Jess Haas SOC

I think part of the reason that Jerry and Eric receive very different results has a lot to do with the rig used. As Jerry says the method only works perfectly if the masses at the bottom are on the same plane. If you take a look at a green screen monitor you will notice that the center of gravity tends to be significantly lower than where the screen is. With an LCD such as that on the ultra 2 the center of gravity is much closer to the face of the screen. With a rig setup like this or similar: http://xcsinc.com/ultimate2/1199.jpg you may find that Eric's method results in perfectly acceptable dynamic balance while with a rig like this: http://www.moscowcam...ltra2_large.jpg it might be much worse. Just a thought, haven't actually tried Eric's method on either rig but I do know that it tends to result in decent dynamic balance with my rig where most of the weight at the bottom is close to being on the same plane. ~Jess

Except so far it doesn't actually work..... They have been promising this thing for years and redesigned it a number of times during that time. I look forward to trying it out when they actually have a working product but I am not holding my breath. ~Jess

If you can get a few people interested it is not at all hard to get Peter to come to your town to do a workshop. Email him, there might even be one that works for you already in the works. ~Jess

At the redrock booth they only had a non functioning remote focus. They made some vague reference to latency issues and said they don't want people using it because a lot of it is going to change. They also had a mockup of a version that you stick an ipod touch into and then I think it uses it for communication. So personally I am still considering this thing vaporware until they can show me something that actually functions correctly. ~Jess

The HDMI addition sounds good for people who are mounting these things on monitors but for us we really need it to go the other direction. If it was HD-SDI or HDMI in and HD-SDI and composite out that would be a very useful box. I mentioned this to the guy at the booth today and he said that they heard that a lot at NAB and made it sound like they are going to consider making some sort of hdmi->hd-sdi box in the very near future. Personally I have no use for the added HDMI functionality so prefer the smaller and lighter original decimator. ~Jess

I know its out of what your are budgeting but if I were you I would seriously consider this Marshall: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/621935-REG/Marshall_V_LCD651ST_3GSDI_SL_V_LCD651ST_3GSDI_SL_6_5_Field_Camera_Top_Monitor.html It is as cheap as you are going to get with good daylight viewability in a monitor that is really suitable for what we do. At the monitor shootout it was one of the best performing LCDs there in terms of daylight viewability. Its main drawbacks are the lack of certain features such as image flip and adjustable framelines but you are going to spend significantly more to get a monitor with those features and good daylight viewability (the Nebtek would be the next one up in price) It is available with HDMI but I think you lose HD-SDI to get it. You would be much better off with a blackmagic box for many reasons but of course that would add another $500 or so. ~Jess

Thinking of heading out there Sunday night or Monday morning. If anyone wants a ride from LA/Santa Monica all you gotta do is pitch in on the gas. Not yet sure how long I will stay. ~Jess

Honestly I don't think much if any modifications will really be necessary, it is all just a matter of technique. As already mentioned for the first few years of Steadicam (up until The Shining I believe) two handed operating hadn't been invented yet so everyone operated one handed despite the rigs being essentially designed the same way they are now. With two handed operating one hand does the positioning allowing your post hand to maintain a much lighter touch. With one handed operating your post hand is doing positioning and aiming so at times a slightly heavier(but still very light) grip will be required. It will be more difficult to get good results but with proper technique and a lot of practice it is definitely doable. The extra inertia of heavier rigs will actually be easier for you than lighter ones and when running I often use a one handed technique myself so that shouldn't be a problem for you. The other challenge is of course going to be figuring out how to suit up, adjust things, balance, etc with one hand. You will want someone to assist you when you start out but I don't see any reason that you can't figure out ways to be self sufficient. ~Jess

I know they aren't perfect vehicles for steadicam but i just scored a rather nice wheelchair at a garage sale and thought I would play with it a bit and see what I can come up with. I am thinking of stiffening it a bit with speedrail and of course adding a post to hardmount. Any other ideas? Anyone have links to pictures for inspiration? Thanks, Jess

Totally agree. I personally want it light but I don't want this to be sacrificed in the process with something silly like a plastic case.(although my current monitor has a plastic case and has survived this test and worse) Well to be fair at times some monitors were further from the sun than others ;-) Not to mention there were rumors that some of the monitors had been doped with lisigav injections.....

