Wan Zhong Wei

Hi David, dropped you an email. thanks

Hi fellow operators and friends, Steaditees are still up for grabs! Get one now and wear it on set, without really needing to wear the "actual one" on set for the whole day :) In response to Ron's question, I am afraid the shirts are for uni-sex at the moment. :) Get yours now at http://www.steaditees.bigcartel.com Cheers guys.

Shirts are still available at 25 USD a piece!

Hi Emily, I got a feeling that it might be your WK vest that might be causing some of the operating issues, have you done the "hands free" test to check if your sled is balanced with your standing posture already? If it is possible, you might want to check out a local rental house or a friend to test out traditional front mounted vests, and see if that might be a better option for you. I wouldn't say the footsteps is the main issue here, but your panning, to keep it easy you can always just do some panning exercises just on your docking bracket, and try to get it to be as smooth as possible. always remember that the sled will pan by itself once you start the movement, your fingers are just there to catch it and stop it in the place that you want :) You can always make the rig "more difficult to pan" by increasing your pan inertia. make your batteries and monitor extend further than normal. after some practice you will be fine! cheers!

zephyr vibrations (esp on red epics) is a known issue. I had my fair share of it when I owned the Zephyr previously. the vibrations come unexpectedly and is not directly related to your footsteps, socket block, etc. I may guess that the shaking is just on the horizontal axis, and the shot behaves as if you are on a boat? tilting from left to right like a minor jiggle? judging from your gimbal position, it will be more ideal if you can shorten up your post a bit and shift up the gimbal, that will help bring the CG of the general rig down and closer to the gimbal. It is ok to have a heavy build, but do take note to not build anything excessively high. The v mount is in the strangest position, it might be friendly for a tripod gig, but definitely not when on a steadicam, especially when is on a zephyr, keep the v mount as low as possible to the top stage. also take note and ensure that your matte box is mounted on properly. The problem with the red epic is that the contact point for the dovetail is very small, it is essentially a small box with everything possible built around it, all these extra mounting points will introduce unnecessary shakes and vibrations and they will end up in your short. Just another quick observation, your setup is pretty back heavy, the CG of the camera setup looks like it is in front of the post, try to shift it back, and put some weights on the monitor side instead, the marshall is a pretty light monitor. And for safety, i wouldnt mount my docking bracket on a cardellini clamp. it's a costly mistake.

I am pleased to announce 2 different uniquely hand drawn Steadicam Vest T-shirts to the Steadicam community worldwide. At the moment, LX and UX designs are available And to celebrate Christmas and spread some Christmas cheer, prices have been lowered! Please visit http://steaditees.bigcartel.com/ to place your order, alternatively you can always email in to steaditees@gmail.com and I will be happy to answer any of your questions. Thanks all, and have a good December guys!

So can we be slightly sure that if we connect everything before powering up the sled, it should be safe to use?? As mentioned by Joe and Jess. zhong wei

Greetings Joe! This will be my 3rd time replacing my SDI board, over both my marshall monitors. the 70HXB and the 651STX. and I do believe that they share the same component board. I am not sure how much it costs over at your place, but it is approx 200 USD a pop over here in Singapore. You had similiar issues with a Transvideo monitor? Well that's of concern, I thought this issue only attributed to Marshall monitors. Could you kindly share how did the Transvideo monitor got damaged as well? Might be good learning points for all of us here :) Zhong Wei

I had the EXACT same issue. fried my marshall twice. cost me 250 SGD to replace the SDI circuit board, my teradek was at the bottom of my sled The 24V switch by itself wouldnt cause the monitor to get fried, the 3 pin lemo from the archer2 base has separate pins, if i remember, pin 2 is 12V, pin 3 is 24V, it wouldn't cause the damage as for the 8pin lemo breakout cable, there are 2 different pins on the 8pin that supply 12V and 24V respectively. pin 2 does 12V, pin 7 does 24V. I dont think the pin number 1 (positive) on the 4pin XLR would have been able to receive current from both wires of pin 2 and 7 I don't understand why when we share the same V mount source for the monitor and the teradek, this situation happens. it happens when the SDI out from the marshall monitor touches the SDI in from the teradek. And i am very sure my sled was in 12V mode. Matt, you mentioned that Marshall has only one ground line internal, so are you saying that the power and the SDI ports share the same ground? Hence when the power has no where to go, it will take the SDI component with it as well during a short circuit? If this is a marshall problem, is probably time to rectify it, or it might be easier to swap out for another brand as a replacement unit. cheers zhong wei

A little one take I did during a live-to-youtube show in May, director requested for a steadicam to follow Carly Rae Japsen and to frame the LED wall at the back (they wanted to feature the video compliation while she performs) as best as possible. just one rehearsal the day before, and wham! a lot of unpredictable movements, I did the best I could. segment starts at 0:15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjuLfps9UCA Thank you for watching!

