Jess Haas SOC

I am looking to convert my arm from its non standard pin to the traditional socket block in anticipation of an upcoming vest upgrade. Anyone have some spare arm parts sitting around collecting dust? I need the male socket block and whatever else of the hinge and adjustment pieces I can get. The more I get the less I need to make from scratch. ~Jess

I know its a bit touchy of a topic but it seems like if you push yourself it is bound to happen to most ops sooner or later. I was on a show recently where I fell. Luckily the majority of the damage that occurred was to my ego. The shot where it happened I was running while doing linear tracking(tango) following a little girl as she ran across a field. Turns out the grass was a little wetter and muddier than I thought and the girl was running a whole lot faster than expected. I didn't really trip as much as I lost traction and the sled kept going while I didn't. Once the weight got out in front of me with the momentum I had, going down was inevitable. As far as I can tell I landed on my knees and my sled landed on the front of the battery rods before I turned it and laid it down on its side. The mag popped off the camera but it and everything attached to it was completely fine. I bowed out of the rig and got up with a bruised ego but no other damage. My battery rods were bent which I repaired with a block of wood and a hammer and my rig was up and running again in a matter of minutes. Later I figured out that one solder joint in a cable had also broken lose but that was an easy fix. Thinking back on it linear tracking while running requires the sled to be further from your body than when running forward or backwards which contributed to this incident. If I hadn't hit a wet spot I would have been fine but in the future I will probably be a bit more careful about running while doing it with a heavier camera and long sled. Of course it was the first shot of the day on a show where I wasn't getting a whole lot of sleep so that probably played a small part as well. So does anyone else want to share a falling down story and what you learned so that I don't feel like a fool all by myself? I may look into getting some cleats for use when running on grass. I have some cleats for working on ice but they wouldn't work very well for grass. Anyone out there using cleats for wet grass or other similar situations? What kind? What do you take into consideration when doing running shots and deciding how fast you can go? ~Jess

Very nicely done. If only the song was better.....

I wouldn't hesitate to ask Panavision. Rental houses do stuff like that all the time. Of course they might say no, especially with all the digital shows they are providing for right now. ~Jess

It could all be in my head but I feel like my follow focus motor is noisier than it used to be. I did a shoot recently where I spent a good amount of time in wet environments and where the AC would go past the end stops on the lens when calibrating on a regular basis so one or both of these things could have something to do with it. I plan on opening it up and poking around inside but would like to get some advice on oiling, adjustments, etc... Anyone know anything about the subject? ~Jess

Judging from the video it looks like the remote doesn't have end stops on the focus knob. I assume that it will keep your focus marks when you go past the end and back, but it seems kind of strange. If you go all the way around does it jump from one end of focus to the other or does it get confused?

As far as harnesses go I would say atleast two points is usually going to be the way to go on a vehicle. With one point it is often very difficult to restrict your movement enough to keep you from being dragged if you fall off. If your leash is long enough to drag you being harnessed is most likely making you less safe than not having one at all. I often carry a pair of EMT shears just in case something where to happen that made it difficult to release myself. ~Jess

I believe AB P Taps are usually rated for 10amps although I don't know about the ones on the IDX plates. In a pinch I have powered the RED through the one on its battery plate with no adverse affects. ~Jess

Depending on the setup I often prefer a 2 point harness to a 5 point. For the 2 point to work comfortably you need something to lean against such as a piece of speedrail or a place to use your legs as leverage to keep you from going back and back support to keep you from going forward. This of course depends on a lot of factors and personal preference. ~Jess

I have a low mode cage of sorts made by actionproducts that has the ability to tilt. It would probably work for your needs. My gear will be back in LA on Monday if you want to check it out. ~Jess

Even cheaper than Markertek and the exact same cables: http://www.sjmediasystem.com/mb-mb-6.html Been using them for a while now and still haven't had one go bad. I even closed one in the lid of my case causing a horrible crimp in the cable but it still works fine. ~Jess

Looking forward to the shootout. Any chance of getting any OLED prototypes from Tiffen or anyone else there? ~Jess

If you would prefer I will buy it and rent it to the production for the run of the feature for $520 :-) ~Jess

You mean you didn't replace the monitor on your sled with a 3D one? :-) That could be kind of trippy. I was reading a little about 3D today and it looked like it was possible to use a single preston to do 3D. You can gang two of the channels to put a focus motor on each lens and then use the third channel for convergence. Was the second preston to allow the use of zoom or iris or was it doing something completely different? ~Jess

Yeah, I already have two different displays I don't really need a third. Looks kind of cheesy as well. It does look like it takes up less realestate. Are they trying to put even more information on the screen?

I am wondering what the lift difference between the two really is. It seems that on there website they describe the G50 arm as having a total capacity of 50pounds while the G40 as having a camera capacity of 40 pounds when used with the archer2 sled. Sounds a lot like the same lift capacity really although that could just be poor wording. Anyone have an idea on the price of a G40 arm by itself? ~Jess

But the metric system is surely on its way out as everyone is going to adopt the far more logical imperial system. Why would someone want to switch to something that won't exist much longer?

Thanks for fixing it Tim! This has been a problem for a while and brought up in the support forum a while ago but I never got around to bugging the right people to get it fixed. I guess I owe you $50 now :-) Erwin-You can post pics without being a sustaining member you just don't have very much storage space to do it with. Now that the bug has been fixed anyone can view pictures even those posted by sustaining members. Sorry for the hijack. ~Jess

I have no problem with paying to help support the great resource that is the steadicam forum and have been planning on doing it for some time. As far as the image thing goes I personally do see it as a problem and since it isn't mentioned as one of the advantages of being a member I feel that it is more of a bug than a feature. It seems strange to me that a regular member would be able to post pictures on the forum that everyone can see while a sustaining member has to store them on another server or else only sustaining members can see them. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I will make no attempt to change yours. I do stand behind my statement that if this policy is changed I will gladly pony up the $50 and become a member right now. ~Jess

Fix the problem that keeps non sustaining members from being able to see images posted by sustaining members and I will. I want everyone to be able to see things that I post. ~Jess

For those of us who aren't sustaining members and as such can't view your picture would you mind saying where on the site you found this ad? ~Jess

If you dont mind me asking which Mogami cable are you using? ~Jess

My comment was about the author not you. I meant no offense. ~Jess

Why bother with a website if you aren't going to put up any pictures? ~Jess

I figured it would. I guess I was just feeling dramatic last night. ~Jess