Jess Haas SOC

Doesn't include the latest mods and some pieces aren't on it for the picture but its what I have handy:

I am thinking about using this diode: http://mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroele...EkEDEfs9dBHE%3d Anyone have any input on it? 30A 30V max. in stock at mouser. really low current drop. looks like it should fit the bill. ~Jess

Personally I would prefer it having a little 2.5" screen to a bigger one. That would give the AC an idea of the frame without making it huge. ~Jess

The bridge plate is easily unbolted and flipped to the other side for goofy operation. ~Jess

Mike, just curious whether you ever skate with full sized cameras(typical 35mm setup) or just lighter running rig style setups? ~Jess

Congrats!

Except it's neither as thin or flexiable as the 9221 and since you have to use a barrel mist dit's aren't really going to appreciate that cable. Just because it's cheap doesn't make it good Considering that it IS Belden 9221 I would think that it is both as thin and flexible.... The fact that it requires a barrel is far less than ideal but if he needs a solution in a hurry they are available premade and as I said are high quality cables despite the low price. ~Jess

This was done for reliablity reasons. We were having a small percentage of the power switches fail over time. But even more importantly, this prevents a problem where an operator changes a battery, then fails to turn the nanoFlash back on. This was our overridding reason for making the change. The possiblity of not recording, since the unit was powered off, while the operator thought it was on, is just too dangerous. Can you make the unit default to on but still allow the button to turn the unit off and on? That seems like the best of both worlds because if you really want to turn it off you can but otherwise it will always be on. ~Jess

I guess it depends on the size of the connectors but I have watched Terry do it to one of my cables after it was made so it is possible. Been meaning to buy some of the clear shrink and some labels so I can label my others. ~Jess

Doesn't have the male connector but they are well made and cheap: http://www.sjmediasystem.com/mb-mb-6.html Tecnec has a bunch of LA dealers so should be able to find them locally here as well. ~Jess

Who did the laser etching and roughly what did it cost? For cables a printed label with clear shrink tubing over it seems to work well. ~Jess

I would be a little more comfortable with something like the cinerover where you get two more wheels and a little more support: http://cinerover.com/ I did notice that it has a seatbelt but im not sure I would want to be strapped in if the grip tripped or lost his grip.... ~Jess

Totally agree. I think a BFD is a much more attractive option. The only people who might think otherwise would be people who already have digital motors but aren't most of their systems multichannel anyway? ~Jess

You can count me in plus 1. ~Jess

Doesn't look like it can play back which removes a lot of the reason I like having an onboard recorder. If you don't want to be able to play back it looks nice and simple. ~Jess

I think he was saying that the only way to get SD into the system was with SDI. Not that it wouldn't do HD. ~Jess

Im up for it. What part of town you live in? I am in Santa Monica. ~Jess

If you end up with an extra set of pads you don't need I might be interested in taking them off your hands. Working on moding a vest(not a pro) at the moment and if they are the right dimensions they might come in handy. ~Jess

Moving to LA? You didn't mention that. In that case the advice is totally different. Don't buy anything and chose a different profession. We don't need any more competition :-) All joking aside on the low end there is a ridiculous amount of competition in LA especially thanks to the Flyers, Pilots and even glidecams of the world. That said if my experience is any indicator if you work your ass off you should still be able to find more work than in Ohio. Be sure to let us know when your out here so we can all grab a drink. We did that shortly after I moved here (almost a year ago) and it made for a fun (and interesting) night. ~Jess

I would say that Steve is right in that it will be very difficult to make money with a Flyer as the size of projects you are likely to be on will not be looking to pay anywhere near a reasonable rate. What the Flyer will do is give you a rig that you can practice with and allow you to get some experience on set with. Those gigs that can't pay a reasonable rate will most likely be the same gigs you start out with regardless of what rig you have as you need to get experience somewhere. The main problem with the Flyer is going to always be having to ask what what camera and accessories very first thing as your ability to do the job will depend on that. The camera that is going to really give you problems is the Red. You will run into it a lot in the low budget market and while you can fly it stripped down on a Flyer on low budget jobs they never seem to have the correct accessories to fly it stripped down. In my experience even when I am told we will be recording to CF cards for one reason or another we always seem to end up on the harddrive. They also never seem to have a clip on matte box or a good method of mounting their matte box as a lot of people seem to only have the Red shoulder pad and the long Red steel 19mm rods. As far as ENG cameras go you will be having a lot of the same problems as with the Red in terms of having to make sure that they are as stripped down as possible and being in trouble if they want to add much in the way of accessories. The Flyer is a good rig and if you can't afford anything better in the near future I would say it is a good option as you are going to need some practice before you are good enough to take bigger jobs anyway. You are also going to need accessories such as a wireless follow focus which you will be able to use with a bigger rig when you move on up. Just don't expect to be able to make a good living with it unless you have particular clients in mind. ~Jess

That reminds me. There is one AC I promised I would bake a loaf of bread for next time we work together :-) The UV lens light idea is great. Even if they have a lens light they might not have a UV one. ~Jess

If they don't have a lens light sometimes you can find those little gooseneck LED lights at electronics stores for cheap. Add a little velcro for mounting and they make a decent cheapo lens light. Or maybe a framed copy of Ted Churchills Requirements For Steadicam Assistants? ~Jess

Thanks for the info. My experience with generic import cells is that they normally don't live up to the capacity rating or last nearly as long as the proper name brand cells. Also the amount of amperage they can handle is often less. How much would you want to recell using the proper Sanyo cells? ~Jess

I would advise against doing totally free stuff unless you are already very good friend with the person. It totally changes how people treat you. Demand some amount of money even from student films. If there are any film schools in your area try to get in touch with the students and/or film teachers. Also post on places like craigslist saying that you are available and what you are looking to work on. ~Jess

What is incorrect? Mass has everything to do with inertia. Besides we already discussed the generalization of my statement and it was not a generalization it was a miss understanding. Read the posts. I never even mentioned pan inertia. I only mentioned the possible need to move the batteries out because when you remove weight from the bottom of a rig and lengthen a post to maintain the same rotational inertia you may need to move the masses at the bottom of the post out slightly in order to make up for the removed mass as it may be necessary to maintain the same pan inertia. I didn't go that in to detail because it wasn't necessary for the point and I probably wouldn't even have mentioned it but I was being thorough so that there wouldn't be any holes in my statements for someone to jump down my throat about. No one is questioning that and I think we all already knew it. I never said I don't care about them just that small changes in non rotational inertia are not as important as large changes in rotational inertia when it comes to the smoothness of the shot. Hence the whole design of the steadicam to minimize unwanted rotational movement. I know that and have already said that in my last post. I guess in the future I will stop illustrating my points and just leave that up to you. Already said that also also. Actually I already said that although you may have repeated it. I was reiterating as there was some questioning of my statements. Then why make the post if you are going to let the mistake stand. It devalues the currency of anything you post. Let me state this again Rig LENGTH (height) has NOTHING to do with Pan rate. it WILL affect Roll and Tilt. I didn't let it stand I pointed out the mistake. Besides it is a minor error that doesn't effect the point of the statement. And again who said rig length has anything to do with pan rate? ~Jess