Brad Grimmett

I guess all you have to worry about now is stepping on your own toes. Do'h!

In my experience, not touching the camera before it's ready to go on the rig is standard operating procedure on all film jobs. The 1st A.C.'s job is to deal with the camera. All you have to do is power it, balance it, and hook up your accessories. Of course it helps to have as much knowledge as possible about the camera you're using, but it's not imperative. This may not be true in places outside of the U.S., but in my experience that's the way things work here. Is it different across the pond?

I think you'll still be able to find golf shoes with with metal spikes if you look around a bit. I know that many professional golfers still wear them, so they are still made at least. I don't know how hard they would be to find. Also, I've seen shoe type things that fit on the bottom of your shoes at hockey games before. Not sure what they're called or what they're made of, or even how well they work, but it might be worth checking out. Spikes sure seem like they would work best though. Good luck.

When is the actual vote suppossed to take place? How much of the vote has to be against the contract for it not to go through? I'm still a pretty new member of the 600 and haven't voted for anything yet. I'm just wondering how things normally work.

It is a good monitor, but are you sure there's an HD version? Chris It says "HD-SDI (optional)" on the first page that pops up in the link.

I didn't find the tap to be particularly noisy. I've seen better and I've seen worse, but all in all the image was good.

Thanks buddy. Much appreciated.

Mitch, I certainly do. I didn't realize it was that easy. I'll convert it asap. Thanks for the tip Mitch.

Ah, yes....Fairbanks. Just south of I-4. Thanks for that. I'll call you and we can have a guild meeting like we do here.....at a bar!

Chip, I'm actually headed back to Orlando for Christmas, so Skycraft may be in my future. I didn't even think of that. I remember Skycraft being on Lee Rd. Did they move or is my memory failing me? Hmm, Radio Shack....I didn't think they'd have that connector. Ya learn something new everyday. Thanks for the tips fellas.

Anyone know a good place to find an "F" to bnc (female) connector? I believe it's called an "F" connector.....It looks just like the connector on the cable that you use to connect your cable to your TV. Someone please correct me if "F" isn't the right name for it. I use this connector for the input on my reciever and need to buy a couple spares. Thanks.

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll check out those options.

Thanks Alec. Boy I wish we were using one of those. I don't know what we're gonna have yet, but it's probably not gonna be fun. I wish it were a Panavision job so I could get one of their lightweight zooms. Foiled again! I guess I'll just have to dock a little more often. I'll keep those lenses in mind for the future. Thanks for the info.

A DP that I am working with next week just called me and asked me what zooms I like to work with when on steadicam. I didn't have a good answer for him because I'm used to using primes in 35mm. I very rarely work with zooms in 35mm. He was asking specifically about a Cooke that he said weighed 13 lbs., and if it would be OK. I told him that I'd like to find something lighter, but didn't have any specific recommendations. Are there any zooms that any of you like, as far as weight and length go? I'd like to help him, as well as myself. All we are getting for the job are zooms. No primes at all. Which sucks, but what can you do.... The zoom he was asking about was 14mm on the wide end, so something comparable to that would be nice to find. Any help is appreciated. The camera is a 435 I believe.

Good points Emery. You're probably right about making sure someone has re-celled master batteries before.

A lens change is a very minor weight change and doesn't require a major rebalance. You'll just have to make a minor adjustment. You won't have to move the camera at all, just the fore/aft on your topstage.

Yeah, Jerry is the guy that runs Victory. The guy you spoke to probably works in the shop and isn't familiar with the names of all the batteries. If he saw them I'm sure he'd know what they were instantly. Another option is to try a Batteries Plus or another consumer type place that does batteries. I know people here in LA that use those types of places for re-celling. It's really not that big a job, so those kinds of places should be able to do it whether they've ever seen a Master battery or not. Might be worth a try.

Kyle's not like that at all. He would have helped you if he could have. It has nothing to do with being a known operator or not. They don't seem to like to keep very much in stock over there. It's silly, but that's the way they do things. I've had issues with having to wait for things in the past as well. I don't think Kyle can do anything about it. For me, there's no point in switching to A/B's. My Master batteries work great and it's easy for me to get them re-celled, but I can understand how it could be a problem living in Atlanta, or anywhere else where re-celling isn't readily available. A/B's are easy to find in any city. Good luck with the change over.

You're probably referring to Victory Battery. That's where I get my batteries re-celled. They do a great job and most of the time they take one or two days. The last time I went in they called me the next day to tell me they were finished. They're no longer in Burbank though. They're somewhere in the valley, but I can't remember where off the top of my head. I can't comment on Rathbone. I've never heard of them before. Don't bother with Tiffen if they're going to take that long. They'll tell you that they're the only ones that can reset your LED meter, but it doesn't matter. It's not worth the extra money, and my meters are still accurate after multiple recellings at Victory. I guess they've lowered the price (it used to be $500), but $350 is still very overpriced. Victory raised their prices a bit too. I think the price is around $240 now. Hope this info helps.

Rob's suggesstion is fine, but you can probably just have the grips hold two 4x4 doubles next to you on the wind side and you'll get the same effect. Rob's suggesstion is fine, but you can probably just have the grips hold two 4x4 doubles next to you on the wind side and you'll get the same effect.

I flew that camera a couple of times for student films. It's not bad to fly, but the lenses are silly because there are no gears on the lenses, which means no pulling focus, unless you come up with some homemade rig to do it. I've heard about some such rigs, but never made or used one myself. Threading the thing always seemed to pose a problem for the 1st's I worked with with this camera. The inside of the thing is like a maze. They were film students though, so they were just learning. I would never choose this camera if I had a choice, but it's not bad to fly.

Jon, Setwear gloves are OK. They're not super warm, but they're form fitting enough that you can still feel the gimbal, and you at least have something covering your hands. Some hand warmers in the gloves helps too.

I've never had a insurance cert given to me that was more than one page. In what instances are they several layers deep? Am I missing out on something?

Speaking of wireless....I had an interesting situation recently and I'm wodering what you guys think. I was shooting in a bar and was having trouble with the image breaking up (transmitting with a modulus 2000, receiving with a sharkfin), so I brought out my omni-directional antenna and told the A.C. to switch them back and forth and see what was better. They put the omni antenna on a C stand next to the sharkfin and as soon as they did that the picture got much better. They moved it away and it got worse again. So we ended up just leaving the BNC plugged into the sharkfin and leaving the omni sitting right next to it. Has anyone experienced this before? I guess one antenna was just helping the other pick up the signal. Am I nuts or is this actually possible? I certainly plan on using this method again any time I'm having reception problems.

Sure, the website says Jan., but it doesn't say what year. I hope you're right, but I'll believe it when I see it.