Hi Ron, Looking at the picture that you have posted of the AB battery seated on 2x 357 plates, I think it might do more harm than good due to the increased number of contact points, right now it takes 3 different tiny screws before it hits the battery position. Increased amount of flex, vibrations etc will be introduced. having the battery placed in that position will also imply that the sled will need to be further out in relation to the operator when in missionary position or when during switches, increased effort I must say. I have flown rigs with motors attached to the sides or with cameras having additional attachments on the side, I usually try to build them to balance out each other, (one at each side) if not, the zephyr dovetail allows 3 different horizontal positions for mounting, I am sure you can find the CG via that or with the side-to-side trimming. I am always for a "nearly-neutral" stage, with both fore-aft and side-to-side at their "zeroed" starting positions, relying on my rig building to get things aligned up nicely. Jerry is right too, we spent so much time trying to get the sled in dynamic balance only to realise that the DP or the director decides to ask you to do a tilt, post is not vertical anymore, the balancing doesn't obey. Fly safe!

System is still available, Please direct all enquiries to wanzw89@gmail.com thank you.

Hi Chris, If you dun mind a zephyr, have a look :) http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?showtopic=17657

Price have been reduced to $8000

Hi everyone. I have a complete Steadicam Zephyr SD V Mount package for sale. The package is purchased during December 2011. Condition is good, a bit of a scratch on the vest, nothing major, minor scratch on the arm due to usage, no dents or whatever. Travelling case has scratches due to storage and transport, but no malfunctions at all, everything is perfectly intact!! Package includes: 1x Zephyr Sled 1x Dovetail Mounting Plate with 1x 3/8", 1x 1/4" mounting screws 1x SD 7" Monitor, with DIN Connector - 6pin Hirose connector cable, brand new unused 1x Zephyr arm ( minor scratches ) 1x Standard Vest (scratches at the front spar area, usual signs of wear and tear, carbon fibre material waist pad was replaced by Tiffen during Dec 2012) 1x Docking Bracket with aircraft pin 4x Merlin Starter Weights, 4x Merlin Mid Weights 1x Transport case (minor scratches at the side, no knocks) 1x Manual, EFP DVD Additional goodies. 2x 3pin Lemo - 4pin XLR female Power cable 2x 45cm HD-SDI ultra thin "spaghetti" cable 1x 1m HD-SDI ultra thin "spaghetti" cable 1x Tiffen Original HD-SDI cable 1x 6pin Hirose - 4pin XLR female power cable (I use this exclusively to power my Marshall 651STX, i run this to power the monitor, and an additional HD-SDI line for the signal, super small footprint and keeps cable management at its finest. if you are considering to use a monitor that takes in 4pin XLR power, this is the cable for you) Asking for $8500 USD OBO Please email me at wanzw89@gmail.com if you have any enquiries. Thank you for reading! -Zhong Wei

Hi Victor, yes the problem that I have is exactly the same. It is relieving to know that someone else is having the same problem as me, for a moment I thought it was my operating. Man, the jitter is not pretty. Renders the shot useless. I feel that this is a zephyr problem, but not the EPIC. but it could be because the base of the EPIC is too small, hence the contact point is not strong enough to hold the kind of weight.

Hi everyone, just had a shoot with Red EPIC, with arri ultra prime, clip on matte box, articulating arms for a DP6, V mount at the back, but no switronix adapter. Exhibited the same problem as mentioned, frame was juttering when moving around corners or doing panning, the frame is perfectly fine during a lock off. could it be because the weight of the red EPIC is too top heavy? and the CG of the whole camera is raised too high up? ultimately, the camera base is really small, hence a small surface area of contact point from camera system to dovetail. I was using the sliding baseplate from RED and the quick release system, maybe i should lose both of that and mount straight on next time, to reduce the CG height. could it be because that the post is too thin to support such a system as well? I didnt get this kind of juttering problems when I was flying big broadcast cameras, nor the 5D on the weight plate, am beginning to wonder if the raised CG of the camera has a part to play with this. any comments will be helpful.. thanks..

hi there. i had the same issues last time. use an allen key and remove the entire gimbal screw from the other side. lubricate the screw well with a silcon spray kind of thing. place it back it should work like a charm. do take note not to tighten the allen screw too tightly. lock your gimbal clamp first, tighten a few notches, feel the tightness, release the gimbal clamp and snap it back on, calibrate the strength from there. it shouldnt take too much effort to tighten the clamp. cheers buddy.

