja's message in that video is that beginning filmmakers should start with an iPhone and Blackmagic's app. From what I've seen of Haapoja, I don't believe that he would say that if synchronisation is impossible, and I don't believe that he would fake it in the video.

I would still like to know what the producers of the Apple event actually did to manage the issue, and whether Haapoja is doing anything specific.

EDIT: Checking out YouTube videos shot on recent iPhones, I'm seeing additional vlogging, talking head examples where sync is maintained for 25 - 30 seconds before a cut. See, for example, 4:25 of this video, shot with an iPhone 13:

I found this informative for rigging.

I found this informative for rigging.

People who are interested in an SSD mount might also look at the one that YouTuber Michael Tobin, and a designer/3-D printer friend, have developed. There's a basic version (Minimalist, US$19) and a version that has three 1/4"-20 threads and can fulfil additional functions (CineGrip, $49). They'll make these to fit 10 different SSDs (the prototype was made with an Angelbird). Click on the two versions on this store page for details: https://cliffandkajun.com/store

Tobin has made a video about designing these mounts:

Minimalist ($19):

I think that’s a good design for a minimalist approach but wonder if some of the drives are too long to also accommodate a filter holder for the lenses.

In case it isn't clear... Apple shows Beastgrip's Beastcage for the iPhone 15 in the event video shots that show the phone in a cage. The cage is still in production and not yet available for sale.

However, Beastgrip has given one to Michael Tobin, who used it to shoot the video below. At the beginning of the video, he shows his set-up. The rest of the video is an unexciting review of a wireless speaker.

I think that’s a good design for a minimalist approach but wonder if some of the drives are too long to also accommodate a filter holder for the lenses.

Yes, in the video that Leon linked (four posts up), the SSD and the MagSafe component of the filter holder overlap. See 5:12. The overlap is also apparent in the shot of the full assembly, less the battery clamp, at the beginning of the video.

I expect to receive a Beastgrip cage tomorrow morning and I'll post what I think of it later in the day. The main reason that I use my phone to shoot photos or video only occasionally is that both invariably feature images of my fingers over the lens. I haven't mastered the art of making images while gingerly holding onto the edges of an 8mm thick rectangle.

I'm hoping that the Beastcage will give me something more substantial to hold onto:

handheld.jpeg (223.1 KiB) Viewed 59897 times

Being a failure as a minimalist, I've gone all out and also ordered a handle:

handle 1.jpeg (214.52 KiB) Viewed 59897 times

handle 2.jpeg (194.48 KiB) Viewed 59897 times

If I eventually graduate to an iPhone 15, there are a lotta 1/4-20s on this thing - I'll have a few places to stick an SSD too

Note: The images above are screen captures from a Beastgrip video.

Handles are always a good idea. You’ll feel better holding a handle for sure.

I received a Beastcage for my iPhone 11 Pro Max this morning. While the convention is to call this a cage, it's more like a robust frame. It's nicely designed and well-machined. Mounting the phone in the frame, which doesn't require any tools, takes a few seconds. The phone is held quite tightly. I'm not concerned about it moving around and getting scratched up.

The phone's Lightning port and functions are all accessible. There's a neck strap mount on each side, a cold shoe mount and eight 1/4"-20 mounts. There's some variation in the number of 1/4"-20 mounts between phone models. For example, the frames for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have ten.

You turn the red knob to change out the four mounting plates. These are used to attach a filter mount for the phone's native lenses and to change out lenses made by Beastgrip and other manufacturers. A plate can be changed with the phone in the frame, and it takes only a few moments.

This doesn't come weight free. My Beastgrip frame weighs 290g (10.2oz). The phone weighs 226g (7oz). Total: 516g (18.2oz).

If anyone wants an iPhone 11 Beastcage, Moment is clearing out its stock of iPhone 11 accessories, including Beastgrip cages, which are US$40.

This is the frame. I'll post three photos of the frame plus phone shortly.

beastcage.jpg (408.27 KiB) Viewed 59802 times

The phone is fully operational:

phone front.jpeg (421.57 KiB) Viewed 59739 times

This shows the plate that's used for Apple's lenses if one wants to use filters. Changing the orientation of the plate (takes seconds) chooses the lens and ensures that a filter will be properly aligned with the lens:

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Here, the filter adapter is screwed onto the plate. The adapter has a 58mm outer thread and will take a step-up ring:

phone back filter.jpeg (422.38 KiB) Viewed 59739 times

I'll add an additional post tomorrow when I receive the handle shown three posts up. While taking these photos, I discovered an additional use for the quick release plate that I was using to mount the phone to the quick release clamp on the tripod. It will work very well as a handle/grip when making handheld vertical photos or video.

In case anyone's interested in the tripod... It's a RRS aluminium ground tripod that was popular among wildlife and landscape photographers for many years, in part because it doesn't have tubes that can collect water, dust and dirt. Just needs a quick wipe. During the pandemic, it was redesigned, then discontinued and then revived. A few months later, it was discontinued again. RRS said that it cost too much to make. This is B&H's page on the short-lived version 2: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... eries.html

Handles are always a good idea. You’ll feel better holding a handle for sure.

