Ben Fisher

I searched the forum archives and found Jim working on the BUZ in December 2000, and mention of PCB's over a year ago also BUZ's available for sale in March this year (according to the Bartech Engineering website). So I'm sure that Bartech is ready to launch? We on the other hand have just started this development and are someway from launch. Find below a list of other zoom controls, please suggest more: ZIF-100 by Vocas DLC-01 by Denz Microforce by Preston Cinema Z/F by Stanton Video (aka Jimmy Jib) Then there are the dedicated zoom demand offerings by Canon, Fujinon and Angeniuex. Please keep posting the suggestions & comments. Especially interested to find out if people like the force sensitive zoom (ala Microforce) or the rocker type????

Thank you Gus - see my email reply. Point 5 of TJ's post made me think - would an on screen display of zoom posistion be useful? The data to do this available on most modern video lens's and certainly can be calculated if a digital motor (Preston, Scorpio, Heden M26VE) is used or an analog tacho motor with pot feedback (Heden M26PT, M28VPT, M32PT). Perhaps a clutter/de-clutter button for toggling layered infomation? I noticed that Scorpio use a small wired 'chinese hat' style control for their gimbal mounted zoom demand? Do people prefer the force-stick type of zoom to rockers?

This is quite interesting - do people prefer the the pressure sensitive zoom type (as used by Preston, Scorpio and our BENZ systems), front-back rocker types (all video lenses) or left-right rocker types (J7, Zoe, Canon zoom demands, etc..)?

The part is (typically) a: NL-7235 made by National Electronics or Mu. Chelmer ValveRichardson Electronics One of these reasons these tubes cook is that the voltage regulation to the heater is not very good. This is why when you use a fresh battery and flick the monitor from standby to on the CRT focus is out (the heater voltage is too high/hot and the tube characteristics change - although it does settle in). We used to build a focus tube regulator board which was direct replacement for the III/A board - nothing special except we used a low-drop out voltage regulator to drive the heater (at slightly less than 12v) - this was stable and hence the focus didn't change. Regards,

Thanks Chad, If you can find out a little more infomation on the device Paul Sommers mentioned it would be useful. I also got this via email: "Hello, I own and operate a EFP Steadicam. I work mostly live TV. I always have a J-7 on the rig. With the EFP a cable runs from the J-7 to the JBOX then either a Canon or Fuji "Jumper" to the camera. I would suggest one thin cable or even better wireless. The other thing I wish the J-7 had was a zoom speed control instead of using the speed the camera was set at." Wireless is definatley feasible - the two possible down sides are: [1] battery powered zoom handle (although battery life could be 12 months) [2] obviously some sort of small receiver unit Please keep the comments coming.

Hello All, We are beginning the development of ?zoom handle? for use on Steadicam?s and the like. Rather than keeping hush-hush about this development we think that this product would benefit from input from every operator at every level. After a suitable period & hopefully plenty of input we will publish a shortlist of designs (probably in the form of preliminary CAD drawings) on our site and invite pot-shots at them (on this forum). This will be followed by prototypes and open field testing (perhaps six prototype units) by whoever would like to. So no matter how outlandish (or obvious) your ideas, comments and criticisms are, please feel free to make them here. I have a sheet of blank paper?. Ben

Hi, Follow focus receivers tend to be just that - receivers; so don't transmit potentially interfering RF around the sled; that being said some follow focus units are bi-directional (Scorpio, ARRI, Prestons latest MDR-2, Cmotion) but operate at 2.4GHz. The video transmitter (especially the Modulus without the 10dB pad) generates interference in two main ways. [1] direct RF - it gets into sensitive RF analog electronics (such as the tape heads in a transport), [2] it finds a semiconductor junction and this acts like an AM radio receiver and demodulates the RF into a low frequency signal which is bad news. AM video transmitters (Modulus and kin) are the worst for this, FM (microwave) are much better because the output power stays constant. There is a ray of light though, there is a basic law in RF (the inverse square law) that says that as you double the distance away from the transmitter you divide the effective power by 4. So if you can double the distance your video transmitter is from the 'victim' you will divide the interfering signal by 4 (and so on...). DVCAM will be less susceptible to interference due in-part to the physical size of the units (and lack of long lengths of internal wiring), and the excellent error correction required by the compression systems. Betacam SP contains masses of sensitive analog electonics, long lengths of wiring and plenty of RF ingress points....

