Mike Germond SOC

Thanks for the response,

That 25lbs figure is Camera Weight. I figured it out by gaff taping a 25lb dumbbell to the dovetail plate. My arm flew it with no sagging all the way tuned up.

It's not going to be "Cinema'ed out" from what I've seen. The company owns 4-5 of them and a few other HVX500's as well.

Chris, how would one go about getting one of those plates or having one made?

Thanks,

Mike

The Panasonic VariCam may be playing a large part in my career very soon. I'm curious what I should be prepared for. Here's what I'm working with:

-Flyer LE (SD Monitor, arm tested to 25lbs)

-Terry West power distro box for multiple P-Taps and multiple XLR4's

-BFD/SLD100

-Coss Video Transmitter

My main concerns are weight and necessity of a down converter.

Anything else to look out for?

That's hilarious, especially since I'm pretty sure you don't wear a white jumpsuit while operating, so some thought went into this..

My worry is what discernible footage there might be (judging by the direction the camera is pointing) :lol:

Just as a matter of preparation, I have at least 2 ways to power each of my accessories. My BFD has about 5 ways depending on which camera we're talking..

Good to note. Mine just got in, so I'll be sure to do that.

Since the Flyer LE has the 3-pin LEMO for 12/24V operation, I had Terry west make up one of those 4-port P-Tap boxes with the appropriate LEMO connector for my sled and a pigtail hanging off of it acting as a "pass through" for the 3-pin LEMO.

My BFD, Transmitter, and RED cable have the P Tap on them

I'd say I've seen it all now, but nobody has attempted to follow Shaun White through a halfpipe yet...tricks and all!

So who's the lucky man on the winter olympics this year that wants to put it to the test? :lol:

You will have to have battery on the camera. Sled won't power it for long.

 

It's entirely possible to power the RED from the sled, that's how I do it in both lightweight and full-size modes. It all depends on what battery you are using (and assuming that your wiring through the post is within useable specs). See here for an example: the RED battery at the base of the sled (using v-mount to AB adaptor plate) is powering the camera, Decimator, Camwave transmitter, Red drive, LCD (FLyer monitor), Preston F/I and Preston zoom control. The camera ran continuously for probably 40 minutes between battery changes, this being a live concert; would have lasted longer in a stop/start situation. That's plenty of time, in my mind.

Hey Charles,

Are you running multiple batteries in parallel on your franken-flyer like the stock LE was set up for? I'm curious if that 40min estimate is for 1 battery or multiples. I got passed on a RED gig, but I run all v-mount PowerCubes on my rig and was planning on swapping 1 battery at a time with the RED Bricks that production had rented. I hadn't real-world tested the setup yet, but was going to be running 1 BFD, Coss Transmitter, AJA, RED One, and Flyer moniter (with a Terry West power breakout box custom for my LE). I'm semi curious how long that would have lasted..

~Mike

contact Will Eichler...he has 1 more BarTech kit left (I bought his first one)

will (at) williameichler (dot) com

Isn't it fun calibrating the lens by that stupid window on top of it? I was using the soon-to-be-mine bartech, so calibrating was very simple despite my distaste for the lens. Actually the 1 positive that comes from those endless spinning lenses is that if you pass your end stop, you can just go to the other end and pass it a little bit to get the motor back in the lenses range. No need to tilt the motor away and re-center the lens and motor.

Amazing what it does in pure darkness isn't it? The director from my shoot had his EX-1 on set just to prove to their shop that the 5D was a better choice. There was little to NO DoF with the EX-1 mimicking the same shot as mine (handheld of course). The director hates what the Letus and similar adapters did to the colors the last time we used it, so I fear there is a lot more 5D to come!

Charles, I think I need to make a couple short adapters. One for this 1/8th" nonsense, and one for the goofy EX-1 composite output!

Here's some of my prep for a recent commercial. No need for HD wireless on this one, so my setup appears a bit smaller. I had to add the steel weight to get it to the top of my LE's range. You're right Charles, good inertia on this one.

While that is a 70mm-200mm lens, I was very adamant about letting them know what shots wern't appropriate for a Steadicam. I was much more comfortable once we downgraded to the 24mm-70mm lens..

My biggest complaint would be the amount of extra cable to manage! Plus those SLR lenses arn't fun to calibrate with the electronic ring and limited markings. It did what they needed it to do. I just hope they don't get in the habit of renting this as their "poor man's RED"

I'm in a similar position right now, except I started out with a Flyer LE. Too many RED One and F900 projects are popping up! I don't want to sell myself short and have to deal with the limitations of an Archer, but Clippers are so darn expensive! Designing my own modular system with PRO is an attractive idea. I almost got the ActionCam RED edition, but support being overseas could be a headache..

Mike

Terry also makes a very handy splitter for that 3-pin LEMO...might be just the ticket for you

3-pin FGG.0B.303 LEMO (female) for power on the top stage

BNC for video

You say Flyer LE to Terry and he knows exactly what all the connectors are and can make you any power cable you need. A new rig usually comes with the 3-pin LEMO to 4-pin XLR power. In some cases it's simply easier to just convert from 4-pin XLR. I made my own splitter to support wireless video and a Bartech at the same time.

The unfortunate part is that there is no power/video at the bottom of the post, so you get top heavy very fast with all those accessories up there. Terry and I have been working up a breakout box for the lower spar. He would chop into tiffen's multi core cable and wire an 8-pin PRO style LEMO to it that would plug into the box. The box would have video and a few power outputs of my choice, as well as an opposite sex 8-pin LEMO to continue on to the monitor. That would allow some accessories down there, but the box could still be removed and the monitor cable plugged back up like stock.