As far as weight goes I would say don't add weight for the sake of adding weight. If a user wants more weight there they can add a battery. Personally I prefer a lightweight monitor and adding weight to the bottom of the rig in front of the post but I do understand that most rigs are not setup to do this by default. A battery mount on the monitor solves this. Essential items for winning acceptance from steadicam operators are user adjustable framelines, image flip, digital level and as good of viewability outside as humanly possible. I think one thing that we learned at the shootout was that nit ratings aren't everything. The finish and reflectivity of the screen matters almost as much if not more. Also have you looked at transflective LCDs? I have seen transflective LCDs with standard brightness backlights that were as good if not better than standard LCDs with high brightness backlights. Now if you could figure out how to be transflective and 2000nits you might have something even Eric and Erwin would like. ~Jess

What material are these being made from? ~Jess

I recently had John Ritter recell some of my ProFormers. I was originally a little concerned about the fact that he uses a generic import cell instead of the name brand Sanyo cell used by Anton Bauer but considering the price of the Sanyo cells paying someone to recell a ProFormer with them doesn't end up making much sense. The Sanyo cells alone run almost $50 per battery and he quoted me $55 including return shipping to recell a battery so I figured I would give it a try. He also claims to have been using these cells himself for two years now with no problems and I have heard nothing but good things about his service and the quality of his recells. I sent him two batteries as a test. USPS flat rate shipping makes this cheap and easy ($10.50) His turn around time was extremely quick even though the shipping method isn't the fastest. My initial impression was that he definitely pays attention to detail. He included an instruction sheet on the proper care of the recelled batteries and each battery has a sticker on it with the recell date and his contact info. The batteries were immediately recognized by my Anton Bauer chargers and they charged up with no problem. I decided to pop one of the batteries open to see the quality of his work. I recently had opened up one of the original dead batteries and they look almost identical. I didn't pull it apart too much because I didn't want to mess with my newly recelled battery but the quality of his work is definitely top notch. (the one on the left is the origional, the right is the recell) I have had the recelled batteries for a couple of months now and they have been performing flawlessly. I haven't had a chance to scientifically test their capacity but they have lasted just as long as I would expect a new ProFormer to last. I was curious so I weighed the new batteries and the origional batteries. The origional weighed 1lb 14.6oz and the recelled are 1lb 10oz. It appears that the new cells are slightly lighter so one might want to keep this in mind when mixing recelled and non recelled batteries. This isn't really a concern for me as all of my ProFormers will be recelled ones. I personally like the slightly lighter weight as I needed something light to use with light cameras when I want to keep the sled super light. Heres his info: John Ritter Phone 954-557-9765 Email: siebold35@hotmail.com He also sells on ebay and can recell all sorts of batteries: http://myworld.ebay.com/ritter9 ~Jess

Interested and interested. ~Jess

Wish I could have made it. Yall planning another one anytime soon? ~Jess

Would that be the latest and greatest digital 3D camera?

Damn cyborg camera ops.

How did you hear about my top secret new vest design? Just so you know it is patented and my lawyer is ready with a tube of lisigav for anyone who violates it!

Discussion about how it was done. Kind of slow and boring but its there. Skip ahead to 4:40 atleast.

Is the fore/aft and side to side adjustment from the top of the rig or from somewhere else? ~Jess

I have seen this problem when using a BFD/M-one combo and powering it from the Red battery. The Red will sometimes just shut down while pulling focus. Never had this happen with my Heden motor which is not as powerful. If you power from the sled this should not be a problem. On another shoot we were powering a redbyte downconverter from the accessory port on the camera and the camera was freezing up a lot. Disconnected the redbyte and it stopped freezing. ~Jess

Not sure about the g motion but I have used a chapman gyro stabilized head with the vertical stabilizer that resulted in stable images even when driving off road at high speed. If your having stability problems I would talk to chapman and see if they can help you work it out. ~Jess

You could of course go with a full face respirator and not need the goggles. You would also be well prepared for when you get attacked by tear gas.... ~Jess

While titanium alloys tend to be heavier than aluminum alloys the extra strength means that the parts can be made with less metal. If this is being taken into account then the resulting parts could be lighter while also being stronger, stiffer and more wear resistant. A perfect example of this would be camping cookware. The titanium tends to weigh less than the aluminum because they make it so thin yet it is less prone to denting, etc... Scuba tanks are another good example. Even without using titanium steel scuba tanks are able to be made lighter than aluminum ones because the wall thickness can be made significantly thinner. All that being said I think titanium is a great material for a lot of what we do if used properly. The limiting factor is normally the material cost and the increased machining costs. ~Jess

I have clear ski goggles in my kit that have been a lifesaver on more than one occasion. I did a few days for a disaster movie in the angeles national forest after the fires leveled the place. Looked great for the film but it was not fun when the wind blew. One day the wind picked up and the ash in the air literally blocked out the sun. Every time there was a gust of wind the entire crew would bury their heads and hide. I was fine with my ski goggles and bandanna. What kind of respirator you thinking of getting? I have thought of getting one. Want to find something between those silly little paper things and a huge one that will draw lots of attention. ~Jess