axel ebermann

I used to have a 1st gen. Bolt 300 and it was very much a love-hate kind of relationship. Small size, cheap - looses signal when you sneeze. Range is on-existent.

Thinking of it now I think it was more like a hate relationship, but at the time it was the only transmitter at that size and price point.

Upgraded to a 2nd generation Bolt 2000 and pretty happy with it. The transmitter is small and light, which for us steadicam operators is great.

I always dread having to drag around the toaster-sized Boxx. Plus, despite its stellar reputation, I had a lot of bad experiences with the Boxx. Including one

that was not only toaster-sized but also smelled like one (burned...).

One nice thing about the Teradek is also that you can easily add additional receivers. I have two of them and they are at a size and power draw that I can hand them out

with clamshell monitors.

Seeking help in finding a 85mm Zeiss / Arri 'B-Speed' iris blade

I have a 85mm Arri / Zeiss 'B-Speed' that has a broken iris blade.
(just learned that it is actually not 3 blades that form the triangular
iris, but 9...).
The lens is for repair at Abel in New York, but they have not been
able to source the blade so far.

Want to use this as a clamshell / directors monitor.

Any input from people with hands-on experience would be much appreciated.

I just got my DP7 Pro HB.

I am seeing some weird uneven illumination (aka a bright spot) on the left edge of the frame. Checked

in with Small HD and they claimed that all their monitors have that to a certain degree.

Not necessarily something that I want to see on my monitor....

Anybody else seen this ?

I am all against lowballing.

But what sometimes irks me a little bit is the attitude of super established - and very experienced - operators who once they reach

the top of the food chain suddenly seem to forget that they also started somewhere quite a bit lower - including rates - a couple of years back.

Keep the standards high, but also acknowledge that newbies also need to start somewhere. We are all just trying to put food on our respective tables.

To be honest the Unions are also not really helping in all of this by signing all of these Ultra Low Budget contracts. I was contacted about a Union feature with a $325 day rate a couple of months back.

(I asked the producer if I could just write them a check because as they already expected me to bring money to set instead of earning money I might as well send it in and save myself the commute :-)

I have a system available. Will pm you with details.

Hello, hello ? :-)

Apparently Jerry Holway is the man to talk to.

The old, old question: How many inches are enough ?

With the new transvideo rocking 2000nits but only being 6" I was wondering

if anybody might want to share their experience in respect to monitor size.

I am particularly interested in the opinion of people who either up- or down graded.

"Chris where did you get that long dovetail plate"

-

"I made it…"

PM sent

Ok. Finally got my long awaited Exo Vest.

Yeahhh...

Literally just got it and I will obviously have to work with it for a couple of days before passing qualified

judgement.

However here is the first impression straight out of the box (compared to my Ultra2 vest):

- Very easy to get in and out of the vest. Which is nice. Because now I can take the vest off more often.

- Vest does not need a lot of time to 'settle'. I always felt with the Ultra two vest I couldn't just jump in and fly the rig.

Had to put it on. Put weight on. Then it settled in the right places over the first shot. Which is why I was sometimes reluctant to take it off.

- No chest compression. HEUREKA. What a relief that is. Collapsing your ribcage while operating a steadicam cannot

be good for you - period. Definitely a feeling of new-found freedom.

- The vest seems to put the weight where I like it. This might be different from operator to operator. But I put it on

and immediately felt 'at home' in it.

- I immediately felt that I was transferring less 'jiggle' from myself to the camera sled. Might be the slight swivel of the vest

or that I am not strapped in that tightly anymore.

- The vest is heavier than I thought.

The Exo Vest also smells better than my old vest. However that might be only a temporary phenomenon...

More to follow….

cheers

axel

funny enough I just ordered a motorcycle cover before you posted thinking the exact same thing.

plus hell - they are so cheap - if it doesn't fit who cares :-)

Motorbike cover and they get bigger on one end for the handle bars which is perfect if you have a sled docked on your mag liner.

yep. that might be the way to go :-)

I found that a cover made for a standard 4 burner BBQ grill (that we get in Aust at least) fits over the magliner JR no problems!

And are cheap as chips and available everywhere!

thanks.

I have one of those. But not really large enough for my cart...

Camera Essentials/Patty Harrison

 

http://www.cameraessentials.com/standby_camera_covers.htm

I know they make those silver covers for magliners. I have seen them. I have touched them.

But I can't find them online.

Somebody please slip a brother a link ?

Looking for an antler (preferably V2) system. Anybody wants to part with one ?

OR

Where can I buy them new ?

thanks & cheers

axel

Ouch. Get better soon !!!

"I already bend over so much in life that this might not be the solution for me :-)"

Plus built in brakes, bought and paid for, that ain't brakin' make me MAD :-)

All right.

Here we go. Bought some stuff called "Vitrex A02116 Waffle Tile File, 2" x 5"".

It is basically an Aluminum Oxide grid plate that is very abrasive. Usually used

for filing down ceramic tile edges.

Drilled some holes into the brake plates. Screwed some of that stuff on there and adjusted

the break plates for distance-to-wheel (aka yanked it with some pliers).

Result:

So far rock solid. When I engage the brakes the cart does not move. At all.

I would not sit it on a steep hill like that (I would never do that - period) but it will definitely not roll away in the street.

I am hereby calling this fix 'the axel axle' and everybody who copies it will have to pay me 'ONE MILLION DOLLARS'.

The entire fix cost about six bucks by the way...

Here are my recent thoughts on the topic:

- any kind of brake that only applies pressure on the rubber wheels will potentially be subject to slippage.

Therefore it would be desirable to have a mechanism that truly locks two of the four wheels. Preferably with something like a pin

that extends into a whole in the wheels to completely lock them.

Any kind of mechanism of that sort would rule out the 'smart' wheels because the swivel consistently, which does not work well with any kind of cable / hydraulic line attached.

I am going to try a 'cheap fix' first.

Apart from the obviously flawed design the main problem is that metal on rubber does not create a whole lot of friction - aka braking'.

I found some tile file material from a company called Vitrex made out of Aluminum Oxide. Looks basically like a rough metal grate.

If that stuff is not to brittle and is bolted to the bottom of the existing footbrake mechanism it might actually work.

I shall report back with victory or failure report one the McGyver fix is in place.

Nice.

The footbrake does not lock the 'smart wheels' (they really ain't that smart after all) but as long as you lock two sets of wheels I think the cart should not go anywhere.

When I saw this thread I was incredibly excited that that the brake solution for these crap casters might actually come from a guy named Axle

It's called karma my friend.

Aaron,

I decided I was going to buy an Exovest in late May. After about a week of unreturned emails and phone calls to Tiffen, I finally got in contact with Dan Ikeda who is handling orders. He initially told me there was a 60 day delivery time but it would probably be sooner. I signed and returned the order form. I called Dan last week for any updates and he said it will be here late August/early September. It is slightly frustrating not knowing exactly when it will come, but I know it will be worth the wait :)

Good Luck,

Jordan

>>> After about a week of unreturned emails and phone calls to Tiffen <<<

Welcome to the club. At least you managed to wrestle a date out of them :-)

For those of you who own the Exovest, what was the wait time when you placed the order? Curious to know as I am heavily considering one myself very soon.

I've been waiting for mine for close to two months. No date in sight.