Or you could just upgrade to a bigger rig that has all of this already...which is what I'm hoping to do pretty soon..

no adjustment to trim for headroom apparently..

Don't joke about the 5D and 7D. I had to do an entire spot with one just yesterday. After all of the FF goodies, wireless video, lens, rails, and mattebox, I added about 15lbs of steel weight to get the thing manageable!

I'm shooting with the 5D and a Zacuto rail system with BFD this week, so I'll have a fair chance to evaluate that setup. I'll report my findings..

$500/10hr day

$300/5hr day

1.5x hourly rate after 10 hours.

2x hourly rate after 12 hours.

All out of pocket expenses reimbursed (transportation, tolls, parking, etc.)

I'm still working with a Flyer LE (not for much longer) and those rates are extremely low for me!! I'm sure I can't justify charging as much as some of the big guns do, but your full day is my partial! I base my rates off of 2 operators in Michigan that I respect very much, and would never want to undercut. One of them was the guy that first exposed me to Steadicam, and the other continually helps me with questions and gear and has thrown some business my way that has become ongoing. In fact, I'm doing a gig this week because one of them can't, and I wouldn't be caught dead charging a dollar less than the other guy. As soon as I do that, the client will start to always lean towards me, and I become the other operator's competition.

I'm not saying fake it till you make it, but like James said, keep the bar high. Always be striving to be a dependable, respectable operator that producers and directors expect a good product and a good attitude from. I'd never want to be known as the cheap guy who's product reflects the price (even though many productions get this and don't know enough to realize it).

Just my .02 after a rough first year..

An easy alternative to putting a motor and servos on your cart! Hey if they can drive a Mini Cooper through a house in "Italian Job" I see no reason why you couldn't just drive your "Smart Car-t" on set.

Don't you go turning that tent/trailer into a video village alternative Erwin! Directors might start expecting all of us to show up on set with that equipment now!

@ Afton - I thought he looked familiar!

@ Rob - I agree with your comments 100%...that's why I added the caveat that I was using a Flyer LE. Long lens stuff like that should be reserved for a bigger rig with more inertia. I had my antlers with me, and it was windy down there on the Detroit River, but the Producer thought they looked ridiculous and wouldn't let me strap them on at the beginning of the day. I made them expandable to 40" too!

@ Kevin - The wedding video industry is becoming increasingly competitive. You wouldn't believe it but most of the non-Steadi material came from the 5D MKII. The "dolly" is called a GlideTrack and is the junkiest piece of gear I've ever seen. It requires 10 takes to get a usable shot. If it's not on the GlideTrack, it's on a mono pod or a rifle mount shoulder brace.

@ Mark - Canon XH-A1 with a zoom-thru wide angle adapter and a Firestore. I use a 13lb steel weight plate between the stage and camera to max the arm out. They shoot everything in HDV @ 24P. Only the Steadicam shots in that cut were mine, with a scattering of Glidecam shots because I can't slide into a parking spot and hop out the door with my rig on and recording.

I appreciate everyone's comments, especially the ones suggesting improvements. If you could see the rigs that I've fit on this Flyer LE, it would blow your mind. My favorite is the real long Mini35 rail mounted deals, for the feel of course.

I'm sure I'm not alone, but ever since his youtube videos got a lot of buzz on here, I keep his style in the back of my head when I'm shooting. Of course I only have a Flyer LE to work with...Check out 01:56 and tell me what you think:

http://www.epicmotion.com/blog/weddingvide...-same-day-edit/

The editor did cut me a bit short I must add. And none other than Will Eichler popped his head in later that evening with his modified EFP during the event, shooting for a client with a bit more budget of course.

I was curious once upon a time so I inquired to Tiffen about rods and they make something for the flyer plate. I didn't dare ask how much it costs. I do have the lowmode handle bracket already though. I need to fabricate a bracket to hold the Seitz receiver and amp so I can have a working backup unit on hand..

To bring my old thread back from the dead..

I found another piece of equipment subject to jitter. I shot last weekend with an EX1 where the Director decided he didn't want to use the Letus and Zacuto rail system we had planned for (imagine how this threw me for a loop with a BFD in my hands)! Luckily he had a gear ring for the EX1 body. Unfortunately to mount the BFD motor, we opted to use some off-brand rail plate so he wouldn't be charged for opening the other kit. Picture 2 plates about 1" apart, only connected by 2 small post sections that were offset to one side. It left the whole left side of the plate free floating. Of course the torque from Will Eichler's M-One motor twisted the camera like an old Ford Mustang doing a brake-stand! We were also shooting vehicle mounted, long lens...so you get where I'm going with this...

Just another example of how a production scraping for pennies ends up costing themselves more.. :rolleyes:

I'm keeping my options open for an additional FF motor or 2 right now. Ideally a Heden M26P would be nice since I already have one of them, but I'm looking for any options that are interchangeable with Seitz, BFD, and the like..

Give me a buzz!

Jim,

Do you have a source on that antenna? By your description, it sounds identical to the one on the transmitter..

Also, would something in the high 900's and early 1000's interfere with the Bartech?

Mike

That explains why the Bartech operates in the 900's I suppose ;)

Mike "wish I had a Bartech" Germond