CNC Machining vs 3D Printing: Why We FDM Print Our Film Gear

Most professional camera accessories, the cages, baseplates and mounts, are CNC machined from solid aluminium, with a smaller share injection moulded in plastic. We take a different route and FDM 3D print ours, because for the parts we make, additive manufacturing does things a cutting tool physically cannot. CNC aluminium is excellent at what it is good at, but it has hard limits, and those limits are exactly where 3D printing wins. Here is the honest comparison, with the parts that prove it.

In this article

• How are most camera accessories made?
• What a cutting tool cannot reach
• Materials you cannot machine
• One printed part instead of an assembly
• No tooling: niche fits, fast updates, new cameras
• CNC vs 3D printing vs injection moulding
• Frequently asked questions

How are most camera accessories made?

If you pick up a typical cage, baseplate, NATO rail or rosette mount, it was almost certainly CNC machined from a block of 6061 or 7075 aluminium. CNC machining is a subtractive process: a computer-controlled cutter carves the part out of solid billet, then it is usually anodised. It is precise, with typical tolerances around 0.25mm, it produces strong, stiff metal parts, and it is the backbone of the cine accessory industry for good reason. A smaller group of cheaper, high-volume plastic accessories are injection moulded instead.

Both are great processes. But both are subtractive or mould-based, which means they share one defining constraint: the part has to be shaped by something that can physically reach or release it. That single rule decides what they can and cannot make, and it is where FDM 3D printing, which builds a part up layer by layer instead of cutting it away, takes over.

What a cutting tool cannot reach

A CNC cutter can only shape a surface it can physically touch. Undercuts, deep internal pockets and fully enclosed cavities either demand multiple setups and custom fixtures, or they are impossible to machine in one piece. Even a 5-axis machine cannot carve a sealed channel that runs through the inside of a part, because there is no way to get a tool in there. The usual workaround is to machine several pieces and bolt them together, which adds weight, cost and failure points.

FDM printing has no tool to reach anything, so none of that applies. We can route an enclosed air duct through the middle of a part, or trap a metal nut inside the body so it never falls out, all in a single print. This is the gap most people underestimate (industry guides on CNC machining versus 3D printing make the same point: additive simply has design freedom subtractive cannot match).

Enclosed internal geometry

DJI ProSSD Active Cooling Box

A front intake and top exhaust duct enclosed inside one printed body, pulling air across the drive. There is no way to machine a sealed internal channel like this.

$99.00 AUD See the Cooling Box →

Captured hardware

DJI Transmission Antenna Extension Mount

The SMA connector nut is printed captive inside the body so it never drops out while you tighten. Made in glass-fibre-reinforced ABS for strength.

$39.00 AUD See the Antenna Mount →

Materials you cannot machine

Here is the part CNC simply cannot do at all: flexible parts. Machining works by cutting rigid stock, so a soft, rubber-like component is off the table, you cannot mill something that bends out of the way of the tool. Our monitor hoods are printed in flexible TPU precisely so they can stretch or slide onto a screen and spring back to shape. A machined aluminium hood would be rigid, heavy and far more likely to crack a screen. FDM lets us choose the right material for the job, from flexible TPU to tough PETG and glass-fibre-reinforced ABS, and print the part directly in it.

Flexible by design

Sony FX6 Flexible Monitor Hood

Printed in rubber-like TPU so it stretches on, springs back, and survives a packed bag. A flexible part like this cannot be machined from metal at all.

from $45.00 AUD See the FX6 Hood →

One printed part instead of an assembly

Because a cutter has to reach everything, complex CNC parts are often split into several pieces that are then screwed together. Every joint and fastener is extra weight, cost and another thing to come loose. With FDM we can consolidate a whole assembly into a single print, including combining a rigid shell and a soft protective insert in one part rather than gluing two materials together.

Part consolidation

DJI PRO SSD Storage Case (3 x SSD)

A tough PETG shell with a soft insert printed as one piece, so drives sit snug with no separate parts to assemble or glue.

$30.00 AUD See the SSD Case →

No tooling: niche fits, fast updates, new cameras

CNC needs programming and fixturing for each part, and injection moulding needs an expensive steel mould before part one. FDM needs neither, and that has three knock-on benefits. There is no minimum order, so a hood that suits only a few hundred shooters is still worth making, which is how we carry over a hundred specific parts. Design changes are just a file edit, so we refine fits and release improved versions, like the updated Canon C400 hood MK2, with no retooling. And with no tooling lead time, we can have a precision part on sale the week a new camera lands, while the big brands are still deciding whether the volume justifies a mould.

First to market

Nikon ZR Monitor Hood

A precision hood for a brand-new camera, on sale while the body is still hard to find. No mould, no tooling lead time, no waiting.

$49.00 AUD See the Nikon ZR Hood →

CNC vs 3D printing vs injection moulding

Each process is the right answer for a different job. Here is how the three compare for the kind of parts that go on a camera rig.

We are not knocking CNC. For a load-bearing metal cage or a baseplate that needs maximum stiffness, machined aluminium is the right call, and injection moulding wins for commodity plastic at huge scale. But for parts defined by complex geometry, flexible materials, a precise fit and small runs, FDM 3D printing is not a budget substitute, it is the better tool for the job.

Frequently asked questions

Are most camera accessories CNC machined or 3D printed?

Most professional accessories, especially cages, baseplates and mounts, are CNC machined from aluminium, with some cheaper plastic parts injection moulded. We FDM 3D print our range because the parts we make rely on geometry, flexible materials and small production runs that suit additive manufacturing better.

Is 3D printed plastic as strong as CNC aluminium?

Aluminium is stiffer and stronger by raw material, and for a heavy structural part it is the better choice. But our parts are printed in engineering plastics chosen for the job, they are lighter, they flex where flex is useful, and the precise fit spreads load. For a flexible hood or an internal-cavity case, printing is not just adequate, it is the only way to make the part at all.

Why can't you just CNC machine these parts?

A cutting tool has to reach every surface it shapes. Enclosed channels, internal cavities and captured features like a trapped nut are impossible or very expensive to machine, and flexible parts cannot be machined from rigid stock at all. Many of our designs depend on exactly those things, so they are printed.

What is FDM 3D printing?

Fused deposition modelling builds a part by melting a thermoplastic filament and laying it down layer by layer. It works in real engineering materials, including flexible TPU, tough PETG and glass-fibre-reinforced ABS, and needs no mould or tooling, so it is ideal for complex, low-volume, purpose-built parts.

Why are your monitor hoods printed rather than machined?

Because they need to flex. A hood printed in TPU stretches or slides onto the screen and springs back, and shrugs off being packed in a bag. You cannot machine a flexible part from aluminium, and a rigid metal hood would be heavy and risk cracking the monitor.