Jason Torbitt

A very Merry Christmas to everyone who is celebrating. I hope you all have a good break, and best wishes for a successful and rewarding 2008.

In addition to my clear plastic pencil case approach, two of my colleagues also have a neat solution for cables - they use circular padded zip up container/bags, which is actually designed for storing CDs, for use in the car. They have a few of these in the sled case, and have one for focus cables, one for power, one for video etc. Works well, neat and tidy and good protection.

You guys in the US are lucky - prep days seem to be becoming less and less common here in the UK, sadly. They're always paid, that goes without saying - but they seem to be very infrequent nowadays, due to "time" and "budget", but nevertheless it often all boils down to lots of surprises on the first day of shooting, working out what you've got, what you haven't got, what you need and what you are amazed that they haven't thought of. In the same way, call sheets seem to be becoming more of a rare-ity, too - more and more last minute planning seems to be the way things are going.

I just received my Klassen Universal #180 which I'm really happy with. I've been using a front mount for the best part of 5 years, a Master vest, which I actually found to be reasonably comfortable over time, and grew used to. I've always been happy with my posture and have always taken care to operate properly and stand up straight. When I was setting my Klassen up, I realised that I have actually developed an ever so slight lean to one side, and also a very slight lean backwards. With my Klassen now, I simply can't do this - not only does it support and protect the back, and distribute the weight more effectively for me personally, it encourages correct posture and corrects myself. Stood in front of a mirror, I can see the difference, just to look at. And the comfort and support is out of this world. Having been stood talking for 10 minutes, I realised that I was still wearing my Master - with my front mount, it would have been on my shoulder or on the stand within 5! We all have different body types and different physiques and work in different ways, what works for one person may not work for the next, but I'm personally constantly surprised by the difference - totally blown away. I'd share Iain's sentiments - it's most definately a thing of beauty, but a definate workhorse and very well designed. Craftmanship is excellent, and it's nice to have a part of the system that's custom made for me - it's a part of me, and even has my name engraved on the leather, a nice touch - I'm a happy man!

It seems we're all following in the footsteps of Jeff Muhlstock! I also have a Master Series and a Zoe, and got hold of a microphone holder last week to do the same modification - regardless of what sled you have, I feel that the two prongs of the Zoe aren't too good for our work, and they seem to run the risk of scratching and messing up the gimbal handle over time - a nice secure, non slip mount is what's needed - I've lost count of the number of times that the Zoe comes loose mid-shot!

Hi Anthony I've tried sending the triax cable down the arm, it works nicely provided you leave enough slack to work with. I have the yellow thin cable - usually I run it from the camera, through the camera handle, a loop down, then run it to the gimbal, where I can keep a hold on it while I'm operating / zooming, then run it up the arm, over my shoulder and normally secure the orange 11mm triax cable to the back of the vest. I usually find myself not bothering with fixing it to the arm though, usually it goes straight to my shoulder. I made attachments to my Master vest with velcro flaps, to hold it in place on the spar, shoulder and rear of the vest. It's important to make sure that the connection between the two cables is secure at the back of the vest though! Incidentally, this system should be made much easier now - I've just received my new Klassen Universal #180, which conveniently has small loops to hold cables nicely on the straps and the back.

Incidentally I spoke with Howard today, and he told me that for some reason, he has been prevented from posting on the forum, so can't post a reply to this topic with regards to the MK-V coily post cable. I'm sure once this has been resolved, he will have some answers to the points raised in this thread, for those who are following this topic.

Still for sale - they'll go on ebay if nobody is interested...

Strange, I've been having problems with mine recently too, seems to be creeping very slowly on virtually all lenses, digital or not, and seems totally incurable, even using the tiny jewellers screwdriver on the adjustment pot on the side, as Bryan describes. Wondering if it might have got wet one time too many, moisture on the contacts? I had a similar issue with the crash zoom in, and then it not working, but I opened the unit up, and it seemed to be a faulty contact where the adjustment pot unit is connected to the PCB inside - gave it a slight nudge back into position and it worked again. The creeping is still there however, and the only way I can remove it is to set the speed on the side wheel to approx. half way. This isn't so bad, as the Zoe is the best unit out there in my opinion, and it still lets you feather the speed of your zoom, and a neat start / stop. The problem that you are both describing sounds like an issue relevant to certain lenses only, as opposed to my problem, which seems to have been a problem with the remote zoom itself. Did you also try tweaking the 't' and 'w' adjustment pots hidden under the small rubber caps on the lens servo itself, to see if that did anything? I had to bring out my trusty old J7 the other day while my Zoe was in pieces - it's important to have backup for everything, I guess... I might buy one of the Varizoom thumb rocker controllers, and see how that performs too.

Hi Charles, I've got a bit of a thing for clear plastic pencil cases. They're great for cables, keeps them neat and you can usually see exactly what you're looking for, and just fish them out. Quite keen on the velcro hook & loop cable ties too, keeps things organised.

For a Flyer in London, try Joe McNally - his website is www.joesjibs.co.uk, contact details are on there. Hope this helps, J

Shocked to read this awful news. I've not met Chip personally, but had been talking to him recently over the last year or so, and have also bought some bits of kit from him. His warmth and friendliness came across so well to someone who hadn't even had the fortune to meet him. I'm sure all our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time.

