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Whether you’re using a point-and-shoot camera, a DSLR, a camcorder, or a mirrorless camera body, your camera’s shoe is a versatile and helpful mounting point for a wide selection of accessories and peripherals.
Camera shoes serve as a centralized and universal mounting point for microphones, video lights, flashes, and other common photography and videography accessories. But what if you need to use your camera’s shoe for another type of accessory or for multiple accessories?
Video-shoe adapters make it easy to mount other common accessories, secondary cameras, or monitors to the top or side of your camera.
One important distinction as you shop for shoe adapters and accessories is whether your chosen model requires a hot shoe or a cold shoe.
A hot shoe has built-in electronic connections for sending signals to and from your camera. A cold shoe offers the same secure physical mount without electronics.
Most video-shoe adapters are safe to use in either a hot shoe or a cold shoe mount, but won’t pass on any electrical signaling from the camera.
If you need to pass electronic signals to your peripheral devices but you’re using a cold shoe-mount, make sure to connect to your camera with a direct cable.
An extension bar or bracket converts the single hot shoe mount on your camera to two or more cold-shoe mounts for accessories. If you want a video shoe adapter for mounting more than one light, a light and a microphone, or a microphone and a video monitor, you’ll need an extension bar or bracket.
Shoe-plate adapters are perfect for turning a small hot shoe into a larger platform for supporting a range of accessories.
Shoe-mount-to-ball-head adapters create a flexible and pivoting point on top of your camera. With a ball-head mount, you can attach and position a light, a monitor, or even a small action camera on top of your camera body.
When selecting a video shoe adapter, it’s important to go with a high-quality product from a reliable brand. Look to brands like CAMVATE and Ulanzi for impressive and versatile video-shoe adapters and mounts. With metal and hard plastic components, these adapters can stand up to rigorous or professional use.