Thomas English

Thanks for that photo Richard. Yeah, I like my bracket for sure however on the Alexa the lens isn't going to be so conveniently far back on the plate. There will be a lot more distance between plate and lens mount and effectively a lot more leverage so I am certainly more apprehensive about using it. Your photo is really helpful. I don't mind the 17-80 as I don't mind so much primo anamorphics which come to the same weight. Definitely not de-riguer but for special shots and instances its fine.

I just got into an argument with the lads in engineering on the camera floor. I want to put a 6kg zoom (18 to 80 Optimo) supported by 15mm Arri Alexa Steel bars. The Arri Alexa has a completely different and more robust way of holding its 15mm bars and the 15mm bars in the kit are made of steel and so insanely strong. I am going to get more vibrations out of using the Alexa bridge plate system and 19mm carbon fibre bars. The camera floor say they aren't strong enough.. I think they are completely mad. What do you guys think? Who is mad.. me or them? Thomas

Take2, ICE films and FAVA Rental all use those VLock 24v batteries. Not only is there a swapped pin situation but I'm pretty sure there is also a little plastic blank thingy that stops you from being able to put the battery onto the wrong plate. They are great batteries. Would you be able to use them on the bottom of an XCS? Off course you'd need the correct plate etc. but could u feed an XCS 24v? Take2 have even had their WEVI's converted to 24v with Reel Power plates front and back.

Are you sure Brad that you are using it on an HU1 rather than a HU2? I have found success using the Omnishot with the HU1 so long as the focus puller doesn't turn the HU1 off. If he turns it back on afterwards the lowlight jams the system. This is particularly bad with the microforce connected. I am having far more success with FM70 batteries rather than FM50's. Clearly the HU1 sucks more power than the HU2 and requires more "surge power" to start it up. This is too much for either my batteries, Omnishot or combination of the two. Omnishot have been insanely helpful helping me through this problem which has included sending me another unit to help me diagnose. My conclusion is that the Omnishot works better on the HU2 than the HU1 and I would still recommend it on the HU1 but: Focus Pullers don't turn the unit off at all (a lot don't like to anyway)for fear of that battery not re-sparking the HU1 Focus pullers check both lights are on and green before every shot You stock up on FM70's rather than FM50's This still works out to be the cheapest battery solution for the HU1 by a large margin! and I have only good things to say about Omnishot support. There is still always a chance that I have an issue with my low voltage circuit on my HU1 so I would love it if others would share their experiences of using an Omnishot on an HU1. Thanks Thomas

Is this item still sold by preston?

Thanks Brad! Very helpful! Thomas

Yes, I'm aware it fits. Has anyone tried using it or is currently using it especially with a microforce. Does anyone know the power consumption on the HU1? Preston haven't responded to my emails.

Hey there. Anyone had any luck using an Omnishot with Sony FM50 batteries on an HU1 rather than HU2? Thanks Thomas

Done a bit of off forum research and by all accounts its good. I'm going to upgrade quite soon.

I honestly loved that evo so much.. I once gaffer taped a full studio rack mounted downconverter to it! You can clamp lasers to it. pop gyros in there... So many options.

Hey buddy, yes they do sell the little clamps separately. It's no problem at all. The evolution cage us fantastic. I mounted my marell bubble directly under the post on top of the feet clamps. Give the uk office a ring or the us office.

I think Scott at the Boxx has made a few different versions. I can't say yay or nay or what model is what but I do seem to remember it having a good fan. The Switronix has a good fan. I really don't think its going to be a problem on 99.5% of scenes. Certainly in music videos and commercials it simply won't be an issue. In drama certain rare scenes will require a hard wire. Like I say, the camera assistants on this show were pretty sure that most Camwave failures are down to overheating. Hey you guys know better than me but I've certainly experienced a lot of moody Camwaves. I think having a fan like in the Boxx or Swiftronix is a good trade off for reliability. Hey we have a fan in the cameras...

