Jason Torbitt

Hello all I have a camera job at the end of the month, flying out to Kosovo. I've never been to Kosovo before, has anyone worked there or been there? Any info and experiences would be great to read. Thanks Jason

Hi Andrew & Ant I support the loose monitor sentiments - check the small allen key fixtures on the runners, mine seems to work itself loose quite happily by itself, which gives a bit of vibration without you neccesserily realising that it's there. Also if you're using a Sony VCT-14 quick release snap plate on the rig, check the rear pin that locks into the rear of the underside of the camera body - more often than not there is some play / movement in there. Loose camera leads to 'that' vibration more often than not. As Ant said, dovetails can be a pain - I find that my Baer-bel plate is a much better option than the original Master dovetail plate, which never seems to have holes in the right places to get more than 1 camera screw in! Good luck Jason

Yes, we never actually came to any firm conclusions over this; in summary it seemed to be the differing angle and position of the arm in combination with the back mount compared with the front mount, i.e. socket block position, was causing the arm to lock up at the ends of the boom range. I'm sure it can be overcome, and I know that several guys use the Master arm with the Klassen vest and have no problems. Check the rubber bumper stops on your arm though to ensure they aren't over-worn.

Hello Dave In addition to the fuse inside the gold mount itself, it could be either the batteries or a short circuit in the sled. In the event of the sled deciding to send power back into the battery, the voltage would plumment as you describe. I wouldn't continue to mount the batteries on the sled until you have done a check of your wiring as you will risk blowing the external fuse on the rear of the battery, or worse, melting the pin contacts or damaging the cells inside the battery casing, which would mean losing a Hytron. You don't want to lose one of them, they're far too good! If it is a battery problem, they may not be charging properly - temperature irregularities or over-discharge of your A/B batteries can mean they do not charge properly at first. Why not contact Anton/Bauer directly, speak to Paul Dudeck (US) or Martyn Sly-jex (Europe) mslyjex@antonbauer.com and see if they have any ideas

Thanks Andrew. Looks like a must-have, seems rock solid. I'm assuming there's another little spigot part that goes into the hole on the bracket and connects it to the LCD?

Just done this upgrade to my vest, thanks to the help on this forum, a great resource. Thanks Chris for posting the photos.

Hi Andrew It would be great to see a photo of the Marell bracket/your setup if you get a chance, I'm looking at LCDs and mounting options on my Master at the moment. Sturdy and rigid is good :) Cheers Jason

Hi Jamie, I've never been asked for a formal Steadicam risk assessment yet - as you say, the way I'm sure we all handle it is to simply block the shot through beforehand, and as you say specify what is/isn't possible, what needs to be moved, what is unsafe, etc. It would be difficult, if not impossible to do without going on a full recce first, before the production, and that's usually a luxury which is quite rare. It would be reasonably straightforward to draw one up - maybe I'll work on one for those 'just in case' occasions...

Congratulations Howard & family. Great news - Hope things are good with you all. All the best Jason

Assuming that it is a gold mount charger, it will charge your digital Trimpacs PROVIDED it is a digital charger, i.e. it has an LCD display on the front. Batteries and chargers have Eprom chips and newer digital batteries generally won't charge on the older chargers - you will need an InterActive charger to do this.

It would probably be possible to modify a J7 focus control to do the job, swap the connector on it...I know MK-V have some of these J7s, I got one the other day. It's also occurred to me there's a gadget called Vocas which does zoom/focus or zoom/iris electronically - it's a handle design but it is do-able from the gimbal, and they seem to sell a nice enough kit package - www.vocas.com Does anybody have any neat/cheap solutions, to run a cable from the standard video 12 pin connector to some form of controller at the gimbal?