Just the Beastgrip frame makes me less concerned that my phone will have an unplanned assignation with the ground, and in any event the frame will take a neck strap. When I hold the frame, I know by touch where my hands are on the lens side of the phone. The edge of the filter adapter keeps my fingers away from the lenses. See the first photo four posts up.

As noted in the post just above, it's already apparent that a QR plate would be effective as a grip to steady portrait orientation photos and video. There are five 1/4"-20 mounts along the bottom of the frame. I can screw my quick release plate to any of these.

I'll find out how the handle fits in when I receive it tomorrow. One can attach a handle on each side, but I'm happy to start with one and see how it goes.

Vadym Chalenko has been tinkering with this design for over ten years, and it shows.

I received my Beastcage for the iPhone 13 Pro .... and their 1.33 anamorphic lens.

Really confused with the BM Camera app .... need to enable vertical video to see 4k in landscape mode
but when I upload the files ... it is in vertical format ... with a huge black fill to accomodate the 2160x3840

Turn off vertical video and in landscape I get vertical video and in portrait orientation of the phone a
cropped landscape.

I deleted the app reloaded it and no change .... on the phone with vertical video enabled I see landscape full
in landscape orientation but when uploaded the file is in vertical orientation and needs to be rotated 90 degrees.

What am I missing?

I see that behavior too, it’s cropping when held vertically.
Disable vertical video and tell it to hold orientation while held horizontally and it’ll stay, but the interface will stay too.

When I do that ... no 4K ...

Looking at YT videos the hold orientation seems to relate to on screen overlays not the aspect ratio


Really confusing ... ready to go back to Filmic Pro

I received a Beastgrip Side Handle today and I'm going to write a couple of posts about using it. Beastgrip offers an L-shaped Nato rail with it, which I also purchased. There are a couple of photos of these components together eight posts up.

I want to be able to mount my phone on a tripod in portrait orientation. This is complicated by the fact that the Beastgrip's 1/4"-20s are all on the two long sides of the cage/phone. There are none at the two ends.

If one carries a ball head, one of the long sides can be screwed to the ball head's quick release plate, and the ball head's U-notch can be used to move the Beastcage to vertical orientation. This should work fine if one carries a full-size ball head. It may not work for a small ball head for light cameras because the tripod plate may prevent the Beastcage from angling 90°.

For decades, Leitz has made a 5" tall ball head for lighter cameras that photographers can use to address this problem or to get themselves a bit more height:

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Note the U-notch in the photo above. This ball head is very expensive new. However, there are a lot of them around because it's been made for a long time, and it sells for a reasonable amount on eBay.

Beastgrip's L-shaped Nato rail and Side Handle is another solution. The Side Handle has a 1/4"-20 that can be screwed to a quick release plate. If you prefer, the handle is easily removed from the Nato rail, and the rail has 1/4"-20s that can also be screwed to a quick release plate. The rail is well-made and is not about to bend. You can also use the Side Handle instead of a tripod if you want to shoot at ground level and the ground itself is level.

side handle.jpg (276.81 KiB) Viewed 59170 times

I want to be able to mount my phone on a tripod in portrait orientation. This is complicated by the fact that the Beastgrip's 1/4"-20s are all on the two long sides of the cage/phone. There are none at the two ends.

Have you considered a L-bracket?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?q ... ket&sts=ma

I thought initially that I'd use a neck strap to carry my phone, but now I'm not so sure. This photo of an iPhone 14 Pro Max shows where one of the two attachments is for a neck strap. Unavoidably, either the phone's lenses or its screen would face my chest. I don't want either rubbing against my clothing, buttons, zippers. If it's the lens side facing my chest, I'd remove a filter adapter and step-up ring before walking any distance.

The photo also shows why there are no 1/4"-20s on this short side of the cage. The Nato L-shaped rail for the Side Handle, if it overlaps the Lightning port, does not interfere with plugging and unplugging an Apple Lightning cable. I expect that the same will be true of a USB-C cable if it's well made.

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The photo below shows that Beastrig's Side Handle with Nato rail offers another way to carry the cage and phone.

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Note that the Nato rail is mounted on the upper long side of the cage. This obstructs one of the attachment points for a neck strap. This doesn't matter if one isn't using a strap. The rail could also be mounted on the bottom long side, as it is in the photo below, in which case it doesn't interfere with anything. The setup in the photo may also be useful, in place of a ground tripod, for ground level shots.

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Beastrig also makes what it calls an Action Handle and 90mm Nato rail. Together, these provide a top handle. It's another approach to carrying the cage, and is intended particularly for low shots. If you already have a top handle and Nato rail, you can add your own.
.

I want to be able to mount my phone on a tripod in portrait orientation. This is complicated by the fact that the Beastgrip's 1/4"-20s are all on the two long sides of the cage/phone. There are none at the two ends.

Have you considered a L-bracket?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?q ... ket&sts=ma

I used the same B&H search as you and looked at a lot of them. The basic problem is that L-plates are designed on the assumption that the base of the plate can be screwed into the camera, which is not the case for the short sides of a Beastgrip. Unlike most L-plates, this inexpensive universal Sunway plate at least has a possible attachment point. It might be possible to join a female 1/4"-20 on a long side of the Beastgrip cage with a female 1/4"-20 in the red box in the photo, if the two holes happen to coincide once the quick release base is mounted on a QR clamp.

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