Mr Bazil is correct. As far as i know, the 250 cannot output HD-SDI and composite video at the same time. there is a need to select downconvert under output options. i am not sure if the fs700 has composite video out. you might have to get a BMD or AJA convertor to convert SDI into analog for framing. cheers buddy.

the zephyr doesnt regulate the juice that comes from the v mount battery, my poor marshall monitor gets fried at 15v at full charge, slowly but surely... is either you get a lemo to 12v regulator to DC out, or you can purchase one of the V mount battery plate thingy http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Fotga-DP500-BP-Battery-Power-Supply-w-V-Mount-for-DSLR-HDMI-with-USB-Socket-/280882145850?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4165e16a3a they can regulate a v mount battery on top and output 5, 7.2 or 12v for your devices, i always hook that up and place it on my top stage, good excuse to increase my sled weight for stability as well. it is a good way to mount the camwave if you are using DSLRs, you get a v mount slot supposed by 15mm rods. and is affordable. cheers.

Hi if you turn off the HD onscreen display already nothing should show. The marshall horzion thing is on the monitor output, dont think the kipro mini will record that? i doubt you can be able to see the information on the screen but not on the SDI signal. let me try it tomorrow and get back to you. the other way is to flip the oncamera LCD screen to suit your occasional viewing, in case you need to take a peep at the settings. cheers

does the folks have any idea when the CW-7 will hit the market? been eagerly anticipating to test one!

Hi folks, been wanting to make a custom cable for my zephyr, a hirose 6pin Y split out to 4pin XLR power and composite video. my zephyr came with the DIN connector, didn't use the monitor and the cable. I understand that from the zephyr manual it states that the receptacle is a HR10-7R-6S. does anyone have any idea which is the correct mating connector? i was checking out the hirose website: HR10 is the series. the 5th character (7) represents the outside diameter, which is 7mm the 6th character ® represents either a jack (J), plug (P), or receptacle ® the 7th character (6) represents the number of contacts the 8th character (S) represents the the type of terminal, (S) being female, (P) being male. Hence ideally, the correct mating connector to fit into the zephyr would be either a jack, or a plug, and the terminal type being a male one, ie. HR10-7J-6P, or, HR10-7P-6P. my problem here is, i am unsure of buying either the "jack" version, or the "plug version". my gut feeling tells me it is the "plug" version, looking at the pictures at mouser electronics. can any operators help confirm? thanks much! zhong wei

I purchased an SD zephyr, I took out the stock monitor and changed to a marshall 7" 3G-SDI version from the rental house that i work with, the one with 800 nits, but not the transreflective version. i power it through via a long d-tap to 4 pin xlr, and i get an SDI signal from the bottom of the post. my 6 pin hirose plug is not being used at all. and perhaps you should start looking at what cables you will need for your zephyr. the standard package only comes with a 3pin lemo to 4pin xlr, and a HDSDI BNC. see what cameras you usually fly with, and decide the cable options from there. it is good to look into some extra weight plates in case you are operating a lighter camera, like the 5D or any of the 1/3" camcorders. and if you are using the 5d, you might want to look into any of the HDMI - SDI convertors, either from AJA or blackmagic. black magic ones are running off 12V DC, so you can actually rig a 3pin lemo to 12V DC jack to power them off. i am in the process of ordering the marshall 6.5" transreflective monitor for daylight usage. will do a post on it when it arrives :) i really like the zephyr now, because i can "magically" increase the weight of my sled at the bottom with the provided merlin counterbalance weights! and on top of that, the monitor and the battery post are able to slide individually of each other. meanwhile, happy choosing! zhong wei

When i was flying the F3, i had a 4kg additional weight added to it. the whole rig feels very good to fly. i also managed to get the canon XF300 properly weighed down with the same weight, my colleague took a picture of us while doing a practice run at the shopping centre next to my rental house. :lol: it was about a good 6kg on top. not the most ideal weight, had to drop the gimbal more to get a nice drop time as well. looking forward to my dedicated 6kg weightplate which is still in the works!