There is some great infomation about aspect ratios, safe areas etc... on the website of another UK based company; now don't get excited but BlueLucy Enjoy :rolleyes:

Hi Nikk, A frameline generator puts an adjustable 'box' on the Steadicam monitor which indicates what your final output may look like (similar to the etched lines on a ground glass). For example, you might be shooting 16:9 but want to frame your shots so that they can safely be cropped to 4:3 or 14:9. The frameline is often an alternating stripe so as to have the same visibility on dark and light images. The frameline generator often has crosshair generator (which is typically posistioned in the centre of shot), sometimes a dimmable mask outside the frameline (to simulate the all-to-common masking tape found on many production monitors) - it may also synthesize a 'bubble' on the screen to advise the operator of 'level'. Examples of external frameline generators are Transvideo, Duo by XCS Inc and our own offering the FBX. Some cine cameras (with video assist) have built in frameline generators, examples that spring to mind are made by Aaton and ARRI. Kind regards,

Dear All, UNITCINE are really pleased to release their FBX Frameline, Bubble & Crosshair generator for sale. For more information & more pictures please visit our website: www.unitcine.com Kind regards, Ben Fisher ben@unitcine.com

Jim is quite correct the BENZ 5000 system was released in 2003 and his system was released in 1999. The BENZ 5000 has not sold in the same quantity as the BFD (yet), ask me that question again when we have been in the market as long...

The FCC stipulate that the transmitter should not use the same antenna as the receiver to prevent a possiblity of a higher gain antenna receive antenna being fitted to the transmitter and increasing the ERP (effective radiated power). There is no FCC stipulation that I'm aware of that says the antenna must not be available to Joe Public. However the BENZ 5000 system uses a TNC connector for the transmitter, and Joe Public is unlikely to find one of those down the back of his sofa.... PS: Any system that uses transceivers can use exactly the same antennas on all nodes.

Maximum leadtime is now 2 weeks for: 5100 focus handsets 5200 iris only handsets 5244 iris/zoom handsets 5500 focus receivers 5600 focus/iris receivers 5800 focus/iris/zoom receivers We are settled in our new factory, production is busy :D and so is R&D (me) ;) .

Hi Tom, The 5000 series products (in US guise) operate on 10 different frequencies centered around 915MHz. (+/- ~7MHz). The #5100 handset antenna connector is a TNC (threaded BNC) and the #5500, 5600, 5800 receivers have BNC connectors. The 5000 series works very well with M-one motors, Heden motors, FMG motors and even older CP SLD motors. The Zoom channel will work with ZMG and Heden -T motors. We updated the 5000 series range of products in December '03 following feedback from customers, distributors and others. We added autocalibrate (why not?), autoseek (the receiver will automatically lock to the transmitter), revised the handset to work internally at 3.3v instead of 5v (this combined with the switched-mode PSU extend battery life to around 24hrs), and several other minor modifications. The #4300 handset will operate with the 5x00 receivers also. I have put the current manual for the 5000 series on the 'DOWNLOADS' section of our website. Ben Fisher UNITCINE

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Hi Timmy, I'm glad Abel were able to help you out (one way or another!). I'm coming out to LA in the not-to-distant future and would be glad to go through the 5000 (1,2,3 channel). If you click on our site (see link at bottom) and register for UNITBOX (our newsletter) it'll keep you informed. Kind regards,

Hi Timmy, I'm sorry that you ordered a 5000 (via Abel) and we couldn't supply you. I'm sure Abel refunded any monies paid. We hit some unforeseen problems when we implemented the autocalibrate and autoseeking features. Abel have 5000's (with autocal etc...) at NAB and in NY. Kind regards,

Isn't plagiarism the sincerest form of flattery... In 1995 Howard Smith and I (we owned VFX together) designed, built and sold the TCFS (triple channel focus system). Production ended at the end of 1997. Here's some pictures taken last year of a VFX system belonging to Chesapeake Camera (it came back for the potentiometer to be replaced and a service). The system had many features including: PP3 battery inserted in base of handset to power handset(s). Lens setup via two rotary knobs ('+/-' on handset). Backlash compensation ('B' on handset). Damping control on Iris. Focus motor ganging. Small form factor receiver with three channels. Both momentary and latching run signal. Worked from 12 or 24v. Handsets (F/I/Z) daisy chained. 12 bit resolution. VFX TCFS systems have been in the US since mid-1997 Showbiz Expo '97 and are still being used to this day. Apologies for the size/download time of the images. Kind regards, Ben Fisher UNITCINE

Hello All, UNITCINE is now shipping revised versions of the BENZ 5000 system; these feature AUTOCALIBRATE for the focus/iris motors, AUTOSEEK (receiver tracks handset frequency changes), longer battery life, revised BOA-LOK's , etc... More infomation about these changes are available on our website: www.UNITCINE.com Kind regards, Ben Fisher ben@unitcine.com UNITCINE, UK