I spent all day yesterday on set with one. It was fantastic. Script supervisor said there wasn't a single break up all day. We did nothing to help the receiver as we simple popped it on the back of the monitor as a test. There were lots of walls involved and hey. No problems! Like being hard wired. The fan is louder than the Wevi but this wasn't a problem on the Comedy dialogue we were shooting. I think one of the things that lets the Wevi down is the fact it overheats quite a lot. The RECON unit here still never got too hot. I seem to remember the Boxx fan is also louder than the Wevis. This one was in V-Lock which was cool. If the V-Lock 24v adapter was on the back one would need the ARRI 24v right angle connector. Looking at it closely you could also use a V-lock to V-lock plate to give that extra few millimeters. I've noticed that the Arri Media cameras here in the UK are in AB 12v and Take2's cameras are in AB 24v so I am not too sure what to do about all this along side a lot of the cameras being in V-Lock 24v. This gives 4 different battery mounts to contend with. On this shoot I never left 15m from the receiver however we did go through lots of walls. The camera assistants said Wevi's would have needed a lot more work to get a signal and they far preferred the RECON. Everyone was impressed. Off course sound loved it because it transmitted over SDI the audio from the Arri Alexa. So on playback everyone had sound. Nice. I'm very interested in putting larger Antennae on the back of this RX. So far, yesterdays shoot. Flawless. Very happy. I'll post some photos in a bit. Thomas

http://www.dslrnewsshooter.com/2011/08/25/birtv-2011-pro-x-launch-camcorder-shoulder-support-with-bars-and-vct-quick-release/

http://pro-x.en.alibaba.com/product/512790286-210593415/XW_HDU01_Wireless_Transmission_Better_than_IDX_WEVI_CW_5HD.html This seems to be what the Switronix is based on. I mean it even has PRO-X written on the side. Although I think Switronix have requested it be modified it a bit. The pure PRO-X doesn't have the additional antennae sockets.

I found myself doing a bundle for ages. Quoting a price and saying that includes all you need to keep things simple for production managers. But now the game is becoming insanely competitive. With free Steadicam Flyers and Archers out there in such numbers I now itemise every item on a quote to really drum it in what they are hiring. It annoys me so much when I do a deal as a package and turn up and they have also hired at list price a Preston because the focus puller requested it even though I specifically said there was one in my kit. It also annoys me when they go with someone cheaper but hire in an LCS at list price as part of the camera package in blissful ignorance. So now I list separately Operator Steadicam Rig LCS Preston Radio Follow Focus 3Ch Digital HD wireless Video Magliner Additional battery kit In the UK a 20% to 30% discount off list price is expected by PM and given as standard from Arri, take2 and Panavision (unless they subhire). Steadicam rig doesn't have that issue. I am also now trying to push the quoting stage off the phone and onto email. When your on the phone you are just dealing with an someone that is looking at a number they have to get below. Once your on email they can make more rational and informed decisions

Sorry Jess, but Williams TX/RX is really interesting but it definitely needs its own thread.

Certainly the older IDX boards had issues. i noticed a vast improvement on newer IDX's and spoken to many people who agree after the board upgrade. Could your signal issues have been down to the older board or the antennae array? Maybe both... I've spoken to someone that had one of the IDX units apart as well as a load of consumer ones apart. It turns out the cheap consumer boards and the IDX boards as well as the chipset are identical. I don't know if this is the older or the newer IDX boards.

I think all the digital transmitter and receivers are the same chipset just made soldered onto boards to varying standards of quality giving varying standards of performance. I severely doubt IDX would have given Swiftronix their boards and designs to re-package. I'd safely bet its not a repackaged IDX CAMWAVE. People have put these external antenae onto Camwaves. Are the improvements noticable? Are we excited about the possibility of putting on an additional, larger, antannae array to the receiver? Its looking a little slimmer in both dimmensions. The Riser seems like a nice idea (http://www.switronix.com/products/batteries?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=162&category_id=49) although on a V-Mount it does seem like a good way of generating vibrations. I'm excited. Sure you can't put an SD signal in but I've found consistenly on SD film jobs people to be more than happy with my modulus. DoP's expose with a lightmeter. On Digital I'm finding increasingly DoP's want to expose off an HD wireless link. Thomas

William your experiments are definitely interesting. I'm keen to find out more about this Swiftronix. Do you guys think this will be better than the IDX CAMWAVE?

Thanks an awful lot for your help guys! Great this forum thing!

Can I dry hire a rig a in San Paulo? Anyone recomend a grip that speaks English? Thomas

I can agree with Chris here that the new arm feels amazing. From the indications I have heard mentioned of the upgrade price its not dissimilar to getting an arm service. Essentially they are taking the thing apart and re-greasing lots of bits as well as changing the bearings and other things so really it is an arm service. In light of this I really don't see an issue. Get your arm serviced and upgraded at Tiffen.

Yeah, it appears immediately inferior because its not LED- RED and bright!