Try Teletest - www.teletest.net

Forgot to mention, I also have a spare Gorelock 1 docking ring, again the Master Series/Ultra post size of 1.580". Let me know if you are interested.

For Sale - 2 x Master/Ultra docking forks (original design), each has a docking ring for the 1.580" Master post size, and an aircraft pin each too. Please note, these are just the forks, not the entire Master Series docking bracket assembly. Good for backup or spares. If you want both, or just 1, let me know, make an offer. Will ship worldwide, and can take PayPal payments. Can email photos - just ask. Selling as I use Gorelocks. Thanks, Jason

It looks like I have a shoot next week with the first RED camera that's arrived on our shores so far,with a set of superspeeds. I've done some enquiring, and apparently ours has a standard V-lock battery plate on it, so can get away with just using a regular Sony/IDX battery kit with it. Not got that far yet with video connections and downconversion, but will post full details here next week if all goes according to plan, should be fascinating.

I would also stand by the Modular 51 kit - I have some of their stuff - extremely well made and durable. It will take a while to receive your order, but it's very much worth the wait! Good quality at a good price.

Hi Dave How are you? Hope you're well! My advice would be to steer clear of the Modulus in the UK - as you say, very illegal, and there is always the risk that the wrong people can pick up what you're transmitting. As much as a pain 2.4 Ghz can be, what with every other form of wireless technology also using it, and the ususal issues of signal loss/ break-up and multipathing, sometimes it is better to be safe rather than always worrying about what could happen. I wouldn't imagine for a minute that anyone using one here would actually get caught for using one - but having said that, the book would be sure to be thrown hard in your direction, I'd bet. Great tool, but personally I wouldn't take the risk. Hope you're well and busy! Cheers J.

Hey Job, hope you're doing OK. I'm pretty certain the one on the DSR-450 is rated at 50W; the other week I powered Teletest transmitter and a BFD / M-One off this port OK, it was fine. That said, I've never tried running 2 motors off it, always focus only. Good point though, I try and make sure that every bit of kit I have has a 4 pin XLR cable, that way you know you can power it from anything. It's also good practice to have a small case in the van with power and video cables / connectors / adapters from anything, to anything - that way you can never get caught out! J.

Robert, Steer well clear of the 12 pin Hirose on the rear of video / HD cameras. 9 times out of 10 if you power anything off it other than a radio mic receiver, you'll blow the fuse. There is a Sony upgrade for this which improves the rating of the hirose, but generally it's impossible to tell if it's safe to use for our needs. You will find that on the DSR-450 there is an identical Anton/Bauer style D-Tap connector on the camera handle (virtually all one piece video cameras have this feature, designed to power a camera onboard top light). This D-Tap is identical to the D-Tap you'd find on an Anton/Bauer battery plate, and is suitable for us to use for video TX's. Use this port with your existing cable and you'll be fine. You can even make up a D-Tap splitter cable if you're feeling brave, to 2 x 4 pin XLRs - then you can power 2 accessories off the one port, should you so desire. Hope this helps, good luck. Jason

As well as mounting options for the various designs and models, also take note of how they work in combination with the newer style digital broadcast / HD lenses. Some controllers seem to uncontrollably drift or creep, no matter how much tinkering you do with the potentiometer. My Zoe has performed well to date (having modified the cable, and worked out a good way of mounting it on my Master). The other week we used the Varizoom with a nice HD digital Canon lens, and it performed well with no drifting issues (except towards the end of the day, but by this point we were soaking wet, and the water probably had more to do with things more than anything else)

I also used the F900R last week and didn't conciously notice any frame delay issue (using the internal downconverter board). A 3 frame or so's delay is something that can be coped with almost unconciously whilst operating. The particular shoot in question involved lots of whip pans and fast movement, and I had no problems with frame delay that I can remember.

That Transvideo monitor does look extremely good - also took a good look at it at IBC. I agree, the 8" looks to be the best option - HD complete with tally & bubble, and the casing / housing looks to be virtually bomb proof - very durable. It will be interesting to see if this monitor becomes more widely used over time.

I'm not sure whether you would be able to modify the Flyer to get firewire down the post - there might be issues getting the cable through at both ends... What I can tell you, is that you can fit a firestore / hard drive nicely on the Flyer's monitor bracket - I did this the other week, and it fits nicely between the monitor and the post. However, I did this with the firewire cable running up to the camera, as you describe, and a zoom demand on the gimbal, so far from ideal in terms of cabling. Balancing was OK for both static and DB, but it was a slight issue in terms of freedom of movement when operating, and a constant paranoia that the cable would become loose at camera or hard drive end - given the shot was a constant 90 minute take, it would have been disasterous if this had happened!

This is a common problem with the original 4" / 5" CRT monitors and the 'half moon' mounting rails. Over time, thing do work slightly loose, and from time to time, vibrations do start being visible on rushes. The best solution is to go with a Marell monitor mount, and mount your monitor with a spigot. Marell sell a plate that attaches to the bottom of your CRT monitor, which will allow you to mount it to your sled in the same way you might mount an LCD monitor with a spigot. It provides a much more satisfactory, solid mount, and also makes things a million and one times easier when swapping monitors, or stripping down the rig - it is hard work to attach / detatch the Hirose power/video pigtail with the half moon rails always getting in the way - it isn't a quick or easy task, but if you were to go with the Marell mount, you can swop monitors quickly and easily in the field if neccessary. Cheers J