Hi Nick It should be relatively simple for someone who knows what they're doing to knock something up. You'd need the pinout assignment for the 12 pin Hirose, and then cable it to some form of potentiometer to gain control of the iris. The thumb roller, as opposed to the usual thumb rocker used in zoom applications, you describe sounds similar to the J7 focus unit or the focus unit found at the base of some Stanton Jimmy Jibs. I worked on 'Emmerdale' the other day where they have their own custom iris control - which plugs into the connector you described, and runs to a small patch box velcro'd to the camera, then out via an XLR lead, hardwired to the video village, where the DoP can watch the monitor and make iris adjustments as and when (s)he feels neccessary. Of course it is also possible to do it all wirelessly, one way being the usual dual channel kit, something like the new MK-V system or a Genio - but the Bartech can also be done by the operator from the gimbal, using one of Jim's gimbal mounted units, but it would be more time consuming to rig up, as it means using a lens motor and focus gear on the rig, rather than plugging directly into the camera. Hope this helps - if you come across a solution anywhere let me know, it would be a useful bit of kit to have.

Thanks, Fred - on the ball as usual! Just what I was looking for.

Hi folks Having some issues with some gear - does anyone know the pin assignment of the 12-pin Hirose on the sony xc-75/77 video tap cameras? Thanks all Jason

2 photos at First Sight Comms: Photo 1 Photo 2

...and a nice picture of one of our UK operators, Simon Wood at the British Open. Does anyone know if he had a focus puller or not? That is the next question...how about a trailer or side pod for the focus puller? ;) ...maybe not. Some great shots at the Open Golf though, well done to all concerned. And a better pair of legs for a days work too....

Good post by Brant. I would add that image flippable is quite important for low mode etc... Electronic level (& frameline) would be nice, although there are other options for that... Definately a nice strong, rigid mounting bracket for mounting to the rig too, if possible. Good luck with the project - a reliable anti-glare HD LCD is a great start!

2.4 Ghz transmitter's aren't reliable enough for any form of transmission/broadcast/big screen events. The frequency is cluttered by every other imaginable device, lots of multipathing etc. The best solution would be for production to hire wireless RF triax cameras that can be relied upon (and can be racked from the truck, which makes things easier)

That will sure save the legs...they tend to use the Steadicam at the 18th hole too, as the golfers make their way up the fairway, which must have been hard work - IIRC they got away with using a Flyer last time with a BBC radio camera on it.

As you say Rob, the Teletest is a usable option and affordable. I've spoken to them and their SDI/2.4 Ghz version is available now, and they think the HD-SDI card wil be ready before the end of the year. Probably worth spending the money, as it is especially useful as a handheld wireless director's monitor for times when it is not used on the rig, so it could be a really useful bit of kit, I know I could put it to good use.

It's surely time that someone manufactured 'The' LCD monitor for us folks to use... 7" HD-SDI SDI Composite Anti glare, daylight viewable AFFORDABLE It can't be that hard... ;)

It looked more like the ACS wirecam, 'Camcat' to me - it looked like one of their white Wescams from the occasional glimpses we had of it from the pitch level.

I have a Zoe with adaptor cables for video lenses and I also have a Varizoom (LANC for MiniDV) to use on the student/low budget jobs. The Zoe is fantastic, the rocker is fantastic, the control you have over speed is precise. The Varizoom is a similar size but the rocker is nothing compared to the Zoe, it is much more rough and ready; and it can get slightly stuck in one direction, causing you to inadvertently zoom the lens in. But once you've mastered it, you can quite happily pull of some nice work using it, and feather out your zooms much better. The flip side of the coin for the Zoe is the unfortunate cable - not quite as thin and flexible as we would like, and there's an attachment on the cable that gets in the way a bit. But definatly the best zoom controller we have at the moment. (especially since the J7 has been discontinued) The overall principal: you get what you pay for. The Zoe is great to have in the kit.

It was an unfortunate end for us at the World Cup too - once again being put down the emotional rollercoaster! Getting back on the subject, what rigs are being flown out there? Front mounts/back mounts? I've noticed a couple of the guys have Hummingbirds on the rigs - how have they been doing with the sun? It must be hot work over there for the operators too...

I also have Camera Essentials gear, which is backed up with clear polythene bags and shrink wrap for the camera, when a camera rain cover isn't available. So long as you have the base of the sled / monitor covered, and covers for your arm, the top of the sled is usually protected by the portabrace or raincover on the camera. I tend to add some plastic wrap to any other bits that aren't covered, but usually everything works fine as it is. I'd reccommend the Camera Essentials gear, very well made. Portabrace covers (i.e camera covers) tend to be a bit more heavy / bulky than we require - as lightweight as possible is good!